Why don't people just clean their tanks?

tiki19: I don't think any of us are talking about the people who are well-meaning but just don't know what they're doing. I actually like helping people like that out. We're talking about people like this guy:

Guy: I want two dwarf gouramis
Me: are you planning to put them in the same tank and what size is it?
Guy: yes, it's a 5 gallon
I try to explain that that is not a great idea.
Guy: *rudely cuts me off with a sharp tone* young LADY, I have been keeping fish for LONGER than you have been alive. I know what I'm doing.
So I informed him that I wasn't giving him a guarrentee on the fish. He just nodded and walked out.

On the plus side, today I informed a guy how to use a gravel vaccuum and hopefully instructed him how to keep his tank from going kaput. I told him 2 oscars and 3 africans was too many for a 55, his tank was too new (set up for a week), he needed to stop feeding feeder fish, and that if he decided to return the oscars we would take them back.

spirals: that sucks. We sell our ahlis much faster than that (about 1 a week). But those are the kinds of customers I wave good-bye too behind their back ^^
 
yeah...i have no problems with people who want to learn, in fact i'm starting to organize a tank set-up day where people can sign up and we'll go over how to set up filters, tanks, cycles, etc. I'm just reaching my end point with customers who walk into the store and will actually tell me "well you work at a fish store so obviously you just want to sell me the fish and don't care"...which makes no sense when i'm refusing to sell the fish because i do care...sigh...

on the plus side, my new store director actually stood up for my associates decision to refuse the sale on several guppys the other day which were going to be used as "breeding experiments" for a teenage girls science class.
 
The deal

First off, I would like to say that there is no way that Petsmart, Petco, or any other chain pet store will beat a LFS. LFS's just seem to have vast amounts of knowledge in the particular field, as well as have a genuine interest in their work.

That is not to say that super-market chain pet stores do not have employees who do not take an interest in their work. In fact, I have not found a chain pet store that was not knowledgeable in their field yet!

At my LFS, I remember a crazy lady who came in with the most absurd questions. Lemme rattle off a few of them.:headshake2:

1) Is there any way that I can paint that angelfish. I think that pink would look better than white.

2) I think that the more GPH my pump has, the better my water and fish will be. (She insisted on buying a 900gph pump for her 30 gallon, just imagine those fish against the current. im glad she didnt get it...)

And my favorite...Can I put a saltwater fish in a freshwater tank, if I put those weird saltwater lights on.(I don't know what she was thinking there.):banher:
 
The hardest thing, i believe, now a days is that we are becoming way to concernd with peoples feelings. If we are working with a cusomer that begins to act upset at all we are to stop asking questions and stop trying to help them save their fish and tank. We get to shut our mouths and give them what they want. We can not refuse a sale and must inform the customer of the return policy. We do what we can for whom ever we can, but the way the world is going it is making our jobs harder and harder. Good news is that all the Mom and Pop places and the other chain in the area are crap so people do come back and get help. Thats all we can ask for, even if they dont want help the first time they are usually come back and are ready to listen. They just had to learn the hard way unfortunaly.
 
Okay, back on this topic. I was at work Wed. night and this guy comes in and says "I need a sucker fish". :shakehead: Here we go again... So I said, okay, what size tank are you putting it in? "10 gallons" :irked: I said, do you know that most of the plecostamus grow up to 2 feet long? He says "yeah, I've got a 50 gallon too and I've got 2 in there that are about this big" placing his hands about 12" apart. "But I need to get one for this 10 gallon. It's getting DIRTY."
Me: ummmm, well, do you ever, errrrr, clean it, vacuum the gravel, anything like that?
Him: No
Me: Would you like me to show you the...
Him: interrupts me - No, I've been keeping fish tanks for 10 years and I never clean them. I actually think they stay cleaner if you DON'T ever vacuum the gravel. I just want to get a sucker fish for this tank and when he outgrows it, I'll move him to the bigger tank and get another one.

:swear: (like a 50 gallon tank NEEDS 3 foot long + plecos in it.)

Me: You know, Cory Cats do a pretty good job of cleaning up leftover...
Him: interrupting me again - no, just give me a sucker fish
Me: Okay, how about one of these?

I pointed out the hifins because our store shows them only getting to 18" and we had several really small ones in there. I got him out the tiniest one I could find, it was probably about 1.5". I don't know how fast those guys grow, but that's the best I could do.

I mean seriously. DUDE. REALLY??? A tank stays cleaner if you never vacuum the gravel????? :confused: Where is the logic in that? Maybe because all the crap sinks into the gravel and if you never stir it up, you don't see how gross it is? I shudder to think what is living (or dead) in the gravel in that guy's tanks. :barf:

Then I have this cool old guy who comes in all the time to buy feeder fish for his 2000 gallon pond and for his huge Oscars who are in house in the winter and outside in the pond in the summer. The guy is so fun to talk to. He was telling me about how he had 2 Pacus get to 70 POUNDS each in his pond and he had to give them to the zoo! I wouldn't want to trip and fall into that pond! :eek3: I think he had to be exaggerating a little, but still.

FUN STUFF! I do love working there. Sadly, I have to quit though. I'm not making enough money to justify making my husband leave work early 3 nights a week so I can go to my "fun job". I'm sad. But I'm sure I'll go back one of these days when the kids are older.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom