LFS...dissapointing

[fishguy83]

So - I've been going to a local, privately owned LFS - I've spoken with the owner and some poeple who work there, and they seem pretty reputable - I've noticed however, they do try to get sales, relying on the people to know what they are getting into (i.e. - i have a newly cycled tank that I was buying two perc clowns for and he tried to sell me an anenome - I told him I thought my tank was too new and I wanted to wait for it to get stable before introducing any corals, etc..)
I don't blame them for that though - they are just trying to make sales, I agree that the buyer should know what they are doing...
HOWEVER - I bought two clownfish on Saturday, and Monday the larger died, what looked like, from brooklynella - I tried to get stuff to treat it but it was't quick enough - the other fish seems to be doing fine, I'm watching it closely...
So i wandered down to the LFS today and spoke with the wife, and I asked if they had a guarantee - she asked what I bought, I told her, and the response what, "oh he (referring to the husband, owner) doesn't usually guarantee on saltwater fish" - so I continued explaining that they were the first fish in the tank, the other seems fine, it had been two days, I acclimated them properly - only to hear "Well if you need help with anything, just let me know!"
Needless to say, after buying the tank (got a pretty good deal), buying the filter, heater, salt, magnet, and substrate (overpaying, when I could have went to ***** for those, but wanting to support a good local business) - probably spending about $500 there, I was told no guarantee on saltwater??
I understand if I had a well established tank that may have had the disease in the tank, but it was a new tank and these were the first two fish, and after proper acclimation and two days, one dies?? Not impressed - tell me if you think I am wrong about this, but I don't feel like I am...
And I thought I had a decent LFS .... :notsure:

 

[mcsd22]

In my opinion, A LFS has a really hard time offering a guarentee. Its kinda like buying a used car and coming back with the engine blown up. Was the engine bad or did the guy who bought it blow it up? There are so many people that just go and buy fish and plop them in and wonder why they are dead. So I quess I am saying in a perfect world it would be great to get that guarentee but there are just to many varibles for it to happen. P.S. I dont own a store and I am in the same boat you are but I kinda understand their position.

 

[sagxman]

A good LFS will guarantee SW fish for at least 24 hours. I would have brought in the fish and a sample of water and pointed out to them how much money you have spent there. If nothing else they should have given you store credit.

 

[coachklm]

why dont you talk the business into creating a fish club membership...
I pay 20 for the first year 10 every year after that and i recieve an extended garentee on my saltwater fish purchases 24hrs/48hrs and 20% off of any freshwater purchase and 10% off of saltwater products.

 

[fishguy83]

Well - the fish was disposed of already - it died like right before I was headed off to work (in fact I was a few minutes late, no big deal though) - so I didn't have a lot of time to deal with it, but I wanted it out of the tank...
And I agree - it is hard to guarantee stuff like that and still be in business, but like I said, they were my first fish, and they tested my water before I got the fish, just to double check my params (I asked them to) -- they have a sign that says 24 hour guarantee on all lifestock (doesn't exclude saltwater) but - it was about 48 hours so since they have that posted, I didn't want to gripe too much ...
I just think they could have given me credit (all I wanted) for it being my first fish, they knew my water parameters were good, and it was only 48 hours, and it really looked like brooklynella (couldn't have gotten it from my tank, right? I mean with it being a new tank with only some snails and hermits??)
I just think as a good gesture, too, to make it clear they wouldn't always do it, but since they were my first fish, and all the other things I mentioned, they would have replaced it or given some credit, (even if it was 50% I would have been happy)

 

[mcsd22]

Believe me I feel your pain. I have 4 LFS and all offer no guarentee. The best 1 will give me a discount here and there because I buy all my stuff there but never a full credit.

 

[dogstar]

IMO, its the custormers responablity. No ones makeing you buy anything.
When I am intrested in a fish I see, I will observe it for 30 minutes or more, look at tank conditions and for Ick or slime and how it acts and reacts with tankmates and ask to see it feed and how long the store has had it and what there SG is and if they run medications in their systems, ect. ect. and sometimes leave and go do research if Im not sure about it. If you purchase it then its yours to acclimate and do dips and QT and what you put it into and with and how is up to you.
Im not saying that LFS cant be repsonable but the custormer cant always be off the hook.

 

[fishguy83]

well dogstar -- I am not asking to be "off the hook" I visited the fish store for two days looking at the fish, watching them, and trying to pick out two that I wanted, that Saturday, I finally went and got the fish.
I didn't ask to watch them feed - and actually, they all looked healthy - I thought everything would be fine.
I guess I'm learning --- but why should the LFS be "off the hook" - Like I said, in this situation - it was obviously sick when I bought it, but the symptoms weren't visible at the time...I'm not trying to take away my responsibility, nor am I trying to blame the LFS - They were the first fish in the tank, so i doubt that it was introduced to a disease from my tank (unless I'm wrong about this...)but somewhat of a credit would have been nice - for selling me a sick fish - in a place I've already spent around $500....a $7.50 credit on my next purchase would have been a big deal???

 

[namas05]

I too can understand. As I think we have all lost fish, thatwe probably sick when we bought them.
I go to my lfs regularly just to see what they have and how the fish look. Most of the time I don't even buy a fish. When I do I too stand there for 30 mins or better watching the fish, and may even note the tank and everything and come back a day or two later and watch it again. If it is not there then oh well I don't get that one. If it is and it still looks good then maybe I will buy it.
the lfs charges a good mark up to cover their losses, but if they refund the money when other loose fish they would be out of business in no time.
unforunately the responiblity falls on us the fish keepers to be sure the fish is healthy before we bring it home. If we don't then we can only blame ourselves. Only the larges lfs's can offer a 5 day stay alive. 24 hrs only is there to make the customer happy, because IMO even the most unhealthy fish has a good chance of making it 24hrs. This to say that the lfs probably never has to pay up on the 24 hr alive.
Sorry for your loss and try watching a fish for 3-5 days at the store before buying. This may mean you loose out on a fish or two, but when you do get your fish chances are it will have a better chance of survivng. If no fish live more than 5 days at the lfs I would find some where else to buy your fish.

 

[unleashed]

unfortunatly alot of lfs have this no garentee polacy my store also has this on most fish but because they feel i am a valued customer and wanted my repeted business I have had some of my fish credited back to me even as a newby.i dont expect it all the time but my fish normally dont die .but it has happened with a few of them I had purchased.if your new fish had died from brooks chances are your other clown was also subjected to the parsite.im past experences i found it better to qt new arivals and treat them in a coppered tank to be sure they dont have such a nasty paresite.normally once signs are present its too late to save them.im sorry for your loss none the less

 

[omgsaltwat]

Lets face it.....its going to happen.......But if my store and you spent that much money, I would have replaced or store credit. But I guess some people just don't see the greater good in making the customer happy.

PS I don't have a fish store, but I run a restaurant andI like for people to come back

 

[jon321]

I work at a petstore as a summer job. And believe me, for every honest, decent person that took care of their fish and had one die, you have a dozen that know NOTHING and have a 30g tank with 10 fish. Then if you make a few exceptions it gets around and everyone wants exceptions. Thats the main reason we dont do that, if you do it for one, everyone wants the same treatment. So I wouldnt take it personally by any stretch.
Jon

 

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by Jon321
I work at a petstore as a summer job. And believe me, for every honest, decent person that took care of their fish and had one die, you have a dozen that know NOTHING and have a 30g tank with 10 fish. Then if you make a few exceptions it gets around and everyone wants exceptions. Thats the main reason we dont do that, if you do it for one, everyone wants the same treatment. So I wouldnt take it personally by any stretch.
Jon
this would be acceptable if all stores kept there fish in quarentine before selling them for the minimum time of 2 weeks 21 days would be better.but alot of stores will sell them the day they are shipped to the stores ,this making the fish twice as stressed at the buyers expence without due warning.even the stores are given a 48 hr garentee from the suppliers in most cases and after that 48 hr is up its tax deductable and labled as a loss as what it would have sold for not what it wholesaled for.so the store doesnt accually lose anything if the fish dies.but the hobbiest that just forked out good money is left standing without any recorses? some species you just cant help and are noted as hard to adjust and no garentee given even by wholesalers but thats a very few types standard at most LFS.thos eare the ones I can understand not having any garentee on.but generally harty species not properly acclimated to even the stores envirioments should be accomidated in some way or another if a loss accures.

 

[jon321]

The people that come in on shipment day to stockup on the newest stuff are shooting themselves in the foot. If you do that its your own risk. Most places Ive been to will gladly let you putdown a deposit and wait a week. Infact our chain doesnt sell ANYTHING to ANYONE for 24 hours after they are in the tanks.
Jon

 

[oxbeard]

Our LFS doesn't sell for 3 days and makes sure the fish is eating before they sell. They even refused to sell me a fish one time because he said he had been watching it and didn't like the way it had been doing.
I usually go in the first of each week and if I find anything they will hold it for me until the end of the week. I've gotten so much there at this point they they don't even make me leave a deposit now.

 

[ghola5]

Fish guy I dont blame you for being upset, its hard for me to find a good lfs, all of them just try to tell u what you want to hear to sell something but they dont care if something goes wrong, just be careful next time, even though we try our hardest , we never know what a fish could have even if stress or shock could have killed it perhaps, but good luck .

 

[murph]

All I can say is; get use to it.
Certainly never rely on the advice of an LFS unless there is an established trust.
Many store owners realize that there is a certain "fad" factor to a large portion of people who start SW aquariums. Many are in and out of the hobby sometimes in less than a years time. With that revolving door of hobbyist they simply try to make there money while they can.
Something they don't realize in many cases is that they are somewhat responsible for that revolving door of hobbyist with an unwillingness to work with customers in situations like this and by giving bad advice simply to make a sale.
Many new customers will experience some live stock losses at the outset, become confused by contradictory advice, never get a real handle on the fundamentals of the hobby and become frustrated and break down there tanks.
Its bad business and bad for the hobby in general. Establishing a long term customer who will support the business possibly over the course of decades should be the goal of the LFS but most rarely see it this way.

 

[chipmaker]

I for one if I ran a lfs would not offer a warranty either.......There are just too many ways a person can kill a fish unintentionally. I may offer a discount on another, but unless my suppier gave me a warranty, I think its unreasonable to give a guarantee on it either. Observe the fish your wanting to buy.........I watch the fish I want sometimes for a few days and if its sold in the meantime so be it, it not like it was a have to have item right then and there or its the "only fish in the sea" there will be more.....The LFS here has tags on their tanks with the date the fish in those tanks were received.......so a fish showing no signs of sickness that is n that tank for say 4 weeks, and looks just fine when yu buy it but dies 2 days later aafter yu get it to its new home is certainly not a fault of the lfs IMHO, so why should they replace it.....Those that do, probably have a higher markup than some shops.........To be honest, I have bought a heap of fish in my life, and I have only ever lost a few feeder goldfish.........never lost a saltwater fish or critter.

 

[fishguy83]

Originally Posted by Jon321
The people that come in on shipment day to stockup on the newest stuff are shooting themselves in the foot. If you do that its your own risk. Most places Ive been to will gladly let you putdown a deposit and wait a week. Infact our chain doesnt sell ANYTHING to ANYONE for 24 hours after they are in the tanks.
Jon

where did this come from - just about other people's posts?? The fish had been there, for at least 3 days, maybe more, from when I was in checking them out, deciding what I wanted....
maybe i just missed someone's post about coming in on shipment day - or you are just making a general statement...

 

[fishguy83]

Originally Posted by Murph
Establishing a long term customer who will support the business possibly over the course of decades should be the goal of the LFS but most rarely see it this way.
I completely agree - they know I have been in often, checking out fish, asking questions, the one guy who works there was even "impressed" with the knowledge I had learned by reading on here, and elsewhere --- I'm not just getting a tank to have one, stocking it all in one day, not cyling, etc -- -and then expecting a refund - they were with me all the way, testing my water for me throughout the cycle, along with my tests, because I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing...