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?

[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 :-(

[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

[Aquaria]

If u didn't know already most big stores are about profit do u really think they care? I mean buddywill kill his fish and come back for more after instead of seeing him one time they get to see him many times. It's a sad realization that people just don't care. I'm waiting to see something like that on a bad day lol I would make them feel like complete idiots for the obvious disregard for basic life

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by Parker

I often wonder if the management at said establishments are directing the employees to sell, sell, sell or if it’s just a general lack of knowledgeable employees, or the lack of proper training and education. If they don't know what they are doing is incorrect, is it the employee's fault? I don't believe so.

I worked for a big box store in my FW days years ago. Thats all it was.... Sell, sell, sell. I would send people to other stores to be sure they were getting what they need not what we had on the shelf. I figured that if your going to buy something and have half a head on your shoulders buy what is proper. If you help a customer out properly the first time they will remember that and come back to you when then need something, at least I remember customer service like that. I quit shortly after management gave me a talking to about not sending people away and just making a sale.