Can anyone give me an example of...

[plecoperson]

Can anyone tell me the best service they have recieved in an lfs, especially the chains? I work in a Pets at Home store and I am tired of being generalised, as all LFS employees are bad. The wrong impression is being given here.

I couldnt see the point of tropical fish when I got my part time job, I didn't understand how people would want to keep them and spend 100's £'s on them. Then they started to grow on me and I bought my own tank and since have learned more and more about them. I find them fascinating, and I know that not all employees are as dedicated as I. But I do know that PAH take extra care over their customer service and livestock knowledge. shocking to some of you it might be.

Perhaps you wouldnt be ashamed to admit you didnt know something in a new job, but some of these kids, fresh outta school might be. Plus, these kids need to work somewhere. and why not them? Perhaps they are also in teh job to learn, as I was.

Anyway, whats the best customer service you've recieved in a lfs?

sorry if this post offends anyone.

 

[Eve]

No this is a good idea!

The best I would have to say, was when I was refused!
Yes sounds wierd, but I really had my eye on these lovely sunset gouramies for my tanks and wandered into Petland. they had them! So I asked if I got pls have two. The sale person then began a stream of questions about size, filtration, occupants, cleaning schedual, paramitors etc.
Upon tell him that I was not at that moment very sure of said paramitors, he told me to bring him a sample of my water before he would sell me a fish. I must say i was stunned, 'specially as I clearly did now what I was about.
This apparently was standered for them if they had any doubts

I would Very much recommend that store.

 

[Jen]

I was in PetSmart once looking for some meds or something. I can't remember exactly. I was new to fish at the time - about 17 or 18 - and was tranced by all the expensive gadgets and had a bunch of stuff in my cart. This sales guy (who was my age or younger) went through my cart and said get this at a hardware store, go to a dollar store for that, use this cheaper medicine - it works better... and so on. I bet he saved me $100. I think he saw that I knew nothing and being the same age knew that money was a rarity at the time.

 

[Teelie]

I've had more good than bad experience with my LFS' barring the chain stores. The one I went to the most, and had worked at before has the best employees and I thought that before I worked there.

Other than a few small things (no one is perfect), I've never had a problem with the advice there.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Hey this is a good topic. If they had petland here in T.O. I would check them out. Lfs do get a bad rap sometimes.But Im glad there are people like you . That take an interest in learning about fish. Iv got a good story about big als. There was a guy there who was very helpful. He kept the fish I wanted. He even let me read this book all about different rainbows, with out having to buy it.

The end

 

[Bigjula]

My lfs is pretty good. A few helpful tips, and confirmed my suspicions of the local tap conditions. Products also seem to be getting cheaper with time. I think it's kind of mutual respect thing.
I've overheard the staff telling a customer that their tank is still cycling and would not sell them any fish. I sure there are bad lfss, but i'm sure there's some horibble, rude and ignorant customers as well.

 

[SnowyzMom]

I can say that our local Walmart's fish manager keeps tropicals herself and is a very interesting person to talk to. If I go into the store for fish food etc. she will, if not busy, come over and chat, ask how my fish are doing etc. She asks how SnowyAngel's fish are doing(my hubby works there and gives her all the lowdown on Snowy's fish adventures now).

Her biggest plus is that she is adamant about quarantining and medicating any sick fish(mainly ick due to shipping stress) immediately, not to mention removing fish that died for any reason instantly, also she is adamant about people not buying fish that don't get along well together. She will not sell fish for 48 hours after they arrive so they have a chance to destress abit. She says that change alone cut way back on dead fish returns.

She gets very annoyed at ignorant store employees that work there on her days off and don't even know how to catch fish properly without giving them heart failure in the process and terrorizing the entire tank. She prints out and sticks up basic fish care procedures for them to follow because she really CARES about those fish. She is a pleasure to talk to and I do ask her sometimes for advice. If she doesn't know she'll say so. I am soooo glad those fish have her there to care for them. She gets quite upset if one gets sick or dies. She puts plants and fake wood in the tanks so cichlids etc can hide if they wish. She does everything she can for those fish and I say thumbs up to her!

SnowyZMom B)

 

[n00bie]

So far my best example was that I asked about getting a pleco to cut down on some algae. I asked if they carried bristlenose and he said they could order them, but if I was worried about the size a common would get, I could bring it back and swap it for something smaller when "I" felt it was too large for my tank.

 

[nero]

Hmm, We have an interesting relationship with our LFS.
They impressed me when we were first there, by taking the time to talk to me and "explain" about fishkeeping, BUT they did not explain the cycle properly, and we killed alot of fish as a result. I think also that was because when we actually went to buy the fish, we got a different employee as to when we bought the tank. So I was not impressed with their explanation of cycling...BUT,
I do understand what it must be like to work in a place like that. Maybe you start off carefully explaining to each customer about the cycle, but as you have been there for 6 months, you get people who you explain to, but then they are impatient and ignore your advice. So I can see how that would get very disheartening, so you give up quicker in the future.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the guy who let us walk out with far to many fish the first time was fired. And now as soon as one of us walks in, the lady goes "HI! How are you guys going!" and asks about the tank, and at first I thought that she was just being friendly, but it then became apparent that although we had only been in there 3 or 4 times over the space of a couple months, she remembered exactly who we were, what size tank we had, and exactly what kind and how many fish we had in it! now THAT is customer service.

 

[Cossack1977]

My local fish shop has an excellent reputation.
Boronia Aquarium in Victoria Australia.
There are about 6-7 full time staff and 4 casuals.
All the staff are well trained. Excellent service, awesome pricing. They just one a tender to do a new marine type facility with a tank replication port philip bay here in melbourne.

Great range of products and fish

Ive bought heaps through them and will continue doing so

 

[bunjiweb]

I am lucky to have nearly always recieved top quality information on all of my visits to local fish shops so nothing really sticks out in my mind.

Ben

 

[Scorp1on]

Have to say we are lucky here. We have to 2 very good LFS besides the chains and mom and pop outfits. Eddie's not only takes the time to ask what you have already but will point out ways to save money special order, take back ones that have gotten to large or are not want, and gives you store credit your fry.
Davey Jones Locker goes all out on their fish. The wife and I stopped in after seeing a 55 gal tank with the filter, powerheads, UGF, etc. for sale at a garage sale. When we mentioned we worried about these items working properly if but she explained how much new ones were and that if anything went it would be an impeller or the like, a $6 replacement vs. $90 new filter. The wife is a little afraid to buy fish there since we have heard stories about them denying to sell them without a water sample meeting their exact spcifications and knowing what else is in your tank.

 

[ryan]

I find Amwell Aquatics in Soham to be quite good and from my dealings with Wholesale tropicals and TriMar over the phone they are very helpful and informative.

 

[Dwarfs]

In petco, there were ADFs and ACFs in the same tank, I asked for the ADFs and didn't get one Clawed frog, all dwarfs, for a different price than the clawed. This guy could tell the difference

 

[CFC]

Ive never bought a fish or any aquarium related product from anywhere other than specialist aquarium shops but that is mainly because it is highly unlikely that somewhere like pets at home would stock the sort of fish i keep. I dont even have a regular lfs that i buy fish from as i either buy via mail order or travel many miles to collect fish but when i do buy a fish i expect a few certain questions and courtesies.

1) I would usually expect to be asked about my tank and any tankmates that the fish would be sharing with, if the fish is one that requires a more specialised care i would expect to be asked about my level of experience.

2) If the fish is a expensive or difficult to feed fish i expect the person serving me to offer to feed the fish in front of me so i can be sure that it is healthy and feeding properly, if not offered i always ask and if they refuse they lose the sale. I also expect them to inform me of what they have been feeding the fish on and how long they have had it in stock.

3) I expect them to ask me how far i have to travel home and to pack the fish accordingly, this means that if i have traveled many miles to visit a shop and have spent a large ammount of money on fish they double bag the fish, add oxygen to the bag/s and pack the bag/s in a polysterene box, if i receive poor quallity service i probably wont go there again.