# Anyone here work in aquatics retail



## tom495 (Mar 25, 2011)

Anyone else on here work in an aquatics store? Im starting to think its one of the toughest jobs out there, animal wise, as not only can fish be challenging to keep in large numbers when imported but you also have to prepare them for tank life in uk. Then you have to take the abuse you get when it goes wrong, nobody thinks about the work that's gone on before they've lied about their tank size/occupants to buy the fish they want! Is it just me or are the customers getting worse? 

Less people really care about their fish these days (almost see them as a piece of furniture that should just work with no effort!) and really don't like listening to advice. If I had a pound for every time I heard I want something with a bit of colour for my 10l tank to go in with 20+ fish id be a very rich man. Another example I have done a few water tests over the last few weeks and when it comes to results being bad you can come up against some very abrupt people as if its your fault they cant buy fish. I often say this is a business and if im discouraging you from purchasing what we are selling there must be good reason. 

Just yesterday I was physically threatened because I didn't have a specific fish in stock and would have to let them know next week when and how much I can get them for. Anyone in the industry will know livestock availability lists change at the beginning of every week.

Is it just me experiencing this or are others as well? I know there are a lot of good fishkeepers out there I have a lot of regulars but im finding that the bad is starting to out weigh the good.

rant over :lol2:

would really like to hear others opinions on this.


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## Moony14 (Aug 20, 2011)

I did my work experience in a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics so speak from very little experience but even in that time my eyes were opened. During the week we had 3 people come in- all bringing their overgrown fish to give to them. One man handed in 5 common plecs- he bought them for him 60l tank... :bash: He was told by another shop that they would stay small and were a shoaling species. Then another man came in with some kind of arowana, I think it was a silver. Again bought from another shop. I was speaking with one of the staff members and he found it so frustrating that these people bought fish without thinking and that they were left to clean up the mess. He was really passionate and they even had the tankbuster poster up on the wall. 

And then you had the plonkers. A woman came in wanting to buy some goldfish and cichlids. Innocent enough until she says she wants to keep them together:gasp:. She was quickly corrected and sent on her way. And that was just on a weekday, I can't imagine the number of people coming in on a weekend with similar expectations.


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## Jimmyjayz (Mar 20, 2011)

I work in it have for around 17 years or so around 15 full time, the customers are the same, i have no problems, and i don't even sell goldfish at mine and our customers generally understand the reason is animal welfare and accept it very well, you just have to make people understand they are being cruel with out telling them and that's the secret imo


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

I've worked in Aquatics part-time for over a year now, and the amount of :censor: I've had to deal with is unbelievable. What I've found that's helped is to use as many large words as possible, until they are unsure of who they are, and they'll listen to every word you say as they think you're incredibly intelligent, not just some 'low class shop slave'. I'm a A level student and was talking about how I'd like to study for a PhD in my chosen career field - being a Doctor is my geeky dream. And one man over-heard me and told pretty much all of the recurring customers that I'm training to be a Doctor. I know its terrible, but they listen to my advice more now that they think I am. :blush: I have, by the way, corrected them many times :lol2:

tl;dr - pretend to be at medical school and you get :censor: done.


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

I work in a shop with a aquatic section...and it is the most 'random/strange question' section of the shop...

Customer: I have a 18ltr tank, can I have 3 of those?
Me: You want 3 4 inch koi?????

Customer: Your terrapins dont have a filter, they need one or they will die!
Me: We dont stock terrapins or turtles?????

And the list could go on and on and on.....


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

IceBloodExotics said:


> I work in a shop with a aquatic section...and it is the most 'random/strange question' section of the shop...
> 
> Customer: I have a 18ltr tank, can I have 3 of those?
> Me: You want 3 4 inch koi?????
> ...


Ah, you have it easy. I pray for days with only those above..


1. Customer: "What's your favorite fish? Mine's a dolphin."

2. C: "So I don't need salt with my fish?"
Me: "No, as yours are freshwater and are from mountain rivers."
C: "So aren't rivers salty?"

3. M: "These platys will probably breed in your aquarium"
C: "What about the neon tetra?"
M: "No, probably not."
C: "Can they breed in the wild though?"

4. C: "Almost all my fish died this week."
M: *Water tests* "Your water appears fine, is there much algae in the tank?"
C: "Yes, I added two cap fulls of bleach to help get rid of it."

5. C: "Can I have these with my fish?"
M: "No, these are fish that live in salt water."
C: "Are ALL the fish in that tank saltwater fish?"

And my personal favorite:

6. M: "No, you can't put fish in a new tank strait away. The water won't be ready for a week to ten days at least before fish could be added."
C: "Ah, can I put the fish in now before the water and add that later?"


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

"I need a fish that will die within 2 months as I'll be flying home then."

I don't even.


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## jamesfox (Apr 24, 2007)

customer shows me a picture on phone of dead fish "why is my fish dead" ???

customer "hi my pond pump is broken i need a new one" 
me " how big is your pond " 
customer ........"big"

my best to date, customer comes in shop with fish "hi look my goldfish has lost one of its eyes will it grow back" ? 
me.......yes :whistling2:"


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## ChazzieJo (Jun 14, 2012)

I work for a pet shop that has an aquatics dept. the most common problem is the amount of crying children and angry parents that storm out after I've explained to them they can't keep 2/3 Goldfish in a 12L tank.

"I've kept fish for years! I know what I'm doing"...
:whistling2:


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## Ony (Oct 19, 2012)

TBH you hear some absolute stinkers from shop staff too. My favourites to date:

'Fishless cycling is a myth and never works'

'Yes that shark (pangasius catfish) is fine for a nano tank'

'Your water is fine' - I was halfway through a cycle and the sample was at about 2ppm ammonia, and off the scale for nitrites. I only brought it in to double check my test kit. He did give me actual readings when prompted so he must have known the water quality was poor.

'A 30l is fine for 6 corry cats, a male betta, a few females bettas and a plec to clean the tank.' - he didn't mean a bristlenose.


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Ony said:


> TBH you hear some absolute stinkers from shop staff too. My favourites to date:
> 
> 'Fishless cycling is a myth and never works'
> 
> ...


Yeah, you do get some employee's who have no idea about fish keeping, which is a shame. We are located close to a large-chain store :whistling2: who always give people terrible advice and we need to sort their mess out. 

However the owner of the shop, if they don't love fish and are only in the business to make £, often don't understand the welfare of having a pet shop and push their staff to 'sell sell sell' when the employee doesn't want to but risks the sack. Its a shame.:devil:


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## UpLink (Dec 14, 2011)

I agree with ony I have come across to retards on the other side of the counter in my time keeping fish giving people bad advise on stocking, plants and the worst one is I've never ever come across a shop where they promote fishless cycling...


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## Ony (Oct 19, 2012)

_jake_ said:


> Yeah, you do get some employee's who have no idea about fish keeping, which is a shame. We are located close to a large-chain store :whistling2: who always give people terrible advice and we need to sort their mess out.
> 
> However the owner of the shop, if they don't love fish and are only in the business to make £, often don't understand the welfare of having a pet shop and push their staff to 'sell sell sell' when the employee doesn't want to but risks the sack. Its a shame.:devil:



Two of those were quotes from the owner of a small but long established independent. Sadly there is massive variation in the quality of advice you get from shops. Thats partly why I always advocate people do their own research.


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## ReptileGary83 (Jun 4, 2013)

Some of these really made me chuckle..

But on a serious note,in every hobby you have stupid questions.


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## Spreebok (Jul 4, 2012)

I one got told off by my manager for reccomending fishless cycling, which put the customer off ("30 days minimum without any fish? You're having a laugh arn't you? They're just FISH"). Glad I don't work there anymore.


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

Ony said:


> 'Yes that shark (pangasius catfish) is fine for a nano tank'


I have actually heard that one in a store in the US when I popped in for a look round.

I used to work in an aquatics shop in my teens as a saturday job and then at a wholesalers (same company) in the scholl holidays. Now I own my own aquatics business on top of a real job, but we don't sell fish. Even so we get our fair share of idjits. :/


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## blowupcavs (Sep 1, 2007)

iv worked in 2 of the 3 big name stores in the uk. and i have to say wow. iv managed one aquatics department with 40 systems and 12 ponds. and it was hell. the constant algae cleaning is what does me. currently i just manage 8 but the companies standards are much higher and such better ethics. but i really dont think people understand how much work it is. the 3 things i hear the most are

"but its just a fish"
"i dont have a filter"
"how big"

somedays i want to hit people for being so stupid.the most annoying part is people bring back dead fish though fault of there own and expect me to replace them.
all i can say is stick at it and you will see the good side... one day


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

i work in a small pet shop with a fish section. i find the biggest issue is people overfeeding their fish or drastically over stocking their little fish bowl and then having no idea why their fish died.
i also loathe dealing with grumpy people who want that particular neon tetra in a tank of 20.

during the week a guy works in our fish section who has a real passion and knowledge for it, but me and the other weekend staff arent taught anything about the fish and often face the brunt of peoples abuse for not knowing the name of that barb or how to sex an angel fish. despite the fact we go to our manager to find out for them, some people are just downright disgraceful in how they treat staff.


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## Tehanu (Nov 12, 2006)

It's tough wherever you are, but you could be in a better situation though in terms of how stern you can be with the customers.

At my place I'm allowed to be pretty direct about telling people what they can and can't have and if they insist on something outrageous I ask them to confirm that they understand I'm telling them the fish will almost certainly die (four goldfish in a 2 gallon bowl normally...) and that they're asking me, a fish lover to allow it to happen.

I'd rather lose the sale and risk them telling people I'm too strict than have them complain to the world that we gave them bad advice or something when the fish inevitably die and they forget about it being their own fault


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

blowupcavs said:


> iv worked in 2 of the 3 big name stores in the uk. and i have to say wow. iv managed one aquatics department with 40 systems and 12 ponds. and it was hell. the constant algae cleaning is what does me. currently i just manage 8 but the companies standards are much higher and such better ethics. but i really dont think people understand how much work it is. the 3 things i hear the most are
> 
> "but its just a fish"
> "i dont have a filter"
> ...


Happy birthday Nik.


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## jtg (Jun 16, 2010)

I'm so pleased it's not just me who's had these experiences.
I've working in an aquatics store part time for four years now.
I need not share my experiences since they're not too dissimilar to whats already been said.
The amount of customers who respond badly to good advice which is the opposite of what they were hoping to hear/ already thought is truly astounding.

Josh


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

We sell aquatic plants online. I sold a Crinum natans bulb to one customer who replied telling them I had sent them Crinum thaianum. Despite me explaining the differences, they refused to believe I'd shipped the correct species. I offered to send them a copy of the paperwork as we import from the Far East and all species are verified upon import by FERA the seed and plant inspectorate division of DEFRA.

The woman's reply was that she knew best because and I quote" I know what I'm talking about, I breed stingrays". 

Some forums don't help either. the fishkeeping forum is run by a bunch of people who believe that anyone who works in the trade is clueless and only in it for the money. This results in some beginners who have very little understanding not taking advice from shop staff. :/


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## Ony (Oct 19, 2012)

I don't think that anyone is under the impression that fish shop staff are in it for the money.

TBH I'm not sure whats more dangerous as a beginner; blindly following the advice of shop staff or entirely ignoring it.


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## blowupcavs (Sep 1, 2007)

Mynki said:


> We sell aquatic plants online. I sold a Crinum natans bulb to one customer who replied telling them I had sent them Crinum thaianum. Despite me explaining the differences, they refused to believe I'd shipped the correct species. I offered to send them a copy of the paperwork as we import from the Far East and all species are verified upon import by FERA the seed and plant inspectorate division of DEFRA.
> 
> The woman's reply was that she knew best because and I quote" I know what I'm talking about, I breed stingrays".
> 
> Some forums don't help either. the fishkeeping forum is run by a bunch of people who believe that anyone who works in the trade is clueless and only in it for the money. This results in some beginners who have very little understanding not taking advice from shop staff. :/


:lol2: enough said


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