Job Interview Aquatic Shop

[Lolly123]

What a coincidence I went to dillywoods for the first time on tuesday and was very impressed, seems like a great place to work and the staff seemed very knowledgeable . The most frustrating thing about working in a FS isn't catching the fish (although I don't fancy catching some of their larger fish ), its trying to explain to people how to look after their fish when they clearly don't give a #41####. I don't offer to catch specific fish, like tetras etc because they all look the same.

Hello,

Yes I was impressed too, i've only been living in this area for about a year or so and dillywoods has been my fish shop of choice. I know exactly what you mean about people who don't give a crap, it can and has made me extremely angry in the past, more so with the lack of thought, such as "hmm, i want to keep fish so why not have a read about it first" I mean how hard is it, I do admit that may be the hardest part of the trade.

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's great to find a wonderful LFS that you can trust, but sadly there are so few. The thing that bothers me the most, I think, is that some of the LFS employees flat-out lie to your face. I don't mind someone not knowing the answer to a question, but please, don't lie to me.

I'm still a newbie in so many ways. I've learned a lot about the fish I keep now and about my tanks and plants and water conditions from ... you guessed it ... HERE! When I first started fishkeeping I trusted my LFS to answer my questions truthfully and knowledgeably and as we all know, that rarely is a good thing. So I blindly bought a bunch of fish and threw them in the tank and basically hoped for the best. All in all it's been a minor miracle that all my fish didn't die, but I did lose my dwarf gouramis—my favorites—due to some mystery disease that seems to affect only them. Had I known more about them, I probably would have decided on a different species.

I inherited a CAE that seemed peaceful enough and a hard worker. But then one day for no apparent reason, it became terribly aggressive and my fish started to disappear! Had I known that beforehand I never would have gotten it.

So please, don't jump on newbies because they don't know what they're doing. That's why we come HERE! To LEARN! Isn't that the purpose of these forums??? Sure, from now on I'll consult this forum before doing anything different or buying new fish, but now I know ... I didn't then.

 

[Lolly123]

It's great to find a wonderful LFS that you can trust, but sadly there are so few. The thing that bothers me the most, I think, is that some of the LFS employees flat-out lie to your face. I don't mind someone not knowing the answer to a question, but please, don't lie to me.

I'm still a newbie in so many ways. I've learned a lot about the fish I keep now and about my tanks and plants and water conditions from ... you guessed it ... HERE! When I first started fishkeeping I trusted my LFS to answer my questions truthfully and knowledgeably and as we all know, that rarely is a good thing. So I blindly bought a bunch of fish and threw them in the tank and basically hoped for the best. All in all it's been a minor miracle that all my fish didn't die, but I did lose my dwarf gouramis—my favorites—due to some mystery disease that seems to affect only them. Had I known more about them, I probably would have decided on a different species.

I inherited a CAE that seemed peaceful enough and a hard worker. But then one day for no apparent reason, it became terribly aggressive and my fish started to disappear! Had I known that beforehand I never would have gotten it.

So please, don't jump on newbies because they don't know what they're doing. That's why we come HERE! To LEARN! Isn't that the purpose of these forums??? Sure, from now on I'll consult this forum before doing anything different or buying new fish, but now I know ... I didn't then.

I certainly dont jump on newbies because they do not know what they are doing, I think I have given advice to a fair few newbies in a very appropriate manner on this forum. Yes we should be able to trust the workers in our fish stores, sadly that has been proven to be something that we cannot do. I was in a position as a newbie and made mistakes, so why would I condemn those who have made mistakes when I made a few myself. I think you are jumping to conclusions about my attitude towards newcomers and that is not something I like, as far as I know i've never had dealings with you on this forum so how would you know how I approach things?

There is a huge difference between someone who genuinely doesn't know right from wrong and those who blatantly buy fish that they know are unsuitable but want them because they are impatient and thoughtless, or someone who gets a tank and neglects their fish and the maintenance and wonder why they encounter problems. Those people do annoy me to an enormous extent and I won't be shy about sharing that fact. Yes this forum is here to give advice and as far as i'm aware not many here, if any, have been driven away by those who have more experience and are arrogant in their knowledge.

 

[Liamm]

It's great to find a wonderful LFS that you can trust, but sadly there are so few. The thing that bothers me the most, I think, is that some of the LFS employees flat-out lie to your face. I don't mind someone not knowing the answer to a question, but please, don't lie to me.

I'm still a newbie in so many ways. I've learned a lot about the fish I keep now and about my tanks and plants and water conditions from ... you guessed it ... HERE! When I first started fishkeeping I trusted my LFS to answer my questions truthfully and knowledgeably and as we all know, that rarely is a good thing. So I blindly bought a bunch of fish and threw them in the tank and basically hoped for the best. All in all it's been a minor miracle that all my fish didn't die, but I did lose my dwarf gouramis—my favorites—due to some mystery disease that seems to affect only them. Had I known more about them, I probably would have decided on a different species.

I inherited a CAE that seemed peaceful enough and a hard worker. But then one day for no apparent reason, it became terribly aggressive and my fish started to disappear! Had I known that beforehand I never would have gotten it.

So please, don't jump on newbies because they don't know what they're doing. That's why we come HERE! To LEARN! Isn't that the purpose of these forums??? Sure, from now on I'll consult this forum before doing anything different or buying new fish, but now I know ... I didn't then.

I just want to reiterate what Lolly has said, you've got the wrong end of the stick, I'm in no way bashing on people willing to learn, it's the people who aren't willing to learn and genuinely don't care that makes it so frustrating, you basically have to force them to listen to you explain how to look after what they're purchasing. These are the same type of people who let their pets live in squalor, they don't deserve animals. I can't stop them from buying animals, but I can do my best to make sure they're looked after properly and I can't help getting passionate.

 

[This Old Spouse]

What prompted my response was when you posted: [font="arial][size="2"]I know exactly what you mean about people who don't give a crap, it can and has made me extremely angry in the past, more so with the lack of thought, such as "hmm, i want to keep fish so why not have a read about it first". I didn't really mean to attack you or anything. I've just seen the sentiment more than once on here that make me think the more experienced fishkeepers believe the newbies should somehow know more when they first get started. I happen to agree with you on most points. I just happen to feel that newbies need all the help they can get, even with what appear to be obvious problems. I can only imagine being on this forum for years to come and seeing the same questions from newbies over and over again, ad nauseum. But hopefully I'll have the patience to answer those questions with the knowledge I've acquired here and from my own experiences. Everybody was a newbie once. [/size][/font]

Liamm ... I just saw your response. I agree

 

[Lolly123]

What prompted my response was when you posted: [font="arial][size="2"]I know exactly what you mean about people who don't give a crap, it can and has made me extremely angry in the past, more so with the lack of thought, such as "hmm, i want to keep fish so why not have a read about it first". I didn't really mean to attack you or anything. I've just seen the sentiment more than once on here that make me think the more experienced fishkeepers believe the newbies should somehow know more when they first get started. I happen to agree with you on most points. I just happen to feel that newbies need all the help they can get, even with what appear to be obvious problems. I can only imagine being on this forum for years to come and seeing the same questions from newbies over and over again, ad nauseum. But hopefully I'll have the patience to answer those questions with the knowledge I've acquired here and from my own experiences. Everybody was a newbie once. [/size][/font]

Liamm ... I just saw your response. I agree

I do understand your point, believe me. I remember around 4 or 5 years ago I killed some angelfish because I was impatient and it was the most unpleasant experience, I felt enormous guilt to the point where I decided I was not going to do anything with my aquarium until I had read, sought advice and got that advice confirmed. Very slightly OTT, but I havent killed a fish since and I know through my research my current stock are as happy as larry and get treated very well. As I said I'll always answer questions (If I can and have the knowledge) to those who want to learn, I love to see that passion for knowledge. It's those who neglect/kill fish all the time and think oh well i'll just go and replace them and not bother to find out why or even care. Thats when it becomes just plain lazy and I feel like telling them that it wouldn't have cost anything to do some research.

Anyway, glad we cleared that up, haha.

 

[Always Learning]

There is a huge difference between someone who genuinely doesn't know right from wrong and those who blatantly buy fish that they know are unsuitable but want them because they are impatient and thoughtless, or someone who gets a tank and neglects their fish and the maintenance and wonder why they encounter problems. Those people do annoy me to an enormous extent and I won't be shy about sharing that fact. Yes this forum is here to give advice and as far as i'm aware not many here, if any, have been driven away by those who have more experience and are arrogant in their knowledge.

Hope you have an understanding boss, as when I said I will not sell to these people, he was supportive. I spend more time putting people off of getting certain fish, than I do selling them. It's the way to be for returning customers though and a hell of a lot of people will only deal with me now.

Don't be shy with people, but at the same time, try not to force too much on them in one go. Point them in a direction and make your explanations as simple as possible. If you try and keep it interesting and use other examples which most people can relate to, then you find that the cutomers actually listens and takes most of it in.

 

[Lolly123]

There is a huge difference between someone who genuinely doesn't know right from wrong and those who blatantly buy fish that they know are unsuitable but want them because they are impatient and thoughtless, or someone who gets a tank and neglects their fish and the maintenance and wonder why they encounter problems. Those people do annoy me to an enormous extent and I won't be shy about sharing that fact. Yes this forum is here to give advice and as far as i'm aware not many here, if any, have been driven away by those who have more experience and are arrogant in their knowledge.

Hope you have an understanding boss, as when I said I will not sell to these people, he was supportive. I spend more time putting people off of getting certain fish, than I do selling them. It's the way to be for returning customers though and a hell of a lot of people will only deal with me now.

Don't be shy with people, but at the same time, try not to force too much on them in one go. Point them in a direction and make your explanations as simple as possible. If you try and keep it interesting and use other examples which most people can relate to, then you find that the cutomers actually listens and takes most of it in.

Very much agreed.

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

 

[James9114]

the newbies become the teachers.

 

[Lolly123]

the newbies become the teachers.

...eventually...