Thoughts On This? Big Fish Can Be Returned?

Hello,
Was recently at my lfs and found out they have a policy where if you buy a fish from them and it outgrows your tank all you have to do is return it and they'll give you a small one of the same species.

Good? Bad? What are your thoughts?

 

I would rather they give me a bigger tank but I guess that's not a bad idea, they certainly have the fishes' quality of life in mind!

 

I love that policy, my little brother has an strawberry arowana and it eats worms, crickets, and carnivore pellets. He will return it when it gets too big and get something else. He's got an 55 and I have an 40. Wish I could get one too but my tank is still cycling. But a bigger tank is definitely better.

 

I feel like that's their way of making more money as bigger fish sell for more.

I.e. They sell you a small fish, you basically grow it out for them to a larger size. You bring it in and they sell you another small one to grow out while they sell the larger one for a higher price

 

I think it works out well. Because there are some people who have huge tanks and they want to buy a big fish when it is already big. But the fish store can't necessarily raise them to adult size. So they send them home with someone to grow them out. Then that person gives it back, and then the fish store customers that want big fish can come in and buy it all grown up. It makes sense to me!! I would do that if I owned a fish store!

If I had a 180 gallon tank for instance, I would rather buy a black ghost knife when it is bigger, like maybe 8 inches. But so often they are sold when they are only 2 inches big. And someone with a 180 gallon tank most likely have fish in it that could eat, or hurt, a 2 inch fish. The only way to usually buy a large fish when it is full grown, or at least almost full grown, (especially with the odd ball fish) are when people give them to the fish store when they outgrow their tank. I have never seen a fish store with a giant fish that THEY raised. It is typically a fish that was given up due to space constraints.

I personally think it is smart! But I am open to debate if I am missing something that makes this a bad idea.........I mean obviously the fish store has to have an element of trust in their customers that they will take care of the fish properly....

 

If you bring in a grown fish, they give you a new smaller fish at no extra charge.

 

A little more info about the store:
It's the only pet store in a town of 15000 (that sells animals)
It sells, kittens, birds, reptiles, fish.
Family owned
The closest fish store other then it is about 1 hour away.
They have another policy where if your fish dies within a WEEK, you bring in the fish and a sample of your water and they will replace it.

 

Every LFS that I worked at had similar policies. In fact, if the large fish was worth a lot more than the smaller ones, we would give the customer fair wholesale value in store credit for whatever they wanted to use it on.

 

Good policy you grow the fish they sell it for more money.

 

Not to sure about this one, it kind of encourages people to buy fish that are to large for the tank they have.
Which in turn means things like stunted growth etc could have already occurred before they get it out of there tank and rehomed so the poor fish has already suffered.
I believe you should only ever buy a particular type of fish only if you have the correct size tank.
What's the point otherwise ?
The poor fish suffers from health issues of being in a tank for a little to long before it gets handed back to store.

The idea seems as though it's so the store makes more sales and they won't ever have to say to people "oh no that fish will get to bug for that tank".
They just do it so they can sell anything regardless and then when it comes back into store they give you a small fish worth nothing and they sell your large fish for 5 x the price.

Sorry to be negative but I don't agree.

 

I feel like it's a bit of a double edge sword. On one hand it's great for people who truly make a mistake and suddenly realize the fish is going to be way too big for their tank. Then they can return it. Many are given bad advice from others about common goldfish, knifefish, common pleco, angel fish and so forth when it comes to tank size.

On the other hand, I don't really like the ideal of constantly trading in a fish after you grow it out in your tank then back to the pet store then get another rinse and repeat. I've heard and seen people do this over and over again. I have a brother who does this with puppies. He will buy a puppy, then as soon as it gets big he will give it back to the shelter.

It could be giving the fish you give back diseases from the store, that fish could never be bought again due to it's size, hence it may die in that pet store. It makes me feel bad for the living fish.

 

In general I wish stores would take a few minutes to try to home fish appropriately. I have a good non corporate FS about 30 mins away.....very knowledgable staff with excellent stock for sale. However they still sold me a pair of RTBS's even while I was trying to research on my phone and asked if they thought it was a good idea. I know I can return one to them, without any refund, but still!

 

Good policy for the store, good policy for ignorant people, unfortunately bad policy for the fish.

 

That's a good way of summarizing it.

 

I think its a good policy. I think any store that will take a fish back has a + in my book. Too many people will flush them down the toilet, let them loose in a river, etc. if they don't have a way to return unwanted fish.

Saying to educate customers before they buy is a downhill effort it seems. So many times I have heard store workers try and inform new customers of what they want to buy/conditions needed, etc and it usually goes on deaf ears........And the sad truth is, its usually parents who have kids ( yes I was one of those at one time )

 

A better policy is educating the employees

 

You are likely correct Junne, I am a teacher so it's my habit to try to educate people.....even the ones who don't want to learn...lol.

 

But does the store ask the next buyer of the big fish what size tank it's going in ? Or does the cycle continue and you have a fish continually being put into and removed from tanks because each owner of the fish doesn't have a tank big enough for the fish's next growth spurt ?
Cycle continues ?
But yes I know what you are saying Junne with deaf ears though.
It is a problem now and always will be.

 

If the cycle goes on long enough, the lfs could end up turning a .25 fish into a 100 dollar fish. Seems like a great business model. Zero overhead for raising the fish!

 

Yeh as Dave75g said good policy for store, bad for the fish.