Anyone Able to Communicate w/ Scott's Pet Shop?

[Pufferpunk]

What do you keep in a fish bowl?

[dbrown]

Originally posted by langchin
It was brought to my attention by a customer that there was a thread about Scotts Pet Shop......Well Im here to answer those questions.

Q: Why we dont answer the phone?

A: We do answer the phones as much as possible. For anyone who has been in the store when we are busy, you can understand and appreciate the fact that we dont answer the phone at that time. If it is slow, or if Scott is at his desk, we will answer the phone. And no, the ringer on the phone is not shut off.
We currently do not have email, but for individuals who would like to get a hold of us and have not gotten one of us on the phone, fax us your question.
Fax # 708-562-0005

Chris?

[langchin]

Yup its me, Chris

[langchin]

Originally posted by Pufferpunk
What do you keep in a fish bowl?

There are many things you can keep in a fish bowl.
For example:
In college, I had a mini reef set up in no more than a 2 1/2 gallon fish bowl on my desk.

If your wondering why my current tanks says "fish bowl" than it has served its purpose.

[AuroraDave]

Originally posted by langchin
It was brought to my attention by a customer that there was a thread about Scotts Pet Shop......Well Im here to answer those questions.

Q: Why we dont answer the phone?

A: We do answer the phones as much as possible. For anyone who has been in the store when we are busy, you can understand and appreciate the fact that we dont answer the phone at that time. If it is slow, or if Scott is at his desk, we will answer the phone. And no, the ringer on the phone is not shut off.
We currently do not have email, but for individuals who would like to get a hold of us and have not gotten one of us on the phone, fax us your question.
Fax # 708-562-0005

Thanks for joining us LangChin.
I wasnt planning on posting on this thread since I've posted my thoughts on some of the previous threads on Scott's.

However, I would like to make a comment / suggestion since I know you are reading now.

My biggest pet peeve with your store isn't that you dont answer the phone. I just stopped calling. However, I still used to stop by when I was in your area. In fact, when I was anywhere close to your store, I would drive there.

What is the reason for your store policy on how your employees assist the customers? For me to give you my money, I need to stand in line at the counter until a "cashier" is done helping another customer and then they will go get my fish for me.

At every other pet store that I have ever been in, I can browse the tanks while waiting for service. When I am ready to purchase, I let one of the employees know and when they are done they come help me. This allows me to do what I enjoy, look at fish... In fact, it sometimes encourages me to purchase more since I may see something else that I want.

Standing in line, bored to death, does not encourage me to purchase more. It motivates me to say what the heck, I dont need another one and just leave.

As a business owner, I never understood that policy. Unless I want to look at dog food, I am bored at your counter. Notice that grocery stores try to get you to buy things by putting them in the check-out lane to get your attention while in line.

For me to shop at your store, I need to view every tank in every aisle, then go stand in a line to make a purchase. I just don't get it. It can't be that difficult for your employees to tell someone they need to wait a few minutes if they are busy helping someone else.

I am not alone when I say that this inconvenience alone is why I have not spent any money in your store in a long time. This is a common discussion and if you do a search you will be truly amazed at the number of threads complaining about Scott's. I can't recall seeing threads about your competitors, so there must be a problem. I invite you to join this discussion and explain your policies and perhaps help you business out in the process.

[dbrown]

chris you got pm

[langchin]

Originally posted by AuroraDave
Thanks for joining us LangChin.
I wasnt planning on posting on this thread since I've posted my thoughts on some of the previous threads on Scott's.

However, I would like to make a comment / suggestion since I know you are reading now.

My biggest pet peeve with your store isn't that you dont answer the phone. I just stopped calling. However, I still used to stop by when I was in your area. In fact, when I was anywhere close to your store, I would drive there.

What is the reason for your store policy on how your employees assist the customers? For me to give you my money, I need to stand in line at the counter until a "cashier" is done helping another customer and then they will go get my fish for me.

At every other pet store that I have ever been in, I can browse the tanks while waiting for service. When I am ready to purchase, I let one of the employees know and when they are done they come help me. This allows me to do what I enjoy, look at fish... In fact, it sometimes encourages me to purchase more since I may see something else that I want.

Standing in line, bored to death, does not encourage me to purchase more. It motivates me to say what the heck, I dont need another one and just leave.

As a business owner, I never understood that policy. Unless I want to look at dog food, I am bored at your counter. Notice that grocery stores try to get you to buy things by putting them in the check-out lane to get your attention while in line.

For me to shop at your store, I need to view every tank in every aisle, then go stand in a line to make a purchase. I just don't get it. It can't be that difficult for your employees to tell someone they need to wait a few minutes if they are busy helping someone else.

I am not alone when I say that this inconvenience alone is why I have not spent any money in your store in a long time. This is a common discussion and if you do a search you will be truly amazed at the number of threads complaining about Scott's. I can't recall seeing threads about your competitors, so there must be a problem. I invite you to join this discussion and explain your policies and perhaps help you business out in the process.

AuroraDave
Let me first start out with my history at the store. I have worked for Scott for approx 13-14 years. The policy of waiting at the register for help was put in place long before I even walked through those doors. Part of the reason Scott has this policy in place is to make it as fair as possible to every customer, whether it be you, buying fish, an elderly person in need of help w/ dog food, or the small child buying a dozen crickets. We try to keep it fair. People waiting at the register is a indicator for us that someone needs help. Unfortunately we dont have a big enough staff where there are sales people constantly patroling the floor. Suchs, but thats the way it is. Most of his employees control one or more aspects of the store other than sales, so if its not busy they are doing their "side work" when they're not helping customers. I know it can be frustrating to wait in the line for help, but thats how we keep things as personal as possible when we do help the customers. I dont know if this makes it any better, but at least this is the thought process behind the line.

[rogerwells]

which guy are you at scotts? are you the one with the short hair and wears army pants. or the kinda bigger guy who always looks happy...or the dude with the pony tale...if you are none of them then i have no idea who you are

[Edward Smith]

Originally posted by langchin
It was brought to my attention by a customer that there was a thread about Scotts Pet Shop......Well Im here to answer those questions.

Q: Why we dont answer the phone?

A: We do answer the phones as much as possible. For anyone who has been in the store when we are busy, you can understand and appreciate the fact that we dont answer the phone at that time. If it is slow, or if Scott is at his desk, we will answer the phone. And no, the ringer on the phone is not shut off.
We currently do not have email, but for individuals who would like to get a hold of us and have not gotten one of us on the phone, fax us your question.
Fax # 708-562-0005

I'm glad to hear that Scott's Pet Shop is successfully enough to be "busy." Although, as a customer, I'm not going to tolerate service that is considered substandard in the industry because of this success. I don't want to do business with an organization that will address my concerns "when it is slow" or they finally have time for me. This is simple business management; a segment of the population Scott's serves has vocalized a service issue.......address it. The simple solution sounds like additional staff. Regarding the desk line. Scott's should ask/survey their clients if they like this process to determine if this is "helping them." I don't necessary mind the line, what I minded was this......When I visted the shop the first time and attempted to ask a question, I was VERY rudly directed to the line. On the same visit, I had a second question but did not think of it until the employee was done with me. In order to ask it, I had to wait in line AGAIN! I'm spending hundreds/thousands of dollars at my LFS, I expect better service.

P.S. No explaination should dismiss what I have written above;
THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT

[jgleach]

langchin....Let me be the first to say

to Reef Central

It is obvious that you care enough about customer sentiment to take the time to respond here. That's a very good sign.....as long as it shows a willingness to try to change the things that customers complain about rather than just defend them. This is not the first time these issues have come up and this is not the only forum they have been discussed in. Scott's has a pretty widespread reputation for poor customer service...period. We're really not here to just complain....I, personally, would like to see things change at Scott's to where I feel comfortable spending my money there again. It used to be a weekly trip for me....with a minimum of $100 leaving my pocket each trip....and that is no exageration.

Obviously, from the title of this thread, the phone thing is a HUGE annoyance. I have said earlier that it is what has driven me away. Here's a question.....does the phone continue to ring after that cheezy promotional message starts?....or does it stop ringing at that point? I must confess that one time I set the phone down for OVER AN HOUR out of frustration and that promo was still playing when I came back. This was a couple years ago....but it looks as though nothing has changed.

I guess the bottom line is that it's your call....I know far more ex-Scott's customres than current ones. Do you make an effort to change things and win us back or do you leave things as status quo with the attitude that you have enough business without us?

Jeff

[langchin]

Im here on this thread to hopefully shed some light on how things run at Scotts. I care about the feedback I receive from my customers/ex-customers, but change is a very difficult thing to handle. Scott is probably not going to change the line policy regardless of customer polls. 25+ yrs of running things that way is not going to change. If you ever checked out our registers, they're the same ones he had when he opened the origional store. He still does inventory with a pencil and paper. Thats how much he doesnt like change. However, we did get a new phone service, although I havent called the store to see how it works, I guess there is an option to go to the messeging service, I think you press 1, at that time our phones ring and signal there is someone on hold. Again we cannot always get to the phone. One of Scotts mantras is to take care of the customers in the store first. As said before, if you need to get a hold of us, send us a fax, 708=562-0005, its easier than calling. There has been some additions and deletions to the pet shop staff as of late, so I can only hope that the rudeness was from one of the ex employees. If it was me or one of the current staff, I apologize. As far as asking questions, granted they're not long and drawn out, I answer them freely when Im helping another customer. I can multitask w/ the best of them so I dont mind. I do not follow the rule that the customer is always right. Sorry, you just cant in this business. Reason being, when dealing w/ livestock, once it leaves the shop, I have no control over the environment or care the customer has either told be about or lied about. For example: I had a customer buy a fresh water puffer. When I sold it to him he stated he's had them before and was going into a tank by itself. Ok fine. Later that week, he came in demanding we replace all his fish in his community tank b/c it ate all his fish. Now you tell me, is the customer always right? Enough drabble about this subject. Im not here to win old customers back. Im here just to shed some light on how things function at Scotts. As disfunctional as it seems, it works, and to Scott, at least for now, it works. The wheels move slow over there, but I/others are trying our best to make things better for the customers. If you dont come to Scotts, Im ok w/ that. Just make sure your going to a private store. Support the private pet shop. W/out them the hobby just goes down the toilet. Just my opinion.

P.S. langchin=Chinese

[masson]

Hey do you have any fire shrimp at the store? I was there once and you had a bunch and I havnet seen them there since.

[sellout007]

Originally posted by langchin
Again we cannot always get to the phone. One of Scotts mantras is to take care of the customers in the store first. As said before, if you need to get a hold of us, send us a fax, 708=562-0005, its easier than calling.

See this is the type of thing people complain about. If we need to get a hold of you send you a FAX???? Your joking right? So if I need to get a hold of your store, I need to go to a kinkos or some other store that has a fax service to contact you?

Thats a joke, and a large reason why your store gets so much flack around here.

I completely understand that you need to take care of your customers that are already in the store, but answering a phone does not take that much effort and will go a LONG way in getting NEW customers to come to your store.

As said before in this thread, your in store customer service is not something to brag about either. So using that as an excuse to not answer your phone doesn't speak well of the store.

To be honest, im pretty sure not many people care *why* the store does what it does. We don't need a justification, as that doesn't make anything better. *shrug*

[jgleach]

Originally posted by langchin
Im not here to win old customers back. Im here just to shed some light on how things function at Scotts. As disfunctional as it seems, it works, and to Scott, at least for now, it works. The wheels move slow over there, but I/others are trying our best to make things better for the customers. If you dont come to Scotts, Im ok w/ that.

langchin...I guess that says it all. If you ever get to the point where you'd like to win old customers back by changing the things that drove us away, please feel free to come back and tell us how you've changed, but as I see it, telling us why you won't change is a waste of breathe. JMHO, of course.

Jeff

[canar]

It is obvious by this thread that the salary of someone dedicated to just answering the phone would pay for itself and then some.

That just leaves one of two answers.

They have too much business and do not feel like dealing with the overhead of expanding.

They do not have enough business sense to make an intelligent decision.

EIther way I doubt anyone is going to change things from here. Just do like I do. Don't go. It has been over 2 years since I have walked in that store.

[pondfrog]

Just to throw in another opinion-- I used to stop in at Scott's to buy stuff, but the phone policy has now stopped me from going back as well. I just can't justify the drive if I don't know if you have in certain corals or fish I'm after. Really not even certain corals......I just want to know are you picked over or not!
I'll come out and check it out if you are not, but I have now been out there too many times when you are and wasted a trip. I have tried to call over a dozen times in the last year or so.......I don't bother trying anymore.........and I like Scott's!!

THanks for listening to the thread, we appreciate your time and effort.
Steve

[BradL.]

Does Scotts have a web site? Seeing there live stock would justify the drive and boost sales.

[langchin]

I sense a lot of hostility on this thread....To those appreciative of my commets, your welcome. To those who are not, Im sorry, just like I told my ex "I cant please everyone." To fire back at your questions/remarks....I might be ignorant in this subject, but I thought most homes/business had a fax machine. Sorry if my assumptions were wrong. I and other employees have been making an effort to answer the phone. Its not great, but its better than it was before and we are trying to improve that. As of yet no website or email. One of the perks of having a relationship w/ a store as well as its employees are little perks. As bad as it is and has been with the whole phone situation, one of the perks the regular customers I have built a relationship w/ over the years do have my cell phone number and do call me to see whats in stock or if problems arise. I overextend myself in that way to combat the phone situation for them. Most of you on this thread probably dont know who I am or at least are shuffling through the mental pictures of Scotts employee's and thinking is it that guy, or that guy. Well, Im the Chinese guy w/ a shaved head. Thats me. Well, where does this leave the rest of you who are so stricken by the phone problem and/or the line? The line...not much I can do about that. The phone thing, trying to improve it slowly but surely. Otherwise, come in sometime, introduce yourself. Im there 6 days a week more than willing to help another marine enthusiast.

Chris

[langchin]

No fire shrimp right now. SW comes in wed/thurs normally.

[pondfrog]

Chris, your responses to this thread have been an excellent example of keeping calm in the face of adversity! Congratulations and thank you for participating.

For others railing Chris for not changing.......he's not the owner, and it sounds like Scott calls the shots. Chris appears to really be doing his part to improve the situation to the best of his ability. So, I guess with Scott's pet shop it's learn how to play the game or don't visit. It doesn't sound like Scott has any motivation to change his business practices.
Frankly all the sounding off on this thread tells me that most of us really want Scott's to stick around, if it was really a lame store with nothing to offer, nobody would care enough to post here.
Just some Sat. night 0.02
Steve

[Douglas LEHMAN]

Hello langchin
I thought you were the guy that looks like he fell off a ZZ Top album cover. Say hello to Boyd for me and I'll see you soon!

[masson]

Originally posted by langchin
No fire shrimp right now. SW comes in wed/thurs normally.

Thanks You should have a recording on your answering machine telling ppl about new stuff. So when you dont answer people will still be able to know whats going down at the store.

[sellout007]

Originally posted by langchin
I sense a lot of hostility on this thread....To those appreciative of my commets, your welcome. To those who are not, Im sorry, just like I told my ex "I cant please everyone." To fire back at your questions/remarks....I might be ignorant in this subject, but I thought most homes/business had a fax machine. Sorry if my assumptions were wrong. I and other employees have been making an effort to answer the phone. Its not great, but its better than it was before and we are trying to improve that. As of yet no website or email. One of the perks of having a relationship w/ a store as well as its employees are little perks. As bad as it is and has been with the whole phone situation, one of the perks the regular customers I have built a relationship w/ over the years do have my cell phone number and do call me to see whats in stock or if problems arise. I overextend myself in that way to combat the phone situation for them. Most of you on this thread probably dont know who I am or at least are shuffling through the mental pictures of Scotts employee's and thinking is it that guy, or that guy. Well, Im the Chinese guy w/ a shaved head. Thats me. Well, where does this leave the rest of you who are so stricken by the phone problem and/or the line? The line...not much I can do about that. The phone thing, trying to improve it slowly but surely. Otherwise, come in sometime, introduce yourself. Im there 6 days a week more than willing to help another marine enthusiast.

Chris

I wouldn't go with hostility, more so frustration maybe?

BTW I know who you are now, and I must admit you were one of the nicer employees there. Kudos.


*edited as I am avoiding beating a dead horse*

[johj26]

were you guys from scotts used to be grand aquarium

[Pufferpunk]

There is a guy there (at least the last time I went there, which was quite a while ago) that used to head up the fish dept at Grand Aq. (talk about shops going down the drain!). I am horrible w/names, but he has long hair in a ponytail & is a large man. Always very nice & happy to see me!