People who work at or own a fish store.....

[fishkiller]

What is your favorite question? I have a few favorites, like "what yo cheapest fish is?", "yall got allergy eaters?" "four dollars? gimme a deal if I get two?" "How much is a nemo?" .........God, I can't even think of half of em right now. I wanna hear some others!

 

[lion_crazz]

While working in a store a few years ago, I had someone throw a fit because the store didn't carry "freshwater nemo's."
I'm not sure which is more ridiculous though - the questions some customers ask or the answers the store employees give them. I once watched a store employee bag up 3 green chromis and a pink anthias and sell them as 4 green chromis at 2.99 each, with the pink one as the male!
I also had a customer point to a tank and ask me if the fish in the tank was freshwater or saltwater - a legitimate and okay question. However, he then proceeded to ask me if another fish in the SAME tank was freshwater or saltwater!

 

[stdreb27]

once I had a family member ask me, so is the tank all saltwater, or is part of it freshwater...

 

[crypt keeper]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
http:///forum/post/3181967
I also had a customer point to a tank and ask me if the fish in the tank was freshwater or saltwater - a legitimate and okay question. However, he then proceeded to ask me if another fish in the SAME tank was freshwater or saltwater!

I got loaded at dinner one night as I the person next to me was driving home I an LFS I cant stand. Went in I started asking all these questions. I asked that one about 5 times. I was eventually asked too leave.
I also asked if I could throw clownfish in my pond oustide so my koi could make babies. That was the deal breaker. I was very bored and it was a Tuesday night.

 

[johnbob]

The worst i ever had was a lady who went nuts because we wouldn't give her refund. She wanted to return a 20 gallon fish tank, completely covered in algae to the point you couldn't see through any of the sides, that she bought 4 months earlier(you only had a month for returns), because she couldn't keep anything alive in it.

 

[reefkprz]

way back when i ran an lfs there were a bunch of great questions.. such as
"will a nemofish get along with my goldfish?"
(no maam clownfish are saltwater fish)
"thats ok, I put salt in my water for the goldfish, I just want to know if they will get along"

"I want to set my daughter up a nemo style tank with all the fish that are in the movie, I'm thinking about $200 tops for the whole deal can we do that?" (do you have a tank sir?)
"No, I need a filter and some pretty gravel too"

"I want that anemone please"
(Sure, so how long have you been keeping marine tanks?)
"marine?"

or the hated
"can you get me a shark"
(its possible, depends whats on the availability list, what kind of shark are you looking for?)
"Any"

 

[uneverno]

"My fish died. Why?" This from a doctor.
Poor customer service on my part, but the only response I could come up with was: "You're a doctor, right? My grandma died. Why?"
Fortunately, he had a sense of humor.

 

[troy989]

im going to work at lfs when im 14(in a few months) i was offered a job (kinda) and im just not going to sell them the fish

 

[louti]

Today: Do you guys sell gloves, like for working out in the gym?
Not really a question, but customer had a question about his tank. Asked what kind of fish he had, and he responded, "it gets about this big (holding up hands)."
"Where are th 99 cent fish?"
Not me but a co-worker:
Guy comes in says he has a huge aquarium, like 300 gallons, needs a top. He shows the man some large tanks, nope smaller, turns out it's a 10 gallon, and he asks the guy "so you think you could fit 300 gallons of milk in this tank?" and the guy says "it's the same gallons?"

 

[crypt keeper]

Originally Posted by troy989
http:///forum/post/3182103

im going to work at lfs when im 14(in a few months) i was offered a job (kinda) and im just not going to sell them the fish
which store? Im in Maryland I will come bug you with awesome questions.

 

[sepulatian]

Oh my... The best ever in my store was a lady that had a freshwater tank. Saw the saltwater fish, asked if they could go in with her fish. I told her no, those fish are saltwater. She said, "well I can just put some salt in there" TABLE salt she wanted to just sprinkle in, and all would be fine...

 

[sandman181]

I visit my lfs on a regular basis. I have been in there when this lady called, her nickname is the goldfish lady. She talks to an employee for about 20-30 minutes. I would pay to hear that conversation. They told me she always starts with I don't want to take up to much of your time. She always asks why her goldfish doesn't look happy.

 

[jtt]

Originally Posted by sandman181
http:///forum/post/3182358
I visit my lfs on a regular basis. I have been in there when this lady called, her nickname is the goldfish lady. She talks to an employee for about 20-30 minutes. I would pay to hear that conversation. They told me she always starts with I don't want to take up to much of your time. She always asks why her goldfish doesn't look happy.
I used to work at a very well known and very much hated loan service company who will go un-named cause I dont want to get sue'd, but they were more or less the biggest cause of the real estate breakdown that has occured in the past couple years, and almost every american with a home loan hates them. I worked in Customer Service.

I would take 80-100 phone calls a day, they worked me like a slave. At the end of the day, your call times would be averaged out because some calls were 20 seconds and others were 10-15 minutes if there was a complex problem. Your call average NEEDED to be less than 368 seconds at the end of the day. I saw people get fired for having longer averages. Every once in a while, I would get a call from an elderly person who just needed someone to talk to, Asking the stupidest questions, and yes they always started out with "I don't want to take up to much of your time, but".
I was known on the Customer Service floor for being able to control the conversation and control the irate customers with ease, and I always exceeded my goals. But man, aint no one can shut up an old person with nothing better to do and no one to talk to. One time, I had a call go for over an hour and a half from an old person who just wanted to chat.
The moral of the story? I know youre mad, but dont be irate when you call customer service for your cell phone, home loan, bank, or cable provider. Its not their fault, they are slaves at the bottom of the totem pole making minimum wage. and make your calls short because all customer service people have to adhere to a time limit per call, and that poor bottom rung of the ladder customer service rep could get fired just because you got a $20 late fee on your account and you didnt want to hang up and accept that you sent in your house payment over 30 days later than it was due.
Selah

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by louti
http:///forum/post/3182242
Not me but a co-worker:
Guy comes in says he has a huge aquarium, like 300 gallons, needs a top. He shows the man some large tanks, nope smaller, turns out it's a 10 gallon, and he asks the guy "so you think you could fit 300 gallons of milk in this tank?" and the guy says "it's the same gallons?"
good lord 300 gallons of milk...

 

[coral keeper]

Originally Posted by louti
http:///forum/post/3182242
Guy comes in says he has a huge aquarium, like 300 gallons, needs a top. He shows the man some large tanks, nope smaller, turns out it's a 10 gallon, and he asks the guy "so you think you could fit 300 gallons of milk in this tank?" and the guy says "it's the same gallons?"
LOL

 

[reefkprz]

one of my favorites, not really a dumb question but more of an impossibility with good intentions.
"my wife is at a friends house for about an hour or so can I get that 125 she was looking at the other day, with everything I need I want it all set up for her when she gets home"
I remembered the setup she was looking at, more than half of what she wanted was special order items, not in stock items. (including the tank, she wanted the reefready version of the standard 125 we had in stock) great intentions but apparantly he didnt realize what special order meant.

 

[mastertech]

i dont work there but i witnessed it.
CUSTOMER- can i buy that fish?
LFS- what kind of tank do you have?
CUSTOMER- an aquarium.
LFS- no fresh or salt?
CUSTOMER- i dont know.
LFS- well what kind of fish do you have?
CUSTOMER- about this big. (holding his hands up)
LFS- no you can not buy that fish!

 

[reefkprz]

"can you order me some illeagle fish?"

"how come my jack dempsey keeps killing all my goldfish"

"how come all my fish die everytime I do a waterchange?"
(what kind of water are you using)
"I fill the tank with the hose"
(are you treating the water and bringing it up to temperature)
"should I?"

after purchasing the fish
"how long will these fish last in the bag? we are setting up the tank in the morning"

 

[mermaidgrrl13]

A couple years ago I had someone get very upset that we sell the same "Creature" that killed the crocodile hunter. heres the kicker...they were talking about a PLECO. I kept telling them that it was most certianly NOT what killed him and what DID kill him RARELY kills people. lol.
we dont sell SW fish were I work..and every day i THANK GOD to be honest with you.
recently the biggest PITA has been a "science project" where the kids keep a poor creature alive for two weeks in a bottle without feeding it.

Needless to say I talked alot of kids into snails and Ghost shrimp. I did some investigating though and I guess one kid put a MOUSE IN THERE!!! I wish that teacher wouldnt allow that. It pretty much infuriates me. Pretty sure it will back fire in the end though...as anyone who has ever owned a rondent knows how fast they can chew through a 2 liter bottle...specially if they have been starved. (BTW this mouse was a pet that they had already owned and was NOT purchased at my store)
also hate when people cram fish into tanks and cannot figure out why they cant keep their ammonia down...or the question....If i get a pleco do i have to clean my tank???? Trust me if there was a fish or a filter that eliminated Water changes...everyone would have a fish tank.

 

[mermaidgrrl13]

Also we had this crazy lady who thought it was okay to help herself to the large comets...i rouded the corner and to my surprize she was elbow deep in the tank trying to catch them with her hand...she had filled her tupperware with (she brought from home) with water already. There were a few fish flopping on the floor. It was a disaster. I called a manager over and explaned to her that this was absolutly unaccaptable, and if she did it agian she would have to leave and would not be allowed in the store. The next time she came in she used a net, but still. She gets Lg comets to feed an alligator. Im scared for the public to see what happens when she can no longer handle this animal when its full grown.
Its also frustrating when someones says i want this fish right here...and then dont move out of the way so you can acctually catch the fish. I just sit there with my net and specimen cup like this

until they get the picture....surprizingly it can take several minutes. I enjoy catching the exact fish people want, as after 15 years of fish wrangeling I think im pretty good at in, and after all they are the ones who have to look at it all day, thats not it, but for heavens sake move out of the way so i can get the fish for you.