Opportunity Missed

[freddie40]

Today I visited a LFS up North. I looked over their selection of Acans and picked out 2 that I wanted to purchase. Although the employee offered to help I waited so that I could talk with the owner (I had driven many many miles). After 20 minutes of overhearing the owner whine about people selling corals out of their house and group buys that were hurtng his business, he still had not said hi to me. I realize that there was only me in the shop besides the couple that he was chatting with but I was willing to drop over $200 on Acans. To be honest I will never go to his shop again and I recommend that no one else go either. It really bothered me that he couldn't spend 30 seconds to try and make a sale, yet he was willing to whine for 20 minutes about how people where hurting his business.

Dave

 

[Zooid]

I'm interested in where....
thanks
Gale

 

[freddie40]

Front Range Aquatics.

Dave

 

[rmougey]

Too bad you didn't choose Greeley for your trip north. Jon is great.

Personally, I've chosen not to shop that other store.

-Rob

 

[katyttt]

He is pushing us off the MASC website as well, hates the group buy idea, and seems to think everyone is out to hurt his business.
Just my .02,
Chris

 

[Zooid]

He's pushing you off the website?
I hope MASC isn't allowing this.
How can we hurt his business if most of us don't want to drive that far to buy frags? If I want to drive that far north, I'll go to Don's Hobbies. At least Jon maintains a presence in the forums and attempts to help us gain knowledge.

 

[katyttt]

FRA

FRA

The MASC board agreed to allow us to post a notice of our group buys, but now they are getting flak from LFS ( they did say more than one) so they have asked us to post a retraction type notice and then we will be moved to the business sponsor list at the bottom of the page with no forum back and forth communication.
But I am sure I have said too much already.
I agree though Jon is great, as well as his representatives, I have seen them at several frag swaps, helping out newbies and hobbyists alike with tons of info.
Chris

 

[rmougey]

Hey Chris,

I'm curious. When you do a group buy, are you passing on your direct cost or are you taking a percentage to help cover your costs? I don't know what model you are using. If you are simply passing the cost directly, then indeed it's a group buy that should be listed in the main GB pages.

If you are purchasing your goods and then taking a percentage over your cost, then that is a discount retail operation. You should be posted on the business sponsor list.

Both are acceptable models, but how it gets represented on the MASC site should reflect your model.

As the Economy continues to falter, there will be more and more tension between LFS and avenues that they perceive are taking dollars from their pocket. Retail is a tough place to be. Go buy something from your favorite LFS and tell them that you support them. There is no entitlement to exclusivity though.

-Rob

 

[outlaw60]

Nice post Rob, I second that motion

 

[freddie40]

I went to Don's Hobbies today and had a very nice experience today. I walked in and John immediately said hello and after a few minutes showed me every Acan he had. I looked over every one very carefully and after a while I picked out a very pretty pink one. The money I would have spent at FRA was instead spent at Don's.

Dave

 

[katyttt]

Spent $30 at Aquamart last week, and certainly want to support the LFS, I recommend 3-4 of my favorite shops about 20 times a week in the business that I am in. In fact I think I saw Dave (Freddie40) at Aquamart with a armload of supplies supporting another LFS as well.
Chris

 

[BrianD]

Do we really need to hear this in different forums? Closed.