Why I don't go to Green Chapter Anymore (Aquarium/Aquascape supplies shop)

Because Green Chapter boss married a foreigner woman (Vietnamese?) with a noisy, ill-disciplined, misbehaving brat. I don't want my money going to them & I don't want to see unprofessional family scenes from them in the store.  The last time I was there, Ronnie replied to my question in a very rude tone and manner.  So I stopped going to Green Chapter @ Macpherson.


I stopped going to Green Chapter @ Clementi because I discovered the man there is dishonest:

1) I wanted some river rocks (he had helped me choose them). Price is $12/kg. He put them on the weighing scale & said $12 without telling me that it's below 1 kg & didn't ask if I wanted to add the rock I originally wanted but put away. Adding the rock that I put away would total 1kg exactly. Luckily, without knowing the total weight, I decided to add that rock at the end. And only discovered that he had wanted to charge $12 for less when I went home & weighed them myself.

2)  On another occasion, I wanted to buy an aquarium. He straightaway said $70.  When I asked whether there was a cheaper one, he then looked it up on his laptop & corrected the price to $62.  He had mistaken the sizes and prices. But this mistake is dishonest.  If I didn't ask, he would have charged the greater price.

3) While I was considering whether to buy the aquarium, he was standing by and waiting for me to give it the "ok".  But I noticed a big stain on the glass & mentioned it. He then said that he had tried removing the stain but was unable to.  Then he said he had another same size aquarium at the back & went to get it.

Clearly, he knew about that stain but intentionally didn't mention it, hoping I wouldn't mind or wouldn't see it.

This is all the more unacceptable considering Bro & I trusted him to a certain level because of his attentive service and rapport with us.


4) He had promised to call regarding the arrival of Dwarf Mexican lobsters. But never called.

When I was considering whether to buy the aquarium, I had told him that I wanted to buy the aquarium because he said his shipment of the lobsters would be coming the following week.  I said if the lobsters were not arriving, then I wouldn't be buying the aquarium. Are you sure they will be here? He confidently said that they would be arriving.

I said, "You'll call right?". He nodded.  (He didn't ask for my number because 2 days ago, he had already asked me to write it down in his book.).

Luckily, I didn't buy the aquarium. But perhaps it was because of this, he pretended to forget to call.

Aside from these, he has very shallow knowledge and experience about aquariums & the aquatic plants & fishes.  It's as if he is not into the hobby & is just a salesman.

Notice that the aquatic plants in the shop are covered in algae. He is able to tell me what is causing this, but doesn't do anything about it.  He mentioned he would be throwing away some of the plants, but on my next visit, it didn't look like he had done so. 

Previously, there was another instance where it showed he was neglecting the care and maintenance of the tanks.

(Update 3 Dec 2015 Thurs):  I just remembered. Back when I bought aquatic plants from Macpherson, all my shrimps in my tank died overnight. Although each shrimp was not the expensive crystal type, all added was still a lot of money.  Plus, those shrimps were fine & I was enjoying watching them. The only reason the shrimps died was those plants I bought. All the shrimps died.

When I returned the next time & asked Dave whether they or their suppliers used herbicides on the plants, he wasn't sure. 

Aquatic plants from the auntie at Clementi have always been fine since the beginning.