LFS, Good Advice or Scare Tactic? - Page 2

joejoe1055 · 11/04/2009, 07:42 PM

if your rock had "too much life on it"
does that mean theirs has too little?

BFG · 11/04/2009, 08:19 PM

It's all boils down to sensitivity. In Crawfishy case, he shouldn't have told the lfs where he bought his live rock. No business owner wants to hear a potential customer bought stuff from other places in their face, it makes them feel they are not going to get a sale from that customer. If it was me, I'd reply that it was a hand me down live rock from someone who quit the hobby.

Jmatt567 · 11/04/2009, 08:33 PM

I'd agree that their rock has too little life. They were just using a scare tactic. I bought florida aquacultured live rock. It came with tons of life on it! I love it!

noahm · 11/04/2009, 09:25 PM

I told my LFS when I was getting a load of TBS rock. The guy is super cool and wanted me to take pics and stuff. He surely would have been happier selling me rock, but was really stoked about some of the corals and stuff that came on it. I buy ALL of my fish and a good percent of corals from him, though I am definitely not a huge spender. Your LFS would have been a lot smarter to have shared your excitement and fed that enthusiasm toward future sales.

Amoore311 · 11/05/2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

In Crawfishy case, he shouldn't have told the lfs where he bought his live rock. No business owner wants to hear a potential customer bought stuff from other places in their face, it makes them feel they are not going to get a sale from that customer. If it was me, I'd reply that it was a hand me down live rock from someone who quit the hobby.

A good store owner knows he isn't going to get 100% of someones business. A good LFS owner should also know that Live Rock is one of the more difficult items to compete in.

I spend a fairly decent amount of money at my LFS, and if the owner ever told me some garbage like in the OP.... they would no longer have my business.

A good salesman knows 95% of the time you can't supply a customer with everything they need. There's still a percentage of that business you can always grab though, whether it be from price/customer service/availability standpoint.

Telling a customer, "I'm not going to help you with problems with your tank b/c you bought something from another vendor", is just loosing out on a sale, or worse yet loosing the customer entirely.

Had it been me, I would have spun the situation a little.... and pointed the OP towards things I can supply him with that can help. Something like,

"Rock with lots of life sometimes can come with aptasia, unwanted algae, and non-reef safe hitchhikers. I stock a very diverse variety of reef safe inverts that will take care of most unwanted algaes, and peppermint shrimp for any aptasia problem that may arise. Should you happen to find a mantis shrimp or unwanted crab, I can special order you a pest trap if you want to go in that direction."

And with that, instead of missing out on a potential multiple hundred dollar sale, not to mention future business, you let the customer know you're there to help.

nitjt · 11/05/2009, 09:54 AM

I have always bought mine at the LFS I just like to see what I am getting.

nitjt · 11/05/2009, 09:55 AM

Do you get good sizes and shapes from online?

scchase · 11/05/2009, 10:12 AM

I swear most LFS need to have an attitude adjustment can you even fathom going into another business and getting the once over for going somewhere else. Imagine going intoa resturant and getting told the food at another resturant in town isn't good. Would never happen so I have no idea how come people put up with LFS that do this kind of thing other tna sometimes we don't have a choice.
My most recent favorite was the LFS here that had a 125g tank marked down 45% from $700 something to $397 despite the exact same aquarium with a few lights extra is cheaper at Pestmart not that I don't like to patronize smaller establishements but come on really dont't pretend I am stupid.
As far as the live rock use it its probably better than the majority of the stuff your LFS gets in anyways.

Amoore311 · 11/05/2009, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitjt

Do you get good sizes and shapes from online?

I don't buy live rock anymore persay. I get everything from Bulk Reef Supply and Marco Rocks. The shapes and sizes you get from either of those places is unmatched imo.

youpey · 11/05/2009, 02:05 PM

i had bought LR from a LFS in the past, the only hitchikers i got were aiptasia. they would dig through it, if they saw anything cool growing on it, they would pull that rock aside. basically they were selling bare live rock. The live rock i got online a few months ago came with some decent life. stuff is still popping up everyday. that never really happened with the LR i got in the LFS.
Oh, and the better rock i got online, was 50% cheaper

gowingsgo · 11/05/2009, 02:52 PM

Yes it sounds to me that your LFS does not have your best interest in mind. I got most of my live rock from other reefers getting out of the hobby. I still took good precisions when adding it to my tank to make sure that no pest that I would not want in my tank were eliminated before it went in my main display tank. As far as a skimmer goes I have one on two of the three tanks I own. 35 gallon 125 gallon the only one I do not have a skimmer on is the 3 gallon pico tank in my office. I would not set up a tank over 10 gallons with out one. If I could find one that fit the pico I would add one on there too.

11/04/2009, 07:42 PM	#26
joejoe1055 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: cullman,Alabama Posts: 739	if your rock had "too much life on it" does that mean theirs has too little? __________________ grrrrr Current Tank Info: 180 reef in progress

11/04/2009, 08:19 PM	#27
BFG Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 700	It's all boils down to sensitivity. In Crawfishy case, he shouldn't have told the lfs where he bought his live rock. No business owner wants to hear a potential customer bought stuff from other places in their face, it makes them feel they are not going to get a sale from that customer. If it was me, I'd reply that it was a hand me down live rock from someone who quit the hobby. __________________ If you've learnt, teach. If you have, give.

11/05/2009, 02:05 PM	#35
youpey Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: hightstown, NJ Posts: 262	i had bought LR from a LFS in the past, the only hitchikers i got were aiptasia. they would dig through it, if they saw anything cool growing on it, they would pull that rock aside. basically they were selling bare live rock. The live rock i got online a few months ago came with some decent life. stuff is still popping up everyday. that never really happened with the LR i got in the LFS. Oh, and the better rock i got online, was 50% cheaper __________________ 16gal Biocube LED - New setup Current Tank Info: 14gal nano

11/04/2009, 08:33 PM	#28
Jmatt567 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Schenectady, NY Posts: 71	I'd agree that their rock has too little life. They were just using a scare tactic. I bought florida aquacultured live rock. It came with tons of life on it! I love it!

11/04/2009, 09:25 PM	#29
noahm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2,736	I told my LFS when I was getting a load of TBS rock. The guy is super cool and wanted me to take pics and stuff. He surely would have been happier selling me rock, but was really stoked about some of the corals and stuff that came on it. I buy ALL of my fish and a good percent of corals from him, though I am definitely not a huge spender. Your LFS would have been a lot smarter to have shared your excitement and fed that enthusiasm toward future sales.

11/05/2009, 09:54 AM	#31
nitjt Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: garland, tx Posts: 128	I have always bought mine at the LFS I just like to see what I am getting.

11/05/2009, 09:55 AM	#32
nitjt Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: garland, tx Posts: 128	Do you get good sizes and shapes from online?

11/05/2009, 10:12 AM	#33
scchase Premium Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Aurora CO USA Posts: 1,402	I swear most LFS need to have an attitude adjustment can you even fathom going into another business and getting the once over for going somewhere else. Imagine going intoa resturant and getting told the food at another resturant in town isn't good. Would never happen so I have no idea how come people put up with LFS that do this kind of thing other tna sometimes we don't have a choice. My most recent favorite was the LFS here that had a 125g tank marked down 45% from $700 something to $397 despite the exact same aquarium with a few lights extra is cheaper at Pestmart not that I don't like to patronize smaller establishements but come on really dont't pretend I am stupid. As far as the live rock use it its probably better than the majority of the stuff your LFS gets in anyways.

11/05/2009, 02:52 PM	#36
gowingsgo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: cincinnati Posts: 175	Yes it sounds to me that your LFS does not have your best interest in mind. I got most of my live rock from other reefers getting out of the hobby. I still took good precisions when adding it to my tank to make sure that no pest that I would not want in my tank were eliminated before it went in my main display tank. As far as a skimmer goes I have one on two of the three tanks I own. 35 gallon 125 gallon the only one I do not have a skimmer on is the 3 gallon pico tank in my office. I would not set up a tank over 10 gallons with out one. If I could find one that fit the pico I would add one on there too.