LFS that lie.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by blacknife

so you would gladly give pieces of it away to noobs and expect them to live eh?

oh well .. but just think of all the $$ i have spent trying to make things better in my tank to keep it alive.. hah.. thats what the salesperson is thinking..

Umm, yeah, I would actually, but I know that if they were MY customer, their tank would be kickass.

But I digress, I'm not trying to sell anyone any Goniopora...

[Slick Fork]

I have a bit of a hard time with the image of the big bad retailer picking on the poor sweet honest consumer.

Most of the bad advice I see in LFS's is just that. Bad advice from employees who have great intentions but limited experience. No single person can know it all and ultimately the onus should be on the consumer to check several sources and make an informed decision. I think the actual instances of something more sinister going on, like deliberate misleading of a customer, are very rare.

So, do your own research... take everything ANYBODY says with a grain of salt because everybody has their own opinion even if it's not a particularly qualified one. Give the sales guys/employees the benefit of the doubt, 99 times out of a hundred they're just trying to be helpful and yes, they should know when to say "I don't know" but sometimes pride does get in the way. As for the rare occasions when someone is deliberately mislead, those are unfortunate, but the stores are digging their own grave.

And really, when we hear a story like Sharuq's about a woman who dropped $1000 on a strip light and cannister filter we all shake our heads and curse the LFS that sold it. But when you give it a moments thought, any waterhead who will drop that kind of money without doing even the most basic research, probably shouldn't be keeping fish in the first place. They should maybe stick to hamsters or sea monkeys or something like that.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I have a bit of a hard time with the image of the big bad retailer picking on the poor sweet honest consumer.

Most of the bad advice I see in LFS's is just that. Bad advice from employees who have great intentions but limited experience. No single person can know it all and ultimately the onus should be on the consumer to check several sources and make an informed decision. I think the actual instances of something more sinister going on, like deliberate misleading of a customer, are very rare.

So, do your own research... take everything ANYBODY says with a grain of salt because everybody has their own opinion even if it's not a particularly qualified one. Give the sales guys/employees the benefit of the doubt, 99 times out of a hundred they're just trying to be helpful and yes, they should know when to say "I don't know" but sometimes pride does get in the way. As for the rare occasions when someone is deliberately mislead, those are unfortunate, but the stores are digging their own grave.

And really, when we hear a story like Sharuq's about a woman who dropped $1000 on a strip light and cannister filter we all shake our heads and curse the LFS that sold it. But when you give it a moments thought, any waterhead who will drop that kind of money without doing even the most basic research, probably shouldn't be keeping fish in the first place. They should maybe stick to hamsters or sea monkeys or something like that.

+1

Two words: Caveat Emptor.

No one is putting a gun to head and forcing you to buy something.

[Aquattro]

Personally, I'd like to hear from all the vendors on the horror stories dealing with us customers!!