Things customers told you that you knew weren't true

"Why aren't they pregnant? Don't you have any pregnant ones?" *point to a tank of 50 female guppies*

Lady: I want the clown loach with the brightest red fins... why don't you just scoop them out so I can look at them?
Me: *explains that it would a) take a while to scoop out 15 loaches and b) it would stress them out unnecessarily*
Lady: oh never mind, so-and-so is going to help (after dragging my coworker away from another customer). He's helped us before. You don't mind, do you?

Needless to say, I didn't mind a bit. Poor hapless coworker >:) That woman had a bit of an attitude and when the loach dies from being manhandled and stressed, I won't be blamed.
 
Mgamer20o0 said:
professionals doesnt mean expert. does anyone stop and ask how long they been working there? where did they learn? often its a cycle the new people learn from the people who been there. where did they learn? what about personal responsibility of learning to take care of a animal before buying it?
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I agree it's up to us to find out how much knowledge they have. I personally try to get the owner or the manager of my favorite LFS to answer questions I have when I can't help wanting to buy without going home to research first. I have never been steered wrong buy them. That being said, I have lost fish for what seems like no reason too. I have taught them a few things too. Like when my husband fell in love with dwarf pike cichlids they had and I came home and figured out exactly what kind they were, and how to sex them. The LFS said they get them so rarely and they go so quickly that he had never went so far as to find out how to sex them.
 
jenazen69:
I agree it's up to us to find out how much knowledge they have. I personally try to get the owner or the manager of my favorite LFS to answer questions I have when I can't help wanting to buy without going home to research first.
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well said.... that would so end so many issues at any store of any type.
and often it is as simple as asking....
 
Working at a fish store, I wouldn't say there is one completely extravagant case I can think of right off of the top of my head, but there is one that I probably hear 10 times every day: "But I've done it before and they were fine." Then, they get upset when I won't give them an oscar for their 20 gallon tank. Or a goldfish for a 10 gallon. The list goes on and on, I guess I find the attitude the most ridiculous. Like I'm just making stuff up to ruin their day?
 
This just happened the other day....

Woman has been in for over 3 months with the same problem so a little background is needed.

She has a 35 with 2 large jacks and a pleco she is using a filter rated fro 40 gallons. She also has a 55 with a filter for 100 gallons on it. So I sold here a bigger filter for the 35. Needless to say she brought it back the next day because her tank wasn't magically cleared up. She has been fighting milky white water and floating particles in the water all this time.

So here is the conversation.

  • Cus: I brought in a smaple of water so you can see what is wrong with my tank.
  • Me: As I already have explained I know what is wrong with your tank ma'am
  • Cus: Well that bigger filter didn't work
  • Me: That is because you didn't give it long enough to even think about starting a decent bacterial colony
  • Cus: Well I don't want bacteria in my water that will make the fish sick
  • Me: No Ma'am it won't as I explained in the past you need to move the tank from out in front of the window to help control the green water problem. You really need a bigger tank for the types of fish you have and you need a larger filter to handle the bioload that your fish produce. Also the bacteria I mentioned are what disposes the chemical byproducts of your tank and make it safe for fish.
  • Cus: Well test my water and see it will be fine
  • Me: Actually ma'am I expect and am about 99% positive I will find high ammonia, high Nitrite which are both killers and low Nitrate count.
  • Cus: No you won't I had my 55 tested and they said the ammonia and no bacteria and I use the same water in my 35
  • ME: As you wish I will test it but please be willing to listen to what I'm telling you and try to understand what is happening. And there is no real test for bacteria ma'am just the byproducts of their work and if there was no ammonia then they are hard at work.
  • 5 minutes for Test results passes
  • Me: ma'am I have finished the testing the ammonia is between .25 and .50 and you want this at 0. the Nitrites are also at .5 and you want these at zero too. The Nitrate is at 5 so low and that tells me that you do not have a big enough filter to let your tank cycle.
  • Cus: Well I will just go strip the tank down and clean it again that should solve the problem and I will use the same faucet since that must be where the bad stuff is coming from.
  • Me: As you wish i will see you next weekend when that doesn't work....:wall::wall::wall::wall:
 
Customer: *Pointing to the fish tanks* "I want that chinchilla"

Me: "Ma'am, those are fish."

Customer: "I know, I want that chinchilla right there."

Me: *Scratching my head, trying to figure out what in the world she's talking about* "Oh, you mean the cichlid?"

Customer: "Yeah, whatever it's called, I want one."

It just got worse from there. She had a community tank and didn't understand why she couldn't add the cichlid.
After all, "it's just as big as my other fish, it'll be fine."
 
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