Pet store advice.

I've heard lots of stories where people who are completely new to the hobby receive bad advice/misinformation from pet store employees, especially one thread I read a few days ago with the poster saying the pet store employee claimed keeping an Oscar in a 30 something gallon tank would be fine.

If pet store employees are unsure of the fish species and/or care for them, why do they offer "advice" like this? In my opinion, a pet store employee would infinitely earn my respect more by saying "I'm actually not experienced with this fish. Let me refer you to this person/source" etc. etc. versus "yeah, it's fine. You can keep this Oscar fish in a 29 gallon tank".

Do they really earn a commission for selling fish? I don't understand. Why do they do this?

 

They do it because they have no experience and want to make a sale.

 

Their job is just to sell you things. They don't usually get a commission from it but they do have to sell a certain amount each month. The more they sell the more likely they get a promotion or raise, the less they sell the more likely they lose their job.

Plus a majority of the workers and people in general seem to believe that its "just a fish". How much work could it be? Just put it in water and clean the tank once a month and it'll be fine. < Literal advice I was given

 

Most are high school or college kids that really don’t care. Just there to make a buck. Then there’s the customer that just won’t listen. I was looking at bettas the other day when a woman walked up to let her kids pick out a betta. We started talking and I explained about the nitrogen cycle, what size tank she needed, showed her Safe Start and Prime. She thanked me but I saw her at the register with just the betta in her hand. I was discouraged after spending all that time with her. The employees probably get burnt out too.

 

My LFS does not carry that mentality at all. When I was there picking up fish food, I was asking about one of their large Texas Cichlids in one of their display tanks. I wasn't looking to buy, more for curiosity. The person I initially spoke to actually said, "let me grab Sam for you, he's more experienced with these guys". Me and this Sam talked and shared advice for a good 10 minutes.

 

I’m actually very lucky at our Petco. Chuck is an aquatic enthusiast who is a walking wealth of information. He even has a pond so can always answer my issues related to my pond fish. The kids that work there are another story but Chuck is Middle Ages and great. Only problem is he’s only there 3 days a week because he has a full time career. Wish there more Chuck’s around.

 

Some of them might want to make a sale, but I suspect most of them just don't know any better.

 

I think you should be cautious when taking advice from any source and always do further research when it come to a hobby like this. Not all Lfs employees are completely clueless but even experienced fish keepers make mistakes from time to time.

 

I think you should be cautious when taking advice from any source and always do further research when it come to a hobby like this. Not all Lfs employees are completely clueless but even experienced fish keepers make mistakes from time to time.

This could go for advice on forums also .
Sometimes people think they know the questions they are answering or just want to be helpful ..
I don't believe one employee below management gets a commission but sometimes people are just pleased to please their boss [ right or wrong ] ..

 

I've heard lots of stories where people who are completely new to the hobby receive bad advice/misinformation from pet store employees, especially one thread I read a few days ago with the poster saying the pet store employee claimed keeping an Oscar in a 30 something gallon tank would be fine.

If pet store employees are unsure of the fish species and/or care for them, why do they offer "advice" like this? In my opinion, a pet store employee would infinitely earn my respect more by saying "I'm actually not experienced with this fish. Let me refer you to this person/source" etc. etc. versus "yeah, it's fine. You can keep this Oscar fish in a 29 gallon tank".

Do they really earn a commission for selling fish? I don't understand. Why do they do this?

I suppose some people just want to make the customer happy by sending them home with fish while others actually care about the fish. I've been to Petsmart for fish 3 times and only one of those times did an employee ask me questions about what size tank I have, was it cycled, etc..., but the other two times the employees just gave me the fish when I asked for them.