Aquariums and Pet Stores.

[magnum]

Okay, so I'm sure we have all had an unfortunate encounter with a pet store employee, aquarium 'specialist' or rude customer (if you work in a pet store /aquarium) . Thus, I thought we may as well share these encounters with one another for the giggles and also for the learning purposes of some of us (:

I may as well start...

I was recently browsing through an aquarium store in which sat a very lifeless attendant. I asked some questions about the larger tanks and he inquired into the type of fish I owned. He then promptly led me over to a tiny not even litre tank and said it was more than adequate. I stared at the small tank (which could be used as an isolation tank) and told him that I was after something larger. He then replied with 'But Betta's live in small puddles'. After a brief pause he then managed to leave and convince another couple to buy a goldfish and stick it into an un-filtered bowl. Sigh.

Note: I also understand that some pet store/ aquarium employees are adequate and I am not offending anyone in particular (:

[Aus]

The muppet who works at my LFS who is notoriously rude to customers.. I asked him about fungus medication for Sid.. and he said, with this big sneer, 'Why bother? Just get another fish."

And the bimbo who works at the same LFS and keeps all her bettas in 1L (0.3 g) cubes. Apparently, this makes her an expert on bettas, and they do best on in those tiny tanks because -- yes -- they live in mud puddles in the wild. And there's a BOOK that SAYS SO, she states, pointing to it like it's the bible. Okay...

And the other muppet who works in the fish room there who DUMPS the fish from cup or jug to bag (mind you, the same jug they use to collect ALL the fish and shrimp in.. no concept of cleanliness), then DUMPS a jugful of water from the plant tank on top of it, making sure to bang the fish about as much as possible. Every. Single. Time.

I hate shopping there!

Good news is, I recently found a much nicer store to buy fish/plants/supplies from. I liked giving them my money.

And "Muppet-ville" can go to heck.

[magnum]

Your entry made me laugh! Muppet-ville!

Some employees are completely deranged. When I bought Stu, the lady I bought him off told me that there was a woman, without fail came in to replace her Betta every month, because they kept dying, claiming the fact that keeping them in a large tank kills them.

At least you found a good LFS store, I am yet to find one. BTW, I see you live in Australia! I do as well (: My LFS is City Farmers, if you have heard of them (:

[staffylover]

We have a large chain of a specific pet store and apart from one shop the rest are terrible for their fish and advice (and I use that word loosely!)
I prefer to use a couple of independant shops found locally, particularly as they only sell fish where as with the larger chain the fish are one of many animal types they sell and I dont think they have the correct expertise

[magnum]

Agreed! More mainstream companies seem to hire whomever to sell pretty much anything...