Welcome. Did you bring it up to the staff or owner of either store that you had a bad experience? If so what was their response? I'm not defending anything they did, however for those of us that have been in town and have quit patronizing any of the stores, keep in mind that these guys are local, our money spent in the hobby stays here for the most part, by going straight to the Internet or phx the money doesnt help people and families in Tucson. Those people then spend money here on other goods and services here in town helping others locally. Even if you aren't a regular patron of either, sooner or later you may need a bulkhead, water, or place to house your livestock in an emergency. By not supporting anything local these places may not be around when you need it. Let's face it, the saltwater community here isn't growing much.
I hear ya man and I consider some of the owners, employees and managers of the stores friends but they gotta get better. It's no coincidence that all the new people that come to this town are like "what the heck". Honestly I have taken a lot of my business to the Internet and it has nothing to do with prices, it has to do with superior customer service. In fact I probably pay more $$$ cause I gotta pay for shipping which cost me more only being available Saturdays. I've honestly been biting my tongue on this issue for a while and have kept quiet cause I really like most of the guys affiliated with the LFS in this town. I love when this town gets together for swaps and have always thought it would be cool to have a club. I do still jump in my car and drive across town to check out the livestock and almost never buy anything anymore. Maybe we can turn this thread into a tool for the local stores to use? Instead of turning this into a bashing thread, let these stores know what they can do better. What would everyone like to see be better? Please keep it kind but to the point. Ill add a few. Hopefully mods will let his one stay and understand these businesses would not benefit from sponsorship and this feedback is for the customers not for advertisement purposes. Please do understand that this thread won't last long if its taken as bashing, keep it cool everyone. Also if we can let's keep store names out of it.
Here is a few things I'd like to see myself, I gotta confess I'm not completely familiar with all the different store policies so some of these things might already be happening. Also different stores have different issues, don't assume I'm talking about just one store.
Clean store and tanks
- I never want to see a dead fish on the bottom of a tank
- Algae happens but the bottoms of the tanks shouldn't be covered in it.
- Sickly fish should be moved out of view, nobody's gonna buy them in that state anyway, It makes me really nervous to purchase a fish from a tank when there's another fish with full blown ich or a nasty case of lymphocytes.
- The floor is gonna be wet at times after all its a fish store but there is a difference between a little wet and just plain nasty.
Guarantee on fish
- this one is kinda weird cause you gotta understand some customers aren't doing what they should be especially those new to the hobby. I myself occasionally have expensive taste in fish and it would be great to have a little insurance that I'm getting a healthy fish for my investment. It's hard to drop the cash locally when I know the vendor I use on line is gonna take care of me with almost no questions asked.
Competitive pricing
- I'm not expecting wholesale prices but if I can order it online including shipping for less your over priced IMO. I completely understand the stores gotta make money too but they gotta be competitive, if I can get that $200 fish for $89 online, guess where Im gonna get it. I love to spend my money locally but I gotta eat too. Another big issue with me is with prices being easy for the customer to find. This should never be or seem like a guess. I think I speak for everybody, employees and customers a like when say nobody wants to play "how much is this", " how much is this" etc etc......
Honesty
- If you say your gonna do something, do it. If for some reason you can't, communication is key. This goes a long way with guarantee too, if you offer to replace a bad purchase write it down and make sure it happens. Good intentions only stay good if they are followed through with. A store log that is followed during ordering goes along way but only when it's used.
To all concerned I hope this is more useful than offensive, many of you have my number, if you feel the need to talk about anything more please pick up the phone. I'm very pationate about this hobby and have been around a long time and I'm willing to help any way possible to make the reef scene better in this town.
