Arrogant LFS employee....
- Thread starter widmer
- Start date
tankguy001
New member
I also work in a LFS and If someone ask me a question and I don't know the answer I find it very easy to say I don't know. I don't have all the answers nor will I. One thing I've never done is make something up
InsaneClownFish
New member
Also agreed. Unfortunately, this sort of attitude/behavior usually starts with the owner.
I don't have a problem with it at all. I have worked at two pet stores so far in my life and its people like you that annoy me the most. The ones that already think they know everything and hate being told otherwise.
You based your information off of a website, liveaquaria at that. Just because they have great customer service doesn't mean that their information about fish is correct.
You have to be smart enough to decide what information is correct and what information isn't. Books, the internet, and forums are all good places but they aren't always right. You justified your being wrong by saying oh well it was liveaquaria, which is not good.
And then you revert back to your post count of all things to say oh well I am master of the forums kid (I know you didn't say anything about it but he was trying to help you and shoot the breeze at the same time) but post count is BS you could be in the lounge or some photography geek or something like that in one of the specialized forums for all we know. Just because you have a ton of posts doesn't say crap about knowing about fish.
LFS employee's get a bad rap on here, but no one ever talks about the good ones or the one's they drive hours to see or whatever. And I don't really see how he was a bad LFS employee.
You based your information off of a website, liveaquaria at that. Just because they have great customer service doesn't mean that their information about fish is correct.
You have to be smart enough to decide what information is correct and what information isn't. Books, the internet, and forums are all good places but they aren't always right. You justified your being wrong by saying oh well it was liveaquaria, which is not good.
And then you revert back to your post count of all things to say oh well I am master of the forums kid (I know you didn't say anything about it but he was trying to help you and shoot the breeze at the same time) but post count is BS you could be in the lounge or some photography geek or something like that in one of the specialized forums for all we know. Just because you have a ton of posts doesn't say crap about knowing about fish.
LFS employee's get a bad rap on here, but no one ever talks about the good ones or the one's they drive hours to see or whatever. And I don't really see how he was a bad LFS employee.
widmer
Drug Enthusiast
tcmfish not sure what your problem is... But please forgive me for relying on liveaquaria, the potentially best-regarded website on here for ordering livestock. Or for relying on the fact that another LFS which has never steered me wrong keeps them in stock. Or for relying on the fact that no one has ever told me they are difficult to keep, when they have come up in previous threads. I guess you're right, it's my fault for not scouring the internet because these sources aren't reliable enough. Glad you're in Florida if you currently work at an LFS or any other place that deals with customer service 
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sikpupy
In Memoriam
Sounds like the guy was kowledgable and because of this fact cocky. I see both sides of the coin. It looks like the original poster had an ego and the LFS guy had a slightly bigger one, though since the LFS guy is there to help the populace, he should have been a little more concerned. Convo could have gone like
Me: Hi, can I ask you something?
Employee: You bet, what can I do for you?
Me: Do you carry a rainford's goby?
Employee: No we don’t, sorry.
Me: Do you carry a hector's goby?
Employee: No, unfortionatly not.
Me: Oh ok...
Employee: (smile and chuckle “in a friendly wayâ€Âand say) Your not doing to good (wait for a smile or chuckle from the customer then say) If you want to go for a third strike (chuckling again), ask me if we have a mandarin that eats frozen food.
Me:Um...
Employee: Seriously though, those two fish are notoriously difficult to keep alive so we rarely ever have them in.
Me: Oh, funny, the website didn't say anything about them being difficult to care for.
Employee: Well you might want to try reading more than one website before you decide on a fish.
Me: It was liveaquaria, but I have not checked all avenues, was just going with what they said.
Employee: (politly explain that live aquaria isn’t the end all of all end alls) might want to double check the internet for info on how hard they are to keep. (then show concern for how hard it is, talk to the customer about the purchase decision he wants to make.)
Me: Ok (mentally trying to recall for myself how many posts I have at this point)...
Communication in close sales like that is key to customer loyalty. You would be surprised as to how many customers you can keep not knowing squat but show concern, and, how many you can keep just by showing concern.
I went to a store that sold me cheato LOADED with coraline (I belive thats what it was not that I have seen everything out there, lol). At the time I did not know what it was but I DID know I didnt want coroline in my tank. The cheato looked ugly, I wanted green green healthy cheato. I brought it back showing concern for the colored aglea. Assistant manager (I belive) came out with an attitude and grabbed a book, flipped through some pages and said "does it look like that?". I asked if it goes away? She said sometimes it does and sometimes it does not. Not really knowing what it was in the first place, it kinda made me queesy not knowing if I identified, with her, the right thing or not. Would it kill my tank? Would I be okay? She basiclly said it happens and it is normal. Hmm, normal for green cheato to be red? No concern for me, no concern for the crap she sold me. Snotty arogant b***y attitude lost my sales. I dont care if thats the biggest store in the area, AC in VA lost my sales and support.
I was at a LFS where my friend bought a tank from him and a custom stand. I came in without my wallet and new I would not be back but he had this most beautiful flame I have ever seen. This flame has colors like a floresent painted plastic fish under a blacklight, in regular daylight. Needless to say, even though I did not like flames too much and this one won me over, I had to have it. Even though he was asking a high price for it I asked the guy if I could take him on credit and pay when I get back to my friends house, where my wallet was. With out batting an eye, he said sure. I figured he would seeing as he made enough money off my friend. Moral of the story…. He has way higher prices than any one else. Would I have been bothered if he said no? No. Would I buy another fish from him, mmm, maybe, maybe not, but, he is in my mind to drop by his store any time I am in the area. That could just land him another impulse purchase.
Me: Hi, can I ask you something?
Employee: You bet, what can I do for you?
Me: Do you carry a rainford's goby?
Employee: No we don’t, sorry.
Me: Do you carry a hector's goby?
Employee: No, unfortionatly not.
Me: Oh ok...
Employee: (smile and chuckle “in a friendly wayâ€Âand say) Your not doing to good (wait for a smile or chuckle from the customer then say) If you want to go for a third strike (chuckling again), ask me if we have a mandarin that eats frozen food.
Me:Um...
Employee: Seriously though, those two fish are notoriously difficult to keep alive so we rarely ever have them in.
Me: Oh, funny, the website didn't say anything about them being difficult to care for.
Employee: Well you might want to try reading more than one website before you decide on a fish.
Me: It was liveaquaria, but I have not checked all avenues, was just going with what they said.
Employee: (politly explain that live aquaria isn’t the end all of all end alls) might want to double check the internet for info on how hard they are to keep. (then show concern for how hard it is, talk to the customer about the purchase decision he wants to make.)
Me: Ok (mentally trying to recall for myself how many posts I have at this point)...
Communication in close sales like that is key to customer loyalty. You would be surprised as to how many customers you can keep not knowing squat but show concern, and, how many you can keep just by showing concern.
I went to a store that sold me cheato LOADED with coraline (I belive thats what it was not that I have seen everything out there, lol). At the time I did not know what it was but I DID know I didnt want coroline in my tank. The cheato looked ugly, I wanted green green healthy cheato. I brought it back showing concern for the colored aglea. Assistant manager (I belive) came out with an attitude and grabbed a book, flipped through some pages and said "does it look like that?". I asked if it goes away? She said sometimes it does and sometimes it does not. Not really knowing what it was in the first place, it kinda made me queesy not knowing if I identified, with her, the right thing or not. Would it kill my tank? Would I be okay? She basiclly said it happens and it is normal. Hmm, normal for green cheato to be red? No concern for me, no concern for the crap she sold me. Snotty arogant b***y attitude lost my sales. I dont care if thats the biggest store in the area, AC in VA lost my sales and support.
I was at a LFS where my friend bought a tank from him and a custom stand. I came in without my wallet and new I would not be back but he had this most beautiful flame I have ever seen. This flame has colors like a floresent painted plastic fish under a blacklight, in regular daylight. Needless to say, even though I did not like flames too much and this one won me over, I had to have it. Even though he was asking a high price for it I asked the guy if I could take him on credit and pay when I get back to my friends house, where my wallet was. With out batting an eye, he said sure. I figured he would seeing as he made enough money off my friend. Moral of the story…. He has way higher prices than any one else. Would I have been bothered if he said no? No. Would I buy another fish from him, mmm, maybe, maybe not, but, he is in my mind to drop by his store any time I am in the area. That could just land him another impulse purchase.
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clockman
New member
This guy definitely had the wrong attitude with you. Salesmanship is a always very important when dealing with the public. It sounds like you did the research Widmer but it does bug me when I hear of people wanting to buy 6 clownfish to put in a 29 gallon tank. Obviously they took no time to do the research first and this day and age, there is no excuse for that.
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I don't have a problem and I don't currently work at a LFS, but you should use multiple sources.
Ever read the tank recommendations on liveaquaria?
I was just pointing out that post count doesn't matter, you shouldn't put up a wall when a LFS employee gives advice, but rather determine if that advice is good or not, and that sure he might have been a little cocky but that doesn't make it wrong.
Ever read the tank recommendations on liveaquaria?
I was just pointing out that post count doesn't matter, you shouldn't put up a wall when a LFS employee gives advice, but rather determine if that advice is good or not, and that sure he might have been a little cocky but that doesn't make it wrong.
Aquabucket
Premium Member
Kudos to the LFS for not stocking these fish. If a hobbyist has a tank that meets their requirements let them special order it. These fish will just waste away other wise. The original OP learned something that he did not know before. Some people are just a bit too high strung in this hobby. Sounds like two people with the same mind set collided that day. Time to move on.
LandsharK.W.
New member
working at a LFS i agree with most people who have posted on this thread. the guy sounds knowledgeable, however he sounds like a douche. you arent wrong to be mad at the employee's attitude, because it wasnt exactly friendly. i also never made anything up if i dont know the answer. we sell primarily freshwater with a smaller SW section and even though im pretty knowledgeable on SW, if theres anything we get in that i dont know about i look it up in the fish/coral books we sell. as for freshwater, we have no books as of right now so i cant look it up, i just ask a fellow employee.
but to sum it up... the employee was wrong for acting that way, however take whatever he has to say to heart. at least he steered you in the right direction!
but to sum it up... the employee was wrong for acting that way, however take whatever he has to say to heart. at least he steered you in the right direction!
aninjaatemyshoe
New member
It is a good thing the LFS takes a stance against selling these fish when they know the average aquarist isn't going to be able to keep them alive. However, I don't particularly care for sales employees taking an arrogant or haughty attitude with customers. Sorry, it is your job to deal with ignorant customers asking the same basic questions over and over and over again. I don't feel sorry for you that you get annoyed with people asking "stupid" questions. You get paid to do it, suck it up. In this case, it's not even like this guy came with a bad attitude. He just asked a question, one that no doubt has been asked many times before. I've worked in retail before and yeah it sucked, but I always had a smile and polite answers for customers. If I owned the LFS, I wouldn't let my employees deal with customers like that.
widmer
Drug Enthusiast
Can we steer this a different direction and explain what makes these fish difficult to keep? Because they both are so good looking, the right size for my tank and inexpensive at one of my LFS's. This is the first time I've heard anything about them being difficult to keep.
Peter Eichler
New member
I've posted about these fish a lot and it's on the difficult and special care species list sticky in the reef fish forum.
Also, here's one recent thread about them. I feel there's a lot of bad info on Rainford's and Hector's even from typically reliable experts.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1543918
Also, here's one recent thread about them. I feel there's a lot of bad info on Rainford's and Hector's even from typically reliable experts.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1543918
darkdruid
New member
I worked fish stores for over 10 years and ran the propagation and breeding section of a fairly large facility (formerly known as Captive Bred Corals) I've had aquariums for over 35 years also. So I have been and can see both sides. After you hear 25 stupid people a day ask the same stupid questions over and over, it can really get on your nerves.
I had one guy who came in and wanted 17 different saltwater fish at one time, quite a bit to add to any tank at one time. So I started asking him questions about his setup and was told to shut up and bag his fish, he knew what he was doing. The next day he brought all 17 back in, dead. He had put them in a freshwater tank. He was royally ticked off when I refused to give him a refund, after all, he knew what he was doing.
Sometimes after a few of those a day it can be hard to be a perfect salesman. You never know the experience level of someone the first time they come in, so you start at beginners level when you talk to them and move up as the conversation continues until you establish how much they know. So if you get treated like an idiot in the beginning, don't take it personally.
I had one guy who came in and wanted 17 different saltwater fish at one time, quite a bit to add to any tank at one time. So I started asking him questions about his setup and was told to shut up and bag his fish, he knew what he was doing. The next day he brought all 17 back in, dead. He had put them in a freshwater tank. He was royally ticked off when I refused to give him a refund, after all, he knew what he was doing.
Sometimes after a few of those a day it can be hard to be a perfect salesman. You never know the experience level of someone the first time they come in, so you start at beginners level when you talk to them and move up as the conversation continues until you establish how much they know. So if you get treated like an idiot in the beginning, don't take it personally.
Tcmfish, You are probably the guy hes talking about.LOL Seriously it's interesting to hear both sides of the story. Whats interesting to me is all the talk about " when people come in and ask me the same D#$% question it gets on my nerves". It's funny because that is the profession you chose. If I was a owner of a LFS, no matter how bad it got on my nerves I would still put on a smile and try to educate that person the best I could. Because in the end they are the people that wright your paycheck. Everyone starts in this hobby some where, and some take advice better then others. And I'm sure at some point during some conversation we all thought we knew better then some one else. And no I don't think it's right to bash a local Fish store on a thread. Some people just need to vent, and this is the place.
