LFStories.......

[Rastapus]

Hey everyone,
OK, I have decided to start this sticky not only to provide some interesting examples of what our team at IPU encounter from time to time, but also to provide information as a result for mistakes other hobbyists may make or popular misconceptions about the aquarium hobby overall.

[Rastapus]

Our first "story" has happened more then once. It is likely the biggest if not one of the biggest misunderstandings of the hobby.
Many hobbyists start an aquarium off from advice from a friend. Unfortunately if the friend has limited experience things can get VERY interesting. Often if a friend does something a certain way, it is THE way of doing it, period.

After purchasing new gravel, a customer came to the conclusion that the gravel MUST be toxic because he started losing fish. One by one the fish were dying, each time a water change was performed. The customer came to the conclusion that it must be the gravel. Many questions were asked and finally it was determined that the entire aquarium was dismantled, filter thoroughly cleaned out and basically sterilized. All the beneficial bacteria was lost and the high original load of fish caused the ammonia etc. to go through the roof. There were no test kits being used by the customer so the logical assumption was that it must be the gravel.

This sort of sterilization process is common, particularly if the aquarium receives very little regular maintenance. The idea of clean from one customer to another varies. Without test kits, hobbyists are flying blind. Understanding the biological cycle is key and understanding how these bacteria live and operate is also essential. Unfortunately situations like this above can lead to denial and criticism of the advice given. Once some hobbyists make up their mind that they will not back down, unfortunately this sort of situation can result in a lost customer. If someone is unwilling to heed advice, it can be almost impossible to rectify some situations. In this example, we offered to test the gravel on a temporary set up to confirm the allegation of the gravel being toxic. An aquarium was set up using an established filter, system water and the gravel in question. There have been no losses after a 24 hour period and the test is ongoing. Clearly gravel that has been processed for over 20 years and coated with a non toxic paint is unlikely the cause.

At IPU we recommend never performing a water change larger than 50%. We also stress on a regular basis the importance of having a media in your filter which is never rinsed with tap water. We suggest rinsing any filter media in only water from the aquarium to minimize any problems, even if certain media in question could be rinsed with tap water, ie: mechanical media.

[Rastapus]

Well the test continued on for three days and was conclusive that the gravel did not affect the health of the test fish. The customer however is absolutely unwilling to accept that it could be due to anything else but that. This is one of those classic situations that there is no way to keep the customer happy unless we give them everything they want which would be quite a bit in livestock loss for something that has absolutely nothing to do with the product or advice from our team. The customer in question has now spoke to 6 different team members and appears completely unwilling to listen to any other possible reason for the situation.
To others in retail, I am sure they will agree that with this story as an example, there is no way now to fix it. We have offered to take the gravel back even though there is nothing wrong with it as an offer of compassion. The customer is not interested in that either.
All too often being right is more important than reason. Even when there are perfectly reasonable reasons why it had occurred.
Unfortunately this incident will likely not end well.

[LikeItLow]

unfortunately, in retail as much as we would like to say otherwise and tell them to "kindly leave and never come back", the customer is always right.

[target]

One that I heard a lot in a couple of LFS's was people asking if they could keep a 'Nemo' fish in their aquarium. When asked what they had, the responded with 'a fresh water aquarium'. I had to shake my head. Did they even watch the movie? Or do they just not know the ocean contains salt water?

[plantedinvertz]

My sister once dumped half a bottle of baby powder into my fish tank because she thought that it would be good for the fish. Half of the fish died but luckily I could save the other half

[Teal'c]

A while back I was at the burnaby store looking at the African cichlids. I sparked up a conversation with a fellow custumer about the different species ipu had at the time. Most of which I already have in my aquariums. After a few minutes I was asked if I worked there. I said no, but I do have over 20 different species of Africans I keep and breed.I thought it was pretty funny. Maybe I should change careers.

Teal'c aka Jason

[Rastapus]

Time for story 2!

So I have been sorting and organizing all of our spare parts over the last week or so, no small task but desperately in need. We have an enormous array of parts, many without identification.
Anyways, on to the story. We had a gentleman request a gasket for a professional filter. For those that do not know, these gaskets become compressed over time and lose their elasticity and can begin to leak slowly if not replaced. O-rings don't tend to have the same problem or at least not as often. We had him on a call list for when I tracked one down for him. A few days ago I did just that so I gave him a call. These gaskets are not the easiest to come by so he was elated to hear from me and came down the following day.
I was unfortunately not in when he was there but he was shocked at the price and voiced his shock quite well. He returned his other products to the shelves but purchased the gasket regardless because he needed it. He "went off" on my staff regarding the price. He later emailed me through our website "explaining" that he could have purchased it for $13.00 off of Eheim parts on line and what a crook I was. He will never shop with us again, unsubscribe me and so on and so on. Naturally I take emails like this very seriously so I replied requesting further info so I could remove him from our system and apologized for his experience. Still it seemed very odd to me so I asked him a few questions via email.
After mulling it over a bit without yet having a response I did a little investigating. I went onto Eheim parts on line and discovered that the gasket in question was in fact $24.02, and out of stock. This was in US dollars and did not include shipping and the other usual suspects. In the email he stated that the prices were better under the previous name which was not true either as the price has not changed. We sell the gasket in question for $29.99, in the end cheaper then what he had seen. Perhaps he saw the wrong item price, perhaps not. Impossible to say as he never replied to my questions or to my two emails at all for that matter. To make matters worse for me, I provided this part to him willingly even though I have two professional filters that I have sold gaskets out of and had I kept the gasket I would have another professional filter to sell. We always will remove parts from a stock filter if a client is in need, particularly if it is preventing their filter from running. I have no idea if the filter came from us originally but it does not matter to me if someone is in a pinch. I can guarantee other businesses will be very reluctant to sacrifice a sale of a product to dig in for a part.
I still have not heard back from the customer and I have not deleted his account. Perhaps he has realized his mistake, perhaps not. Still a frustrating situation all the same. These days some people can be quick to judge a situation and blow up without considering the option that they may actually be wrong. I have to wonder what happened in between the time he was so grateful that I had found the part to losing it in the store. He also mentioned how it took me a couple days to get back to him. Wow.

[effox]

Ever since the internet, everyone's a bloody "expert" Grant.

[Illbuyourcatfish]

unfortunately, in retail as much as we would like to say otherwise and tell them to "kindly leave and never come back", the customer is always right.

"The customer is NOT always right, but they're still your customer"

I prefer this ^.