About The Reef (the store) rant
- Thread starter TheScubaManiac
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Smokin Firebird
New member
been to aquarium arts and i do like theyre store. they always say hello when u walk in. they ask u if you need help but they used to not have the greatest fish. theyre store has turned around alot. pets inc is a joke. i can go in that store in spend a hour looking at fish and i wont be asked if i need help. i still think ATR price is are about the same as to other one or maybe i just dont noticed that price deference.
Reef-o-Roni
Active member
My experience,Nothing but positive.I'm betting your one of "those persons" that can't be satisfied.Aka drama queen.You need to at least say what happened you sound like a nut just spouting off alot of crap.If i'm wrong I apoligize ,But I don't think I am..... 
NaClH20NMYVEIN
Red Dragons!
It seems like every month someone posts a thread like this about one of the LFS, maybe we should have a sticky bash thread at the top of the thread list? :fun2:
Hifiguy
Premium Member
Well, all I can say is have you been there in the last two months.
The store has changed drastically. It has been a really nice store lately.
I just don’t think it’s nice to say the store is a joke.
I have found some things there that I have never seen at ATR Aquatouch or anywhere else.
Some of my favorite and best fish have been from there.
So again sorry, that hit a cord with me.
Really both of you hit a cord with me.
Ok sorry Rant Starts>
I think all of the 4 main fish stores try hard to please all of us. If they didn’t then they wouldn’t be in business or would be like some of the other ones that we all don’t talk about much because we don’t want to be associated with them.
And I'm sure there are a few small mom and pop places that are great that a lot of us don’t know about.
But the main point is the 4 main ones that I know of, Aquarium Arts, About the Reef, Pets Inc, and Aquatouch, all work their buts off to make all of us want to come to their store. Its called running a business.
If they do something wrong then please talk to them first. If that gets you no where then come talk about it here and tell us all about your experience. Be detailed. Tell us everything.
Believe me this community cares about everyone here including the fish stores.
We would all be completely SCREWED if all the fish stores closed.
So please, if you have an issue with a store let them know, Let us know. Talk about it and tell everyone what happened. If you need to vent COOL. I understand that. I need to vent a lot like I am right now.
But man I’m getting tired of the whiney BS- “this place made me feel bad†, “that place Blowsâ€Â.
If you don’t like the store then don’t shop there. You don’t need to badmouth good people in our industry like Skip and Andy and Scott and all the guys that work and help and give us all advice so we can sit at home and watch our spectacular reef tanks.
OK sorry rant turned off. - Or maybe not
If you do have a reason that Pets Inc is a joke then let us know. Maybe they are giving out a ton of bad info and we don’t know, or maybe they are having issues with customer service. Well did you let them know? A lot of us visit those places every week. (I know I try to)
For me the store employees are friends.
Sure they screw up as all of us do. And sure I have gotten into it with some of them from time to time, but if you don’t let your feelings known to them or the store, then what good is it to come on here and just drop bombs with out any thing to back up what your saying.
Ok rant over.
Shaun Out.
Helfrichs Chic
New member
LOL I agree with Evolust... hilarious. No offence but why are reefers so whiney lately? Is the heat getting to everyone? Get a grip, if a LFS doesnt bend you over and kiss your... ITS OK. Owners and managers work extra hard to make people happy.... making everyone happy is just not gonna happen. Not to mention this is not a business that you make $100 grand a year in! Trust me I used to work at AT, got yelled at all the time by customers coming from other stores or talking about the prices etc. If you have a bad experience then go to the managers. 99% of the time its a simple misunderstanding. As for not being asked if they need help, well heck whatda want it to be like a car lot? Just ASK someone. Asking doesnt mean your not special, it means their busy. Just remember before you whine, they are probably getting paid much less than you are and are doing everything they can because the love this hobby. You know how people say you should at least be a food server once in your life to understand, I also think reefers should work at a LFS for a few months before they judge. Remember.... relax.
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Reef-o-Roni
Active member
Well said Hifiguy
I was there on Saturday and the service was very good. Got some nice Reef Stew. They stayed open for at least 30 minutes after normal closing to help customers since they knew that the PROP auction was that day. The didn't complain at all and were all very helpful. Infact, all three people working at the time helped me in some way.
Smokin Firebird
New member
lol at pets inc. dude i show up there and i have 2 ask someone to help me. the chick that works there does nothing. i have to ask if shes busy so that she can help me.
Smokin Firebird
New member
by the way i way just in there on friday. same crap happens all the time. i do give you this that they do have alot of fish and other thing that other stores dont have but man there costumer service suck
Hifiguy
Premium Member
At any store I hate people bugging me to be honest. They usually ask for like 30 min if they can help me and I always decline for a while. Usually when I'm ready I go and get some one and say ok I know what I want let me know when you have a min.
They come and get me when they are ready and we go from there.
Again most of the stores know me and don't bother me till I bug them.
If your having a problem seriously let them know. At pets Inc talk to Andy. I happened to speak to him on the phone a second ago (they got a fish in that I ordered) and he said to just tell him if people aren't helping you. They need to know this stuff so they can make sure the employees are doing their job correctly.
OK have fun all, I'm headed to dinner.
Shaun out.
They come and get me when they are ready and we go from there.
Again most of the stores know me and don't bother me till I bug them.
If your having a problem seriously let them know. At pets Inc talk to Andy. I happened to speak to him on the phone a second ago (they got a fish in that I ordered) and he said to just tell him if people aren't helping you. They need to know this stuff so they can make sure the employees are doing their job correctly.
OK have fun all, I'm headed to dinner.
Shaun out.
cpagego
New member
"We would all be completely SCREWED if all the fish stores closed." That is the bottom line.
My two cents: Expensive Hobby. Easy to get ripped off. Yes, at ATR prices are a little high, but they are professional and knowlegable and they have the best, quality inventory on the east side. If I REALLY need something I go to ATR. It is hit or miss at the others. Though, I buy most of my livestock on line or from other reefers unless I spy a really good deal at ATR. But, I do know this; if I got it from ATR it is prolly going to do well in my tank. Prices are better elsewhere but ATR is the real store for reef lovers! If I could shop there for about 30% less, I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Service is hit or miss based on how busy they are. Totally reasonable.
My two cents: Expensive Hobby. Easy to get ripped off. Yes, at ATR prices are a little high, but they are professional and knowlegable and they have the best, quality inventory on the east side. If I REALLY need something I go to ATR. It is hit or miss at the others. Though, I buy most of my livestock on line or from other reefers unless I spy a really good deal at ATR. But, I do know this; if I got it from ATR it is prolly going to do well in my tank. Prices are better elsewhere but ATR is the real store for reef lovers! If I could shop there for about 30% less, I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Service is hit or miss based on how busy they are. Totally reasonable.
EvilE
New member
I was at ATR today after work---I have bought most of my livestock from them, most of my salt, most of my fish/coral food, and some of my LR. I bought silversides and formula 1 & 2 today. They have always been very friendly, and helpful to me there. I ask Skip questions through PMs almost weekly (thanks Skip!!) I like ATR and their staff. I feel their prices are fair to good also. I have not lost a single fish from there either, and they are about the only SW fish store that offers a livestock guarantee!! ATR is top notch in my book.......
oct2274
New member
only thing i have ever had bad happen there is recently.........I got one of the Salifert Alk kits that has shown quite a few times to be inaccurate for many users here on RC. You can go to the salifert part of the RC forums to read more about this. Being very concerned I took my kit in to have them test it against another kit. When i took it in and explained that many people have proven this exact batch to be off, I kinda got the run around and the guy didn't really seem to want to test my kit to see if there was an issue. I finally got the guy to test my kit against their kit. When he brought the kit out that they used for the store it was the exact same batch as mine..... Obviously it wouldn't make sence to test my kit against theirs if they were the exact same kit, but he did it anyways and as expected the results were exactly the same. Sigh.........he wouldn't budge and told me my kit was perfectly fine. At the time I didn't have a job so I didn't want to go and buy another kit to find out if my kit was bad. To this day I don't know if my kit is bad, but i'm sure it is because of what i have seen from other people with my batch it is bad and their batch is bad too lol. It was kind of a frustrating experience..........
corivus
New member
sorry to hijack
I agree with you hifi, but I have not gone to Pets Inc in several months because of a really bad experience i had with them on two separate occasions, both dealing with freshwater but still it was bad.
rant
The first time I brought in a mated pair of Texas Chiclids and even told the guy at the FW section they were mated, what does he do? first he puts one in a tank with large Tiger Oscars who box the female into a corner to get at her, and then after I point this out to him he puts her into the Texas Chiclid(sp?) Tank and the Male into another tank. Once again I remind him about it and he's like "Oh you should of told me that I would of given you a better price on the credit." this is of course before I've even gone to get the store credit.
The second time, I was bringing in a Hypselecara temporalis (known as a jewel chiclid(sp?)/chocolate chiclid(sp?) for their coloring) And after keeping him in the bucket I brought him in with for over 20 minutes he finally dumped him in the 125 tank with an arrowanna(sp?) and some kind of bass, well both of those fish checked him out for a few seconds and left him alone after that when he snapped at them. After that I was waiting to get my credit for him and came around the corner to hear them cracking jokes about me and the fact that I wanted to get more then $15 store credit for a fully grown cichlid(sp?). Yes he was stressed out but they left him in the bucket for a awfully long time which caused him to look crappier then he would of looked when he colored up properly.
I've had quite a few other instances where something happened there that rubbed me the wrong way, like bad attitudes from the woman in the SW dept. thats no longer there etc. Pets Inc. gets trashed so much because the employee's there don't practice proper business beliefs. Heck I wouldn't of cared if they made fun of me after I left the store, but no they knew I was there and could be heard from across an aisle. All I can say is I don't want to shop there anymore.
I have never traded in any SW livestock because when I get it I find someone to pull the fish out of the tank if it looks good and make as little interaction as possible with their staff. They were the ones who convinced my girlfriend that I needed to get a fish to cycle the water. And yes the fish survived after she bought it and I still have it but they pretty much again said that "I didn't know what I was talking about" when she asked about the tank feeding method, or any of the natural ways of cycling that one can do.
In some ways I guess its good that I'm going to Tucson for two years, maybe by then Andy will have the place straightened out. And I have talked to him in the past when he wasn't busy. But how many times does one need to go to a manger when you get service like that? Seriously....
/rant
To add, i have never, NEVER had that kind of experience with About the Reef, the one reason is because if I go to a fish store, I'm not in a hurry I never go if I am, and I always double stock up on everything I need. And even from Day 1 I have had a good experience.
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buffalobunch
New member
I love ATR. It had to be an off day when you were there. Or maybe it's just you. I have never had a bad experience in there. Skip, Katie, Anthony and Chris are sooooo helpful. I almost always have my 3 kids with me too, that are 1,4 and 6. So, I think either you were having a bad day or ATR was and maybe you should give them a second chance.
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