Subj : LFS owners, please read.. To : All From : Mike Petro Date : Sun Aug 10 2003 04:19 pm I have been keeping fish for 30 years now. During this entire time my LFS (local fish store) has always accepted trade-ins of fish that were either incompatible, too large, etc as long as they were healthy specimens. This has been assumed and expected because how else do you humanely deal with healthy fish that would otherwise die. I am accustomed to getting 25-50% of a fishes value in store credit, never cash, which means that LFS also makes a margin when I use the credit to buy a fish at full price. I had some africans that had grown to adult size and were attempting to kill each other. I separated the adult males and bagged up one of each to take back to my LFS. I would never have bought 2 males but with africans it is often impossible to sex them when they are small. These were beautiful healthy fish. 3 of the 4 fish had actually been purchased from the same LFS that I was taking them back to. I had purchased several hundred dollars of fish from this LFS. When I got to the LFS ( in Danville VA), which was a forty minute drive from me, the LFS informed me that they now had a policy that they no longer accepted trade-ins. I explained the situation, that the fish would fight until death, and that I had bought them there at their store. They said "Sorry there nothing I can do". I never named a price so it is not like I was asking too much $. I have long been struggling between supporting my LFS versus ordering off the Internet. This has helped me make up my mind. I will never again buy another fish from a retailer who will not take them back when there is a problem. I am an experienced aquariest and do not need help testing water and selecting proper filtration, the only support I need is a place to return fish when I move or change my tank or developed comparability issues. If I am not going to get any support after the sale then I might as well save myself 50% and order straight from the breeders. So, I just placed a $300 order directly from a breeder in Florida, it will arrive at the airport tomorrow. There are also several online shops that can easily support all of my hardware and dry good needs. My LFS wont ever see another $ from me. Mike Petro mikefilter@mikepetro.org remove the "filter" in my email address to reply --- þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info@bbsworld.com --- * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 8/10/03 3:19:11 PM * Origin: MoonDog BBS, Brooklyn,NY, 718 692-2498, 1:278/230 (1:278/230) .