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

[langchin]

Originally posted by imbuggin
wow chris, I must say I am amazed. First that you and you boss/ owner would be so pig headed as to not take suggestions from your lifeline (the customers). Second the you would be dumb enough to put it in print for everyone to see. If you were my employee you would be without a job!

At what point did this thread go from being an informative sounding board to the elementary school yard? I dont appreciate being called anything other than maybe a bastard child? If your going to start calling me dumb/pig headed, at least do it to my face......thanks.
That being said, I did talk to Scott about whats being said, so he knows and can possibly change things "customer feedback?", hence why there has been an improvement w/ phone communication. Thankfully I dont work for IMBUGGIN and still have a job. 13+ years working for Scott, I would think he would know that I have a loyalty to the store. For anyone who hasnt read the pages and pages of posts on this thread, you would see that I/we at Scotts do care about our customers. If I didnt care, do you think that I would be posting on this thread? Keep a level head when you direct a post toward another memeber. Thats all I ask.

Thanks
Chris

[imbuggin]

hey I am not looking to argue...2 things still


1) I would say it to your face or even on the phone if you picked up. NOT LISTENING to your life life (the customer) is plain old stupid. Period you stated your unwillingness to change! That is even more dumb. Posting in the thread how you will not change is NOT addressing a problem. It is saying you don't care to all your customers. There is a huge difference.

2)second if you don't agree with Scott's practices why have you been their 13 years? That is foolishness!

Now has ANYONE a customer for example come to defend your practices? Obviously not because you have very few happy customers. This is now school yard, it is a place for people to voice their opinions. Apparently you don't like what people have to say about your shop. So fix it instead of making all of these BS excuses!

You claim people have not read through all of these pages. Have you? I don't see anyone jumping to agree with your practices!

[natemorriss]

I like Scott's I go there often. I've been going for longer then Chris has been working there. I remeber when it was a tiny little store. Everything I've gotten has been very healthy. I've never bought any coral though. I think the lighting on the coral could be better and then I'd be tempted to buy something.

I for one like the wait in line for help. I think it's far better then trying to find somebody when the store is crowded. I've left many a store empty handed because I couldn't find somebody to help me when I needed help.

NATE

[dbrown]

Originally posted by imbuggin
hey I am not looking to argue...2 things still


1) I would say it to your face or even on the phone if you picked up. NOT LISTENING to your life life (the customer) is plain old stupid. Period you stated your unwillingness to change! That is even more dumb. Posting in the thread how you will not change is NOT addressing a problem. It is saying you don't care to all your customers. There is a huge difference.

2)second if you don't agree with Scott's practices why have you been their 13 years? That is foolishness!

Now has ANYONE a customer for example come to defend your practices? Obviously not because you have very few happy customers. This is now school yard, it is a place for people to voice their opinions. Apparently you don't like what people have to say about your shop. So fix it instead of making all of these BS excuses!

You claim people have not read through all of these pages. Have you? I don't see anyone jumping to agree with your practices!

Chris obviously does not set policy at Scotts pet shop and has no control over the choices scott makes beside his recommendations. Attacking him is foolishness, as would be quitting your job every time you disagreed the the business practices of of your employer.

If your that concerned over the fact that Scott has his employees help the people in the store before those on the phone, take the trip over and speak with him yourself rather than treat some who only tried to explain scotts position with disdain.

[imbuggin]

dbrown why are you looking to argue. Once again you are calling me out for stuff I never said. Read the darn thread. When did I say I don't like how they first serve people in the store? I think they should! My comment are about thier how they are unwilling to change. This very apparent. I am done in this thread you all know my opinion so I will not see ya there.

Also I find it "interesting" that after I say how no customers are jumping to stick up for them. One does and he has been in the hobby 15+ years, but is brand new here???hmmm Interesting

[dbrown]

I'm not looking to argue with you. But your posts are very hostile toward chris and he is not the one that has the power to change policy at scotts. Thats all I was trying to say.

[NorthFace]

I just recently moved to Southern Illinois (back to my home town) from Chicago. I had lived there for over 5 years. When I first moved to Chicago, I moved to Riverside (a suburb) and was only 15 min. away from Scotts.

The entire 5 years that I lived in Chicago, I was a regular customer of Scotts, often driving over 45 minutes, every week, just to visit when I moved into the city.

It's one of the best fish stores in the area. Every single time I've gone in there, they've been busy, the phone has been ringing, people are standing in line to get waited on, salespeople are running around like mad men to help out......that's a sign of a good business to me.

I personally know Scott, Mike, Boyd and I've talked to Chris on MANY, MANY occasions, although he probably wouldnt know who I was. This is a store that has unquestionable knowledge about this hobby, has a great saltwater selection and has a very loyal customer portfolio.

If you dont like the store, dont visit. It's as simple as that. For those of us that truly know how Scotts is, we'll continue to go there. Even though I've moved 5 hours away, I'll still be regularly calling Scotts, looking for certain items and to see what they've got, in the way of saltwater fish.

[natemorriss]

Originally posted by imbuggin
Also I find it "interesting" that after I say how no customers are jumping to stick up for them. One does and he has been in the hobby 15+ years, but is brand new here???hmmm Interesting

I'm not sure what you are implying here but I don't like your tone. From your first comment in this thread you have been nothing but negative. You are not offering constructive criticism you are bashing. I don’t believe dbrown is the one arguing I think he is simply stating how your posts sound/come off and you have gone on the defensive.

Check my profile I registered in Nov 2004. I set up my first saltwater tank on 12/31/2004 I was fresh water before that (Scott's has some nice FW fish). I have no connection to Scott’s at all.

People like you imbuggins are why I don’t post more often on this site you give RC a decidedly negative feeling.

I’m done.

[reefwick]

If you saw how any other shop was run in this area you would be singin' a different tune. People keep on about how he has been in business so long and he must be doing something right. They have other things that draw people to that store other than saltwater fish or fish period for that matter. I think it is more of a lack of choice for people in that area. They are rude, give poor advice and DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS, which has been clearly shown in the many posts from the faculty. Your right about one thing though, those of us who don't like the place will not be going back and those of you who think you are valued and treated well by Scott's need to broaden your horizons and check out some other LFS because Scott's sucks.

[NorthFace]

When I lived in Chicago, I didnt care how far I had to travel just to check out new stores. I made stops at everywhere from Reef Dweller, downtown, to some of the stores in the Shaumburg, Downers Grove area, etc.

Scotts is still in the top 3 fish stores in the entire Chicago area.

From the sounds of some of your comments, some of you guys expect them to ask "how high" when you tell them to jump and expect them to drop everything they're doing as soon as you walk in the door and follow you around, just in case you need help.

[langchin]

Yes, Ive been in the hobby for 15+ years. So what if Im new to this forum, does that mean Im BSing you? IMBUGGIN, why are you arguing w/ other members? Are you reading into my posts? If so you would realize that I am listening to the customers. Making an effort is part of listening. You might not realize it, but things are changing. To restate from previous posts, Scott has recently weeded out his staff. Those benefiting the store are still there, those who did not, well they've moved on in life. Hopefully this will remedy the rudeness from the staff. Bad advice....Personally I would like to know who the individual was and what the advice was. If there is bad advice being given I would like to know so that it can be fixed. There is improvement w/ communication over the phone. Scott has told me and the other employees to answer the phone more often inbetween customers......change??

[imbuggin]

Originally posted by langchin
Yes, Ive been in the hobby for 15+ years. So what if Im new to this forum, does that mean Im BSing you? IMBUGGIN, why are you arguing w/ other members? Are you reading into my posts? If so you would realize that I am listening to the customers. Making an effort is part of listening. You might not realize it, but things are changing. To restate from previous posts, Scott has recently weeded out his staff. Those benefiting the store are still there, those who did not, well they've moved on in life. Hopefully this will remedy the rudeness from the staff. Bad advice....Personally I would like to know who the individual was and what the advice was. If there is bad advice being given I would like to know so that it can be fixed. There is improvement w/ communication over the phone. Scott has told me and the other employees to answer the phone more often inbetween customers......change??

thanks this is a perfect example. I was never talking about you new to the forms unless you are a "customer" or posted as northface? 2nd read the entire thread it took at least 4 pages before you were willing to try to change. Your first posts were thats the way it is. Sure now that Many people rally to have to do something. I am done here good luck with the reorganization!

[svb57]

Yes we all have our own reasons for not going to Scott’s and, to each and every one of us, they are our own beliefs. However, none of those reasons is any reason to become hostile towards anyone or anyplace. I would like to personally thank langchin for putting up with us!

For 30 years I have had freshwater and used to raise Angle fish for many of those years. I used to drive about 35 minutes each way to go to Scott’s for I think they have a very good selection of both SW and FW fish and supplies. Do I still go there as much as I used too? No. The reason is my level of knowledge has grown and I now visit more then 6 different stores and local reefers to gather items that I need. However, I still visit them on a semi-monthly average.

As I see it there were three main issues that WE raised: Not answering the phone, having to stand in line for service, and selling items that shouldn’t be offered for sale.

Do they sell items that WE think they shouldn’t, possibly? If WE didn’t buy those items then they wouldn’t sell them. Do they sell them to those that do not know better? That’s possible and if they do, then in the long run that will turn out to hurt their business.

Do they make you stand in line for service? Yes. If you think of how busy that store is on most days, I think they actually have the best system, I think, to insure that those that need to buy something are handled in order. I have stop many of store personnel, while they were helping some one else, to asks a simple question. If I have drawn out question, yes, I stand in line. When I first started to think about getting into SW, before I even knew about RC, I went to Scott’s and on three occasions spent over 30 minutes with a Scott’s employee asking questions and never did purchase anything. Did they offer “gospel� not sure, but it showed me that they cared about the customer.

Do they not answer the phone? I know in the past this bugged me a lot. Mostly because what I wanted to know was the most important thing and how dare they not respond! I can tell you from experience that the opposite also bugs me. Being in a LFS working with some one and they are constantly having to answer the phone. Can these places put another person on the payroll to accommodate this, possibly? Would WE be willing to pay more for the products if they did, probably not?

In closing: Scott’s is a cross between the neighborhood LFS that has one or two employees and the Petsmarts. All three have their place and each one will get my business.

IMHO

Jim Mc

[CAMEL SHRIMP]

Here are the facts:

1. Scott's customer service is horrible at best.
2. His selection of fish and care is suspect. ie....scorpionfish.. sharks stuffed in 125 gallon tanks etc.
3. They want our money....that's it ...not our respect.
4. They think we are stupid fish guys with no feelings.

....Visiting Scott's is not only a lesson in how not to run your business but a sure fire method of running it into the ground.

I have seen all mostly negative posts here....so my message is directed for Scott and his supporters. You will pay for your stubbron arrogance and your bad customer service as your sales suffer and we support those in the community who support us.

[NorthFace]

First off...no, it wasnt Mike that posted as me. I finally gave in and became a member of RC after browsing for many years. One of the main reasons I never became a member was because of people like IMBUGGIN who seem to only want to start fights with people and think they're superior to everyone else.

The majority of the people in this thread have a problem with Scotts, for numerous reasons. I'm sure the 10 - 15 people, here, who have negative feedback arent going to put them out of business. As I said earlier...if you dont like it, stop going. I never saw a problem any other time I was in there, when the store was packed 99% of the time.

I've never been treated with disrespect there and the majority of the people I've talked to have always been very helpful. The few times that I've personally talked to Mike, asking questions, one of the first things he's asked me what "How big is your tank? What fish do you currently have in the tank? What type of filtration do you use?" They're certainly not out to just get your money and they do care about what they're selling you.

Above, CAMELSHRIMP was griping about "suspect" fish selection and "sharks stuffed into 125gal. tank". Please, name me one store, in the Chicago land area, that doesnt do that? That point is useless and rediculous.

[CAMEL SHRIMP]

Ridiculous defines your whole theory on Scott's.
North Face has been paid off by Scott's. Disregard his comments they are biased.

[Flint&Eric]

Keep up the good work Chris...You guys have already made some huge changes after this post.


btw what ever happened to Mary Ann? She actually knew a little about the hobby.

eric&flint

[NorthFace]

Originally posted by CAMEL SHRIMP
Ridiculous defines your whole theory on Scott's.
North Face has been paid off by Scott's. Disregard his comments they are biased.

Because one person has had good success there and thinks it's a great store, they must have been paid off??

[dbrown]

Northface=Jack Abramoff!!

[NorthFace]

Originally posted by dbrown
Northface=Jack Abramoff!!