Lfs, What Should Their Priority Be?

[snowflake311]

I have a question for you all: Do you think its acceptable to sell a customer a fish that will grow out of their current tank (within reason, no oscars in a 30 ltr for example), as long as you explain to them how big the fish will get and the size of tank that it will require?

As long as the person understands how big it will get then sell it. You don't know what will happen. What if that fish becomes their favorite fish and they buy it the best tank they could fit. That one fish gets them hooked on the hobby. Also they come back to your store looking for the biggest tank and then shell out more money.

If the fish does out grow the tank and they will not get a proper tank then it goes back to the store or they find a new better home for it. You dont know.

 

[Squidward]

Also, a fish shop isn't an animal welfare organisation.
If they were, then they could prevent you from buying inappropriate fish.
But they aren't. They are a business. And in order to keep going, they have to seel as much of their "product" as possible.

Same as buying anything. If you want a computer for eg. First you have to investigate the specs you need and then go and buy it. If you just walk into a computer shop clueless, and the salesperson sells you a machine that doesn't meet your requirements. Who's fault is that? Not the salesperson's.

 

[cheeky chappie]

interesting replies, thanks guys/girls. most of you have cottoned on to what i was getting at, namely that a LFS is a business and therefore it's 1st priority has to be 'profit' otherwise it'll go under, as the first (better in some ways) LFS in my opening post did. in my view very few businesses would miss out on a sale (regardless of the goods on sale including live ones) simply to put their moral / welfare code first. i definitely think though, when it comes to living creatures of any sort, surely the seller has a degree of moral / welfare obligation to at least try to ascertain the creature isn't going to a completely unsuitable home, no? using the kind of examples already referred to, if i've informed the assistant i live in a tiny flat/apartment and have a small (e.g. 50 litre) tank and there's no space for a bigger tank and i have no plans to change it, surely the LFS is obligated to try their upmost to persuade me away from buying a fish that will outgrow said tank within a few months and onto species of fish that are more suited to my setup, no? granted if they don't know then they don't know, but if they know a setup it surely makes a difference?

 

[Liamm]

I have to say, customers are the bane of my life, some of them make the job worthwhile, they give my job meaning and i love sharing my experience and helping people.... but 80% of the customers that walk through the door drive me mad and some make me just want to pack the job in.

They are rude, patronising, dont bother doing research, dont listen, dont take advise and some are just plain.... stupid... i mean seriously... im sick of 'can i put a nemo and a dory in with my goldfish?' questions... and worse still... "whats the difference between freshwater and marine water?".

Oh man I know EXACTLY how you feel.

i definitely think though, when it comes to living creatures of any sort, surely the seller has a degree of moral / welfare obligation to at least try to ascertain the creature isn't going to a completely unsuitable home, no? using the kind of examples already referred to, if i've informed the assistant i live in a tiny flat/apartment and have a small (e.g. 50 litre) tank and there's no space for a bigger tank and i have no plans to change it, surely the LFS is obligated to try their upmost to persuade me away from buying a fish that will outgrow said tank within a few months and onto species of fish that are more suited to my setup, no? granted if they don't know then they don't know, but if they know a setup it surely makes a difference?

I think its fair to say then the fish would not be suitable for the customer if they are unable / unwilling to upgrade

 

[Liam50]

i had something like this happen to me today. just to clarify i am college but work part time at lfs and it is mainly cold fish such as koi and ponds but we recently spent over 50k on upgrading our tropical section. back to the point, i had a lady today who wanted to replace her pleco as it had died i always ask people when they buy a fish that gets big i.e. oscars, plecs etc. she told me that she had a 2foot tank my reply was i would not house a pleco in a tank that big as they grow too big and are totally unsuitable for that sized tank. but she purchased it anyway and i served her as i cannot refuse to sell fish to people unless they are under the age of 16 and she was to say the least well over 16. if i refused to sell a fish she would most likely complain to my boss and i would loose my job. so thats why lfs staff will be very reluctant to refuse selling a fish to someone even if they know it is a very bad idea.

 

[Always Learning]

but she purchased it anyway and i served her as i cannot refuse to sell fish to people unless they are under the age of 16 and she was to say the least well over 16. if i refused to sell a fish she would most likely complain to my boss and i would lose my job.

This is where I am lucky I guess, as I spend most of my day refusing to sell people fish. I do, 90% of the time direct them to something more suitable though and they still make a purchase, but take something home which isn't going to get too big or destroy the other tankmates. These customers keep coming back and asking for me only, so I must be doing something right.

I do the ordering aswell, so I will only have 3 common plecs in at any one time for example and the rest are bristlenose, clowns and fancy L numbers. At least this way, the ones which are going to get big are at a much higher price, so only those with the tanks suitable for them tend to buy them.

It's the goldfish people which get me though. The amount of times they come down with a 1 - 2 litre bowl they have picked up from the flower display section and asked if it's ok for a goldfish is unreal. Likewise the very small pet carriers which most people use for crickets..

 

[slakey]

I work for quite a large fish company, and we ask those sorts of questions, and recently I have upset some customers.

 

[Liam50]

but she purchased it anyway and i served her as i cannot refuse to sell fish to people unless they are under the age of 16 and she was to say the least well over 16. if i refused to sell a fish she would most likely complain to my boss and i would lose my job.

This is where I am lucky I guess, as I spend most of my day refusing to sell people fish. I do, 90% of the time direct them to something more suitable though and they still make a purchase, but take something home which isn't going to get too big or destroy the other tankmates. These customers keep coming back and asking for me only, so I must be doing something right.

I do the ordering aswell, so I will only have 3 common plecs in at any one time for example and the rest are bristlenose, clowns and fancy L numbers. At least this way, the ones which are going to get big are at a much higher price, so only those with the tanks suitable for them tend to buy them.

It's the goldfish people which get me though. The amount of times they come down with a 1 - 2 litre bowl they have picked up from the flower display section and asked if it's ok for a goldfish is unreal. Likewise the very small pet carriers which most people use for crickets..

honestly i wish you did our fish ordering. i have been banging on to the head of the tropical section for weeks to stop ordering common plecs, and go for smaller alternatives. i even took in the 30 plecs under 6 inches from the plec section on this forum for him. i hope my previous post doesn't make me look neglectful as i do try and advise as strongly as i can and sometimes the customer does listen to me and buy something different, but i'm sure your aware that some do not.

 

[MBOU]

Mmmm

Common Plecs are one i refuse to stock..

We have a 'banned species list'

and then i have my own 'banned species list.

-common plecs
-rtbs (only because im sick of customers not listening to advise, we had so many come back...)
-chinese algae eaters
-sucking loach
-skunk botia

three i try not to have if i can help it

-dwarf gouramis
-weather loach
and another i have forgotten off the top of my head just on the basis of the fact that i am sick of the bacterial problems they both seem to come with now. Not always but like.... 3/5 times is 3 times too many.

With the dwarf gouramis, they can come in great, stay great for months, sell them, they do great for months... then they all start wasting. I get so sick of hearing it and not being anything i can do! I would rather less people stocked/bought dwarf gouramis and gave stocks time to build up without all these poorly bred fish flooding the market.


There are loads of others i would say no to getting that arent on the banned list (which covers the large catfish, wallagos, arapaima, big garand snakeheads, celestial and bubble eye goldfish and any GM/coloured fish etc)

 

[karigupi]

I have two local fish shops, one I use, the other I would never buy fish from.

The one I avoid at all costs is the one who asks all the questions (part of a large chain) but it all comes from a check list and the buyer could easily lie. Looking around their tanks, you will find many fish covered with white spot, dirty tanks, innappropriate mixes of fish and many either dyeing or dead.

My LFS who I feel very lucky to have near me, on the other hand do not ask the questions, if you are buying a more difficult to keep/larger/specialist fish they offer advice before you purchase, but if you have a question, they are very knowledgeable, they even keep fish encyclopedia in the fish room so you can research while you are there.

The tanks are lovely and clean, fishes healthy and well looked after, their prices are a little more expensive than the larger store, but I'm happy to pay them, you get what you pay for.

So in answer to the questions, their priority should be to keep a good selection of healthy, well cared for stock, and the staff should be helpful and knowledgeable