The only customer I can think of that annoyed me was a lady who bought two clown loaches. She came back a couple of days later claiming they died. I asked her to bring the bodies back and a separate sample of tank water so we could check it. She went home and got a sample of water, which turned out perfect (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. But she claims her kids disposed of the bodies.
We gave her two replacement loaches and said if she has any trouble with them, or if they die, she is to bring the bodies back immediately so we can check them. She went home and came back a couple of days later claiming they died. I asked her for the bodies and she said she didn't have them. I asked her for a water sample from her tank and she didn't have it. I told her to go and get the bodies and a sample of her tank water and come back.
She came back a couple of hours later with a sample of water that was perfect (0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate), but no bodies. I asked her where the bodies were and she went on for a minute umming and ahhing. She eventually said her kid had flushed them. I told her without bodies I wasn't going to replace them so she kicked up a stink and asked for the boss. I went and got him and after a few minutes of her dribbling on he said give her two more fish. So I did.
Low and behold a couple of days later she comes back to the shop claiming the two fish died. Again she didn't have any bodies and no water sample. She didn't talk to me this time though, she went after another worker who didn't know what was going on. She convinced him she bought two clown loaches a couple of days before and said they died. I saw her at the counter and walked over to her and asked what was going on. She didn't talk to me so I asked my co-worker. He told me and I said don't give her anything. I then explained to my co-worker that she had been in two times previously during the last week, claiming she had lost the fish and both times she had been told by me, to bring the bodies back. My co-worker then looked at the boss and said what do I do? My boss looked at me and said what do you want to do? I said nothing, she shouldn't get anything unless she brings the bodies back.
My co-worker said he had promised to replace them. The boss didn't want to deal with it. I was told to deal with it so I gave her two more and told her not to come back. She never did and I highly doubt she lost the fish because they were fine in our tanks.
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We had a customer that used to come in and look around and talk to staff but not buy anything. He stuttered and spat when he talked. It was gross. Any way he took a liking to Nicki (one of the staff), and whilst Nicki was polite, she didn't like the guy. This guy came in most days just to try and chat Nicki up. Whenever she saw him arrive she took off out the back. Eventually he found out Nicki was gay and he didn't come back. But it was awful talking to him. Make sure you're wearing an apron and face mask and go change your clothes afterwards. He wouldn't be allowed in the shop with covid.
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We got a letter one day from a customer who was threatening to go to consumer protection because we allegedly sold her a sick fish (male Siamese fighting fish). She hadn't been in and complained, she just sent us a letter demanding a replacement fish or it was off to consumer protection.
We called her up and asked her what was going on and she said she bought a male Betta and it died a week later. I asked her to bring the body and a separate sample of tank water in to test. She said she had dumped the body but did bring in a sample of tank water. The ammonia level was off the scale and it turned out to be an unfiltered bowl that didn't get water changes.
I told the boss what happened and he said give her a new fish but explain the filter cycle to her. So I spent the next hour talking to her and explained filters and water quality. She didn't get a filter but did say she would do water changes every couple of days from now on. She took her replacement fish and left, never to return.
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On a Saturday at lunch time the shop was full of customers. I was talking to a customer about getting a new tank and what he required for it. Another customer came over and kept saying "excuse me, I need to tell you something". I asked him to wait a moment and he wandered off for a bit before returning. He said "I need to tell you something". I said can he wait a few moments because I was with someone. He wandered off and came back 5 minutes later. Said he had to talk to me. I asked the first customer to wait a moment and asked what the other guy wanted. He said the floor in the fish room was flooding. I said thanks, told the first guy to hang on a moment, went out the back and turned the tap off, grabbed the wet floor signs and started mopping the floor.
The moral to this story, if a customer is persistent, perhaps I should ask what he wanted the first time he approached me.
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We had a young girl (about 7 or 8 years old) come into the shop one afternoon about 3:30pm. She hung around the shop all afternoon and at 5:30pm when we closed, she sat out the front of the shop.
This happened every week day for a couple of weeks before one of the bosses asked her why she was hanging out in the shop. She responded by saying she was waiting for her mum to pick her up.
That night the boss stayed back late and waited for the mother to pick up the girl. She had a chat to her and said we are not a baby sitting service and she needs to find someone to care for the child when she can't. That was the last we saw of the child.
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I have a long story about a boss that went nuts and beat the crap out of me and a bunch of other staff coz he was whacked out on prescription meds, whacky tobacky and booze. However, that belongs in a psychiatrists office. In fact I have lots of stories that belong in a shrink's office
