Things customers told you that you knew weren't true
- Thread starter Mgamer20o0
- Start date
Not all customers are bad. There are times that you get a customer that is just awesome. I have had a few that came to me with a problem. We play 20 questions, plan a course of action to get them on track and now he is working on tank #3 and that is just in about 4 months. Of course I gave him this web site as well and he came back with praises for AC. He is doing awesome. There are others too that I have learned from. I always try and keep an open mind and try to be honest. I think that helps a lot.
Then you have that customer that knows it all and won't listen at all or doesn't care. Those are the ones that I come here and share their story or tell my hubby about.
Then you have that customer that knows it all and won't listen at all or doesn't care. Those are the ones that I come here and share their story or tell my hubby about.
No, ignorance is exactly lack of knowledge. Ignoramus means "we do not know"*. You're describing willful ignorance. I, for example, am ignorant of All's Well that Ends Well because I've never got round to watching it reading it, and willfully ignorant of the finer points of football because it bores me to tears so I never watch it.
As I have been known to say when arguing with some people with some potty ideas, ignorance is curable. Wilful ignorance is harder; stupidity is incurable.
*Funny and allegedly true story - a don at an English university described himself as an agnostic (Greek for "not knowing"). The chaplain, clearly a belligerent type, pointed out that at that college Latin was preferred to Greek and so he should call himself an Ignoramus**.
**Even more tangentially, since ignoramus is a form of the verb ignorare, and means "We do not know", rather than being a noun in Latin, it does not have a plural form *ignorami. It is only a noun in English, so only has a simple plural Ignoramuses. Many people are of course ignorant of this fact.
As I have been known to say when arguing with some people with some potty ideas, ignorance is curable. Wilful ignorance is harder; stupidity is incurable.
*Funny and allegedly true story - a don at an English university described himself as an agnostic (Greek for "not knowing"). The chaplain, clearly a belligerent type, pointed out that at that college Latin was preferred to Greek and so he should call himself an Ignoramus**.
**Even more tangentially, since ignoramus is a form of the verb ignorare, and means "We do not know", rather than being a noun in Latin, it does not have a plural form *ignorami. It is only a noun in English, so only has a simple plural Ignoramuses. Many people are of course ignorant of this fact.
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Me & PetSmart guilty as charged!
:headshake2: :uhoh: :banhim:
OK - I know I will get many slams for this & I will now say I will never do this again & I apologize to all who are offended by my actions. So let me add a downer for my local PetSmart. Earlier this year I had an insatiable impulse to start up my tank after a 20 year hiatus. I've been going there weeks/months on end to look at their fish, their tanks, equipment, food, meds, sales, etc. - building up the desire & the nerve to take the plunge (maybe midlife crisis). So one day with my kids I took the plunge. I bought their 20gal. starter set & at the same time I bought fish with the intention of starting up the same day. & I told the sales people exactly what I was doing. Of course to their credit they did warn me this was not the way to go & that I will have a lot of casualties - they highly recommended I set up the tank 1st, cycle it, then introduce fish. Nahhhh! I want it now! I was one of those "customers" that you want to hate. But they still sold to me. So I end up getting 4 baby silver$, a baby tri-color, a redtail/a redfin/an albino small sharks, 3 albino corys. I rush home to set up, add the anti-clor & cycle solutions, then a few hrs. later I let them all in. Swimmingly, they survived without neary a casualty for 5months! One baby albino cory died (looked like an aneurism - large blood spotted in its underbelly). The silver $'s my pride & joy - grew from a perfectly round dime size to twice the size of a 1/2 a dollar! The tri-color grew from 1.5" to 4"! They were a happy lot - swimming like a school with the tri-color being adopted by the $'s. The 2 corys are fat & huge now! I then made another stupid purchase. I added a baby pacu from PS again - they didn't ask me what size tank did I have or warn me of it's potential growth streak. I was again one of those "customers". Pacu went from 2" grew to 4" in no time. Outgrowing my tank & now eating food so swiftly - I worried for my $'s & tri-color, I decided to donate pacu to my child's classmate's dad who had own his own pacu & wanted another for his 55gal. I also went on craigslist to look to buy a bigger tank. But up till a month ago, they have since passed except the corys (+ have added more fish since then). But not due to my ignorance or exuberance on starting up - I was so happy & proud they had survived contrary to doing everything & anything a beginner is not suppose to do. The albino shark grew so well he started dominating the other 2 sharks to point their growth was stunted & they died of fear & starvation. But my other biggest casualties are the result of my ignorance in my maintenance. The corys developed severe tail rot - 2 of 3 lost all their finnage except their tails & barbels (but still alive today). So I treated the tank with Jungle's fizzle tabs - it was fascinating to watch this type of meds delivery. Not realizing I needed to increase aeration (should have known from my science days at school - no warning on package) - the CO2 released sucked out all the O2 such that after a few hrs the $'s & the tri-color & albino shark started sucking wind. In the meantime, a month earlier I had already added 13 baby baby cute albino corys (from Redkahuna). Now all the corys started swimming to the surface like torpedos one after the other constantly. You see where this is going. But by the time I realized what was happening - the $'s went into a dizzying darting crazed swim pattern - lost their balance & then went belly up. The tri-color & albino shark also gasping for air till I increased aeration. Surprisingly all the corys & the tri-color survived this suffocating experience, except the albino shark passed shortly thereafter. But without his silver $ family, the now bigger tri-color got real skittish - swimming so fast darting around banging the glass cover whenever the light was put on. I had recently added angels who are voracious eaters & to this day growing quite well - that didn't help my tri-color calm down. Till one day while feeding & thinking how piggish the angels are - that my tri-color can't possibly get its share of food, I discover it was gone! How I think? Well, when I looked on the floor behind the tank - there it was - it had kamikazed out of the tank shooting out like a missile in the smallest narrowest slot between the filter tube & the hood cover! I was in shock - now I have lost all my prized well grown possessions the $'s & the tri-color! So - to no fault of Petsmart (except they allowed me to buy fish same day I was starting my tank up) I lost my fish due to my own mistakes. Lessons learned & also reading AC often I have learned & become more humble & more careful. Yes - scold me, admonish me, excommunicate me - I deserve it. But - now that I am on the track to starting a discus tank - I am being more careful & learning more b-4 I start this up - a lot more expensive proposition that I can't afford to make anymore big blunders. Thanks to AC mods & members for feedback & advice in this regard. & Thanks to all for reading this fish tail of horror. I put this out there so other beginners can hopefully learn from my foolishness.
:wall:
:headshake2: :uhoh: :banhim:
OK - I know I will get many slams for this & I will now say I will never do this again & I apologize to all who are offended by my actions. So let me add a downer for my local PetSmart. Earlier this year I had an insatiable impulse to start up my tank after a 20 year hiatus. I've been going there weeks/months on end to look at their fish, their tanks, equipment, food, meds, sales, etc. - building up the desire & the nerve to take the plunge (maybe midlife crisis). So one day with my kids I took the plunge. I bought their 20gal. starter set & at the same time I bought fish with the intention of starting up the same day. & I told the sales people exactly what I was doing. Of course to their credit they did warn me this was not the way to go & that I will have a lot of casualties - they highly recommended I set up the tank 1st, cycle it, then introduce fish. Nahhhh! I want it now! I was one of those "customers" that you want to hate. But they still sold to me. So I end up getting 4 baby silver$, a baby tri-color, a redtail/a redfin/an albino small sharks, 3 albino corys. I rush home to set up, add the anti-clor & cycle solutions, then a few hrs. later I let them all in. Swimmingly, they survived without neary a casualty for 5months! One baby albino cory died (looked like an aneurism - large blood spotted in its underbelly). The silver $'s my pride & joy - grew from a perfectly round dime size to twice the size of a 1/2 a dollar! The tri-color grew from 1.5" to 4"! They were a happy lot - swimming like a school with the tri-color being adopted by the $'s. The 2 corys are fat & huge now! I then made another stupid purchase. I added a baby pacu from PS again - they didn't ask me what size tank did I have or warn me of it's potential growth streak. I was again one of those "customers". Pacu went from 2" grew to 4" in no time. Outgrowing my tank & now eating food so swiftly - I worried for my $'s & tri-color, I decided to donate pacu to my child's classmate's dad who had own his own pacu & wanted another for his 55gal. I also went on craigslist to look to buy a bigger tank. But up till a month ago, they have since passed except the corys (+ have added more fish since then). But not due to my ignorance or exuberance on starting up - I was so happy & proud they had survived contrary to doing everything & anything a beginner is not suppose to do. The albino shark grew so well he started dominating the other 2 sharks to point their growth was stunted & they died of fear & starvation. But my other biggest casualties are the result of my ignorance in my maintenance. The corys developed severe tail rot - 2 of 3 lost all their finnage except their tails & barbels (but still alive today). So I treated the tank with Jungle's fizzle tabs - it was fascinating to watch this type of meds delivery. Not realizing I needed to increase aeration (should have known from my science days at school - no warning on package) - the CO2 released sucked out all the O2 such that after a few hrs the $'s & the tri-color & albino shark started sucking wind. In the meantime, a month earlier I had already added 13 baby baby cute albino corys (from Redkahuna). Now all the corys started swimming to the surface like torpedos one after the other constantly. You see where this is going. But by the time I realized what was happening - the $'s went into a dizzying darting crazed swim pattern - lost their balance & then went belly up. The tri-color & albino shark also gasping for air till I increased aeration. Surprisingly all the corys & the tri-color survived this suffocating experience, except the albino shark passed shortly thereafter. But without his silver $ family, the now bigger tri-color got real skittish - swimming so fast darting around banging the glass cover whenever the light was put on. I had recently added angels who are voracious eaters & to this day growing quite well - that didn't help my tri-color calm down. Till one day while feeding & thinking how piggish the angels are - that my tri-color can't possibly get its share of food, I discover it was gone! How I think? Well, when I looked on the floor behind the tank - there it was - it had kamikazed out of the tank shooting out like a missile in the smallest narrowest slot between the filter tube & the hood cover! I was in shock - now I have lost all my prized well grown possessions the $'s & the tri-color! So - to no fault of Petsmart (except they allowed me to buy fish same day I was starting my tank up) I lost my fish due to my own mistakes. Lessons learned & also reading AC often I have learned & become more humble & more careful. Yes - scold me, admonish me, excommunicate me - I deserve it. But - now that I am on the track to starting a discus tank - I am being more careful & learning more b-4 I start this up - a lot more expensive proposition that I can't afford to make anymore big blunders. Thanks to AC mods & members for feedback & advice in this regard. & Thanks to all for reading this fish tail of horror. I put this out there so other beginners can hopefully learn from my foolishness.
:wall:
I think alot of us started out as the wrong kind of keepers. I bought my kids a 1 gal eclipse and 2 red tail sharks....what was I thinking? Same day setup and all. Not enough space as it was I added some kind of spotted catfish that killed both sharks. Then to get him a "friend" I bought what was labled a dwarf cichlid at wally world. That turned out to be a female convict chiclid. She killed the catfish and anything else that went into that tiny tank. I did 50% water changes on that tank every couple of months or so. She must have been miserable. I had always wanted a big fish tank and decided to start researching all that should go into it. After comming across and joining this forum I've got her set up by herself in a 15 gal with a nice resin pot acting as a cave, some nice driftwood and good filtration. Weekly to by-weekly water changes have made her a much happier fish. I still think she hates me, but convicts seem to hate everything. And as far as the "big" tank goes, I have my 72gal bowfront, planted, cycling with 6 happy danios as we speak. Hopefully I can make up for my past ignorance by becoming the most informed and responsable keeper I can.
Don't worry sushiray or katana1200, we were all beginners and we have all made mistakes. What makes you two different is that you have learned from your mistakes. Being here on AC I have learned a lot and I've been in the hobby 15 years and do it for a living but I still do dumb things. The other day I flood the aquatics department because I was filling one of the tanks went to check a customer out and by the time I came back water was all over the place. I know better but I still walked off thinking I'd only be gone min. Sometimes multi-tasking is not a good thing.
Here's a new one from last night:
Lady came in and wanted two fancy goldfish for her tank. Associate told her that her oscar would kill the goldfish. Lady insisted that it "would be fine." Associate told her no guarantee because it more than likely would not be fine. Lady called back 2 hours later, said the oscar killed one goldfish and could she bring back the live one? Not knowing the situation, I told her, yes, she could bring back the LIVE one. She returned both the live one and the dead one UP FRONT, basically circumventing anyone who would interfere with her return. So, to me, this seems like she not only knew it wouldn't work out but when ahead and did it anyway because she could always get her money back and it was just a fish.
Same thing with a mouse. The kid was squeezing the mouse and knocking the box around. My coworker told the parents to get the mouse away from the child and the guy goes, "So what if it dies? I have a 14 day gurrentee, right."
People make me so angry.
Lady came in and wanted two fancy goldfish for her tank. Associate told her that her oscar would kill the goldfish. Lady insisted that it "would be fine." Associate told her no guarantee because it more than likely would not be fine. Lady called back 2 hours later, said the oscar killed one goldfish and could she bring back the live one? Not knowing the situation, I told her, yes, she could bring back the LIVE one. She returned both the live one and the dead one UP FRONT, basically circumventing anyone who would interfere with her return. So, to me, this seems like she not only knew it wouldn't work out but when ahead and did it anyway because she could always get her money back and it was just a fish.
Same thing with a mouse. The kid was squeezing the mouse and knocking the box around. My coworker told the parents to get the mouse away from the child and the guy goes, "So what if it dies? I have a 14 day gurrentee, right."
People make me so angry.
