Good day to all! being a fairly new member of this forum and a newcomer to your wonderful state I have been doing a bit of research on local fishtores. I wanted to write a little something reflecting my experiences both good and bad. My first experience was with Paradise Pets, located in the heart of Benton, AR. I must say that even thought their selection is a little limited, the customer service, individual attention, and quality of stock is fantastic. Kevin has taken time on several occassions to answer questions and has recommended excellent products. I have yet to lose a coral or purchase a diseased fish from his store...almost forgot to mention, very reasonably priced! My second "expedition" was to a closer location from where I live, Northside Aquatics, located at the end of Maumelle Blvd. Where do I begin. At first glance, the store apperas more like an abandoned Bodega, except for a banner on a gate and a cheap neon sign not much of an inviting facade. Ok, understandable, trying to save money on location in an attempt to provide more competitive prices...to my surprise hardly so! The crew operating this "business" leaves much to be desired, at least to an outsider from a much bigger city used to actual customer service. It more or less operates like an auction in there, after sizing a customer up, and possibly sizing their pockets, an exorbitant price is quoted for a coral hardly worth that. Unfortunately there are only very few prices smeared on a few of their holding tanks leaving me wondering what price I am being quoted and for what. To test this i went in over a period of three weeks and asked the price of the exact same coral to three different employees all quoting a different price...for the exact same piece. To add insult to injury, I was in the market for a new aquarium, so for some unknown reason I called Northside Aquatics to get a estimate...again, I called three time and got three different prices each one climbing with each additional phone call. Of course after doing some research I found that even the lowest price quoted was ridiculous compared to average market prices on the same product. This is written in the spirit of alerting unaware shoppers of the travesties that take place here. It is very sad that these group of gentlemen are allowed to operate with impunity in such a way. make sure you look into additional stores in the area first and compare prices and observe how other customers are treated and you will see what I have for the past few months Beowulf
I am sorry that you have formed such a negative first impression of NSA. Chris and the rest of the crew are very strong supporters of Razorback Reef and our efforts to educate aquarists about the saltwater hobby since the clubs inception three years ago. They all have regular jobs and as there logo states they are a store run by hobbyists for hobbyists and I feel that all of the operators of NSA care very much about the hobby and there role in central Arkansas. Aesthetics of there store has very little to do with much as they have done well in the area while other stores have come and gone. It seems that most of your criticism is centered around pricing of there products. Historically, NSA has prices that are on the low end of retail sale for livestock in the area - without the discount offered to members of Razorback Reef. It is important to be an informed consumer but you fail to consider the service that NSA provides its customers that you can't get when your main pump goes out on your prize sps tank. There are by no means travesties that take place at NSA and affecting change certainly doesn't take place by avoidance. I invite you to become a member of Razorback Reef Marine Aquarium Society and become a part of the support structure for aquarists in Arkansas that is a meld of all kinds of opinions, yet at the end of the day remember that we all, including local fish stores, strive to promote the hobby that we love through supporting each other.
So we can put some perspective on your comments, please tell us about yourself. Where did you move from, years in the hobby, current setup, etc. Thanks.
I guess they can't please everyone. I love the guys, the store, livestock, etc. They will always get my business. Even when hubby and I go in and start dreaming about a very large tank, they take time to write out an estimate including everything from tank, stand, lights, equipment, rock and livestock. (when they know we probably won't buy it) I will continue to support all of our local "mom & pop" stores, if we didn't, we'd be left with the Pet***s and then where would we be? Prices are always subject to change, that's just business. Give them a break, get to know these guys, make friends. Welcome to RRMAS!
Joe doesn't like that avatar because that dog is cute and doesn't resemble his little yappie dog at all. :lol:
The guys at Northside are all good folks. I am positive any variation you got in your pricing was not intentional. They really do have the best selection of corals and they have a pretty high turnover so that might help explain some of the variation. We have a great meeting coming up in June. Be sure to come out and meet us all. This is a fun group of reefers. Have a great holiday weekend. James P.S. I like the dog.
Before I even became a member of Razorback Reef, I purchased a used 70 gallon, reef ready, oceanic tank, stand and sump with pump from Northside Aquatics. They sold it to me for a very fair price. After getting it home, I discovered the return pump was bad (pumping very little), I called NSA and was told to bring the pump back and they would replace it with a brand new one, no questions asked. I received excellant customer service and a brand new Mag 5 pump. In my book, that is simply "GOOD BUSINESS."
