LFSmarineguy
New member
Dory and Nemo is only bad when the kids start it up and the parents proceed to bring it to a whole new level, by calling every blue fish "Dory" and every clown "Nemo".
The other day a young couple came in, spent about 30 mins in the saltwater section before asking for help. They wanted "pretty" fish for their tank. After following them from tank to tank for another 20 mins telling them about each fish they pointed at I was asked, brace yourself..."How many of the Yellow Tangs can we put in our 10 gallon Tetra tank?" I quickly passed them onto another employee.
Me: "If you put Nemo in your goldfish bowl you'll kill him" this was to an adult.
Customer: I want a reef tank but I don't want to do a lot of water changes.
Me: The sharper image sells some really life like magnetic fish aquariums but you'll have to change the batteries regularly.
Customer: <dirty look>
I've come to embrace that dirty look, it gives me inner peace for about 5 minutes.
The worst customer by far though, is the "experienced" saltwater hobbyist who asks you questions even though they think they know the answers. They will grill you then proceed to argue with you about the information you just gave them until you show them in the numerous books in the store that they are in fact, utterly oblivious.
Another customer who I wish would spontaneously combust is that customer who you spend almost an hour with answering questions and telling them how to get their tank back on track so nothing should die so they can get more fish or whatever. They politely thank you and walk away. 5 mins later you see them talking to another employee asking the same exact questions trying to get them to tell them they can do whatever it is they want to do. I have taken to joining in when I see this happen just to see that uncomfortable look on the customer's face because they know I know what they're up to.
"But it's only going to grow to the size of the tank, right?" atleast 5 times day. I probably sound very bitter but if you had to rattle off the same information atleast 100 times a day, sometimes to the same people, you would understand my pain.
I could honestly write a book on just 1 day of customer encounters. The real victims here are the fish/ inverts.
The other day a young couple came in, spent about 30 mins in the saltwater section before asking for help. They wanted "pretty" fish for their tank. After following them from tank to tank for another 20 mins telling them about each fish they pointed at I was asked, brace yourself..."How many of the Yellow Tangs can we put in our 10 gallon Tetra tank?" I quickly passed them onto another employee.
Me: "If you put Nemo in your goldfish bowl you'll kill him" this was to an adult.
Customer: I want a reef tank but I don't want to do a lot of water changes.
Me: The sharper image sells some really life like magnetic fish aquariums but you'll have to change the batteries regularly.
Customer: <dirty look>
I've come to embrace that dirty look, it gives me inner peace for about 5 minutes.
The worst customer by far though, is the "experienced" saltwater hobbyist who asks you questions even though they think they know the answers. They will grill you then proceed to argue with you about the information you just gave them until you show them in the numerous books in the store that they are in fact, utterly oblivious.
Another customer who I wish would spontaneously combust is that customer who you spend almost an hour with answering questions and telling them how to get their tank back on track so nothing should die so they can get more fish or whatever. They politely thank you and walk away. 5 mins later you see them talking to another employee asking the same exact questions trying to get them to tell them they can do whatever it is they want to do. I have taken to joining in when I see this happen just to see that uncomfortable look on the customer's face because they know I know what they're up to.
"But it's only going to grow to the size of the tank, right?" atleast 5 times day. I probably sound very bitter but if you had to rattle off the same information atleast 100 times a day, sometimes to the same people, you would understand my pain.
I could honestly write a book on just 1 day of customer encounters. The real victims here are the fish/ inverts.
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