Consumer Beware: Fish Collection

[knot-hard]

well to say i was displeased would be a huge understatement.
I walked into the store and saw 2 very nice display tanks. I also noticed they were doing some remodeling and had cords all over the ground without a warning... i almost tripped on one. (my fault im guessing but it wouldnt have hurt to let me know there would be stray cords over the only entrance.) so i see their livestock tanks. nice fish i think i only saw 1 sick/dieing one. I saw a BLACK PERC!!! for those of you who dont know ive been trying to get a pair of black percs for a while now. so i ask the lady "owner" lets call her Mrs. X for now. I ask her if she could order me another black percula if i paid for it in advance. She says we have that one. so i say i would like to purchase that one but i really want 2. So she says a bit louder We have that one only!! so i say uh ok. and walk off to the coral section. Louis (wees) and i walk around the shop looking at the corals and arrive at the ANY coral in the tank is 59.99. and i spot this nice zooanthid rock with a leather growing on it. So Forgeting about the attitude i recieved from her about the perc ask her to bag up the yellow zoo rock for me. (im not one to judge a store by 1 rude comment.) so she grabs a bag and says which one? i point to the big zoo rock. and she says that is not for sale unless you pay me 10 dollars a pound for the rock its attached to. So im like but the sign says any coral in this tank is 59.99 and if im not mistaken a zooanthid is a coral. So i sit there saying no matter what its atached to a coral is a coral and as long as its in that tank it should be for sale for 59.99!! She says "IT's MY animal and I DONT want to sell it anymore......." so me and louis are liek if its in that tank and the sign on the tank says any coral in this tank for 59.99 should be for sale for 59.99!! dont you all agree? Well im now over it and looking at some rics and zoos in a different tank, but she keeps following us and saying Aren't i right? arent i right?.....(was gettign annyoed) so louis starts talking back "it's your coral and you can do what you want but that still isn't right" so im still looking and i see 2 zoo rocks so i ask her to bag them up. she does so and then im about to ask for a ricordia rock and shes still on the same subject and louis is sarguin our case. and shes like fine then i wont sell you anything....... so now im mad too and im like *** is your problem. she walks away so i told her she was wrong and called her a few names. and walked out. all in all i was disgusted with their customer treatment. I rate them an F in customer service/F in customer friendliness/a B in livestock quality/and a c in pricing. What ever happened to "the customer is always right"?
they are located in yorba linda.

[argi]

knot-hard..sorry you had such a bad experience there. I have always had great customer service there. I have dealt with Jimmy and his wife on numerous occasions and have always been treated with nothing but respect and great customer service. Guess everyone is bound to have a bad day sometimes:rolleyes: .

[dattack]

That's very odd. They have always been courteous to me, especially Jimmy. Maybe the wife had that "time of the month"?
:D

[Project Reef]

Hehe, Jimmy's wife...

You have to screw around with her when you're there. Mess with her and give her a hard time but do it in a joking manner and it's usually cool. Jimmy is a really nice guy and I'm telling you if you go there when Jimmy's there and tell him what happen he'll put her back in check and probably even give you a discount. She's usually pretty cool though, you just have to know how to talk to her. But I agree with you, she needs to kick back a bit when talking to customers and not come across as so pushy.

I know the 59.99 bin you are talking about, and you're right, anything in there is 60 bucks, whether it's attached to a rock or not.

[goofball310]

I remember the last time I was there. A customer asked about the pink ricordia in the display tank by the door and she replied that it was $300. After she the customer and her walked away, I asked Jimmy. He replied $80.

I would recommend doing business with Jimmy.

[reefingisgr8]

I have been to jimmy's many a time and have always been treated very well. Jimmy is willing to offer any help needed and can usually get about anything you want. he is a super friendly guy and I would recomend you give him another try, try and do business with him and you should be ok. I know sometimes I see her taking care of kids and a dog in there and maybe you know how kids can be, she just was having a bad day. Give him another shot I'm sure you wont be disappointed.

[Anemone]

Last time I was out at Aquarium City (in Canoga Park - about 3 weeks ago) they had two black ocellaris (not percs) in separate tanks. I think one was $23.99, and one was $27.99 (or at least close to those numbers).

FWIW,
Kevin

[knot-hard]

i dont know how far that is anemone but i'll give em a call. as for the 59.99 bin i really would like to have that zoo rock. but i know if i see her again im gonna flip. so imma have to go in when she is not there. and i believe jimmy was there that day but he was working on remodeling something. hes got nice stock but the wife is queen *****.
I will do business there again if and only if me and louis get a sincere appology from her. until then the boycott stands.

[knot-hard]

project reef since they treat you nicely and yoru close by would you like to meet me down there sometime?
thanx
sean
i wanna see if she will sell that rock to you.

[reef enforcement]

had the same problem there; will never go back:mad:

[Project Reef]

Originally posted by knot-hard
project reef since they treat you nicely and yoru close by would you like to meet me down there sometime?
thanx
sean
i wanna see if she will sell that rock to you.

Okay, i'll let you know next time I go. What's your e-mail?

[Konadog]

I have only been in that shop a few times and something like that happened to me. I liked a red zoo rock that was in a 39.99 tank. She said it should be in one of the other tanks (59.99 or something like that) so I started asking about every piece in the tank. When she finally got down to the 39.99 price, I asked about the first piece and it was 39.99. I figured she was just trying to get everything she could, but with a little bartering she saw the light. I did like the shop and saw a lot of different things I haven't seen anywhere else in quantity or quality.

[dattack]

Let's just say that she doesn't know the prices. Only her husband knows the prices and she always give him a dirty look thinking he is selling too cheap when in fact it's too high.

[knot-hard]

project reef its terriyaki03@hotmail.com
thanx

[lakerfan]

I've been going to fish collection for about 7 years now (anyone remember the piranhas and the sting ray pond?) and I have to admit that dealing with Jimmy's wife is a lot more difficult than dealing with Jimmy, but it's not impossible. It was unfortunate that you had that experience, but you probably played some part in it. Like Ali says, you just have to know how to deal with certain people. BTW, thanks for the heads up on the Zoo rock, I think I'm going to have to check it out later:D

[isseym328]

I remember checking out this piece of orange monti cap and wanted to ask jimmy about the price. the frag was about 3-4 inches in diameter so i thought it'd be around 30 bucks. Jimmy was on the phone so I asked the wife about it..and she said SIXTY. I just kinda looked at her and said thanks. I think she wanted me to buy it because right after she asked jimmy for the pricing. I think he said 45. Anyways it was still too expensive but at least when you get a price from Jimmy it's a lot cheaper. After a few weeks I bought an orange cap from a reefer for $10...and it was 2-3 inches. I realized i can just trade/buy from local reefers....so much cheaper!! I think if you ask around long enough someone is bound to have what you are looking for. Just gotta have patience. =)

[anthony0812]

Knot-Hard... you can have any piece of Zoo Rock in my tank for $59.99!! and I have much better colors!! hahahahhaha..agree guys? $59.99 for a orange Zoo Rock..damn! :D

As for the Lady..that is how she is..just ignore and go back again..Jimmy has a great store and a good guy...I (even) buy from him and only at his store..I don't even look into other LFS anymore..

now think about it..it was funny that she knows me for so long ..I asked her how much is the Feather Duster (no! its my fiance that wanted it! it was a mistake taking her..now i have bunch of LPS in my tank! AHHHH!!!) anyhow..she told me..hmmm..$24.99! I just busted out LAUGHING! she was like what? I told her..move out of the way girl..let me call Jimmy..make the long story short..i walked out store spending $750.00:eek2:

[dattack]

Originally posted by anthony0812
Knot-Hard... you can have any piece of Zoo Rock in my tank for $59.99!! and I have much better colors!! hahahahhaha..agree guys? $59.99 for a orange Zoo Rock..damn! :D

As for the Lady..that is how she is..just ignore and go back again..Jimmy has a great store and a good guy...I (even) buy from him and only at his store..I don't even look into other LFS anymore..

now think about it..it was funny that she knows me for so long ..I asked her how much is the Feather Duster (no! its my fiance that wanted it! it was a mistake taking her..now i have bunch of LPS in my tank! AHHHH!!!) anyhow..she told me..hmmm..$24.99! I just busted out LAUGHING! she was like what? I told her..move out of the way girl..let me call Jimmy..make the long story short..i walked out store spending $750.00:eek2:

$750 is kind of steep for a feather duster, don't you think?:lol:

[anthony0812]

but i swear i thought i was made out of pure 24K gold man! ROTFLMAO:rollface: :rollface:

[knot-hard]

yellow zoos anthony a nice big orkc of them and a leather

[anthony0812]

you want a leather in the tank? and yellow? its more of the regular Fiji greenish yellow...and yes..i mean any Zoo rock in my tank..I have some as big as 8-10" for $60 p/u hahhaa

[royb]

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anthony's web site link finally works

[Jimbo327]

Dude, I need to go to Fish Collection just to meet this lady. She seems like a hoot! I can't believe she said those kinds of things to a customer??? Just to show how a reputation can be tarnished with one bad experience. It really spreads like wild fire. I'm sure Jimmy won't be happy when he finds out about this little incident, and the potential damage to his store sales.

Hey Knot-hard, I recommend you check out Anthony's stash of corals...better prices and way better selection! :thumbsup: And you should ask Ali about black clowns, he's the resident clown expert/hunter. :D

Jim

[knot-hard]

thanx jimbo ive been looking through anthonys site for the past couple weeks. i really liked the bta he had but damnable gil got it before me. O.o ya im comming for you!! kaka
i like those red zoos though

[royb]

It was I that got the pink tip BTA. Gil must have gotten the other one

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

Anemone is right. Aquarium city has black percs regularly. That's where i got my pair. here's the site with address and number at the bottom. www.theaquariumcity.com

gotta show off my clowns... hold on

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

ok no more i promise

[jamone]

that sucks....

are they korean? cuz she sounds like she can be a korean mom......cuz i'm korean.....and i met mom's in stores that act that way...not trying to stereo type my own race or anything....but i guess i am :eek1:

JaM

[Brian Koyama]

JaM,
I met your mom and she was totally nice and laid back. Totally opposite of you (haha). Maybe we can hit FishCollection after Tran's tomorrow.
Brian

[jamone]

yeah......i'll eat alot of kim chee and talk to her really really close....let's see if my breath will disarm her! :D

see ya manana brian!

JaM

[knot-hard]

shes chinese i believe

[isseym328]

She's not chinese. She spoke vietnamese with Jimmy and the other guy there.

[knot-hard]

oh really? i thought she was.

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

Yea! Vietnamese! i can understand it but not speak it:D