# modern attitudes to buying fish



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

Its funny, when i was young i used to buy fish from the pet shop in the next town over, on the door they had a sign which said "fish cannot be guaranteed once they leave the premesis" they wouldnt get away with that nowadays but this is the most sensible sign i have ever seen! its also the logic that i have subscribed to the rest of my life. When i started working in aquatic retail in my early twenties, i was gobsmacked by the first customer to come back with a dead fish, they came to me and i truly wondered what they were up to, i passed them onto the manager with a wry grin only to see him replace the fish, i honestly could not believe what i was seeing. 
ten years later and its an inevitabilty of the trade, people see the purchase of fish as purely commercial commodities. Going back to the old school pet shop, they had it right, how the hell are you supposed to guarantee livestock that has such specific requirements that you have no way of controlling or verifying. I used to ride the bus home with my pet shop bought fish, with them up my coat for warmth, stop at my grans on the way, lean them on the radiator, carry on my journey later in the day. How could the pet shop account for that if i didnt tell them i did it? As it was my fish keeping was less than perfect in those days but people are often indignant, even when faced with the fact that they havent kept their fish correctly, all they can see is that they are out of pocket, it amazes me!

Another thing that also springs to mind, in an old pfk (circa 1980's) a readers later stated that they had been to a shop where they were told that some fish would work out fine that ultimately didnt and asked did they think the shop was at fault and should there be some come back, the magazine wrote "its your hobby, do your own research" i will never forget this, the level of common sense is absolutely lacking nowadays and commercialism prevails.
Like wise in this day of technology and information at your finger tips, I am truly astonished that people are willing to brandish their i-phones at you to show you how another shop does a product 50p cheaper and will you price match it, that people will not bother to look up or reaearch a damn thing!!!! in my day the only info available was in books that you had to buy or go to the library for, there is more info available now than ever but ironically people seem to do less reaearch now than ever! My least favourite question is "what can i put in my tank?" for gods sake, have you no interest in this tank at all? when i stocked my first tropical aquarium at the age of 14, i had a full hand written list of all the species i wanted to keep. The level of ingnorance in the hobby beguiles me!


----------



## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

ern79 said:


> Its funny, when i was young i used to buy fish from the pet shop in the next town over, on the door they had a sign which said "fish cannot be guaranteed once they leave the premesis" they wouldnt get away with that nowadays but this is the most sensible sign i have ever seen! its also the logic that i have subscribed to the rest of my life. When i started working in aquatic retail in my early twenties, i was gobsmacked by the first customer to come back with a dead fish, they came to me and i truly wondered what they were up to, i passed them onto the manager with a wry grin only to see him replace the fish, i honestly could not believe what i was seeing.
> ten years later and its an inevitabilty of the trade, people see the purchase of fish as purely commercial commodities. Going back to the old school pet shop, they had it right, how the hell are you supposed to guarantee livestock that has such specific requirements that you have no way of controlling or verifying. I used to ride the bus home with my pet shop bought fish, with them up my coat for warmth, stop at my grans on the way, lean them on the radiator, carry on my journey later in the day. How could the pet shop account for that if i didnt tell them i did it? As it was my fish keeping was less than perfect in those days but people are often indignant, even when faced with the fact that they havent kept their fish correctly, all they can see is that they are out of pocket, it amazes me!
> 
> Another thing that also springs to mind, in an old pfk (circa 1980's) a readers later stated that they had been to a shop where they were told that some fish would work out fine that ultimately didnt and asked did they think the shop was at fault and should there be some come back, the magazine wrote "its your hobby, do your own research" i will never forget this, the level of common sense is absolutely lacking nowadays and commercialism prevails.
> Like wise in this day of technology and information at your finger tips, I am truly astonished that people are willing to brandish their i-phones at you to show you how another shop does a product 50p cheaper and will you price match it, that people will not bother to look up or reaearch a damn thing!!!! in my day the only info available was in books that you had to buy or go to the library for, there is more info available now than ever but ironically people seem to do less reaearch now than ever! My least favourite question is "what can i put in my tank?" for gods sake, have you no interest in this tank at all? when i stocked my first tropical aquarium at the age of 14, i had a full hand written list of all the species i wanted to keep. The level of ingnorance in the hobby beguiles me!



Absolutely spot on :notworthy: fish are not ornaments ,they have little hearts,livers etc that can go wrong at any time ,plus as has been said also have to run the gauntlet of many fishkeepers less than ideal conditions.

If you are dealing in a hobby where live animals are concerned you have to expect some losses sometimes this is quicker than imagined and leads to disappointment but its part and parcel of it, the fishkeeping hobby and the reptile side has now been swept along with the someone is at fault except me syndrome that now prevails in modern life.

If one can`t afford to lose a few animals then perhaps stamp or coin collecting would be better suited.


----------



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

i firmly subscribe to the "shit happens" outlook on life, im sick to death of the "someone else is at fault" logic that people mainly apply. If you bought a puppy that promptly died, then there is clearly something wrong with it, but if the puppy was kept in a room that "some times had toxic air in it" then the breeder really cant be at fault. Can you imagine the following statements? "its only a bit of carbon monoxide" "ive kept dogs for years" "all my other dogs are fine" it would be ridiculous!


----------



## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

A dude on the telly last night said he had a goldfish live for 7 years and often fed it chocolate and i thought i wonder if it would surprise him to know that their average live span in a captive situation is a heck of a lot longer!!!

Why do people think goldfish are "easy" to keep and expect them to die after a couple of years.


----------



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

Marinam2 said:


> A dude on the telly last night said he had a goldfish live for 7 years and often fed it chocolate and i thought i wonder if it would surprise him to know that their average live span in a captive situation is a heck of a lot longer!!!
> 
> Why do people think goldfish are "easy" to keep and expect them to die after a couple of years.


i get it all the time, people smug because theyve kept them for as little as 2 years!


----------



## Robbie (Dec 4, 2006)

I couldn't agree with you more. We have a line in our guarantee that as well as the obvious clauses; "Including force majeure". When asked about this I often tell them; "It's not my fault if you're stuck in a traffic jam."
It's obvious to me now that people who buy pets often look for someone else to blame if all goes wrong - even if the likelihood is it was fault all their own.


----------



## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

It's not just fish shops it's all shops, When I was 16 my first job in a super market and I told a annoying customer to :censor: off, My manager congratulated me and told me "it's our shop we have the right to refuse service to anyone, good on you don't take any :censor:"
Now if you told a customer to ":censor: off" I bet you would be sacked on the spot. We have become Americanized we even get the hump if we have to wait in a que at the checkout and expect every thing to be in stock and we expect re-fund and ... well we expect the world and shop staff are less than human in the average customers eyes. Was a big mistake when some idiot decided the customer always comes first, as now people think its a law or right almost.


----------



## Viva (Apr 19, 2010)

Well it's simple really, if you are rude to a customer then you've just lost some business, then depending on how many people they know, or, if they go on a forum like this, you might have lost A LOT of customers. Nothing wrong with getting good service if you want a good business. If you don't like them, you don't have to be rude.

But as for the fish dying, I think in the 'olden' days that a lot more were imported under fairly horrible conditions and it was hit or miss if they were about to pop their clogs. But now, if a fish does die and you take it back and it is replaced on the proviso that they bring in a water sample first, then that makes goods business. As that customer is more likely to keep coming back. Simples.

There is a reason the big supermarkets do well, besides them out-pricing everyone else :devil:, it's because they look after their customers.


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

aquatics stores... pet shops, are all about customer service...

the only way a small shop can compete with the big box stores is by customer service...


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

I got in soooooo much trouble once... well... several times really LOL

Customer: Well... my goldfish was obviously happy and healthy... it lived to 3/4/5 years old!!!

Me: Healthy up until it died so tragically young then?

Customer (more red faced and angry): What on earth are you talking about?

Me: Well, for a species that lives generall between 12 minimum and 25 years for a fancy goldfish and 20-43 years old for a common goldfish, i dares say a couple of years isnt very long...

In fact...

Id equate it you your kid there living until they are about 11 and then just.... dying....

Youd be horrified wouldnt you... average lifespan is a lot more etc.... well same goes for goldfish. If it doesnt live to 15+ years then with few exceptions... you killed it....

_It didnt go down very well but im pretty sure if they keep fish at all now (god i hope not!) it wont be goldfish!_

As much as id love to rip it out of every customer that is a complete moron, it wouldnt be worth opening if i did seeing as about 90% of customers are so thick they cant tell the difference between 'marine' and 'tropical' and 'coldwater'.

I keep intending to start a thread along similar lines to this one...


----------



## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

ern79 said:


> Its funny, when i was young i used to buy fish from the pet shop in the next town over, on the door they had a sign which said "fish cannot be guaranteed once they leave the premesis" they wouldnt get away with that nowadays but this is the most sensible sign i have ever seen! its also the logic that i have subscribed to the rest of my life. When i started working in aquatic retail in my early twenties, i was gobsmacked by the first customer to come back with a dead fish, they came to me and i truly wondered what they were up to, i passed them onto the manager with a wry grin only to see him replace the fish, i honestly could not believe what i was seeing.
> ten years later and its an inevitabilty of the trade, people see the purchase of fish as purely commercial commodities. Going back to the old school pet shop, they had it right, how the hell are you supposed to guarantee livestock that has such specific requirements that you have no way of controlling or verifying. I used to ride the bus home with my pet shop bought fish, with them up my coat for warmth, stop at my grans on the way, lean them on the radiator, carry on my journey later in the day. How could the pet shop account for that if i didnt tell them i did it? As it was my fish keeping was less than perfect in those days but people are often indignant, even when faced with the fact that they havent kept their fish correctly, all they can see is that they are out of pocket, it amazes me!
> 
> Another thing that also springs to mind, in an old pfk (circa 1980's) a readers later stated that they had been to a shop where they were told that some fish would work out fine that ultimately didnt and asked did they think the shop was at fault and should there be some come back, the magazine wrote "its your hobby, do your own research" i will never forget this, the level of common sense is absolutely lacking nowadays and commercialism prevails.
> Like wise in this day of technology and information at your finger tips, I am truly astonished that people are willing to brandish their i-phones at you to show you how another shop does a product 50p cheaper and will you price match it, that people will not bother to look up or reaearch a damn thing!!!! in my day the only info available was in books that you had to buy or go to the library for, there is more info available now than ever but ironically people seem to do less reaearch now than ever! My least favourite question is "what can i put in my tank?" for gods sake, have you no interest in this tank at all? when i stocked my first tropical aquarium at the age of 14, i had a full hand written list of all the species i wanted to keep. The level of ingnorance in the hobby beguiles me!


I think it's unreasonable to expect any kind of guarantee to be honest. It should be down to the purchaser to inspect the fish and to check that they are healthy. Simple...


----------



## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

Moogloo said:


> I got in soooooo much trouble once... well... several times really LOL
> 
> Customer: Well... my goldfish was obviously happy and healthy... it lived to 3/4/5 years old!!!
> 
> ...



You sound like a bigger knob than the customers you seek to belittle .

If you think all goldfish should live fifteen years or more then you are nuts not every specimin of a certain species lives to a ripe old age ,i had friend who lost two of his daughters at tragically young ages would you suggest he didn`t look after them properly.

Whats thick about not knowing the difference between Marine Tropical and Coldwater a lot of people that keep fish are just casual hobbyists.

Though i guess it makes you feel self important to INFORM them.

You come on here regularly making smart arse comments yet your comments and advice is often at best frighteningly bad and experience and postage stamp comes to mind .Working in a shop does not make you an expert .


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

> If you think all goldfish should live fifteen years or more then you are nuts not every specimin of a certain species lives to a ripe old age ,*i had friend who lost two of his daughters at tragically young ages would you suggest he didn`t look after them properly.*


Most likely, why did they die? there are always exceptions of course for the poorly bred and deformed fish like the telescope eyes/moors/celestials/bubbleeyes. You said it yourself. They were tragically young. Yes illness happens etc... but that wasnt part of the situation, thats you nitpicking.

But even you couldnt give be his water stats daily for the lifespan of the goldfish s its no good you getting all defensive when it couldnt be proved either way.

My point was, its amazing the people struggle with to concept of marine=salt, freshwater= no salt...

salt = fish that live in salt
fresh water = fish that dont live in salt...

no.. the fish cant be mixed... and then have to go into a detailed explanation of how it would kill the poor darn goldfish if they were to keep it with a 'nemo' or vice versa.

I wouldnt complain if it was someone saying 'oh but i heard goldfish live in salt water' because no doubt they have heard about using salt as a tonic or buffer and not realised the difference, thats a lack of knowledge and fair enough,

But seriously,,, the word marine ought to give it away...

Maybe it wasnt the best example...

maybe i ought to have mentioned the guy who asked us for freshwater seals? or the parents that ask their kids if they want some seaweed or sea snails (apple snails or ramshorns etc) to go in with the goldfish. Or maybe the woman that was looking at the tank with an Electric Blue Damsel (alleni) in with a few Cleaner Shrimp and her kid pointed at the shrimp and screamed that it was a spider and the woman looked at the labels and managed to deduce that the red and white cleaner shrimp must clearly be the Electric Blue Damsel...

I have never claimed to be an expert, just offer my opinions. If you dont like my opinions, feel free to ignore them or offer something remotely usefull yourself...

Fancy goldfish should live to be at least 12 years.... common goldfish about 20, both i would say are minimums for a normal life but could potentially live a LOT longer if looked after properly and from a good supplier.


----------



## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

Moogloo said:


> Most likely, why did they die? there are always exceptions of course for the poorly bred and deformed fish like the telescope eyes/moors/celestials/bubbleeyes. You said it yourself. They were tragically young. Yes illness happens etc... but that wasnt part of the situation, thats you nitpicking.
> 
> But even you couldnt give be his water stats daily for the lifespan of the goldfish s its no good you getting all defensive when it couldnt be proved either way.
> 
> ...


I think he is talking about his daughters not his fish, and your attitude


----------



## LadyLizardFace (Jun 3, 2011)

my goldfish is 8 years old this year :flrt: hes so beautiful!


----------



## Robbie (Dec 4, 2006)

LadyLizardFace said:


> my goldfish is 8 years old this year :flrt: hes so beautiful!


I've a goldfish I won as a child at a fairground. What's funny is he was the consolation prize. Had him about 17 years.


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

I completely misread that  sorry!!

TBH looking after kids is a whole other ball game and unfortunately, very unlikely one i will ever get to experience, maybe with tradgedies like that, its a good thing, i couldnt bear it.

Im sorry i misread that, i thought you were talking about a friend who lost his daughters goldfish, as parents are responsible for pets etc... sorry!


----------



## LadyLizardFace (Jun 3, 2011)

Robbie said:


> I've a goldfish I won as a child at a fairground. What's funny is he was the consolation prize. Had him about 17 years.



aww makes u wonder what the winners prize was... a shark or something lol

my grandad used to breed fish and mine was one of the babies. my grandad still has my fish's dad lol  :flrt:


----------



## Viridis (Jun 24, 2010)

.,,,,


----------



## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

Moogloo said:


> As much as id love to rip it out of every customer that is a complete moron, it wouldnt be worth opening if i did seeing as about 90% of customers are so thick they cant tell the difference between 'marine' and 'tropical' and 'coldwater'.
> 
> I keep intending to start a thread along similar lines to this one...


You need to ask for your money back at that anger management center you went to. :2thumb:

Had an interesting conversation with some of your superiors last week. They're looking at working with BIAZA in the near future, you'll be told about it all in due course. They have the right idea. Though I did quote (annonymously of course) some of your thoughts on nano tubs, which will be a real thorn in their side when they attempt to take the moral high ground later in the year.

In the meantime the more obtuse employees are to have some of the obstinance trained out of them. You'll see the communications later in the year. 

Have to say though Gemgem, your top bods would be pretty horrified with some of your public posts. Just a thought.....


----------



## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Mynki said:


> I think it's unreasonable to expect any kind of guarantee to be honest. It should be down to the purchaser to inspect the fish and to check that they are healthy. Simple...


For once, you and I agree on something. :2thumb:

But it should also be down to the store to make sure they aren't selling unhealthy fish, and then everyone wins. 

That said, I don't know how consumer rights apply to the pet trade, because I'm not in the pet trade, but legally stores are obligated to offer a refund or a replacement if an item is faulty. I don't know how you'd class a fish as "faulty" though, or if you even could!


----------



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Good thread.

Sometimes it makes business sense to turn down annoying customers. Why spend 30 mins arguing with someone over £20? Just ban them.


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

About right Morgan, you hear all these business coaches and business books etc, they most say 'time is money, dont waste your time with time wasting customers or you will be wasting money' and such like.

Have to agree, i get a LOT of time wastes coming through. I love spending time chatting with people but not for them to sod off down the road to [email protected] because i refused to sell them a 'shoal' of goldfish to the 17L tank they hadnt yet got! Then they come back to me to get fish a week later as they all died.


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

working in a pet shop is hard work... people just don't know...: victory:


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Also, as far as I am aware, the Pet Shop license (under the relevant welfare act) covers pet and aquatic shops for the keeping and selling of livestock, assuming all requirements are met.

I believe that the only way petshops can work without spending half their life being dragged through court is that once a transaction has been made and te animal purchased, the new owner is then responsible for that animal under The Animal Welfare Act 2006, they are obliged to provide for the 5 following needs:

somewhere suitable to live
a proper diet, including fresh water
the ability to express normal behaviour
for any need to be housed with, or apart from, other animals
protection from, and treatment of, illness and injury.

----------
There doesnt seem to be any requirement by law for companies to replace, rehome or treat someones fish. Anything the shop does is by their own policy and at their own discretion.

----------

Thats one the people dont seem to understand, if they lie about their tank and the fish die, thats the fishes loss and theirs as well. But people assume we are obligated to replace any old fish that dies, whatever the water tests like or whether they ever bought it from me lol.


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Im not entirely sure on the above but it seems logical to me, have emailed the local council, companion animal welfare council and was a link on Deffra too, wasnt sure who would know so tried them all lol. Im just curious now.


----------



## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Let us know what you find out, I'd be interested :2thumb: Just 'cause I'm nosy :lol2:

I'm in retail, but not animals of any sort as I said. And it's a similar sort of thing. It's amazing the amount of people that think they can get a refund "because they've changed their mind" just because tesco (or wherever!) do it. Legally, it's tough shit. Shouldn't have bought it then! :devil: Refunds are only obligatory is somethings faulty.
Quite a while ago I had one of those customers that really aren't worth the hassle argue with me over a refund. Was rather funny when she demanded to see the manager and I had to explain to her that I am the manager, and no, she still can't have a refund! You just feel like sayig listen love, your money is not worth the headache, please just go shop somewhere else!
I am lucky though, irritating customers are few and far between in my shop, so it's not too bad. But it does make the odd bad one you get seem so much worse sinse most of the customers are so nice!


----------



## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

HABU said:


> working in a pet shop is hard work... people just don't know...: victory:


I do. Been there.... A very long time ago. Never again! Retail is crap. They pay is :censor: and you have to put up with annoying customers. 

There is no legal guarantee with livestock. Some shops offer a guarantee subject to water being tested. Others will replace at their discretion but this is not covered under the sale of goods act or the animal welfare act 2006 for that matter!


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Thats what i thought but suddenly found myself questioning it in my head!


I'd love to say most of our customers are lovely but seems to be going seriously down hill 

Nah, i dont mind customers being a bit of a pain, i can deal with customers being rude and pushy and demanding, i just cant cope with stupidity. I hate having to explain things over and over and over and over again only for the customer to turn around and say "so if i cant have any of these fish in a bowl, can i just have a normal fairground type goldfish?" by which point i have been talking to them for half our or more, shown them large fish, shown them fish returned from other people that have bent spines (nothing too serious) and gone through the nitrogen cycle with them (numerous times, backwards and forwards and then getting out a colour chart and showing the see-sawing motion of the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate as the tank starts and cycles and using hand gestures to simplify it). Want to go drown myself in the plant vat or go kiss the stingrays or something by now...

Angry people are funny and they dont like to find out that they arent gonig to deal with the tall bloke. Its me or nowt. Muwaha. Not that i take pleasure in them having to realign their thoughts. Baha.


----------



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Where do you work?


----------



## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

In a shop


----------



## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

Christie_ZXR said:


> For once, you and I agree on something. :2thumb:
> 
> But it should also be down to the store to make sure they aren't selling unhealthy fish, and then everyone wins.
> 
> That said, I don't know how consumer rights apply to the pet trade, because I'm not in the pet trade, but legally stores are obligated to offer a refund or a replacement if an item is faulty. I don't know how you'd class a fish as "faulty" though, or if you even could!


We offer a 7 day period for our livestock guarantee, If the animal takes a turn for the worse we insist on the body coming back, plus a water sample and if the water is good then we give credit for that fish...If the water is bad then we don't. We then try and help the customer with their water quality. Most of this can be avoided by asking the customer the right questions in the first place and were getting pretty good now at catching out the blatant liars and refusing the sale of fish. We get a few clowns trying to rip us off when they buy £200 of marine fish and then pretend they have died expecting a refund. Police deal with those. We try our best and I don't think this is legislated anywhere, It's just our shops approach.


----------



## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

I can't believe that with the marine fish! How cheeky is that?? :devil: Just goes to show there are scammers in every walk of life.


----------



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Moogloo said:


> In a shop


Oh poo.


----------



## firebelliedfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

this all reminds me of when i was at a friends barbeque and there was a woman there who was studying child care at the local college, anyway i was telling her about my firebellied toads, then she came out with the most horrendous argument, 'my boyfriend is studying animal care and he says you shouldnt keep frogs as they die all the time from dehydration' i replyed ermm ok 
then as i was about to walk away she asked me if they where poisonous and i said well yeah ! then she started talking about a liscence that her uncles friends brother had to have to keep a poisonous animal and that i was keeping my frogs illegally and said she could call the police and have them taken away.

moral of the story, some people are just plain :crazy:'s


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

spidersteve said:


> We get a few clowns trying to rip us off when they buy £200 of marine fish and then pretend they have died expecting a refund. Police deal with those. We try our best and I don't think this is legislated anywhere, It's just our shops approach.


this is why a lot of shops, which offer a guarantee need visual proof it is dead.. ie you bring the dead fish to them


----------



## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

spidersteve said:


> We offer a 7 day period for our livestock guarantee, If the animal takes a turn for the worse we insist on the body coming back, plus a water sample and if the water is good then we give credit for that fish...If the water is bad then we don't. We then try and help the customer with their water quality. Most of this can be avoided by asking the customer the right questions in the first place and were getting pretty good now at catching out the blatant liars and refusing the sale of fish. We get a few clowns trying to rip us off when they buy £200 of marine fish and then pretend they have died expecting a refund. Police deal with those. We try our best and I don't think this is legislated anywhere, It's just our shops approach.


:2thumb: Same policy where I used to work, with an extended guarantee for marine club members.

To the OP.......livestock is still traded under the Sale of Goods Act.

If it can be proven by the purchaser that the stock was unfit for sale (say carrying white spot or Koi herpes for example) the seller would be liable.

Not all customers are idiots (and I say that after 4 years working recently in the trade and 40+ years being a customer) and not all shop workers are experts.

It is important that you are all able to spot the difference pretty quickly if you want to stay in business!

A good trop / exotics shop is hard to find. Arguments and abuse both ways across the counter quickly tarnish a reputation.


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

Lucky Eddie said:


> (say carrying white spot or Koi herpes for example)



what?
is it like people herpes?


----------



## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

spinnin_tom said:


> what?
> is it like people herpes?


MUch worse..............it kills the fish. KHV. Not nice.

http://www.fisheries.co.uk/news/news/khv.htm


----------



## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

spidersteve said:


> Police deal with those.


How? Your reply should be very interesting!


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

Mynki said:


> How? Your reply should be very interesting!


was thinking the same, but they obviously do.. since they wouldn't lie i guess


----------



## caribe (Mar 21, 2010)

Mynki said:


> How? Your reply should be very interesting!


They put them in a barrel and keep them on a submarine for 6 months. That's the standard punishment.


----------



## Viva (Apr 19, 2010)

Still on the subject, my friend went to a pet shop in Consett to look for fish food - she won't buy fish from there because of the appalling way they are kept, including not removing the dead ones :devil:. Whilst there she said she needed to cycle the tanks before she does anything else and they just looked at her totally blankly, no idea what she was talking about!


----------



## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

Christie_ZXR said:


> I can't believe that with the marine fish! How cheeky is that?? :devil: Just goes to show there are scammers in every walk of life.


I'm afraid it doesnt suprise me at all. I'm only there for the fish and to learn about these facinating animals, People I can do without, I learn very little from them.


----------



## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

Mynki said:


> How? Your reply should be very interesting!


We report them to the police and the police deal with them. I think it's theft by deception? Most customers at some point have orders with us and these guys kindly left an address and phone number  I don't know personally if anything gets done about it, I doubt it. Police are pretty useless. I've had plenty of shoplifters in previous jobs charged with theft by deception so I would imagine it would be the same for telling fibs about a dead fish and claiming money back?


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

two shops... one does not have a guarantee on fish... the other does...

which would you buy from?


----------



## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

HABU said:


> two shops... one does not have a guarantee on fish... the other does...
> 
> which would you buy from?


The one that has the right fish in stock at the time  :whistling2:


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

HABU said:


> two shops... one does not have a guarantee on fish... the other does...
> 
> which would you buy from?


the one with the friendliest and more helpful staff.. assuming the prices are the same? 
i don't buy fish knowing they are under guarantee, i don't plan on them dying within 7 days or whatever



Christie_ZXR said:


> The one that has the right fish in stock at the time  :whistling2:


aye, that too !!


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

spinnin_tom said:


> the one with the friendliest and more helpful staff.. assuming the prices are the same?
> i don't buy fish knowing they are under guarantee, i don't plan on them dying within 7 days or whatever
> 
> 
> ...


 everything being equal... the store with the guarentee or the one that doesn't?


----------



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

HABU said:


> everything being equal... the store with the guarentee or the one that doesn't?


the one who has best customer service, like i said.. i don't plan on the fish dying before their time


----------



## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Fish have a bad deal unfortunatley, i worked in a pet shop and people were always complaining about dead fish (most of the time it was something they had done wrong) they are too cheap for many people to give a :censor:. Other pets get it too though, my rabbit was a customer return. Her previous owners were happy to have her pts and accept a replacement as she has health problems, she was only 6 months old and will be 8 soon bless her. A lot of people do no research, even mind boggling basic stuff on the care of a pet before buying it :bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:


----------



## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

HABU said:


> everything being equal... the store with the guarentee or the one that doesn't?


It's nice to have the guarantee and I'm not too bothered about customer service, If the livestock is there I'll buy it as long as it seems in good health. Guarantee is more to cover retailers back rather than the customer in most situations. Usually if a customer keeps losing fish we refuse sale of fish until the issue is resolved. Theres too much emphasis on customer service when it's the condition of the animals generally that bothers me more. Sometimes you have to be abrupt and caustic to get your point across to mr and mrs ignorant and their spawn who think it's ok to keep goldfish in a wine glass full of salt water, feeding five times a day with raw sausages and noodles. Customer is not always right!  We are told to make the sale even if we know the animal is going to inadequate conditions, we are to warn the customer...but make the sale. I think it's wrong so I don't do it. Its all down to personal choice and the livestock is more important than somebody elses wallet. Retail sucks in all it's guises.


----------



## spidersteve (Jan 25, 2010)

samurai said:


> Fish have a bad deal unfortunatley, i worked in a pet shop and people were always complaining about dead fish (most of the time it was something they had done wrong) they are too cheap for many people to give a :censor:. Other pets get it too though, my rabbit was a customer return. Her previous owners were happy to have her pts and accept a replacement as she has health problems, she was only 6 months old and will be 8 soon bless her. A lot of people do no research, even mind boggling basic stuff on the care of a pet before buying it :bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:


Ignorance is bliss? Just basic research suffices enough to give them a good home. People say water quality is the biggest enemy of the fishkeeper, I think it's ignorance.


----------

