# to fish stores kids know nothing.



## supergourami (Apr 12, 2011)

im 13 and whenever i go into a fish store like big als or somthing i get talked to buy staff like i know nothing and some staff even try and lie to me about what size tanks for what fish. does it happen to any of u guys?


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Well not just to kids. Sometimes adults get the same thing. It all depends on how to approach the Customer Service Reps (CSR) in the Local Fish Store (LFS). If you don't know stuff then sometimes you get people wanting to take advantage of that and try to sell you stuff you don't need.

I think Joeee here had the same situation you had before as with some others. If you know something about the plants and livestock but the LFS CSR is trying to talk to you like you know nothing then bring some facts with you. Nothing like knowing the facts then going to the book section and going to the index area and showing the CSR you know what you know if it has to come to that. Personally I just go to another CSR if such a CSR wants to be that way. If most CSR's in the LFS you're at are like that then perhaps it is better go to another LFS where they treat you better.

Remember you're the customer and it's your money. You can always go else where to buy the stuff. This is why I buy some stuff off members on GTAA as the GTAA community is very helpful, sharing of knowledge, ideas, mostly constructive criticism, and not too much rock throwing and more building on ideas and such. Learn what you can here and on the web before going to the LFS. You do however find some good people at LFS's who are knowledgeable and wanting to help from time to time.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

My advice is to go there knowing enough that you don't need to ask any questions if you can help it.

In my experience there are plenty of store employees who will screw you around just cause it makes their job more exciting, and even those who are trying to do their job well are only human, and can only know so much about so many different things. Even the best case scenario you're likely to get some degree of bias opinion here and there, or information that they simply heard from someone else without verifying it themselves.


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## fishclubgirl (Mar 4, 2010)

Qwerty has some good advice for you!! I side with the lfs employees as they are not paid enough to be experts. Also some store's management encourages them to be the source for information and to sell as well. I have a technique that works really well and was developed by accident, really. I point out something mislabelled, hopefully fairly obscure and they leave me alone after that.


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## supergourami (Apr 12, 2011)

you guys dont no what i mean they ask me "do you have a tank for this fish yet" or me: "do you have and african tigerfish?" staff: " whats that only tiger fish i know of are tiger oscar and tiger barb theres no such thing as african tiger fish" when i looked around they had one in stock.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Being a 'fish expert' in a couple of chains I've always tried very hard not to treat anyone unfairly.. and half the time the kids really know their stuff compared to the parents. lol

Being a girl, i've been treated like a dunce a couple of times in some shops... Sometimes I like to bait out some employee's just to see what they will say.


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## supergourami (Apr 12, 2011)

Ciddian said:


> Being a 'fish expert' in a couple of chains I've always tried very hard not to treat anyone unfairly.. and half the time the kids really know their stuff compared to the parents. lol
> 
> Being a girl, i've been treated like a dunce a couple of times in some shops... Sometimes I like to bait out some employee's just to see what they will say.


 same here i bait them to just to see if they lie to me


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## shark (Jan 28, 2009)

this happened to me numerous times when i was younger and first entered the hobby from the same guy at the pj's in bramelea i dont go there no more....they don't have a diverse selection and just wasting my time.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

> you guys dont no what i mean they ask me "do you have a tank for this fish yet" or me: "do you have and african tigerfish?" staff: " whats that only tiger fish i know of are tiger oscar and tiger barb theres no such thing as african tiger fish" when i looked around they had one in stock.


Heh, I once had an employee net me some dead fish and refused to listen to me, insisting that they were just playing dead. So believe me, it happens to everyone at all ages 

Look at it from the other perspective though. They spend all day dealing with customers, adults, who actually don't have a tank for the fish yet, and do actually ask for fish that they don't know the proper names for.

But you are right, it isn't great job performance to not know a fish you currently have in stock. And to tell you something doesn't exist because they haven't heard of it is a little arrogant.

If you have consistent problems at that store you might consider commenting about it to the manager. Otherwise I think you just have to be patient and realize that you're probably not dealing with professionals, or even hobbyists for that matter.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

qwerty said:


> Otherwise I think you just have to be patient and realize that you're probably not dealing with professionals, or even hobbyists for that matter.


This. The sales reps at BA are just like sales rep at auto dealers or Futureshop: their job is to sell your stuff, not to inform you. They only try to appear knowledgeable in order to convince you to buy stuff.


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## shark (Jan 28, 2009)

solarz said:


> This. The sales reps at BA are just like sales rep at auto dealers or Futureshop: their job is to sell your stuff, not to inform you. They only try to appear knowledgeable in order to convince you to buy stuff.


very smart and true statement


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

might be true unfortunately for many retail places. But when it's something specific/technical I'd hope the employee knew something about the industry they are selling. for example, I don't think you could get away for long not knowing camera gear in a photo retail place. At least you couldn't in the past.


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## ChuckRum (Sep 11, 2010)

I never ask the employees at big al's questions not because they wil probably think i know nothing, but because they usually never know what the hell theyre talking about. I just do my research, and ask questions on forums like this and MFK and make my decisions myself. I can't count how many times people have given me false information, or i have seen employees that cant even name the fish that are in the tank if the fish tag is missing.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Riceburner said:


> might be true unfortunately for many retail places. But when it's something specific/technical I'd hope the employee knew something about the industry they are selling. for example, I don't think you could get away for long not knowing camera gear in a photo retail place. At least you couldn't in the past.


- You should buy this 200$ canister filter because it has a lot of surface area for beneficial bacterial growth.
- If you put a few drops of this product in your tank, you can put in fish right away.
- Oh yeah, you can keep gold fishes with discus no problem.

...

You have to remember that they only need to give info to people who don't know any better. Of course they can get away with it.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

ChuckRum said:


> I never ask the employees at big al's questions not because they wil probably think i know nothing, but because they usually never know what the hell theyre talking about. I just do my research, and ask questions on forums like this and MFK and make my decisions myself. I can't count how many times people have given me false information, or i have seen employees that cant even name the fish that are in the tank if the fish tag is missing.


A thought just came to mind. I wonder with the way smart phones are now witht he camera and apps has anyone or anyone here with the skills thought about making a program that can snap multiple photos of the fish and run it through a fish database (which will be updated with new fish ID's over time) so that the program can either give a positive ID or query up a few possible ID's of the fish you're looking at?

Say you're at the LFS and you see a fish you like and there is no label and you're not sure what fish it is and the CSR has no clue. You could use use said proposed program which will take multiple shots of the fish and try to facial recognize it in a database.


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## ChuckRum (Sep 11, 2010)

AquaNekoMobile said:


> A thought just came to mind. I wonder with the way smart phones are now witht he camera and apps has anyone or anyone here with the skills thought about making a program that can snap multiple photos of the fish and run it through a fish database (which will be updated with new fish ID's over time) so that the program can either give a positive ID or query up a few possible ID's of the fish you're looking at?
> 
> Say you're at the LFS and you see a fish you like and there is no label and you're not sure what fish it is and the CSR has no clue. You could use use said proposed program which will take multiple shots of the fish and try to facial recognize it in a database.


Thats actually an amazing idea, just like the shazam iphone app where it tells you the song your listening to, it seems like it would be much easier to make an app that would involve facial recognition. just like how you can now take pictures of bar codes and it will get someones BBM pin. this would be great for identifying baby peacock bass


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Thats a really interesting idea. Much better than Penny's idea about snapping shoes and running it through a database. Ugh. She is my least favorite character. (from The Big Bang Theory)

I personally loved talking to kids that knew their stuff about fish. I used to think that I had a good day if I got a kid into the hobby... like selling their own fishtank. 

On the flipside, the store I worked at was inside a busy mall and people would basically drop their kids off at the pet store and continue shopping for hours... and on some weekends the store was like a day care. I have enough crap to deal with in a store already, and I didnt sign up for babysitting as part of the job description. Aside from that, people apparently have to buy giant baby/toddler carriages that do not fit in between isles but proceed to push and knock over all the products in the aisle just to get to the fish room. FML. Oh the stories, the horrors of retail! Why didnt I just work in a book store. lol


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

ChuckRum said:


> Thats actually an amazing idea, just like the shazam iphone app where it tells you the song your listening to, it seems like it would be much easier to make an app that would involve facial recognition. just like how you can now take pictures of bar codes and it will get someones BBM pin. this would be great for identifying baby peacock bass


Well I think a few people on GTAA are have SDK's and work on apps. Ahh that was the app I was thinking of before. Shazam. I don't own a smartphone yet but that Shazam app sounds good from all the examplesI've seen on the tele.


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