Lost a little faith in my lfs today

Sorry don't mean to cause offence to anyone if I do, I'm sure we all go for a pretty fish if we see one. I'm just talking about when enough is enough. Sure I'd love a sailfin tang in my tank I think they're absolutely beautiful but I would never purchase one because I know I don't have the room because I know how big it gets, let alone having it with two blue regal tangs already. And I when I say buying the prettiest fish I mean buying fish the same way someone like my girlfriend would buy them, she loves the fish and enjoys watching them, but she would lack the knowledge of knowing what to get and what not to get. She is getting better though;D

 

perhaps she has a couple tanks. Many clients that I deal with actually have several tanks set up that can handle this load. You did say so yourself that you stopped listening. (I dont know.......not trying to be defensive)

I am currently working in my 3rd LFS (just started this weekend!)since I started in the hobby. Just like any profession, you are going to find some bad seeds that will sell inappropriate fish at times. However I know there are just as many out there, if not more that will not sell something if not appropriate. Case in point, yesterday somebody came in and was talking with me. I spent 1 hour with them total. I knew what type of tank they had and what type of fish they had and how long the tank was up. Well, every fish they wanted was not appropriate for their tank, so i told them no. We went to the next fish they liked and again, not appropriate. I showed them what they could put in their tank, and they did not want those fish. I explained the reasons the fish that they wanted would not work in their tank (and one of their fish they were looking at was a bandit angel, a 800.00 fish). They were appreciative and we talked about what we could order in for them. They walked out without spending a single penny.

What a lot of people dont understand, is i dont really think it is the intention of a particular sales person to sell something that they know will die in someones tank. honestly, most people who work in a LFS do it because they are hobbyist and enjoy it. Contrary to what many think, LFS dont rake in the money. If you sell someone something that dies in that persons tank.......they might come back again. Do it again, guess what they will not come back. LFS require return/repeat customers.

I would hate to only have 1 LFS in my area........we are very fortunate and have like 6 within a 30 mile radius!

 

I do agree with you schack with the maybe she has more tanks, but I believe it is highly unlikely because when she was talking about her 180 she listed all the stuff in there no allusion to another tank.

Having 6 stores in my area would be a god send.. I have averted to buying products online but for my to buy fish online would be way to expensive and since I don't have a quarantine I let them sit at the fish store for a little bit and observe them a couple times.

With the bad customer service here we just don't have the luxury that many other people have with swapping stores if they do have bad experiences. I personally know that my lfs makes a nice living because well you would to if you had no competition haha.

 

yeah, things do change when there is no local competition!!!! How healthy is the livestock there? Is there generally a good selection?

 

corals? no not really fish is alright you can order certain fish if you ask, but when he gets fish its madness people rushing for fish. Almost makes me want to drop my degree to do buisness:LolLolLol

 

Plus the availibility of equipment sucks and everything is mucho marked up