Well i dont really do this but i feel that ive been in the hobby and the business long enough to know how a LFS should treat customers and what they expect. I made a thread yesterday about how my daughters birthday is coming up and she was looking for a certain crab to put in her nano. I was pointed in the direction of Xzotics because the member who responded said they had them last time he was in. So i made the drive and sure enough they had em.
First impression - Its a warehouse type wholesale looking store. It doesnt bother me because ive been to a bunch of these types of places picking out fish for the stores ive worked at so i dont need all the nice bells and whistles of a retail store. Some people might be bothered by all the mess and the wet floors and the fact that there is no ryme or reason for placement of items. Me on the other hand its my type of place. If i want to go into an expensive store that looks like i can eat off the floor ill head to Old Town and pay rediculous prices.
I looked around for a good 45 mins and really only came for one thing, but like everyone else you never leave with only one but i only had a certain amount of cash in my pocket so i told myself "ok just the crab and a fish you want, ill be back with my credit card for more." The store is stocked with fish. Nothing special really your basic fish everyone has when they start out your first aquarium. Stores like this usually only have that type of fish, but if your in the need of the "typical" this is the place to go. Coral selection is "so so" once again nothing to make a call to your friend and brag about. All in all what i expected from a warehouse type shop.
Now for my horrible customer service experience - When i was ready to leave i grabbed the skinny tall drummer looking guy who by the way was really nice and helpful and not pushy on things i dont need. Thats always a plus i dont want to go to a store and be followed around by the used car salesmen type. So if I ever do head back to this store it would be because of him. I pointed out the crab i wanted and asked "hey how much for him" because of course there was no tag or sticker. So he said he will double check with the manager and come back. He gave me the price i said alright bag him up and showed him the fish i wanted also. The fish actually had the tag so no questions there. I got to the front desk where he placed my bag on a hook and began to tell the girl sitting down what he got me and the prices for each. Now the girl wrote down everything he said on a service ticket but then takes out this huge book and double checks the prices because i guess her employees word isnt good enough. As im sitting there waiting while she flips pages and asks him what exactly things are im noticing how much she really doesnt know and is only there because shes the owners daugher. After a few minutes sure enough she looks at me and gives me a total that is 75% above what my drummer guy and the manager told me it would be. I look at her and say thats not the price i was given. So she gets on the phone and says im gonna double check with the owner...."hey dad what is the price of this crab, this guy was told this amount but the book shows this amount"... she hangs up and says "ya the owner says im right it should be this higher amount." I tell her i understand what the book says but he double checked the price and told me a certain amount and thats the price i should be given. She then does the un-nessasary and tells me "i dont know why your making such a big deal about this, we are a business that needs to make money and if i give this to you at the price they told you i would be making our wholesale price"... i didnt feel like telling her how wrong she is because little does she know whatever list she has ive seen and know how much **** really is so i simply said. Its sad that your going to sit here and lose a customer over 10 dollars and give me attitude after your in the wrong. Ill take the fish and you can put the crab back. In all honesty its not about the money and would have paid more if it was labeled correctly but having to stand there while she calls daddy and then tells me how im wrong for asking the price i was given was rediculous. She has no knowledge or reason to be there other then that shes daddys little girl.
I called two of my buddies to laugh about what happened and to my astonishment he was silent and said "bro the same thing happened to me, but it was over a smaller price" so i had to come on here and share and say Xzotic with the money you lost from me today you could have easily bought some paper for your label maker so this doesnt happen. Both myself and my wife who is a General Manager at an entertainment chain that is country wide know if one of your employes screws up you bite a bullet and say "sorry for the misunderstanding, since my employee quoted you this price i will give it to you, but know that next time it actually costs this much, I will make sure i speak to the employee so he knows what the price should be".... thats how it should have been handled.
First impression - Its a warehouse type wholesale looking store. It doesnt bother me because ive been to a bunch of these types of places picking out fish for the stores ive worked at so i dont need all the nice bells and whistles of a retail store. Some people might be bothered by all the mess and the wet floors and the fact that there is no ryme or reason for placement of items. Me on the other hand its my type of place. If i want to go into an expensive store that looks like i can eat off the floor ill head to Old Town and pay rediculous prices.
I looked around for a good 45 mins and really only came for one thing, but like everyone else you never leave with only one but i only had a certain amount of cash in my pocket so i told myself "ok just the crab and a fish you want, ill be back with my credit card for more." The store is stocked with fish. Nothing special really your basic fish everyone has when they start out your first aquarium. Stores like this usually only have that type of fish, but if your in the need of the "typical" this is the place to go. Coral selection is "so so" once again nothing to make a call to your friend and brag about. All in all what i expected from a warehouse type shop.
Now for my horrible customer service experience - When i was ready to leave i grabbed the skinny tall drummer looking guy who by the way was really nice and helpful and not pushy on things i dont need. Thats always a plus i dont want to go to a store and be followed around by the used car salesmen type. So if I ever do head back to this store it would be because of him. I pointed out the crab i wanted and asked "hey how much for him" because of course there was no tag or sticker. So he said he will double check with the manager and come back. He gave me the price i said alright bag him up and showed him the fish i wanted also. The fish actually had the tag so no questions there. I got to the front desk where he placed my bag on a hook and began to tell the girl sitting down what he got me and the prices for each. Now the girl wrote down everything he said on a service ticket but then takes out this huge book and double checks the prices because i guess her employees word isnt good enough. As im sitting there waiting while she flips pages and asks him what exactly things are im noticing how much she really doesnt know and is only there because shes the owners daugher. After a few minutes sure enough she looks at me and gives me a total that is 75% above what my drummer guy and the manager told me it would be. I look at her and say thats not the price i was given. So she gets on the phone and says im gonna double check with the owner...."hey dad what is the price of this crab, this guy was told this amount but the book shows this amount"... she hangs up and says "ya the owner says im right it should be this higher amount." I tell her i understand what the book says but he double checked the price and told me a certain amount and thats the price i should be given. She then does the un-nessasary and tells me "i dont know why your making such a big deal about this, we are a business that needs to make money and if i give this to you at the price they told you i would be making our wholesale price"... i didnt feel like telling her how wrong she is because little does she know whatever list she has ive seen and know how much **** really is so i simply said. Its sad that your going to sit here and lose a customer over 10 dollars and give me attitude after your in the wrong. Ill take the fish and you can put the crab back. In all honesty its not about the money and would have paid more if it was labeled correctly but having to stand there while she calls daddy and then tells me how im wrong for asking the price i was given was rediculous. She has no knowledge or reason to be there other then that shes daddys little girl.
I called two of my buddies to laugh about what happened and to my astonishment he was silent and said "bro the same thing happened to me, but it was over a smaller price" so i had to come on here and share and say Xzotic with the money you lost from me today you could have easily bought some paper for your label maker so this doesnt happen. Both myself and my wife who is a General Manager at an entertainment chain that is country wide know if one of your employes screws up you bite a bullet and say "sorry for the misunderstanding, since my employee quoted you this price i will give it to you, but know that next time it actually costs this much, I will make sure i speak to the employee so he knows what the price should be".... thats how it should have been handled.
