Have you ever....

[RMD55]

I have been told that I did not want to buy fish because they were not doing but never no. But good for him if you can't take care of them right you should not have them.

[alexarae]

I was texting on my crackberry while he was denying him fish, lol.
So, I put my phone away.

[rrocket2002]

Some people just have to learn the hard way.

[andrewh]

Awesome thread topic!!!

Couple of my LFSs do this. If you don't know what you're doing they will not sell you the fish until they know you're up to par on caring for it (which they're more than happy to help you with).

And if you're a regular customer, they know your tanks and ask you how the past purchases are doing

LFS with this type of policy definitely get my business over "just sell" type stores!

[tsunderl]

I wish they would all do that. I've got a ton of red empresses about to mature and will be needing new homes, but not just to any home. I helped birth them and I'm not about to let them go just to free up tank space.

[alexarae]

Thanks andrew, I agree...it's refreshing to see that some LFS don't only care about the money. It just made me feel like he took pride in his stock and wouldn't sell something he cared about to just anyone.

He reminded me of Dan.

[morphlizard]

really .. neon tetras...those are like a dollar a dozen (just a figure of speech) thats kinda silly.

Let us not confuse the dollar value that our retail system puts on life… with the responsibility of pet owners to provide an adequate environment for said life...with the right for shopkeepers to refuse service to anyone :)

[J-WS6]

When I worked at UF, I wouldn't say I ever told anyone 'No', more like shying them away from something they they had no knowledge about, not the proper tank size or tank mates, etc. etc. For example, someone once asked "can I put these cardinal tetras with my demasoni?" well, you know the rest...

[Fire_chair]

What kinda CAK was it?

[alexarae]

some sort of striped looking guy...beautiful CAK.
But it was large and it had teefffs.

[stevenallenbarnard]

I've seen several lfs not so much deny a sale, but try to change a customers mind instead. I've also stuck my nose into more than one persons bees wax to try to help them find a good match for their tank, sometimes with success and many times not (when will people realize that I know what's best for them) like the guy at petsmart telling his daughter that synodontis eupterus was related to lionfish. They were looking for new fish because their bala sharks (which they didn't realize would grow to over 7" in a 40gal) ate their guppies. I first talked him out of a pacu ("but the sticker says it will only grow to 12 inches"). I don't know what he ended up with because I got my feeders and got the f**k out of there before being around him made me any stupider.