Thoughts on LFS & SWF guarantees...

[zenfish]

Hello. I have been working in the aquarium trade for 20+ years. Its been fun, but it is not easy.

I have been a member of MR for a long time but I never post, I rarely come here, but now, with a new job in a nice aquarium shop, Im back in. So, you may see me post here and there.

so my question, as again, I am behind the counter, and not the buyer/customer, what do you guys feel is the right thing for a store to do if your fish dies?

everywhere I have worked, SWF have no guarantee off the bat,. But then, there are exceptions, and they are made all the time, from frequent customers to "belligerent" customers, to just, "I give up, I don't want to argue" moments when you just cave in.

"24 - 48 hrs. Bring in the dead fish, a sample of water, and if things test out OK we replace your fish."

Lets call that the norm or just a basic foundation. However, most stores I have worked at, SWF don't give a guarantee. The line (MY LINE) goes like this...

"Watch the fish eat, ask to see it eat (no big deal everywhere I have worked we feed fish on request) make sure you are buying a healthy fish, watch it, make sure it isnt scratching or anything else, we wont sell you the fish if it isn't healthy (havent sold MILLIONS of fish when I thought or KNEW it wasn't tip-top). End of story."

If it dies, it's on you. If you dont have a quarantine, its on you. If your water is whacked out, its on you. Beat up by your fish? You. Died in a week???? You.

So I am interested in your thoughts and opinions. Plz, not looking to start drama. I think its a fair question to ask the hobbyists. I know it isn't black & white. If I OWN a store and my customer has been spending money with me for a year or longer... well... I may take care of him. I usually did/do, but that's me, I'm a nice guy. I'm also NOT THE OWNER in most instances of said LFS. So I dont care. But I also want customers to be aware that this isnt a free-for-all, this isnt Amazon or some superstore, these are live creatures.

I could go on and on, but Ill stop. Just curious.

 

[marrone]

I think the big reason why LFS didn't give guarantees on saltwater fish, as opposed to freshwater fish, was due to the cost, with saltwater fish being much more expensive than freshwater fish.

In the end I'm sure exceptions are made for good customer, but in general saltwater fish is an expensive hobby, and people that go into are usually more experienced than someone keeping freshwater or even goldfish, as a lot of newbies start out with either freshwater or goldfish. Throw in the fact that keeping saltwater fish is harder than keeping freshwater, and deaths can happen pretty easy with saltwater fish, and it's just another reason why of that guarantees aren't usually given.

As for what you want to do, as a LFS owner, well that all depends on your business model. If you plan on being a general type place, like a Petland or PetCo, then the customers that you're going to be dealing with are people just getting into the hobby, so you can except fish to die and you probably wouldn't want to offer a guarantee. If you're going to be more of a specialty store, then the customers that you're going to have are going to be more experienced, coupled with the fact that you're going to have time to talk with them and go over things. This type of LFS would most likely offer a guarantee, something that you can judge yourself if a guarantee is a good thing or not, especially with certain customers.


Then again, everyone should thanks Flying Fish Express, as they were the ones who started with the on-line guarantees a while back.

 

[howze01]

I ran an LFS for awhile and the no guarantee on SW was usually a combonation of their realtive fragility compared to FW and the much-smaller markup than FW. With that smaller mark up it also hurts more when you have losses. Like you guys said though there are exceptions to the rule.

 

[Imbarrie]

I like to establish myself with some of the LFS I frequent. Though it hasn't happened in a while, I think if i bought a fish i didnt know was going to die, they would want to keep me as a customer.
There is a lot here to say about buying fish that look healthy.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I think if you want to give a guarantee then that is great but it should be up to you. If you don't want to then I find that it is more than acceptable as well. So in other words don't lock yourself into anything. Go on a case by case basis.