ATTN: LFS employees

[Sarcophyton874]

My LFS boss use to always tell me "Don't sell people crap they don't REALLY need." Of course, I didn't believe him personally for one second, but this was the way I handled my sales.

Anyways, one day this guy comes in with dead African Cichlid. So I do a water test for him and his pH is below 7. I told him and the boss that the pH of the water was far too low for this type of fish. The guy immediately says "WELLLL..I GOT THE WATER FROM HERE!!" and he points to the RO water tank. I said well RO water has a pH of 7 whereas this fish needs something around 8. Before I could say "Just use dechlorinated tap water", the boss said, "Using the RO water is ideal because it's pure, but you'll also need to buy buffer to bring the pH up."

So much for selling customers something they don't need. Either way he would of needed to buy something (dechlor. or buffer). But the boss wanted his 0.30/gal for his RO water. :rolleye1:

 

[yoimb0b]

I have been working at a lfs for about a year now, and one example of a dumb customer comes to mind.

Man and his wife are looking at our fancy goldfish, there are 4 tanks, with small, medium, large, and jumbo goldfish in them. Well we had just moved some fish around, and had not updated the prices yet to reflect those changes.

Man: "Sir, how much are these jumbo goldfish"
Me: "well depending on which one they are $24.99-39.99"
Man: Well the price says $11.99"
Me: those were for the medium goldfish, we just switched them around so we havent updated the price yet"
Man: "Well the price says 11.99, so can i get them for 11.99"
Me: well no, there price is on the tank below, see, we switched them, *points to tank below with their prices*
Man: You guys are false advertising, id like to speak with your manager, These fish should be their listed price on the tank"
me: I dont understand the problem here sir, you asked me how much they were, i told you. The price is listed one tank below.
Man: get me your manager, this is not good business

So now im baffled, as i really don't see what this man was making such a big deal out of, so i get the manager, and tyr to explain the situation

manager: whats the problem here?
Man: This tank says the goldfish are $11.99, so I want to get 2 for $11.99"
manager: well see we just switched their tanks about 10 minutes ago and did not rearrange their prices yet, sorry for the mishap, if you would like, I will sell you them for $19.99 each instead of $24.99?
Man: well when were you planning on changing these prices? RIGHT NOW?

At this point me and the manager were really confused, so i got a sharpie, and right in front of his face changed the prices, asking him if that solves the problem?

he ends up buying 2 goldfish, but i havent seen him back since. Some people are just dumb...

 

[Musho3210]

if a kid talks about nemo near you you should very loudly talk about how babies are made, that should keep his mind off nemo for a while....

its kinda sad how me, a 14 year old kid thats never taken a full on biology class can tell the difference between salt and fresh water while adults who are living medium-high class lives cant tell the difference. Did you go to school? Are you really that stupid? Is this what the world has come to? You do know the ocean is salt water and you do know finding nemo took place in the ocean half the time right? So why do you put your fish in freshwater?

 

[Fishdude1984]

going to school no longer means you have an education, i know a person with a masters degrees in mechanical engineering that doesn't know how to tie her shoes(I'm not making that up) i also have a friend in the Navy (a graduate of the Naval academy) who is a tech on nuclear reactors on a submarine who once threw a brick in the air and watched it as it hit him in the head and cracked his skull open, he was ten then, and when he was 17 he showed us what he was doing at the time, AND DID IT AGAIN!

 

[aznlmpulse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10615034#post10615034 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yoimb0b
I have been working at a lfs for about a year now, and one example of a dumb customer comes to mind.

Man and his wife are looking at our fancy goldfish, there are 4 tanks, with small, medium, large, and jumbo goldfish in them. Well we had just moved some fish around, and had not updated the prices yet to reflect those changes.

Man: "Sir, how much are these jumbo goldfish"
Me: "well depending on which one they are $24.99-39.99"
Man: Well the price says $11.99"
Me: those were for the medium goldfish, we just switched them around so we havent updated the price yet"
Man: "Well the price says 11.99, so can i get them for 11.99"
Me: well no, there price is on the tank below, see, we switched them, *points to tank below with their prices*
Man: You guys are false advertising, id like to speak with your manager, These fish should be their listed price on the tank"
me: I dont understand the problem here sir, you asked me how much they were, i told you. The price is listed one tank below.
Man: get me your manager, this is not good business

So now im baffled, as i really don't see what this man was making such a big deal out of, so i get the manager, and tyr to explain the situation

manager: whats the problem here?
Man: This tank says the goldfish are $11.99, so I want to get 2 for $11.99"
manager: well see we just switched their tanks about 10 minutes ago and did not rearrange their prices yet, sorry for the mishap, if you would like, I will sell you them for $19.99 each instead of $24.99?
Man: well when were you planning on changing these prices? RIGHT NOW?

At this point me and the manager were really confused, so i got a sharpie, and right in front of his face changed the prices, asking him if that solves the problem?

he ends up buying 2 goldfish, but i havent seen him back since. Some people are just dumb...

Well..I have to agree with the customer here. That Was false advertisement, and he should've been able to get the fish for 11.99 regardless how how recent the tank change was. Yeah the store wou've lost out on 16 bucks, but he would've been a returning customer for god know's how long. On the other hand, the store got their 16 bucks, lost a customer for good, and got free negative advertising from the irate customer that's telling everyone he knows not to go to your store.

Just my opinion.

You don't graduate from the academy to become a tech on a nuc sub. There's no such job or title for officers.

<-ex submariner

 

[mcrist]

I agree… A good manager would have taken down the signs before moving the product.

 

[Fishdude1984]

aznlmpulse, he is a midshipman, maybe hes not a tech but he dose something with them

 

[aznlmpulse]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10615918#post10615918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishdude1984
aznlmpulse, he is a midshipman, maybe hes not a tech but he dose something with them

so...he hasn't graduated yet. No offense to your friend, but all midi's do is use up water, take up rack space, eat the food, breath up oxygen and get in the way... They don't really do anything technical, especially not in the power plant.

 

[ILoveLlamas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10335462#post10335462 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kannin
Ok... so I don't work at a lfs but there is this store in my area. It is staffed with young kids that probably don't know too much.

I kind of resent this. I am a "young kid" who works at an LFS, and myself, and the rest of our employees young and older are quite knowledgeable. Please do not make assumptions of people based on age.

 

[Freed]

OK back to the thread topic. Please take your discussion to PMs. Thanks.

 

[seapug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10615853#post10615853 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aznlmpulse
Well..I have to agree with the customer here. That Was false advertisement, and he should've been able to get the fish for 11.99 regardless how how recent the tank change was. Yeah the store wou've lost out on 16 bucks, but he would've been a returning customer for god know's how long. On the other hand, the store got their 16 bucks, lost a customer for good, and got free negative advertising from the irate customer that's telling everyone he knows not to go to your store.

Just my opinion.

<-ex submariner

I'd have to disagree with you. There's a difference between "false advertising" and an honest mislabeling tanks during a livestock transfer. Yes, the manager should have taken down the signs to keep cheapskates from walking in and doing what this guy did, but there are some people who will never be satisfied. That guy was just intentionally being a pain and trying to take advantage of an honest mistake that you fully explained to him PRIOR to him purchasing the fish. If you would have sold him the fish at the incorrect price on the tank and he bought one and became a "satisfied customer," next time he came in and the tanks were labeled correctly he'd accuse you of price gouging and expect to pay the same he did last time he came in. I know the type and it does a business no good to attempt to foster a relationship with people like that. Good bye and don't let the door hit you in the *** on your way out.

 

[Sarcophyton874]

yoimb0b, your story reminds me of something...

There use to be this guy at my LFS who would come in and look at the African Cichlids for hours. We started to wonder if he was trying to make love to them or something but eventually we caught him physically changing price tags. The owner kicked him out and told him to never come back. The sad thing was it was Wednesday, the day when everyone gets a 25% discount on livestock. It brought cheapness to a WHOLE....NUDDUH...LEVEL.

KEEP THIS THREAD GOING!! THIS IS AN AWESOME THREAD!!

 

[Fish Filet]

Well, I was in my LFS and over heard the owner explain to a gentleman the use of protein skimmers. My interest piqued, I started to pay attention to what he was saying and heard the most unbelievable statement I've heard to this day. So far as reef keeping goes. He pointed to a SeaClone 100 and said "And this here is the Cadillac of all skimmers. Second to none, it's the best skimmer on the market right now, because you see what it says on the box? It harnesses the power of nature. Inside this tube it creates a massive tornado like effect to break down organic wastes, and I have it on sale for a 150 bucks."

Much to my chagrin, the gentleman ended up buying the SeaClone.

 

[boviac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10615918#post10615918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishdude1984
aznlmpulse, he is a midshipman, maybe hes not a tech but he dose something with them

Ha! midshipman... That's right... he isn't even an Ensign-nificant yet. NUB -Non-Useful b*st*rd. Oh I just love the negativity coming back from those days. It is true - the grass is greener.
<- ex-nuke (power plant operator)

 

[kathainbowen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10649687#post10649687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sarcophyton874
yoimb0b, your story reminds me of something...

There use to be this guy at my LFS who would come in and look at the African Cichlids for hours. We started to wonder if he was trying to make love to them or something but eventually we caught him physically changing price tags. The owner kicked him out and told him to never come back. The sad thing was it was Wednesday, the day when everyone gets a 25% discount on livestock. It brought cheapness to a WHOLE....NUDDUH...LEVEL.

KEEP THIS THREAD GOING!! THIS IS AN AWESOME THREAD!!

Lol.

I actually had an issue with this, too.

We'd gotten in a trade for a rare pleco variety (a gorgeous, huge zebra pleco, well, huge for them). My manager set the price at $199.99, partly because it was worth it but also because we had a tag for it at that price. So, we put the tag up AND write on the tank the price, since we both decided to either keep it for as long as possible, or sell it right away before we got attached to it (he was really cool).

A guy came in to buy him, so I asked several times if he was sure (*this is a two hundred dollar pleco afterall- I wouldn't be caught dead spending that much unless it was someone else's money!) I even point to the price on the tank (*still saying $199.99) Well, he agrees, even after I check a second time, so I bag him up to go. Well, there's a line at the register and another line forming back in the fish room. So, I bid him goodluck, made sure he was versed in acclimation and feeding, before returning to the fish room.... only to get a call that there's a discrepancy with the price.

Man: "This fish was $19.99"

Me: "No, I'm sorry. You must have been mistaken with the large altums in the same tank with him. This is a zebra pleco. He's $199.99."

Man: "No, there was a different price on the tank. What kind of a business are you trying to pull here?"

Me: "I assure you, the price was set to $199.99. I pointed it out to you, remember?"

So, I went back into the fish room to see what had happened. He scratched the last nine off. This left the price as "$199.9" I took the tag from off the bottom shelf, went up the register, and placed it down on the counter to show him the original price.

Me: "I'm sorry, this was the original price, but it seems someone has lowered the price. Someone has changed it from $199.99 to $199.90. I apologize for the mistake."

 

[mcrist]

That was a good response to a customer who was obviously trying to rip you off.

 

[NitroJunkie]

I friend of mine works at the LFS where i get my stuff from. They caught someone, dont ask me how. They did it several times, but they were coming in with a travel type coffee mug, going to the back and catching a fish/inverts/whatever, when no one was around and walking out.

 

[ILoveLlamas]

Before I started working at our LFS, they had a man try to steal bulbs by putting them in his legs. He was apparently quite good at walking without knees..

 

[thecichlidpleco]

Where are these $200 zebra plecos, I would take one at that price, but here is another example of how bad LFS employees can be.
I ask for four astreas, he reaches into the tank, and clearly just grabs a snail he has no idea what it is, I tell him that those are margaretta snails, he tells me oh, I am not good at saltwater, then why the hell are you helping me or trying to decide what snail I want, if you the employee do not know, ask me.

 

[JJ21]

lets keep it going people