do we just shop cheaP

[Acro]

well I went out today to look at some stores to see what was out there. Well I stopped at j&l to see what they had which was not much that I was intrested in they did make sure to insult the price I paid for something from a different store. As much as I love a good price I do not like to be insulted. My question to everyone is do we all just run around to find the best price and forget service? I will now go out of my way to buy from local shops if they are intrested in at least coming close to others prices. If not I will not think twice about mo from others across canada

[smokinreefer]

hey jamie,
i will not defend JL for their service to you, as i have heard a few complaints from others too.
but i can say i have had good service from them myself, so far.
when were you there?, i went there today too...and yes the sps was lacking, tho i have also been there when the sps tanks were full. anyhow i saw marc and rob there too. what a coincidence eh?

[reefburnaby]

Hello,

Yeah...I'm pretty guilty for searching for the lowest prices. I do understand your frustration -- getting a good deal and get good customer service are hard to find.

Say...do you recall who you were talking to at J&Ls ? Maybe you can send them an email and complain.

- Victor.

[ 23 September 2001: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[Acro]

well I geuss yesterday was just once to many what hapened was about a month ago I went there after buy a magfloat from aquarium services for a wopping 50 bucks with trades from frags that I had brought anyway I brought in the magnet to show them and give them the info off the back so they could perhaps bring them cheaper so they wrote down the info and bosted saying they could bring them in for 10 bucks and laughed at me for paying 50 well yesterday they started out my visit the same way"how much did you pay for that magnet again" And see the odd thing is about 3 month or more ago I bought 2 250 hqi set ups from them for around 1400 bucks after taxs and they never make comment about that.I have spent thousands of dollars at there store and when I spend 50 bucks somewere else they make sure to comment on it.perhaps petty but bugs me none the less

[christyf5]

I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing J&L I went there awhile ago and bought a yellow finger leather which split and rotted in my tank over the 5 days after purchasing it. When I went back to J&L and mentioned it he said that I shouldn't have bought it and that I didn't have enough light for yellows. The first thing I do before buying any coral is tell them how much light I have and if that is enough for the coral I am interested and then make my decision. I was really disappointed in those guys for selling it to me. Its frustrating because I live on the island and there is totally nothing here and Van is my last (and cheapest) option other than mail order. I really don't want to go MO if I don't have to, I would rather see exactly what I am getting than a "may not be exactly as shown" picture. Guess I should do more research next time. [img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]

Christy

[ 24 September 2001: Message edited by: christyf5 ]

[ 24 September 2001: Message edited by: christyf5 ]

[canadawest]

I think we all tend to shop for price, especially considering how expensive our hobby really is.

I also find John and Allen quick to nip at other retailers when mentioned, but thier only foundation to boast are thier prices and selection of livestock. As with every LFS, they are going to have opinions and recommendations, and we should always take them with a grain of salt.

And while I do often shop there because of thier prices, I don't often talk anymore about my setup or other purchases because it just seems to hit a soft spot with them. Ask me if I mention anymore that I use a Prizm skimmer on my tank. You should hear the list of disasters that are waiting to happen on my tank because of it!

And Christy I agree they don't have much remorse for lost livestock. I wrote Allen an email about a Yellow Tang that died 5 days after I got it, and the response I got was "sorry to hear about your tang".

So for price, yup I'm guilty I'll look there first, or go MO. But for that "feel good about my shopping experience" I'll be elsewhere, like Animal House.

It's too bad Animal House doesn't have a website to compare prices and see what's available, or I'd travel out that way more. (Hint, hint Dale)

[Troy F]

Jamie, I'm guessing you were talking to Allen/Alan? He gives me the gears all the time about things I either buy or think about buying. I take it as good natured ribbing. I don't think John will even talk to me anymore though. Customer relations aside I think they run a top notch store. Their prices are good and they deal strictly in reefs. They have high end equipment available which most of the other shops don't have readily available. I get more insulted when I look at the prices at Big Al's [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] .

[terryp01]

Okay y'all (that's Texas for all of you). I think we all have a tendency to look and negotiate for the lowest price on anything we are trying to buy.

Hopefully, what we are able to determine is that the lowest price must mean something is being given up to meet that price. I have seen some items priced lower than wholesale. Of course, we all understand leader products and once they get you in the store you just have to have that 100.00 fish which they make about 75.00 on it.

I am sure you all have heard the news about DOT COMS going out of business right and left. This is because of poor management and no mark/profit. Remember PETS.COM that bought Flying Fish.com? Pets filed bankruptcy but Flying fish continued to operate as a successful business.

I only ask that if you go to your LFS and ask them questions that you at least buy something from them every once in a while. I purchase all of my food (frozen) from the LFS and recommend her on my website. There is no way an LFS can compete with the mass marketers on the web such as Jeff's Exotic Fish, Flying Fish, etc since they have store rental, employee costs, shipping, etc. Some of the onlines (oh yes they do) have a relationship with the wholesalers and pull the items from the stock and ship it.

The typical mark-up is about 200% for fish/corals online and about 300-400% in the store. You want that five day guarantee you are going to pay for it.

Remember, if all of us always shopped and bought the lowest price we could find, quality would suffer and most of us would be unemployed.

I saw an posting on one of the bulletin boards where someone purchased a Metal Halide bulb from a website at $125.00 and it was dropped shipped from the distributer and they forgot to black out the charge to the internet site. The cost of the bulb was about 89.00 and the person had a cow (Texas, means upset) that the internet company made so much. However, the person was happy with the price until they saw the cost. Ever heard of supply and demand? Go to your LFS and buy a metal halide bulb and see what you will pay, think they are in this business to give it away. I THINK NOT.

Being cost aware is not being cheap. Being cheap is being not so smart.

Okay, soapbox retired.

[SuperFudge]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jamie Cross:
I will now go out of my way to buy from local shops <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Amen !!

Even if it is not so local,though thankfully mine is,I would still spend the extra buck or drive the extra mile to stick with one store if they have shown me respect and a fair price regularly...give em a buck extra for a certain product for the $5 or $10 they gave you off your last purchase!
(all emergencies and uncarried product excluded of course [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img])

I had a visit to some stores this weekend(good to see ya Shao [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]) it was the first time for me at J&L`s and King ed`s,and all i came home with was the same damn opinion [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img].

JMVHO of course,Marc.

[ 24 September 2001: Message edited by: Fudge ]

[SuperFudge]

whoops

[ 24 September 2001: Message edited by: Fudge ]