STEAMING mad at my LFS....

[Young Frankenstein]

The store has to pay the bills, $$$$ and so many of them are desperate out there just to stay in business, in today’s economy. Have some sympathy people some of you make it sound like grand theft, after all, sounds like you did not do your homework J

 

[Loki]

No but that is irrelevant. Tank bred vs. wild caught are very different for a number of reasons.

One car was manufactured by Bently and one was not.

One fish was manufactured (bred) by ORA and one was not.

Same car... One came with a carfax. But with all of that said it could still be a ORA bred mandarin.

 

[WesF]

Same car... One came with a carfax. But with all of that said it could still be a ORA bred mandarin.

For $16? I don't think so. That's less than half of what ORA charges wholesale.

 

[WesF]

The store has to pay the bills, $$$$ and so many of them are desperate out there just to stay in business, in today’s economy. Have some sympathy people some of you make it sound like grand theft, after all, sounds like you did not do your homework J

Not grand theft, but It is Fraud. Which is still illegal. If I lose my job it doesn't make it ok to break into your house and steal your stuff, even if it is to feed my family.

 

[Loki]

Maybe someone brought it in because they couldn't house it. I am just saying its not proven that the fish is not ORA and that is the only thing to complain about in this situation. I doubt that it is ORA. I am not siding with the store.

 

[BarbH]

As the consumer/hobbyist I ultimately feel that it is the individual's responsibility to research any purchase before they make it. Unfortunatly many lfs tend to be more interested in making a sale, or the people that they have working for them might really not have much knowledge about what it is that they are selling. Yes it is upsetting when you find out that you can not get good advice from your lfs, I have been there, but again I do feel that it reinforces the fact that one needs to research before they make any purchase be it a fish or a coral to determine if it will work in their setup and if they can provide for the needs of that living creature.

 

[WesF]

It's not the only thing to complain about, just the only thing illegal. We both know good and well that if it was a real ORA mandarin that it would be priced MUCH higher.

You guys really need to set your standards higher. Just saw my LFS tell someone that their tank wasn't big enough for a linkia starfish because it would slowly starve to death in a nano.

Don't accept shady business practice just because the customer was naive, or even worse because of tough economic times. It is even more important when the lives of animals are at stake. We are not talking about some kid selling you a point of sale digital camera at Best Buy. It is a living animal that will almost certainly die.

If I witnessed it I wouldn't just standby and think "Sucks for that guy, he should have researched the fish before he bought it." I'm going to stop doing business at that store and tell everyone I know how they like to take advantage of newbies.

I don't disagree that we should all research our purchases. But it really angers me to watch LFS's take advantage of people who are new to the hobby. The sharks smell blood in the water and move in for the kill.

 

[BarbH]

For those who have a great lfs in their area that knows their stuff and takes care of their customer that is great, but for some people the choice of places to visit are limited which means either you go to the places that are available to you or you buy your fish online.

As for the original poster I saw that you mentioned you thought it might be an ORA, but what I am wondering is if the lfs told your step-brother that it was an ORA? Might have missed that :neutral:

 

[Loki]

i thought maybe its an ORA and will take some flake food. nope, he paid 16$ for it, in a mall pet shop.

Here lies the problem. It doesn't seem that the LFS ever said it was ORA.

This thread went the wrong direction.

My closing thoughts tell your step brother to either not go back to that LFS or to do his homework.

 

[erikjphillips]

Havent gotten Clarification on if he is claiming its ORA but this is typical of him. as i stated a few threads back, he tried to pull this crap with me but i didnt bite. i plan on stopping by when i get out of work tomorrow to have a chat and see what he says. i already know his answer though. Thanks for all the opinions on this topic by the way, this site is great

 

[chort55]

ORA or not doesn't matter it still has the potential to starve to death..... If it is an ora awesome your friend got a good deal on a fish that could potentially die anyways, if its not an ora then he paid average price for a fish that could potentially die.... Either way he should of done the research and figured out that its probably not a good fish for that system especially as a newb, and as someone who is experienced or knows better you should have preached this to him from the begining and this whole situation could have been avoided anyways.

Is it possible ora or not that it could survive... YES, so heres a solution instead of coming and saying its illegal, when you really can't prove it isn't an ora fish (and ok if ora stopped breeding these guys then guess what theres probably a reason, like they still die, so the shop owner would have a reason to discount it severely since $16 is better then $0 dead), why not try to help your friend get it to survive instead of neglecting it since it might not be what he thought it was... it is still a mandarin which is what he paid for, IMO the wild ones are better anyways (but none are great for a tank that size w/o fuge). IF it will take prepared foods feed it atleast 3-4 times daily small amounts, and either way start dumping pods in! Even without a fuge it is possible to keep the pod population ok, just need to build "pod breeding stations" with small piles of rubble and occasionally still dump pods to play it safe!


Either way, I am glad my LFS is good and will deny fish to people who can't care for them!

 

[returnofsid]

Wait a minute...

You mean that you just assumed that it was an ORA product, the LFS didn't claim it was ORA? Yet you automatically accuse the LFS of fraud, based on your assumption and nothing more? Classy...

 

[KLR]

My primary LFS will refuse to sell fish or corals to people that do not have the proper setup or experience to maintain them.

 

[erikjphillips]

My primary LFS will refuse to sell fish or corals to people that do not have the proper setup or experience to maintain them.

Sign of a great store. still cant get over how many people think the LFS did nothing wrong.

 

[racerw]

Sign of a great store. still cant get over how many people think the LFS did nothing wrong.

When do you feel that the consumer/hobbyist should take some responsibility with items he or she chooses to buy?

 

[mfdrookie516]

I don't blame walmart for selling me candy, which has ultimately caused me to gain weight. I should have researched it more first.

You have to leave the emotion out of this. While it is *nice* when an LFS shows consideration for things, it is not a *requirement*.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

When do you feel that the consumer/hobbyist should take some responsibility with items he or she chooses to buy?

Honestly, an lfs will not lose many sales by making sure the fish live, but rather gain more customers. In my lfs, when I bought a mandarin, they asked me how old my tank was, and told me about its feeding requirements. I asked them what they would suggest if I did not meet those requirements (out of curiosity, I have an established system and culture pods)and they suggested a goby that they had eating frozen foods. That way, the store gains trust. If all of the fish I bought from a store died, guess where I will not be going again? Selling an animals life for 15 bucks, and losing a customer, is much much worse than gaining one for life.

 

[gar732]

ORA is a brand name. And an ORA mandarin is the only tank bred mandarin you can buy and sells for about 4-5x more than a wild caught mandarin. So my analogy is correct.

Looks similar but very different

I was able to get an ORA mandarin from my LFS for $30 and it was in fact an ORA. They were expensive at first but have since have been discounted by quite a bit.

My lfs is garbage too believe me, I know your pain. But ora does still have Mandarins and they are guaranteed to accept dry food.

I went through two ORA mandarins, both would not eat prepared foods of any kind and this is a common occurrence. I have heard more success stories from wild mandarins. My LFS is great and will help to guide you the correct way but if I go in there and ask for a mandarin they'll sell me one and I find nothing wrong with that.

 

[KJAG]

Another thing, ORA mandarins arent any different than any other mandarin other than they were bred in captivity. Its still very hit or miss wether they will eat anything other than live food especially in the begining. I think its great for people to support captive breeding but I think many have had way too high expectations with these little guys.

Agree, ORA doesnt mean much regarding the fish accepting flake/frozen. An established pod supply is key.

 

[returnofsid]

Sign of a great store. still cant get over how many people think the LFS did nothing wrong.

So, if you purchase an automobile, that's more powerful than you're able to safely handle, is it the fault of the dealership? If you purchase a used automobile, prior to doing your own research and due diligence, and it breaks down a week later, is it the fault of the dealership?

One of the problems with society is that people aren't expected to take responsibility of their own actions...