This really steams me.

[JMes]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

Funny, said store in question sold me this yellow colony for a WHOPPING $20.00 out of there brown bin. Threw common sense out the window on that one!

I would like to buy a fish. Anything that is blue. It has to be blue because I just decorated,and I want the fish to match my nice blue wallpaper. All your fish have velvet or Ick. Whats that? Oh,its normal in healthy fish. COOL,
thanks for clearing that up with me. Ok,I want a blue fish,Preferably velvet as the word velvet sounds sexy.OMG!! I will name it velvet Revolver!! Size? DAmn right size matters. Always say Bigger the better. My tank? It's one of those cube things. Biocube 14? Doesn't matter as velvet Revolver will fit right at home with the other 10 fish in there.
Oh,I will also take one of those dying or dead stick corals. Do those 1000 little flat things covering it cost extra?

Big deal,obviously someone you know sold you the coral at discount price. Fact of the matter these guys sell alot of unhealthy fish,dead or dying corals to inexperienced hobbyist at premium prices. I have seen this first hand. I wouldn`t put any of their corals or fish 10 feet from my tank. Go BS someone else

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by JMes

I would like to buy a fish. Anything that is blue. It has to be blue because I just decorated,and I want the fish to match my nice blue wallpaper. All your fish have velvet or Ick. Whats that? Oh,its normal in healthy fish. COOL,
thanks for clearing that up with me. Ok,I want a blue fish,Preferably velvet as the word velvet sounds sexy.OMG!! I will name it velvet Revolver!! Size? DAmn right size matters. Always say Bigger the better. My tank? It's one of those cube things. Biocube 14? Doesn't matter as velvet Revolver will fit right at home with the other 10 fish in there.
Oh,I will also take one of those dying or dead stick corals. Do those 1000 little flat things covering it cost extra?

Big deal,obviously someone you know sold you the coral at discount price. Fact of the matter these guys sell alot of unhealthy fish,dead or dying corals to inexperienced hobbyist at premium prices. I have seen this first hand. I wouldn`t put any of their corals or fish 10 feet from my tank. Go BS someone else

Man that sounded like me when I first started. Alot of people wont admit that but pretty sure alot were the same. I used to think that those guys at the fish store were sooo smart. After reading several books and hours researching on the net my attitude has totally changed towards this rewarding hobby. I regret to say I have killed alot of fish and corals and wasted tons of money over the years. I do my own research now and it has paid off and there really is not alot of people working in fish stores that I trust. None in my town at all.

[Proteus]

We all make nube mistakes. Heck I'm still a nube. But I've learned that there are people willing to help and even this site helped me out Alot. But honestly I never knew bout the better FS only the big box. Made my mistakes now I no

[mark]

so manager hears the employee telling the customer 'since you just setup your tank, come back in a month and I might sell you something then', wondering if employee still has a job?

[shrimpchips]

A lot of the smaller stores will sell crap to stupid people. Not everybody who buys at the small stores is getting super healthy fish and a great deal - and the opposite can be said for the big box stores. Not all the stuff they have is crap and over priced.

If you don't know what you're looking for, no matter where you go, you won't be getting what you want - it's not the LFS employee's job to fully educate each and every joe schmuck that comes through the door on every product they want to purchase; they just work there.

[amoreira]

There's always pressure on the LFS employee to be the "expert" - all in the interest of customer service. Good employers should tell their employees that honesty is the best policy. I'd appreciate it as a customer. I'd appreciate employers that encourage their employees to learn something about the hobby too. I suspect in a big box store, during off hours there's lots of opportunities for staff to read a book on it (say one of the Two Little Fishies books) or surf the web for information. They want to retain staff? Make the job interesting and pay better.

Maybe the type of customer that these stores get doesn't warrant knowledgable staff. I think the type that go there wouldn't be inclined to invest the $ or time to do it right. They stock up the tank, it crashes and they sell it in a garage sale or kjijji. Ultimately, perhaps we need regulation of the industry. You need a CITES permit to export livestock. This is in interest of protecting the species... Why don't we license hobbyists and LFS's? Take a certification course, pay a fee and get your license. Just some random thoughts on the subject. Might save a few clownfish from doom.

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by JMes

I would like to buy a fish. Anything that is blue. It has to be blue because I just decorated,and I want the fish to match my nice blue wallpaper. All your fish have velvet or Ick. Whats that? Oh,its normal in healthy fish. COOL,
thanks for clearing that up with me. Ok,I want a blue fish,Preferably velvet as the word velvet sounds sexy.OMG!! I will name it velvet Revolver!! Size? DAmn right size matters. Always say Bigger the better. My tank? It's one of those cube things. Biocube 14? Doesn't matter as velvet Revolver will fit right at home with the other 10 fish in there.
Oh,I will also take one of those dying or dead stick corals. Do those 1000 little flat things covering it cost extra?

Big deal,obviously someone you know sold you the coral at discount price. Fact of the matter these guys sell alot of unhealthy fish,dead or dying corals to inexperienced hobbyist at premium prices. I have seen this first hand. I wouldn`t put any of their corals or fish 10 feet from my tank. Go BS someone else

At the end of the day Caveat emptor applies, if your going to purchase something research it first. Your generalizing about all staff members @ all big box stores, I'm just playing devils advocate and saying there are few good ones out there.

I know of one person at this certain location that is highly knowledgeable about our hobby, having worked at a chain store your melodramatic impression of a LFS employee was a little insulting. Have you worked @ a LFS? Have you worked a retail job? I'm certainly not BS'ing when I say customers with predetermined mind frames like yourself make retail miserable.

[kien]

And we're back!

ZoaSensei is right tho. There are a couple of very knowlegable staffers at both Big Box stores that are in this hobby and also frequent this board. However they don't work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week so to fill the void there are some not-as-knowledgeable staffers, sadly :-(

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by kien

And we're back!

Do you, by any chance, deliver? I could use some of that popcorn

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by zoaElite

At the end of the day Caveat emptor applies, if your going to purchase something research it first. Your generalizing about all staff members @ all big box stores, I'm just playing devils advocate and saying there are few good ones out there.

I know of one person at this certain location that is highly knowledgeable about our hobby, having worked at a chain store your melodramatic impression of a LFS employee was a little insulting. Have you worked @ a LFS? Have you worked a retail job? I'm certainly not BS'ing when I say customers with predetermined mind frames like yourself make retail miserable.

agreed completely i knew one at edmontons store and he was very knowlegeable it is what it is some are some arent.....its on the consumer


healthiest clam i ever bought came from aqua giant, guy at big als found me a gate valve in a hurry/emergency from his house and gave it to me for free.....ive also had not so good experiences similar to the one the op is talking about....it is what it is....some of our own most respected reefers that work at these stores are on this site and unless you knew them in person you would never have guessed,hell id go as far as to say some of you accepted advise from them not knowing it lol