yellow Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 i was standing in an aquarium today pondering whether or not to buy some fish when i overheard a conversation between a staff member and a customer some tropheous dubousi.the customer was a complete novice and the staff member (who also knew nothing.what he knew about tropheus made me look like an expert,and im quite confident i could kill a tank of tropheus just by looking at them.)was giving him this whole spiel about how much money you can make from tropheus and that these fish were a breeding pair .blah blah blah.the guy new nothing about them but this caught his interest and he ended up paying 160.00 for the two.while he was deciding whether to buy them (which included a call to a friend to ask what are these tropheous fish like?)it me to thinking should i appraoch him and let him know wha he was getting himself into and maybe point him in the right direction aka this site or should i leave things as they are.the aqaurium in question was doing nothing wrong as far as i can see it as a business has bills to pay so its agenda is to make money.it has to move fish in order to stay afloat which is why i hesitated.just wondering what people thought and what theyd do given a similar situation.do you speak up or stay out of it.the money i dont care about at the end of the day its only money but id be amazed if those fish make it to the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoliroMan Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 That's a difficult one!....that is why i started the tropheus topic to help people gain a better awareness about tropheus and that when kept correctly with a little research, tropheus are not that difficult to keep alive! I don't know what i would have done in this situation. Do we as customers have the right to confront a LFS owner about their false information? I guess the only loser in this situation is the fish and i hope the buyer will do some research on how to keep these fish. Did he at least know that they have special water and dietary requirements? I must admit i have in the past bought one duboisi and placed it in a mixed tank and kept finding it dying after a few days and i would never have the urge to find out why!!!! I just hope we can reach out to this guy somehow on this forum and re-educate him for the fish's sake!!! Maybe u could have followed him out of the shop and let him know where he could find out more information about keeping tropheus!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndoboi Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Id strike up a conversation with the prospective buyer, discuss the hobby etc and the nice new fish he/she was about to buy. Id then introduce some open questions to get them thinking about whether it's really the right choice. More likely to get return custom at an LFS if the customer is satisfied.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormboy Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 Talk to them every time, you cant lose. Who knows you may even find that the worker takes what you say on board and learns as well. I work in a LFS and have on occasion been challenged by a customer regarding a point of fish keeping, at which time we go off to consult the net and/or reference books available (an important note in distinguishing good LFSs). Sometimes goes their way, more often my way I consider that when I am proven wrong I have learned something and when I am right the customer has learned something. No downside. Even if the worker is not as philosophical about it as me and does not appreciate being corrected they are unlikely to make the same mistake twice As a side product, there are certain customers whose opinions I appreciate and respect more than others and while I endevour to serve every customer well I make a special effort when dealing with those I respect. It works both ways. -Mat- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 I think in this hobby it’s the fish we look after that should come first. You can do this politely, there is no point in your getting into an argument, or causing a rift between you and the shop. Perhaps both the customer and the shop assistant could have benefited from your knowledge as Mat suggested. Perhaps you could have given information, while still trying to sell these fish, or up sell if there were more available. In the end, if these two fish die, will the customer be happy? Will this dissatisfied customer be good for the shop? This is an information hobby, spread the love! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchy Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 walk up to the tropheus tank and use the ice breaker "Gee thats a nice one eh? What do you reckon?" and continue from there... By doing nothing no body benefits, even the LFS as they loose a customer pretty quickly. Although short term it could turn nasty (but most of us aussies are ok), in the long run everybody benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart121s50 Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 I am new to keeping and breading fish and would like to think that if somebody that knew a little about the fish I was about to buy in this sort of situation would let me know as this would tend to encourage me rather that put me off of a very fascinating hobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 I too am new to fishkeeping. I look forward to going to my LFS (as I do coming onto this forum), because every time I learn something new. It may not always be correct, or suit my circumstances, however with experience, I learn to sort the sort the "wheat from the chaff". In the end my fish benefit. If they're happy, and I'm happy, then I have a higher likelihood of staying in the hobby. Most of what I have learnt comes from theLFS, these forums (and from my failures). I've got a good idea of what not to do. It's very gratifying to see that so many people are so willing to help each others out on these forums. I agree with everyone else. Strike up a conversation, and point people in the right direction without making them feel dumb. Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canerod Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 Theres a real can of worms here. If the lfs is your local you dont want to be getting them offside, so slagging them to a prospective customer is not too smart. However if they have a staff member who needs educating and a prospective customer who is about to discover that two fish can turn each other into sushi overnite, i think a word in the ear of the store manager or owner would probably be worthwhile. If the customer takes the fish home and they die he goes back to the store and says "my fish died" they give him two more and they die too he's gonna start thinking he is dealing with the wrong store and find somewhere else to shop. I know because ive done it myself. On the other hand if its not your local and for some reason you have no respect for the store, just tell the customer straight out that the staffer their dealing with is an idiot who knows jack about tropheus and only wants to empty their pocket. Thats guaranteed to get you a very WARM reception next time you go there . By the way I know nothing about tropheus, other than the fact that i wouldnt even try to keep them alive, so if I worked in a lfs I would make it a point to refer a prospective tropheus buyer to someone who does know about them. Im sure most lfs would have staff with a range of experiences who can help each other to help the customer. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackDog Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 If i owned a LFS and the above happened in my store i would be wee wEEed off nothing was said to buyer and seller. As for the LFS i would have asked he/she to have a word on the side away from other customers and explain to them what has happened and your opinion in the matter. Why away from other customers because this makes you look more professional over the matter most people new to the hobby assume LFS are the best people with information and what they say is correct so by proving them wrong the could possibly lose customers, which is not what you want to do it will only add heat to the discussion. Hopefully the will see you have acted in a reasonable manner and will take your info onboard. I believe LFS make most of there profits on people returning to the stores for purchases, and getting a good customer base and reputation most of LFS advertisement is done buy word of mouth so its in there best interest to do the right thing As for the customer money does matter so they want to know that they have a bargin or a good purchase so with out making them sound dumb explain gently about what they are going to have to do to care for this fish, and then from there they can make the decision to wether they keep it or not. I would do this outside the store or away from any ear length of the LFS staff you want nothing more that an agurment in public. all in all everyone is responsible for the correct keeping and survival of fish wether they are expensive or not, rare or in abundance, gold fish or cichlid. so Yes bring it up with bother parties but at the right time, tone and manner. just my opinion sorry about the rant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTR73 Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I guess when you think about, how many people over the years brought or saw someone buy a couple of duboisi? Those cute little black coloured juvies with irredescent white spots on them look mighty attractive! And they've been in the hobby for a few years now. Many purchases of ignorance made on that fish alone. (I know I almost did) My opinion here is if that guy was prepared to spend $160 on fish he knew nothing about, and prepared to take the shop assistant's word as gospel, then he can afford to learn by his mistakes. Granted he called a friend, but personally I would have gone home to do some proper research first. And really, wouldn't alarm bells ring if the shop assistant says "they make good money"? Hmmm, I wonder WHY? Yep, as previously suggested on this thread I would have perhaps pulled him up outside the shop and pointed him towards this forum or other websites with good info. I don't think I would've jumped in between the shop keeper and buyer as a dispute may have ensued. But then hindsight is a wonderful thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 People (newbies) will believe what they want to believe and will continue to ask questions untill they here what they want to hear. That is the way I was and experienced this working for an LFS as well. I definately would have said something to the dude purchasing the tropheus, but i also wouldn't be surprised if he/she ignored my advice and bought them anyway. We can only try. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackDog Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 and thats all you can do is try for the safety of the fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.