Newbie Assumptions

[guppymonkey]

Argh! I work in a pet store and sometimes I just hate customers. They come in not knowing anything about aquariums and not willing to listen when I try to help them saying " Well, I have had a tank for 3 years and never changed the water and the fish are still alive. Just because they are small and any new fish I put into the tank die doesn't mean I am doing things wrong!" Thats not the worst of it though.

The worst thing is when these people say that they are sick of boring fish and want something with color. Basically this means they want a fish that glows bright neon yellow or blue and don't care if the fish has been injected with a tattoo needle or if its an african cichlid that will kill all their fish. They just want "color" and ignore the natural beauty a tank can have when the owner actually reads and knows what to do! ARGH! This just annoys me, no wonder pet store employees stop caring about what people do, its the buyers fault anyways for not reading up or caring!

 

[grumpymole]

i know, like one of my mates daughters is evil!
she bought a less than 3g tank, put 2 goldfish in it got fed up with them in 2 months, and bought 3 bettas insted 3 in a 3g tank!
They just think that because they are fish, they dont have feelings!
grrrrrrrrrrrr......

 

[consp]

I know what you mean... I worked in my LFS for over a year and the customers really got ame annoyed sometimes. Luckily my bosses ordered us not to sell fish if we knew the persons tank had no filter or was set up for less than a week.

I hated the customers that would demand a fish for their nonfiltered bowl stating "Well our last goldfish lasted 2 whole years" as if it was something to be proud about. Wow. 2 years... Give yourself a pat on the back for the appaulling care you gave your fish which shortened its life to a mere 2 years. *rolls eyes*

Buuut... Most customers were great. They listen to what you've got to say and because you both share the hobby you can have a nice chat.

I suppose it's the annoying customers that stick in your mind mostly though.

 

[stup3rman]

Tut, im new to the hobby, had my aquarium for 6 months now, all things are going well, i listened to what my local aquarium said, took note, they told me which fish should do ok, and apart from the fact my fighter killed my red tail, they havent been wrong, i took heed to the fact i knew virtually nothing and listened to what they had to say, and i am doing fine, after christmas i am investing in a second tank, im thinking about pirahnas, but if i decide not to, i will just have a 2nd, slightly larger community tank

 

[soritan]

can you work at my LPS, all?

mine don't label any of their tanks with names or prices, their plants are rotting, a small interal filter costs $45, and they all roll their eyes when i come
in the door. 'the picky one is back," i can practially see it in their eyes. i make all sorts of weird demands and disagree with them. i think only one or two people there can even tolerate me, and i think that means they're just good actors. really, what sort of shopper asks for the latin name of a fish whose sign simply says, "puffer fish $8.99"?

 

[stup3rman]

If they had that attitude towards fish and thats how they kept there, my advice to you would be, find a new LFC!

 

[soritan]

it's one fish town, my man. very lame, and part of why i buy so much aquarium stuff when i travel. when i returned home this last time, i was loaded for bear on all sorts of goodies for my 10g tank, it was almost christmas-y.

 

[stup3rman]

i see, i have 3 aquariums within a 10 mile radius of me, although the one which is a ten minute walk is one i like best, when i get a better camera for christmas ill take some pictures of my 10 gal

 

[Ethos]

Another thing to consider - I started a nano, and I was just in the store today, and the lady was all like "Your starting a what? I totally don't recomend that kid. It takes alot of work, and alot of responsabillity."
I was like.....Ok, what ever, I'm still doing a nano (of course I didn't actually say that. I just smiled and noded).

 

[stup3rman]

well, i dont know what a nano is so i cant really comment, maybe you could explain for me, so i can broaden my knowledge of this hobby further

 

[Ethos]

Its a mini reef tank
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=73

 

[yvez9]

well in a way the lady was right ethos

she doesn't know you know what you're getting into and as it was stated before, the typical fish shopper knows nil or false information. you can't be mad at someone for assuming you don't know anything and then be mad at them for giving out poor advice.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Yvez has a point here, and it's one that is relevant to forum discussions as well as in lfs. Do we want employees/forum posters to assume that a person may need basic advice or do we shout at them for letting us go wrong? Can't have your cake and eat it you know.
We do get an awful lot of threads saying lfs staff are crap because they never warned me. And we get a few posters who get offended when you (or lfs staff) make the incorrect assumption that you may need a word of warning. And of course we have all seen posts where the "incorrect" assumption turns out to be correct...
So what should one do? As a forum poster or as an lfs employee? We aren't mind readers, we can't know if the person in front of us has the experience needed or not. Personally I'd rather err on the side of caution, at the risk of offending people who didnt need newbie advice. Besides, I'd have thought really experienced and caring fishkeepers would understand where you were coming from - and keep smiling and nodding like you did in the lfs, Ethos, well done! You deserve your nano reef! We could all do with a bit more smiling and nodding.
About those goldfish bowls, consp- did you actually sell those bowls in your shop? My nearest lps does more to promote their goldfish bowls than any other fishy item on sale. So in their case, they can hardly blame the customers for buying them or trying to keep fish in them.

 

[consp]

About those goldfish bowls, consp- did you actually sell those bowls in your shop? My nearest lps does more to promote their goldfish bowls than any other fishy item on sale. So in their case, they can hardly blame the customers for buying them or trying to keep fish in them.

Yeah, the shop sold them but we had to reccommend a goldfish bowl filter (you know the ones that sit in the bottom of the bowl and are powered by airpump). If a customer got down to the till with just the bowl, the person on tills would advise them against it. If they still went ahead and brought it... Next time they came in, if we recognised them, we were allowed to refuse them fish on the count of no filter.


Only problem is some people lie. You say "Do you have a filter?"

They say "no... I don't need a filter/I've never had a filter/All my fish last years without a filter/Thats only for tropical fish, right?"

You say "Sorry I can't sell you these fish." and explain to them why a filter is needed. Then you say "Would you like one of our basic fish care leaflets on how to set up a healthy tank?"

They reply "Oh, sorry a filter. Yeah I have a filter. Now can I have my fish?"

Bah!

 

[kat and james]

it must be so annoying providing advice that people don't take any notice of! i think that people are sometimes sceptical about the fact that the shop assistants are there to sell products, and possibly people don't understand the importance of certain things such as filters, and that sort of stuff!

but i have to disagree with you on the colour issue! i like to have colourful fish (most of ours a silver or a slight variation of.. silver dollars, bala sharks etc) so sometimes i say that i fancy something with a little more colour.. hence we got our torpedo barbs (and we researched the fish extensively, on here, google and talking to lfs who stock the fish, checking compatability, and care). just because people want a little more colour in their aquarium does not mean that they want painted catfish and things like that.. it just means they want something a little different to waht they already have!! its very narrow minded to assume that all customers do not care about thier fish when they say they are looking for a little more colour or something a little different!

kat