I've noticed on this website there's a lot of hate towards pet stores and the employees. I would like to clear a few things up. I work at a large chain pet store, and I can understand a lot of the complaints, but the employees are usually not to blame. The pet store does a terrible job training employees. They only give the very basic information about fish-keeping and expect you to know everything else on your own. They don't invest a lot of time training because most employees are part time and many only last a few months. So if an employee gives you false information, who's fault is it? Usually, it's the pet store's.
Sure, there are some employees who don't care at all and will make up answers if they don't know something, but most of us genuinely care about the fish and want to send them to proper homes. In fact, I have to fight with people to save a lot of fish from dying of ammonia poisoning. Most of the customers are complete idiots who don't care if their fish live or die. I often refuse to give people fish if their tank is too small or overpopulated with incompatible fish. Sometimes these people throw a fit and then the manager FORCES me to sell them the fish.
Sometimes experienced fish-keepers are rude to me when I ask them a question like "how big is your tank" before giving them a fish. I suspect those are the kind of people who badmouth pet store employees on these forums. The majority of these employees mean well but may be misinformed or not properly trained by the pet store. I'm not saying the pet stores are good, in a lot of ways they're not...their goal is to make money and satisfy customers, and that comes before sending the animals to good homes. But the employees like me usually care a lot about the animals and have good intentions. So next time you want to talk badly about an employee, consider that usually the pet store is to blame.
Sure, there are some employees who don't care at all and will make up answers if they don't know something, but most of us genuinely care about the fish and want to send them to proper homes. In fact, I have to fight with people to save a lot of fish from dying of ammonia poisoning. Most of the customers are complete idiots who don't care if their fish live or die. I often refuse to give people fish if their tank is too small or overpopulated with incompatible fish. Sometimes these people throw a fit and then the manager FORCES me to sell them the fish.
Sometimes experienced fish-keepers are rude to me when I ask them a question like "how big is your tank" before giving them a fish. I suspect those are the kind of people who badmouth pet store employees on these forums. The majority of these employees mean well but may be misinformed or not properly trained by the pet store. I'm not saying the pet stores are good, in a lot of ways they're not...their goal is to make money and satisfy customers, and that comes before sending the animals to good homes. But the employees like me usually care a lot about the animals and have good intentions. So next time you want to talk badly about an employee, consider that usually the pet store is to blame.