Will Your Lfs Allow You To Catch Your Own Fish?

[Ludwig Venter]

I wanted 5 x Zebra Danios in a mixed tank of Zebras and Leopards..... This chappie took about 45 minutes to catch 5 ZEBRAS..... I offered to help, but was told that his boss will not allow customers to handle the net!..... What's it like at your LFS... May you catch your own fish??

 

[snake007]

I wanted to at my lfs, The shop was very busy I was standing there for 55 minutes, I then asked to do it my self and was told Its not allowed.
I then had to wait a further 30 minutes.

I think lfs should let the customers take their own fish and pay for it, life would be so much easier, rather than one man running around the shop in a hurry.

 

[2101]

Ive managed to get a good relationship with a guy that works there on a sunday. He allows me to catch the ones i want, the rest of the staff are not keen on it.

 

[coldcazzie]

Yes, I'm allowed to catch my own fish. But usually I let them do it. Unless they're making a complete pigs ear of it... like the woman the other day who was chasing the fish all over (to the point where some jumped out to escape), and then picking them out of the net with her fingers and putting them in the fish bag

 

[lilfishie]

i have offered many times as i am 1 of those people that pics certain fish out individually my LFS is usually pretty good at getting them though

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm really lucky then; my LFS are great at catching fish. I've never had an issue with any of the staff catching my fish for me, though we did have a hatchet jump onto the floor earlier this year (it was fine, btw!)

 

[micko]

I get on great with the main LFS I go to and he's always busy so I catch my own, I grab the ladders if need be and get the bags and net out too. If other people are wanting fish and he's still busy over at the reptiles/monkeys/mice I will catch the fish they want too. I will never deal with money though which he always encourages me to do as I don't feel comfortable with it unless he leaves me in charge of the shop on a Monday for half an hour which is always the weekly routine as I go in before I go to college.

 

[minnnt]

I get on great with the main LFS I go to and he's always busy so I catch my own, I grab the ladders if need be and get the bags and net out too. If other people are wanting fish and he's still busy over at the reptiles/monkeys/mice I will catch the fish they want too. I will never deal with money though which he always encourages me to do as I don't feel comfortable with it unless he leaves me in charge of the shop on a Monday for half an hour which is always the weekly routine as I go in before I go to college.

Monkeys?

Similar experience to Fluttermoth for me, mine are pretty quick with the net and usually get the ones i want.

 

[micko]

Monkeys?

Aye, he has a number of monkeys out the back, along with micro pigs, meerkats, crocodiles or aligators (the ones that stay smaller than the other one and a komono dragon (spelling)
He has two baby marmosets he's selling at present, £1200 each. Would love them!

 

[minnnt]

My Grandma would love a meerkat! She is Meerkat mad

 

[MBOU]

Well, each shop owner to the their own i guess, i can see why it would make life a lot easier for customers when we are busy....

But in business sense (which realistically.... you need when trying to run a shop ) it is a really irresponsible thing to do.

If someone is catching fish and on ladders and kickstools etc, customer or not, if they arent employed and had the training etc and something happens, they fall off the ladder or something, you are going to end up in trouble, with a lot of bills praying you dont get sued for something or another...

Not to ention, if other customers see someone who blatently doesnt work their catching their own fish... what kind of image does that give out? That you cant do the job yourself for whatever reason and that its ok for everyone to just help themselves...

I get asked by people if they can catch their own fish all the time and i wont have any of it...

There are exceptions, i have let someone help after i decided there was no way i was going to manage (though to be fair im right handed and it was in a sling and other staff were busy).

But there are always people who think they can do so much better because they've been keeping and catching fish for years longer than me and yet funny enough, they fail miserably and just end up upsetting my fish.

People forget that they might have kept fish longer than me but they dont spend every day catching lots of fish, probably got more experience in catching fish than someone keeping fish 5 times as long as me lol.

 

[micko]

Well that's opened my mind up to a new way of thinking MBOU, from a business way of thinking you are correct.

I would never ask in any other shop if I could do it, its just that he actually told me to in the first place and asked to help out when he's busy and if someone needs fish.

As far as making claims for something like that if you fall is madness. I know some would do it though. I do know this man outside of his shop too though so I suppose he may see that as acceptable, I don't know.

 

[holidayinn]

catching fish is a stressful procedure for all fish in the tank, for this reason its best to let staff/owners to do it, the fish is theirs until it gets bagged and paid for….just like at home, would never let any buyer catch my fish.

 

[MBOU]

Yeah, i mean, your situation is bound to be a bit different

As far as people suing and complaining... bah... you wouldnt believe how many people would try it!

Like someone in an office complaining because "they tripped over a bit of wood that had been dangerously lft lying around in the workplace" when realistically... that "bit of wood" was probably a pencil

With the whole 'health and safety gone mad' type thing, its just mental to take uneccesary risks!

 

[creeker]

Well, each shop owner to the their own i guess, i can see why it would make life a lot easier for customers when we are busy....

But in business sense (which realistically.... you need when trying to run a shop ) it is a really irresponsible thing to do.

If someone is catching fish and on ladders and kickstools etc, customer or not, if they arent employed and had the training etc and something happens, they fall off the ladder or something, you are going to end up in trouble, with a lot of bills praying you dont get sued for something or another...

Not to ention, if other customers see someone who blatently doesnt work their catching their own fish... what kind of image does that give out? That you cant do the job yourself for whatever reason and that its ok for everyone to just help themselves...

I get asked by people if they can catch their own fish all the time and i wont have any of it...

There are exceptions, i have let someone help after i decided there was no way i was going to manage (though to be fair im right handed and it was in a sling and other staff were busy).

But there are always people who think they can do so much better because they've been keeping and catching fish for years longer than me and yet funny enough, they fail miserably and just end up upsetting my fish.

People forget that they might have kept fish longer than me but they dont spend every day catching lots of fish, probably got more experience in catching fish than someone keeping fish 5 times as long as me lol.

Having managed a few shops in my day I agree with MBOU. The few times I let an insistant customer try, they ended up destroying the tank and I had to take over and catch the fish myself. Plus we had some venemous fish and Electric Eels. No way would I let a customer come in contact with them in the store.