Originally Posted by
ophiura
If you do not like *****, then please do not shop there for anything
I'd like to take a different approach to this thread. ***** threads get nowhere. They just don't. But one thing I would like to do here, and this is not to bash - this is to be productive, really - is look at the responsibilities of both parties.
This may be harsh. I'm really sorry, and I am not flaming...just want people to think about their own actions in ANY store.
This thread in some ways bothers me pretty much to the core. Perhaps bothers me more than any other single ***** thread out there. And there have been A LOT of ***** threads out there.
My request here is to please consider PERSONAL responsibility....because if you don't, you will find issues not just at *****, but at any LFS you go to. The issues you fault them for happen every day even at specialty LFS, so there is a lesson to learn here for everyone.
There is a reason that we talk about research, education, etc, etc,etc and it will save you money and frustration if taken to heart.
Issue 1) I'll give you the ick for sure...but walk with me into any fish store in this town, and show you ick as well, and few would credit you, and few would QT anything. So that, IMO, "bing bing" for *****.
Issue 2) A clown goby is kinda hard to mistake it for something else. They are unique looking fish (quite adorable actually :happyfish ). It is *****'s fault for identifying it wrong. Yes. To the extent they marked it wrong on the tank. But did you research the fish to know what it needed and looked like?
Issue 3) I worked in an LFS. Fish jumped, but I would never sell it. And I certainly would never buy it if I saw it happen. So that is not entirely *****'s fault either. You still purchased the fish. FWIW, I have a Master's degree in Marine Biology and was 29 years old when those fish would jump, so please, don't cast stones at the "dumb highschool girl" until you've walked in those shoes.
It is the nature of the business, and has little to do with much else.
Issue 4) The red scooter blenny has very special needs (think mandarin goby) and is also an identifiable fish. They labeled it wrong...definitely their responsibility. But did you research into what it needed or looked like?
So while it is SUPER easy to blame *****, we must also look to our own actions. Are we shopping there when there are concerns about their animal care, staff, etc? Don't buy anything! Are we doing our own research into animal needs, or assuming that we will be told the right information? If assuming, well, you know what they say about "assume"...and it will get you into trouble at ***** and many other LFS as well. The responsibility is a two way street, IMO.
***** is often no better, and no worse, than many other LFS that get away with it every day, because they are some "mom and pop" store and don't have the big name.
Fish may be treated equally poorly...the staff may be equally uneducated (BTW, as an aside...I love/hate this argument, because in the same breath people can say they have minimum wage stupid staff, but at a store that has experienced staff, people complain the prices are so high! LOL
)
Anyway, just my opinion on this. Again, not meant to bash, just to consider....
Wow, really well put.
You have a way with words, haha.
