i hate *****

[scubadoo]

Zoocrazy...I forgot to mention keep upk the good work. Employees like you should be commended for a job well done. Your example should be the standard that is used by corporate.

 

[mbrands]

Thats like buying a tv set at Circuit City, finding the same one cheaper at WalMart and saying Circuit City sucks. While there are other valid concerns in this thread regarding the care of *****'s fish, I'm not sure how your two apply.
I'd like to share a picture of my newest addition . . . from a *****. This anemone was $32 after tax. Seems like a great deal to me.

 

[mbrands]

Apparently, there is some problem right now with swf.com posting pictures, so I'll have to reply with the photo later.

 

[nanotanker]

I only buy from 2 Fish stores in all of jacksonville due to low prices, Atlantis and Aqua Zoo.

 

[scubadoo]

Originally posted by mbrands
Thats like buying a tv set at Circuit City, finding the same one cheaper at WalMart and saying Circuit City sucks. While there are other valid concerns in this thread regarding the care of *****'s fish, I'm not sure how your two apply.
I'd like to share a picture of my newest addition . . . from a *****. This anemone was $32 after tax. Seems like a great deal to me.
The items could be mis-marked due to lack of knowledge by the employee(s) or not even caring.
I forgot to mention in the late 90's ***** also settled a class action lawsuit which stemmed from knowingly placing false information in their prospectus regarding future market share causing and inflated stock value. All those that purchased stock based on this fraudulent information were parties to the suit.
A company that would knowingly do such a thing certainly could care less if they sold a flame angel for $8 or $80 or if the saltwater fish setup was as good as a septic tank. Thanks to all those ***** employees that are doing the right thing.
I agree you should always do some searching....but $80 for a flame angel is quite high. Go back and see if the item was mismarked. Raise some hell and maybe they will give you a partial credit. Maybe another case of overcharging customers as they have a track record for doing this.
A horrible company with a very dismal track record in MANY areas...not just livestock or saltwater fish.

 

[texasex]

I am sorry that some of you got burned at your ***** (maybe you all shop at the same one), but don't classify all of them as "bad." I actually applaud mine. Their prices are always reasonable, and usually lower than my local LFS. And the fish guys there are extremely knowledgeable! I had one tell me not to buy a critter (and lost a sale) because it would grow too quickly fror my tank! I have to agree with mbrands, don't get P-O'd just because you were too lazy to shop around, and there was something better somewhere else.
"The grass is always greener!"

 

[ophiura]

Originally posted by mbrands
Thats like buying a tv set at Circuit City, finding the same one cheaper at WalMart and saying Circuit City sucks. While there are other valid concerns in this thread regarding the care of *****'s fish, I'm not sure how your two apply.

I've bitten my tongue during this whole thread, but I wanted to say something similar from the start. Why is it the store's fault if you didn't shop around? Fine, quality may not be good, employees at some stores may not be good, they may be sketchy in the business sense - valid points - but it is not their fault you bought a $80 fish that was $40 somewhere else. And they are not obligated, IMO, to take the fish back so you can take business somewhere else. Not only would they be out your money, but the fish is now additionally stressed, and may be lost. They are not obligated to price match the competition. It is a business decision. A good one? Well time will tell.
You know what? I can find some extremely good LFS whose prices are also very high because they put a lot of care into the fish. Some stores have high prices because they don't have a lot of customers, or get those who don't know any better. There are many cases were the cheapest fish is not the best fish - or shouldn't be. All in all this thread just proves that they can find someone to pay that much for the fish...
I am not sure where overcharging comes in. Can't they set any price, or is it that they set a price and then overcharge at check out? :notsure:

 

[scubadoo]

With *****...you never know where the overcharging is coming from....
***** Settles Suit Alleging Abuse, Overcharging
CBSNews.com, May 27, 2004
***** has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle a consumer protection lawsuit alleging abuse and overcharging. The company admits no wrongdoing, but will pay more than $800,000. The suit alleged that ***** overcharged customers for advertised sale items and cared for animals improperly. A quarter of the settlement will pay to install new pricing equipment in stores across the state.

 

[ophiura]

Originally posted by ScubaDoo
The suit alleged that ***** overcharged customers for advertised sale items and cared for animals improperly. A quarter of the settlement will pay to install new pricing equipment in stores across the state.
So it sounds to me like they advertised certain prices and then didn't charge that once the customer was checking out...which is different, IMO, than just setting a high price. If the fish was labeled $40 and they were charged $80...well I wouldn't have left the store without settling it.
But if you bought an $80 fish, seeing it listed as $80 only to find it for $40 somewhere else, that is not *****'s problem, IMO. Same is true for any store that doesn't offer a guarantee on a fish, when the fish dies or whatever. It is buyer beware. If you choose to buy it, its your problem. The store may lose a customer but that is their business plan and choice. Where I worked we had a 7 day guarantee, and people tried to abuse it left and right. Anyway, you can bash their prices, quality, whatever...and not unfairly at all, IMO...but not the fact that someone bought it when they could have bought it cheaper.
FWIW, I will also add that prices from suppliers or even from shipment to shipment can vary greatly. So it is not uncommon to see different prices on the same type of fish from week to week, even at the same store (let alone different stores). But would I pay $80 for flame angel? No way in heck.

 

[g-dude]

Join the club! I hate ***** as well. I honestls belive that it should have gone out of business along time ago. They over prise their livestock, livestock usally pretty banged up, sick and in poor shape. I wish their was a way to help warn people about about this LFS store.

 

[guineawhop]

in buffalo they are anywheres between 10-20 dollars cheaper on their big fish and about 3-10 dollars cheaper on the smaller fish than any other pet store in the area. the trick is getting their on the day they get their shipments.

 

[scubadoo]

Originally posted by ophiura
So it sounds to me like they advertised certain prices and then didn't charge that once the customer was checking out...which is different, IMO, than just setting a high price. If the fish was labeled $40 and they were charged $80...well I wouldn't have left the store without settling it.
But if you bought an $80 fish, seeing it listed as $80 only to find it for $40 somewhere else, that is not *****'s problem, IMO. Same is true for any store that doesn't offer a guarantee on a fish, when the fish dies or whatever. It is buyer beware. If you choose to buy it, its your problem. The store may lose a customer but that is their business plan and choice. Where I worked we had a 7 day guarantee, and people tried to abuse it left and right. Anyway, you can bash their prices, quality, whatever...and not unfairly at all, IMO...but not the fact that someone bought it when they could have bought it cheaper.
FWIW, I will also add that prices from suppliers or even from shipment to shipment can vary greatly. So it is not uncommon to see different prices on the same type of fish from week to week, even at the same store (let alone different stores). But would I pay $80 for flame angel? No way in heck.
Perhaps I have not been explicit enough...***** has a history of overcharging as previously posted. This is not an unusal problem for big chain stroes. It is a red flag if they have to be fined and sued. This is an indication of a serious problem.
many folks have posted here stories of purchasing fish at ***** for bargain prices. Fish being sold with a Yellow Tang priceand labeled as such with the actual animal was a Queen Angel or some other higher priced animal. Assuming some of the stories posted here are legitimate, it is entriely possible that in this case they listed the fish correctly but mismarked the price either manually are in there sofware that prints out a bar code with price.
FWIW...Buyer Beware is almost non-existent in many retail areas, given the rise of many state, local and federal consumer laws....it is Seller Beware.
What is being lost hear is the fact the store could have mismarked the animal...especially given their track record. Pricing is pricing..whether at the register or fed into a software system. Fish have no bar/UPC codes making scanning the item and loading a price impossible. If a total manual process who knows how the prices end up on the tank.
We never know the personal situations of posters....holding down two or three jobs to make ends meet, etc. Many folks simply do not have the time to investigate as others do. Some cannot afford computers and montly ISP charges, so there access to the internet is limited.. Perhaps some are simply trusting souls...only to find out later that they were had. To label someone stupid or lazy without knowing the entrie situation is wrong.
I agree that attempting to take the fish back is wrong. I disagree that the individual has no recourse. Mistakes happen and this could simpy be one. This is why I advised to go back and ask them to double-check. Sometimes you have to raise a little hell to get them to do so. I view this as attempting to assist the poster which is what I thought these boards are for. Bringing fact and documetation as the type of business and past history also further supports a position. Some advise is given with detailed knowledge of a particular business.....I am preculuded from stating more than this.
Certainly, advising to do resaech etc, is also constructive. Telling someon too bad given what appears to be an inflated price is wrong. Advising to go back and ask the store to double-check the price charged casues no harm and perhaps gets the poster a few bucks back if a misatke was made. Further, given the track record of this chain.....the advise I gave is appropriate.
Thanks for quoting my posts which has afforded me to think and be a little more explict.
Your efforts would be better directed in quoting personal attacks such as posts calling folks lazy and dumb and asking them to tone it down.
I assure you folks that feel like they have been cheated wheter legitmate or not already feel this way. For others to label them as such here does little to help the situation.
With that I'll take leave of these boards and this thread.
Happy Fish Keeping All!

 

[lionkiller]

The standard ***** price for a Flame Angel is $72.99. Atleast here it is. Add tax and you come $77.38. The original poster I am guessing rounded up. Thus ***** did not "overcharge" as the poster said.
Blaming ***** for charging a higher price than another store does is dumb. You bought the fish. They didn't force you to ask them to bag it up.
Did the person have to buy the Flame Angel right then? Did they "NEED" the flame angel in their tank for it to operate properly? Did the person have to take what they found first? All of these answers are no.
When I want a fish, I have a dollar amount in mind I want to spend. If I can't find the fish for that dollar amount, I don't buy it. Plain and simple.
Would you buy the first car you came across? People working three jobs and having time constaints still find the time to shop around for a decent price on a car. Why should buying fish give you a pass on the same scenario.

 

[ophiura]

Originally posted by ScubaDoo
Your efforts would be better directed in quoting personal attacks such as posts calling folks lazy and dumb and asking them to tone it down.
I assure you folks that feel like they have been cheated wheter
legitmate or not already feel this way. For others to label them as such here does little to help the situation.
With that I'll take leave of these boards and this thread.
Happy Fish Keeping All!
You are absolutely right. It was an oversight of mine not to say something about calling people stupid and lazy. I apologize for that. I mod here in between work, and sometimes post without cleaning things up, or fail to appreciate their impact. So that should have been addressed - but also could have been by anyone, without escalation too. Just a "hey, don't think it warranted "stupid and lazy" " could let someone know they went too far.
To clarify my point of view on this issue - there were two people involved in the transaction, and BOTH are responsible. Both may not be guilty. If it was labeled as a certain price, and they were overcharged, that should be an issue. The store is guilty in that case. Price checking is fine; expecting them to take the fish back so they could buy it elsewhere is not. I TOTALLY agree that is the implied recourse to get money back if overcharged.
But if the buyer paid the marked price, which appears to be this case, that is the buyers issue. The buyer is "guilty" of sorts. The store can set what they want, IMO. You can always and should double check the prices, you can even go and say "hey, this store charges $40 less for that fish...I buy a lot of stuff here, can you help me out?" No problem with that...but the store has a right to laugh you out the door too.
Overinflating prices may be a business practice for *****. Or could be total incompetence. Very risky on their part either way. But it is, IMO, their right to set the prices in the store so long as the are "set" and not changed when people get to the counter Is there some law that says to a retailer "you can only mark up an item by X%?" Maybe. I don't know. I think it is just the consumer who makes it clear when it is too much.
From what I could tell from the desrcription of the lawsuit, it was that they were advertising prices and charging differently...which is absolutely wrong. You apparently have more background and information, and seem to take this quite to heart, which I was NOT AWARE OF nor do I intend to challenge you on. I did not intend to challenge you on anything.
All I had was MY opinion on these situations in GENERAL, as threads on fish experiences, coral, etc tend to start to generalize and trend away from the original question.
On another note, that I do take a bit more personally:
I don't have loads of money. So I don't buy a fish until I find a deal I can live with. NO WAY could I afford an $80 fish. Literally would be eating for awhile or that fish. It takes so long for me to make a dime too, so I do not pass judgement. For example, there was a recent thread that said if you can't afford an RO unit and a "good" skimmer to start this hobby, then you shouldn't be in this hobby at all. Not so, IMO. And I said so. There was disagreement on that.
I am a gal working hard for a dime. Please don't imply I pass
judgement on that by my opinions or my mistakes in not editting a post! That could spell trouble for me I don't have that dime to waste, so you can bet that I am darn sure I shop around even if it takes me months and months to get that fish. Do I always PAY the cheapest price? No, some things are worth the extra dime. But I am constantly looking.
People who work many jobs aren't stupid and lazy. You bet I agree with that. Because it was me, and it could still be me. But they are RESPONSIBLE for what they buy in this situation regardless of finances or whatever. Try and get money back if wrongly charged, absolutely, but otherwise, its a lesson learned and shared.
I do again apologize and certainly hope you do not leave the boards over such a discussion. I am human and overlook/forget things...especially when the boss walks in . I also think people use such labels pretty freely these days without necessarily thinking about their meaning or impact - especially when we are writing to faceless names on a screen. It doesn't make it right though. But sometimes, after all, I am just another poster in a thread.

 

[mbrands]

Originally posted by ScubaDoo
We never know the personal situations of posters....holding down two or three jobs to make ends meet, etc.
Give me a break. If someone is "holding down two or three jobs to make ends meet" then:
1. This probably isn't the right hobby for them.
2. If they do want to keep saltwater fish, perhaps less expensive fish would be more appropriate.
3. They should be more conscious of how they are spending their money (i.e. comparing prices and realizing if they are accidentally overcharged).
I would like to apologize if I directly called anyone stupid and/or lazy. My comment was meant to be more generalized to anyone making similar accusations. I tried to re-read what I had originally posted but it was understandably edited (by ophiura, I assume). I do still feel that blaming "the big companies" is a poor excuse. I'd hate to turn this thread and this board into any type of political debate, but doesn't it seem easier to blame someone else than to accept fault anymore??
edit: ophiura - By point 1 above, I don't mean to suggest those to work two jobs shouldn't be in the hobby, but if they are working two jobs to "make ends meet", perhaps they should re-evaluate their situation.

 

[ophiura]

I definitely understand that - everyone needs to evaluate the time, cost, etc involved....and there is no harm in that being suggested or alternatives being offered. No misunderstanding/sensitivities on this end It may definitely not be the right hobby in that case. I had a damselfish at the time in a 10g tank so I was kinda within my means

 

[feixjai]

i dont think ***** is a very good place to get anything. they are very expensive. as i was with exile this guy gave me like 100 crickets when i asked for 20 and still only paied for 20. and plus if you live in san francisco you lucky cause theres a fish store at 6th ave and every sunday they have a 50% off bag sale. but you have to get there early cause there are usually big lines waiting in front of the door just waiting until the store opens.

 

[axionjaxon]

I feel like tossin my 2 cents in here. Personally, I love *****, and have since I moved to the city (spent the first 17 years of my life in the sticks). I love them because it's great one stop shopping (and they are the only place in tacoma that I can buy live food for my ball python). However, I will buy nothing but salt from them (they are cheaper than my LFS and WAY better than petsmart, i hate those guys). As far as SWF, I won't buy them there. As my LFS says, ***** is where the pets go...TO DIE!!!!! ha, ha. like some other posts, it really depends on the employees. But heck, they pay minimum wage to their employees, many of whom are young and just there cause its a job.

 

[the claw]

Its not ***** in my town its called Death-Co.

 

[texasex]

In case everyone who put their "two cents in" didn't notice, the problem is mainly with the California ***** stores. So, please all of you Californians, do not put your stores in the same group with the rest of the country. I know from personal experience, and from the personal experiences from many friends around the country, that ***** as a whole, does not over charge and is knowledgeable about their products. Let's face it, everything in California is overpriced!!! (I speak from personal experience on that one, too!)