local fish stores if you want our money being polite helps alot.

[UNCLERUCKUS]

th it doesnt hurt to be courteous or friendly to those trying to give your business money. it also is good to have people willing to actually find out if an item is in the store or give you a actual price and not a guess. maybe im old fashioned but some things you come to expect. personally if the service or place is foul then ill take my money elsewhere. elsewhere includes the internet or anywhere else that knows how to treat a customer the right way. i may have called you but i dont have to buy from you. i can understand everyone has a bad day now and again. i also know plain old fashioned rudeness as well. can you tell ive been on the phone with lfs all morning? :angry3:

 

[Andrew]

Tried being nice, helpful, courteous... Didn't work. Next time (HA!) I'll have to try abusing customers and giving bad advice .

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

Tried being nice, helpful, courteous... Didn't work. Next time (HA!) I'll have to try abusing customers and giving bad advice .

thats the problem that seems to be prevalent now

 

[Lively]

LOL Andrew! Didn't you know that most people don't want advice, good or bad - just agree with the dumb a and watch the fish go out the door to almost certian death.

In aquariums, the poop might sink but in the real world it seems it often floats to the top for success... you shoulda been more like people poop - a real stinky floater!

What were you calling them for DQ?

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

dividers, fish, and misc foods. one place actually said im not sure you ll have to come in and look around. NOT!

 

[Pat Kelly]

Always trying to see both side of an issue I would say things can go both ways. I personally will drive someplace to look rather than call.

Why? Well several reasons but one is a past history with retail.

1st example: I used to work for a company at the automotive counter. The company rule was a phone can not ring more than 3 times and you can not put that potential customer on hold. Well you could count on loosing at least 10 people every Saturday that would get pissed off and walk out because you were on the phone trying to see if you had a $1.00 clamp to fit a 1960 humpmobile. The customers in front of you should have had the priority. That company is out of business. Montgomery Wards.

2nd example - I watched the other day at a Baltimore LFS while there were 4 of us standing in line at the cash register that the guy behind the counter was getting pissed. The call was someone looking for a certain color fish. Did not know the name. Would not get off the phone. Again a $1.00 item. The person must have asked 10 questions about the fish. The guy behind the counter tried to be nice. Was not working. The 2nd guy in line finally put his 3 bags of saltwater fish on the counter and walked out. There were at least 4 others working in the store but when I looked all had customers and there was one person waiting to be waited on at the fish counter.

3rd examle- I work in a car dealership. The service lane opens at 730am. On a good morning there are 6-10 cars waiting for us to open. As soon as the doors open and the cars pull in the phones also start going off. You would be suprised at how pissy people get because we open at 730 and the service writers will not answer the phones. How dare they wait on the people in front of them. lol

Like I said, I see both ends. To me a bird in the hand(customer in front of you) is worth 2 in the bush(on the phone) thats why I look myself.

 

[mrkillie]

Like I said, I see both ends. To me a bird in the hand(customer in front of you) is worth 2 in the bush(on the phone) thats why I look myself.

Yeah, but with the scarcity of LFS nowadays, you could end up driving 100 miles and wasting 3 hours of your time before you find what you are looking for. There are some stores that keep an electronic inventory and can look up and see if things are in stock immediately; those are the ones that are going to do more business because they can minimize the time on the phone and are able to serve those in front of them. Lucky for me, my LFS is That Fish Place, which has just about everything.

Joel

 

[ltrepeter2000]

I have to agree with Pat to a point, I was a store manager of a Home Depot for eighteen months, and even though I had a phone center so phones were typically answered quickly for a first attempt, once the phone center can not answer the question, the call gets forwarded to the appropriate department. Typically in a middle of road sale level store, there are two to three people per department at work at any given shift on a Saturday. Imagine someone calls to ask if there is sod in stock, the employee probably knows that there were three pallets when he came on shift but to be able to walk to the front of the store where the sod is kept that employee is going to have to walk past twenty to thirty customers that also have a question, need something loaded, need to know where something is in the store that isnt a garden item. Answering the question with there were three pallets when I came in this morning does one of two things, either pisses the person on the phone off because they want to know what is there right now or satisfies them enough to come in, only to find out that the three pallets were all bought by a contractor that came in 15 minutes after that employee came to work.

I do think that they should be able to tell you if they stock basic items(notice I said basic) normally, but telling you that there are three in the store on the second shelf of the third rack in aisle number 4 is a little unlikely.

The other problem I have found with fish stores in general is the terminology of items used in the hobby and the fish having many different names. Latin vs nickname vs specific location.

If you call in and say do you have Aulonocara mamalela "Lemon Jake in stock they might know. If you call in and say Aulonocara mamalela they might be clueless. If you call and say Lemon Jake they probably know.

Just a few examples, and many of these folks are making close to minimum wage for the work that they are doing.

Rudeness is a separate issue though, if they are blatantly being disrespectful then I suggest taking it up with the owners.

Thanks
Rob

 

[Andrew]

I have dividers... for 10 and 15 gal tanks. Cheap too!

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

Yeah, but with the scarcity of LFS nowadays, you could end up driving 100 miles and wasting 3 hours of your time before you find what you are looking for. There are some stores that keep an electronic inventory and can look up and see if things are in stock immediately; those are the ones that are going to do more business because they can minimize the time on the phone and are able to serve those in front of them. Lucky for me, my LFS is That Fish Place, which has just about everything.

Joel

my point exactly. i would rather know before driving and wasting time and gas thats what im saying. besides the one on the phone may be about to drop some serious $$$ but not being responsible enough to find out if you have something makes no sense.you catch more bees with honey then you do vinegar. if its busy say so and no problem. business is business. the answer to not having to deal with it i guess is to buy online. lol this only works though if you arent in a hurry. like pat said i see both sides.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

I have dividers... for 10 and 15 gal tanks. Cheap too!

do you have them for a 75g?

 

[longstocking]

DQ .. .get in contact with Discus Hans and you can buy a filter material/divider for a 75. It might be expensive though... not sure how much...

Or you can make some out of eggcrate... I believe Maddog10 has a way to keep it in place. Eggcrate you can get at home depot.

LFS's around here have always been RUDE. I just expect it now.

 

[Lively]

I decided to drive to the Centerville LFS - it's a bit over an hour for me - one way. Ended up with something I could have gotten at Petco - for about the same price. It's the closest to me - decent stock on durables and food, but mostly bread and butter fish.

I honestly don't mind paying a bit more to shop at an lfs, but add a minimum of a 2 hour drive time and gas - it was extremely expensive. If they had a better fish selection, I would go back.

That said, the guy seemed nice - but he was reading packages same as I was. Didn't know top of his head the way Andrew seems to know his stuff. Plus, they don't work with local breeders (no idea if Scales did, but thought I'd throw that in) it was a decent store - but not what I think of when someone says local fish store.

I have to lament with DQ, I've stood in line waiting for the clerk to get off the phone - but at my local fish store I don't really mind - well I didn't when I had an lfs - one day it might be me on the phone asking the question.

 

[Pat Kelly]

I blame McDonalds.
Everyone wants it now........
Fast.

As I have told customers before. I don't have another car like yours
under a heat lamp waiting for you to come in. lol

I had a guy yesterday call wanting to know what was wrong with his car. I got the call. Don't usually get them.
Customer: You guys just towed my car. Did you figure out what it is yet?
Me: Sir can I get your name?
Customer: You just got the car. How many did you tow this morning.
Me: None that I know of.
Customer: Gave me his name.
I looked on my sheet. Nothing
I looked in computer. Nothing.
I call the tow driver. He had just picked the car up.
Been 10 minutes. Driving 15 miles to dealer.
I tell customer not even here yet.
Customer: Whats taking so long. He picked it up 10 minutes ago.
Me: just had to laugh.
Customer not happy. Taking too long to get car fixed. We need some type of magic ball or something to get it here faster than light and then fix.

Can't win.. lol

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

I blame McDonalds.
Everyone wants it now........
Fast.

As I have told customers before. I don't have another car like yours
under a heat lamp waiting for you to come in. lol

I had a guy yesterday call wanting to know what was wrong with his car. I got the call. Don't usually get them.
Customer: You guys just towed my car. Did you figure out what it is yet?
Me: Sir can I get your name?
Customer: You just got the car. How many did you tow this morning.
Me: None that I know of.
Customer: Gave me his name.
I looked on my sheet. Nothing
I looked in computer. Nothing.
I call the tow driver. He had just picked the car up.
Been 10 minutes. Driving 15 miles to dealer.
I tell customer not even here yet.
Customer: Whats taking so long. He picked it up 10 minutes ago.
Me: just had to laugh.
Customer not happy. Taking too long to get car fixed. We need some type of magic ball or something to get it here faster than light and then fix.

Can't win.. lol

honestly,id rather wait a few minutes and get decent service then getting a half @ss answer or misinformation. pat you shoulda told him he was getting chrged extra to have it beamed there instantly.

 

[Lively]

honestly,id rather wait a few minutes and get decent service then getting a half @ss answer or misinformation. pat you shoulda told him he was getting chrged extra to have it beamed there instantly.

And rename yourself, "Scotty"

:happy0007:

 

[ltrepeter2000]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4841323_fish-tank-divider.html

for how to make a relatively cheap custom tank divider

 

[maddog10]

I blame McDonalds.
Everyone wants it now........
Fast.

As I have told customers before. I don't have another car like yours
under a heat lamp waiting for you to come in. lol

I had a guy yesterday call wanting to know what was wrong with his car. I got the call. Don't usually get them.
Customer: You guys just towed my car. Did you figure out what it is yet?
Me: Sir can I get your name?
Customer: You just got the car. How many did you tow this morning.
Me: None that I know of.
Customer: Gave me his name.
I looked on my sheet. Nothing
I looked in computer. Nothing.
I call the tow driver. He had just picked the car up.
Been 10 minutes. Driving 15 miles to dealer.
I tell customer not even here yet.
Customer: Whats taking so long. He picked it up 10 minutes ago.
Me: just had to laugh.
Customer not happy. Taking too long to get car fixed. We need some type of magic ball or something to get it here faster than light and then fix.

Can't win.. lol

I just wanted my car fixed.

 

[lonlangione]

I have worked in retail ALL of my life. The gray hair you see does not come from my wife and kids. I blame ALL the mega stores. You see on TV the helpful smiling faces in the ad and all of the promise of help and when you get into the store what do you get...... Here is a story I plant on you. I sell garage doors for a living. I was at a local box lumber yard a few weeks ago and I was in the isle where they sell garage door openers. An older couple came in and asked a clerk for help. He read the writing on the boxes and told the man he and his neighbor could put one up in about an hour. The clerk then left. The guy said to his wife he didn't know which one to buy or what to do. I turned around, gave him my card and explained why he should buy from a professional dealer. Also that if he and his neighbor decide to install one themselves and can do it in an hour to let me know I would like to offer them a job. I said he could call me on Monday and I would have two operators hung for him by that afternoon. Monday I had the sale.

Lonny

 

[Lively]

Very cool, Lonny!

I sold tons of things for stores I don't work for - my favorite was a kid who wanted a computer like mine (I've an HP TouchSmart) he'd sold stuff on ebay to buy it himself and wasn't sure he wanted to fork out $1,800 for a machine he didn't know anyone using. I love mine - told him all the pros and cons. Found out the next day he bought it (mine was being repaired - bought it openbox when the next gen was released) and one of the store manager offered me a job... lol

I've done my share of retail and fast food joints - can't stomach the stupidity and rudness of those people (clarify - customers!). Worked in a convenience store - I swear you put on a baseball cap and you become instantly stupid in the eyes of 80% of the people you wait on - and I mean wait and wait and wait for them to get off the phone, hand you the money, write a check - whatever.