What would you have done?

[homer1475]

So I got an email yesterday from a well known LFS in my area that they got in a shipment of fish. One of the fish on this list was an ornate leopard wrasse. I've been wanting an ornate for a while now, but haven't been looking real hard. When I got this email, I immediately called themand was told they got 2 very small ornates in. I asked if they would hold them till I got there, and was told first come first serve. Ok I can understand this given the current situation. No big deal, it's a nice day and the LFS is a 2 1/2 hour drive.

My wife and I get to the LFS and there is 1 other person buying fish in the store. Not wanting to be rude, I walk around looking at tanks, find the 2 leopard they just got in, and decide they look nice and healthy, are eating, and ones coming home with me. So only one employee in store, and he's talking with the woman buying fish, and not wanting to be rude I just waited till he was done.

In the mean time this woman is checking out, and the employee helps her carry her bags of fish and coral to her car. While he's outside another person walks in and proclaims he's taking both leopards. I said "thats funny, I want one of them too". He then proclaims he wants them both. Ok I was in the store first, and should have had first shot at them. Remember I'm waiting for the employee to finish with his current customer so I can get waited on(i've been waiting like 10 minutes at this point because the employee couldn't stop flirting with the woman).

LFS employee walks back into the store, and this kid immediately corners him and tells him he wants both leopards, as I'm standing right behind him. Employee goes back behind the counter to grab bags. This is when I speak up and say, "excuse me I would like 1 of those leopards and I was here first". LFS employee then explains to me"well he asked first." I said "wait a minute, I was here first?". Employee again just says "he asked first".

Extremely mad at this point, I explain to the employee I've been coming there for years, and have spent thousands(I literally have spent thousands) in this store and it's always been get service in the order you walked into the store, didn't think I had to be rude to get service. Again he just says "well he did ask first". Mad as all heck, I proclaim I will never step foot in this store and they just lost me as a lifetime customer over a 45$ fish!

Was I wrong? Should I have been rude and proclaimed I wanted one of his fish when I noticed it, even though the employee was helping someone else? Should I have been more of a d*ck and stuck to my guns about being in the store long before this other person, or caused a giant ruckus over a 45$ fish? I'm not really worried about loosing the fish, but it does tick me off I drive 2 1/2 hour to an LFS who I've been doing business with for years now only to get blown off because I wasn't rude and waited my turn.

So what would you have done?


EDIT:
Forgot to add, new employee never seen there before, and I do know the owner and have his private cell number. He WILL be getting a call from me today to explain my disgust and how rude his employee was.

Forgot to mention also, this is a rather small store(they have 6 40GB for fish, and 3 220's as coral tanks) you can't put more then 20 people in this store without it being extremely cramped so the employee knew I was there(even greeted me when I walked into the store and said he would be right with me) and waiting my turn.

 

[Retro Reefer]

This is totally on the owner of shop.. all employee's should be trained first come first served, no exceptions. My LFS is very good at serving patrons in the order they entered the store to avoid just such problems.

 

[Copingwithpods]

That's a tough one but fortune does favor the bold. I know if I was looking for a fish with that similar situation as soon as I walk through the door I'm hunting an employee down and telling them what I want and that they can take their time. Like calling dibs. I have also been on the receiving end of that and I am OK with it.

Sure you were first through the door but he was first to speak up.

Just my 2 cents

Edit: from working at a shop in my younger days I can tell you that 98% of the time you hear "hi! Welcome, I'll be right with you" it's a robotic grained in automatic response that is beat into employees. For a month after I left that place I couldn't hear a bell without wanting to look up make eye contact and greet them with my prepared line. Don't take it personally, it isn't. Employee most likely had a million and one things to do and probably just gave you the generic greeting. Like when you walk into a subway.

Is it fair? No
Is it how stores should conduct business? Also no
Is it the reality of most stores? Yes

 

[Mrod91]

It’s first come first serve EVERY WHERE, common sense and any employee should know this. Would have called the owner right there and then.
people can be so rude and inconsiderate

 

[homer1475]

So your OK with being rude? With only 1 employee, I would most certainly be rude because he was helping someone else. Like I said, I've been in this store many times and it's always been service in the order you walked in. At the very least they ask you if you need help, then move on to another customer if your just "looking".

Sorry wasn't raised that way, and will not be that way no matter the situation.

 

[homer1475]

Being our little reefing community is so small in this area, I'm willing to bet this person is on R2R. I know the LFS owner is.

Wonder if they'll see and respond to this thread?

 

[Retro Reefer]

Being our little reefing community is so small in this area, I'm willing to bet this person is on R2R. I know the LFS owner is.

Wonder if they'll see and respond to this thread?

Tag them.. the way you were treated is completely unacceptable. You may also be able to use some kind of local service like yelp to leave a review.

 

[homer1475]

They are just on here as a user, not a sponsor or anything like that. No sence in blasting the LFS because of one crappy employee.

 

[Dvanlier05]

That's stinks, sorry. Same thing happened to me, new employe sold my ON HOLD fish right in front of me. Called the owner on his cell right in front of him, the look on his face was priceless.

 

[homer1475]

Yeah I should have probably called. I think I was just in shock for the way I was treated so rudely.

What really stinks, is there are only 2 LFS's in the area and this one is the better of the 2. Suppose I'll just have to drive out to Rochester/Buffalo(4 hour drive...uhh!) where real LFS's reside.

 

[Retro Reefer]

They are just on here as a user, not a sponsor or anything like that. No sence in blasting the LFS because of one crappy employee.

Employee's are a product of the company they work for and training they received.. it ultimately falls on the company and owner if one of their employees screws up.

 

[Indytraveler83]

What happened was certainly not acceptable. That's how I would expect to be treated at the big chain stores, not a small shop.

It does sound like it was a bad employee, or at least a poorly trained one. I would contact the owner, let him know what happened and see if he can make it right for you.

I've had a different situation with one of my lfs that left me furious, but the owner was more interested in earning my business back, rather than the immediate price of livestock.

But I would also try to bring it up directly with the owner before blasting the shop on social media. Give him a chance to be aware of it and fix it before further hurting his business.

 

[Victor_C3]

Hell, if I was the other guy who walked in and asked for two of those fish I would have been happy with one - even if I was first and was entitled to purchase both (which this kid wasn’t).

Mostly it’s on the store, but the guy could have been a bit less of a jerk too.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Its happened to me before plenty of times, someone snatches my piece because I was busy drooling over corals and didn't speak up. I think this is being taken out of proportion. I feel for you though a 2 1/2 hour drive is no joke and I'm sure you were steaming I know I would have been but given the situation we are all dealing with right now and shops being under staffed I think collectively we need to cut all stores that are still open some slack.

 

[homer1475]

But I would also try to bring it up directly with the owner before blasting the shop on social media. Give him a chance to be aware of it and fix it before further hurting his business.

Exactly what I plan on doing, and why I will not blast this LFS on social media. I've seen many a post blasting an LFS, then the owner comes on and makes everything all right again. But the thread remains and the initial begining's of said thread do not look good for the LFS.

I've seen first hand what one disgruntled customer and social media can do to a business. You get people on social media that like to just pile on regardless if they have never been into where your blasting(sheeple mentality).

 

[homer1475]

Its happened to me before plenty of times, someone snatches my piece because I was busy drooling over corals and didn't speak up. I think this is being taken out of proportion. I feel for you though a 2 1/2 hour drive is no joke and I'm sure you were steaming I know I would have been but given the situation we are all dealing with right now and shops being under staffed I think collectively we need to cut all stores that are still open some slack.

Been there done that too. If that was the case, I wouldn't have been mad at all. That would be on me for dragging my feet.

My whole point though is I was waiting at the cash register to be waited on, and this kid just cornered the employee as he walked through the door. I wasn't lollygagging or drooling over other fish/corals. I was in line waiting to be waited on.

 

[Champ128]

I think you have every right to be mad and appreciate the fact that your disgusts with the employee. I’m sure it is better handled through the owner than blasting the shop on the internet at this point.

 

[homer1475]

I'm fully aware of what blasting a retail store on the forums/internet/social media can do to them. The main reason I will not blast them, and why I plan on calling the owner later today. Depending on his comments, will depend on whether I blast them or not.

He's a pretty decent guy, and I'm sure he'll make this right with me somehow. Even so, I still will probably never be back into his store.

FWIW,
This is the second time in this same store I've walked out quite PO'ed. I will not let it happen a third time.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Been there done that too. If that was the case, I wouldn't have been mad at all. That would be on me for dragging my feet.

My whole point though is I was waiting at the cash register to be waited on, and this kid just cornered the employee as he walked through the door. I wasn't lollygagging or drooling over other fish/corals. I was in line waiting to be waited on.

It happens bud, no need to get worked up about it. Maybe it just wasn't ment to be. When I call a shop for a fish and get told there's only a few left the first words out of my mouth when I walk in that door are "hi I'm here for x fish" regardless of their policy. Goes a long way too if some one else later makes a claim for that fish because now you have a leg to stand on, you told them what you wanted right off the bat and was ready to pay for it.

It just dawned on me, it could be LA culture or wholesale culture (where I do most of my shopping) in these places if you spot something you want you better hunt an employee down and speak up quick because everyone else is doing the same. So maybe that's the reason I have a completely different point of view on it.

 

[NS Mike D]

you were right, but it's about being right, it's about getting your desired outcome. In retrospect, your emotions caused you to miss an opportunity to fix the situation. The new employee was making a mistake because he wasn't fully trained in customer service (granted, this should have been common knowledge) which is understandable with LFS.

At the point you realized he was uniformed, shift into education mode, and use some cheap sales tactics to deal with resistance

"You are right, the gentlemen did ask you first, but I had called before I came and was told it was first come first serve on the fish. You may not have known that, which is understandable. In any case, I did comply with the store policy and arrived first. This gentleman may not have been aware and by walking up to you and asking did the equivalent of cutting the line, which I am sure you don't condone. Would you agree that cutting a line is not store policy?

wait for the yes


Then since I did come here first, let's honor store policy."

give him a few seconds to save face, and if he's not still on board, the demand he and you speak with whomever was in charge and/or whomever was answering the phone


The play here is to start by acknowledging he was correct (in a way) to diffuse the resistance, then make your case in a way to force the yes answer on the logic without forcing him to admit he was wrong. It's home free after that.