Lfs Will They Sell You Anything

[kjb66]

I visited my lfs twice in 2 weeks the first week i could not believe how many oscars they had in stock 3 tanks full and they were full.The next week i returned to see how the numbers had gone down and another tank full of albino oscars had appeared anyway i told the owner i would like a 2 ghost shrimp and when he was catching them i asked him did you lose alot of the oscars there were loads here last week and he replied no we sell alot of them,i said do people know what they are buying and how big these get he said if they dont ask we dont tell them.I did not say anything (this is the only fs for miles) but i was a bit savage i hate to think what happens to all these fish just because the shop staff and owners think about profit rather than the lives of the fish they are selling its just not on.I will also say that the customer is also to blame it does not take long to do a little research and get the right fish.

 

[Ginge]

Very true this is only one example of this kind of behavior that happens every day and that sickens everybody here on TFF.

 

[Mbuna Dave]

Well said Kjb.
The LFS should be blackballed.

 

[FBF]

while the wording used by the worker is appalling the facts are they they cannot check up on every fish sold. if people dont ask its not for them to preach. as you say its down to the customer to know what they are doing.

 

[Inchworm]

if people dont ask its not for them to preach.

I agree with FBF on this. Further, I don't consider it a shopkeeper's business to ask what I plan to do with anything I buy from him or her. It's nice to be able to make a little small talk about my tanks, but if anyone started questioning my qualifications to have anything in his store, I'd soon find another place to shop.

 

[beux]

There is a certain amount of truth in a LFS not being able to check on every fish sold - i can imagine they sometimes assume that the people buying the fish know what they are doing and probably don't want to patronise people who do know what they're doing...

But my LFS rocks. it doesn't matter who, what, why, when...if you mention that you want to buy a fish that gets big/gets aggressive/is brackish/needs specific conditions they say "You know that you need blah blah" Or "You know that this fish gets 'this' big' etc etc. They don't make it condescending and to somebody who knows about fish it doesn't sound condescending, it sounds like a shop-worker who cares about the fish - and the customers - and is just double checking. The people who work there *care* about the fish.

Also, I remember going in once and noticing a dead fish in one of the tanks, told the guy who worked there, he fished it out, took the price label off and put a 'not for sale' on the tank that was still there three days later.

Oh, and if you buy a fish...and you take it home and gets sick - not just dead - you can bring it back and get an exchange and they will take the sick fish, quarentine and treat.

That is how it should be, and there really is no excuse for it to be any other way.

It doesn't matter what excuses, it is possible

 

[Torrean]

Think about how long it takes to catch bag and label a fish. Now think about how long it takes to say this fish will need a 75 gallon tank within a year. If you already know that it needs a 75 gallon tank then that's great and no harm done. If you didn't know that then you could say oh nevermind then I think I'll get a betta for my 1 gallon tank. I don't see the logic in saying that they don't have the right to question your qualifications. The fish belong to them...they have the right to flat out refuse to sell them to you if they so choose. My LFS has a tank with rfbs in them that says 4 for $12... I asked them about this and they said oh yeah we know they need to be kept singly but we don't care...screw the customer we just want there money. I'm paraphrasing not quoteing but that is basically what was said. Now how can you tell me that it's a bad thing for them to ask how long your tanks been running how big it is what your temp is etc etc...I think it's wonderful and I wish my lfs' would do that.

 

[Saedcantas]

People who choose to become cagey and defensive when I ask them what volume their aquarium is, what their current stock is and how long it has been running for, simply do not get sold fish by me.

I always reserve the right to refuse any sale if I do not think the person has the means to care for the fish properly. Where I work we value regular customers and realise that it is the people who keep coming back that pay our wages. If you lie to customers or fail to mention a pretty big fact to get a sale today, when they find out what you did tomorrow, they wont be coming back or giving good word of mouth about you

If I'd sold figure eight puffers to any number of the people who'd asked if they would mix with neons etc today, they would only be back tomorrow demanding their money back because their neons got eaten and I let it happen

Educate the workers of your LFS, even if they simply do not care whether fish die or not (which annoys me the most personally) their manager will care when they have angry people to deal with the next day or the next week. It is bad business sense (regardless of the ethics) to sell the way some LFS do.

 

[Inchworm]

But my LFS rocks. it doesn't matter who, what, why, when...if you mention that you want to buy a fish that gets big/gets aggressive/is brackish/needs specific conditions they say "You know that you need blah blah" Or "You know that this fish gets 'this' big' etc etc. They don't make it condescending and to somebody who knows about fish it doesn't sound condescending, it sounds like a shop-worker who cares about the fish - and the customers - and is just double checking. The people who work there *care* about the fish.

That's different, beux, and I agree wholeheartedly that a good lfs should provide information necessary for a customer to make a wise decision. At the very least they should be able to answer questions about the stock they carry. But that's different than discriminating about who they sell their merchandise to. It's also good business practice.

There are actually members who post here who think it's the store's responsibility to guarantee that their stock is placed in good homes and that they have the right to ask nosey questions about a prospective purchaser's personal possessions and home. At least in the USA they don't have the right to do that or to refuse to sell something that is on their shelves or in their tanks. If they do, they risk a lawsuit.

This applies to fish or to anything else for sale in a store. Can you imagine a grocer refusing to sell you food because he doesn't like the way you plan to cook it, or a car dealer refusing to sell you a car because you give him the impression that you might leave it in the street instead of putting it in a garage?

I can understand that people have good intentions, but if something is for sale, they have to sell it to anyone who can pay, unless it breaks some other law, like for example, selling liquor to a minor.

 

[Saedcantas]

Here in the UK Retailers may reserve the right to refuse sale of any item to any customer providing no contract has been entered into.

Therefore, lucky for me, just because I have an Oscar for sale I am in no way obliged to sell it if I deem the buyer unfit in some way (i.e: they have a 1 gallon glass bowl and zero knowledge of fishkeeping)

I personally have found the fact that the law allows me to do this invaluble in preventing animals that I have taken the time to care for, from needlessly going into the hands of people who can only commit acts of cruelty be it through ignorance or through intent.

I sell specialist animals in my kind of business, can anyone seriously argue that it isnt a positive thing that I question my customers to ensure that LIVE animals will be going to a home that will keep them alive and thriving?

 

[bobwumba]

I was buying a clownfish for my reef tank a few days ago at my lfs and the lady asked me if i had a saltwater fish tank. There must be some complete idiots out there who do not understand the difference between saltwater and freshwater.

 

[Saedcantas]

About ten of them per day by my reckoning bob...

 

[bobwumba]

try 100

 

[clareriley]

My LFS is amazing.. he is totally cool. When i didnt know nothing about anything when I started out in my early teens I went in there and said can I have this this and this and hes like well what have you got and do you know this and that and this and im like.. ok i wont have this then and blah blah.. he makes sure you know what your going to buy and he makes sure you know if it will grow out of the tank and stuff. hes good with info even if you dont want it but I have known him to refuse a sale due to lack of space to some people but thats his right.

 

[whip]

What happens when I try to buy a fish that I know I can properly house, and the shop owner disagrees?