Bay Area: the Worst aquarium store experience

[flamehawkfish]

hello...

Just a quick heads-up to anyone in the Bay Area...

There's a new store in San Francisco called, "Fish, Fish, and More Fish". It's located on Lombard St, and positions itself as a high-end specialty store for saltwater & reef hobbyists only. Sounds great; right? That's what I thought, until I visited...

I slowly passed through the store. After pondering which creature would be best suited for my tank, I decided on a bright red pseudochromis. However, I couldn't see its full body as the pseudo was hiding in the rocks. I asked the sales associate for his help, and this dialogue ensued...

ME (customer): Hi, there. I'm interested in that little pseudochromis, but I can't really see it. Can you feed it, so it'll come out? I'm sure flakes, or whatever will work...

Sales Associate: Well, we don't give our fish flakes. Only frozen mysis, and brine blends.

ME: OK. That's fine. Can you feed them that?

SA: No. We fed them earlier in the day.

ME: So, are you saying that I can't see the fish eat.

SA (directed to his coworker): C'mon. Let's go back. (He proceeds to walk away from me.)

ME (following the sales associate): Hey. Wait. You don't need to be standoffish about it. I just wanted to see the fish eat.

SA: Yeah, I'm standoffish- and we told you. They already ate, and they don't eat flakes. That's it. What else do you want?

ME: Look; you don't need to chew me out. I've never been here before, and thought that I might represent a new customer for you guys.

SA: We don't need your business. Get out.

ME: Hold on. I'm not trying to disrupt your feeding cycles. I just wanted to see the fish eat.

SA: And we TOLD you why we can't. Get out of here. I don't need your business. Just get out.

ME: This is how you treat customers?

SA: Get out. Go to 6th Avenue if you want. Just get out. I don't need your business.

I ended up leaving the store, totally confused, angry, and beside myself. I relived the humiliating experience again & again in my mind, wondering how I could have set this guy off. I strongly discourage ANYONE from going to this "Fish, Fish, and More Fish". It was the worst 'customer service' I've ever endured.

Flamehawkfish

 

[schristi69]

They won't last long. Word gets around

 

[mr pink floyd]

you really wanna hit them hard, post it in the reef club forums for that area...

 

[sloshesv]

Wow, what a total a-hole. Spread the word.

 

[Aquabucket]

A good LFS takes pride in getting their fish to feed. I make it a point to try to show the fish feeding as a selling point. The guy has no clue and won't be selling many fish with that attitude!

 

[EB847]

had a similar experience at a lfs. that soab went out of business 6 months later! aaaaaaaaahahahhahahahahhahahahahaha! this punk scrared the crap out of my daughter. she still talks about it 2 years later. i wanted to hurt him.

 

[JmLee]

lol i bet he had no idea what he started when he treated you like that!. lol, spread the word flamehawkfish!.

 

[Aquabucket]

famehawkfish ~

You should post your experience here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=298

http://www.bareefers.org/

 

[mhurley]

As suggested, this local forum is probably better than a national forum like RD.

[moved]

 

[Elite]

Dang.. That is bad..

 

[sfsuphysics]

Hmmm I wonder if this is the same place that people went to in the midst of the SF tank tour, I seem to recall Andy mentioned getting harrassed for not signing the back of his credit card.

Good thing it wasn't me, I'd probably lose it and start yelling at the guy. Either way, doubt I'll ever shop there. And that's bad for them because the higher-end market of San Francisco is really a smaller nitch, and there's too much better stuff in other areas for people not from SF

 

[Blu50Stang]

Good to know...I'll avoid the place.

 

[flamehawkfish]

Everyone!

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate it.

As I endured that episode, I felt like I was in Alice In Wonderland. I was so blindsided, I couldn't even compose a proper response. I wish I could turn back the clock...all the counterattacks I COULD have slammed on him!

Oh, well. Maybe reporting my story on Reefcentral is my best comeback.

Let's see if "Fish, Fish, and More Fish" is still in biz a few months from now.

Flamehawkfish

 

[mdt178]

my guess is that the dude just didn't want to catch that fish, rocks and all.
regardless, that attitude is uncalled for. hopefully, someone will notify the owner. i'd rather see improvement in their customer service than a reef store going out of business.

 

[Vincerama2]

Yeah, that's too bad.

Usually, I'd give it a shrug and say "he was having a bad day" but saying "We don't need your business, get out" is sort of extreme. I guess he doesn't need MY business either.

Thanks for the heads up.

You'd think that retailers would understand that goodwill/badwill gets around, especially in a hobby related businesses.

As an example, AquaC, the skimmer guys have given me such amazing customer support that it would be the tipping scales for me if I had to buy another skimmer! (ie; he sent me spare parts for free when a part failed (dried up o-ring from USED skimmer I bought), then helped me tune it... stuff you'd expect from customer service!)

But nothing irks me more than rude sales staff, and you can't get much ruder than "we don't need your business, get out!"

V

 

[otterpop510]

wow.. that definitely is not good business. has anyone else tried to shop there? i remember someone telling me of some bad customer service with a new fish store in sf around lombard, maybe this is the place..

 

[zivic2play]

Yeah, I've been there before. I actually got a jawfish from them. I also asked them to feed the fish. They did. This was during their initial opening though. Could've been a bad day for them or maybe they've changed their ways. But definitely not the right way to treat your customers.

 

[GreshamH]

Eeesh, never heard of em, but wow, what customer service :lol:

 

[750reef]

Yes, that is the same place we visited on the SF tour.

 

[radiolunatic]

I have been to Fish, Fish and More Fish many times as I am working in the city and if I go home via Golden Gate Bridge, I pass by the store. My experience is quite opposite with yours. I bought a lot of fish from them because they take care of their fish. You can see that the store and the tank is very clean as well. I do not want to dispute your experience with them as I was not there, but they always feed their fish when I asked to see if the fish is healthy or not. I have seen they are doing the same to other customers. Last time I bought sunburst anthias, they even hold it for me for 2 weeks to make sure the fish is healthy and eating. One thing also, when I visit them the first time, they are not allowing a newbie to buy a fish before he let the tank cycle. In my opinion, it is a big plus. They do not just want to sell the fish, but they do it the right way. I do not have problems with all the fish that I got from them, that is why I keep coming back for healthy fish.