Has anyone ever complained to a chain store about their fish care

[Homedog98]

I mean honestly, if they apply for the job, it helps to at least know what they're talking about.

 

[mgamer20o0]

It's easy for you to say "find another store" if you have one. Some places don't have LFS's, they just have chains.

You're on the internet. Order fish from a reputable online store. I also moved a tank 1000 miles with the fish in buckets so know a LFS doesn't have to be on your doorstep for you to get fish home, I realize some people might have a bit of a drive to get to a store, but surely you just adapt.

100% agree. just have them shipped in often end up with better stock and thigns you can not find.

I don't think its really all the companies faults we as American consumers are lazy and want everything we need available in one store being a responsible pet owner means making sacrifices and devoting time to out pets but in this drive thru society we have forgotten that convience is not competence

just like the guy working the pet section often doesnt care the consumers dont care are only hear what they want. even look on the forums you see it all the time they ask for help yet disagree withe verything.

Okay, I'm just going to put my two cents in here because I actually work in a chain store and strongly dislike the practices. However, it would definitely need to come down to a corporate level as most employees and even some of the management don't have any kind of sway within the company and have repeatedly tried(and usually failed) to implement better practices when it comes to the welfare of the animal in question.

I can't speak for other stores as I'm not privy to what goes on in them.. however, the main issue in most corporate run stores is payroll. They are more concerned with how customer interaction is... but they are unwilling to offer the necessary hours to employees to provide this in conjunction with the care of the animals. I have even illegally stayed at work off of the clock to make sure things are done properly because I am kind of a pain in the behind about quality standards.


This is the price that is paid for convenience. People that would sooner flush them when problems arise being your main customers because they like the IDEA of having fish...

deleted some since my post is long but a few things you pointed out. not always the employees fault. they get bad info and repeat it over. again look on the forums someone hears a bad info then just repeats it like its true. how do you blame the guy getting paid min wage. most dont care its just a job. like you said time is money and its cheaper to buy a new bag of fish then pay someone to take care of them right.

I actually was thinking the same thing. Although yes, because the stores are selling the fish, they should inform their customers. But on the flip side, the customers need to be responsible in their purchases. I made my mistakes early like everyone else and I blame myself, not chain stores.

many customers dont want to be informed as well. they dont care. i know several people with lfs who turn people away all the time. they say like wait cycle a tank.... how dare you ill go down the block where they will sell me tank and all right away.

I agree. It is a bit ridiculous how uneducated some of the employees are.

i think most people should know by now going to any chain store you get what you paid for. they offer low prices and low help. cant expect a low pay high turn over job to be experts.

in the end its a business. might not like it but they pump a ton of money into the hobby that a allows us to have what we do. might not agree with them but with out them our hobby would be smaller and things wouldnt be as cheap.

 

[six2sevenproductions]

I think mgamer finished this thread for all of us lol. Totally agree.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Yep. Great perspective. If the care were better the prices would be higher too... At least most of the time these fish are farmed for this purpose and not wild caught just to be killed by the store or an under-educated customer.

 

[WendiDell]

My local Petco is really starting to aggravate me. I am pretty new to the hobby and their prices and selection of equipment is the best around, but there tanks are awful to look at. There are dead fish everywhere, and my real complaint is they are generally left for awhile. I was there last night and one tank had a carcass ripped apart as the other fish in the tank fought over it. Another saltwater tank had a dead fish being held upright with its head in the air while a school of hermit crabs feasted away at the tail end. They also take no notice of obviously sick fish. They had a clown fish in “observation” that was lying on its side under a rock. I saw no gill movement so it looked to me like they were “observing” a dead fish. Other tanks had fish swimming around upside down. The real heart breaker was the Oscar tank. I love Oscars and really hope to have one someday, and I stood in Petco last night and watched one swim around in circles on its side before settling to the bottom and shuddering every few seconds while I assume it slowly died, after several minutes of watching and looking for someone to tell I finally had to move on. Not sure it would have mattered I have pointed out dead fish before and just get a shoulder shrug, but that fish needed to be euthanized.

Now to be clear I am no PETA tree hugging environmentalist, no offense to anyone intended here trying to make a point. I fish, hunt, have worked on commercial fishing boats, and still work in support of the commercial fishing industry. That said I cannot stand to see cruelty and mistreatment due to simple carelessness or ambivalence. I swear even the Oscars would be better off at my house in my 30gal than in this place, no I am not going to do that, but watching this little house of horrors does bring the issue up as an ethical question.

Has anyone ever tried complaining to management at these stores about conditions like this? Are they common? There is a regional chain across the street that has almost no equipment and there fish selection is not great, but the fish are healthy and you rarely ever see sick or dead fish in with the fish for sale. You do see sick fish in QT from time to time. OK. Rant over thanks for reading.

I try to avoid those places ,but sometimes in an emergency I go in for supplies at Petco. And I of course enjoy looking at the fish even if I'm not buying. There are always a few dead fish, I've been fortunate in that I never saw a feeding frenzy on the dead fish.
But I'd always go tell an employee about the dead fish and then I stand there like an idiot and fallow them around until they take care of the situation.
In the long run this can work but at first not so much. As soon as I'm gone it's back to business as usual. But if enough people become a pain in the #$%, and stand around forcing them to do their job properly, policies will change.
You don't need to be loud or rude just an obvious nuisance. The best is when another patron comes up to ask a question. When they ask if they can ask a quick question? or are you finished? You get to announce, Oh no problem, I'm just waiting for them to remove all the dead fish from their tanks. Employee turns red and tanks get clean.
My local Petco has improved in that area. But they are still the worst when it comes to advice. They will tell you anything just to make a sale.

 

[OhNeil1969]

You don't need to be loud or rude just an obvious nuisance. The best is when another patron comes up to ask a question. When they ask if they can ask a quick question? or are you finished? You get to announce, Oh no problem, I'm just waiting for them to remove all the dead fish from their tanks. Employee turns red and tanks get clean.

Great way to force some action! I can just imagine the look on the sales associate's face when you do that. I don't think you'll be getting their vote for patron of the month though!

 

[McLumpy]

We have a Petco and a lfs near our house, (we live in Nebraska).

I usually try to buy from locally owned businesses instead of buying from chains, but once I walked into the store, I wanted to run! First off, it was dark and you couldn't tell where the freshwater and saltwater fish were located, (that is unless you know the difference by looking at the fish). Also, there was nobody to be found for at least 5 min's after my husband and I walked through the door. We spent probably 20 min's looking around and the fish looked healthy, (didn't see any casualties in the tanks), but it was not a very comfortable store to be in. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything and drove up the road to Petco.

The Petco here is extremely welcoming. The staff is nice and the selection is pretty good. However, there has been a few occasions where I saw dead fish in the tanks. I make it a point to notify the employee working the fish section, but just like others on here, I get the shrug and "we'll take care of it" reply. Regardless, I continue to shop there. Of course this may change after my recent issue...

About 2 months ago, I went to Petco to purchase 5 Neon Tetras. Unfortunately, they only had 1 left. The employee there told me I could come back in a few days because they get their shipment in on Wednesdays. So I bought the one fish, and he is striving quite well.

A few weeks ago I decided to go back, (on a Wednesday), to get 4 more. Sure enough, the tank at Petco was full of hundreds of Neon Tetras. I was pleased to finally complete my school, however, now it has become a disaster. One of the fish that I got had Ich! I didn't notice it when I brought them home, but a few days later, my entire tank was infested. I believe that the Ich outbreak caused my Bala's death, (luckily that has been the only casualty thus far). I understand that this is a chance you take when buying fish, but I wonder how many other fish that resided w/ that one had Ich?

I'm finally making some progress on getting my Ich under control. However, I can't help but feel bad for the other people that got any of the other fish that were infested. I know that infestations, such as Ich, happens and it's easy to control if you know what you're doing. But it boggles my mind how a new shipment of fish would have it? I wouldn't think that the suppliers would ship ill fish so maybe Petco's tank was already infested?

Meh. It's just frustrating!!

Am I rambling?

 

[WendiDell]

We have a Petco and a lfs near our house, (we live in Nebraska).

I usually try to buy from locally owned businesses instead of buying from chains, but once I walked into the store, I wanted to run! First off, it was dark and you couldn't tell where the freshwater and saltwater fish were located, (that is unless you know the difference by looking at the fish). Also, there was nobody to be found for at least 5 Min's after my husband and I walked through the door. We spent probably 20 Min's looking around and the fish looked healthy, (didn't see any casualties in the tanks), but it was not a very comfortable store to be in. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything and drove up the road to Petco.

The Petco here is extremely welcoming. The staff is nice and the selection is pretty good. However, there has been a few occasions where I saw dead fish in the tanks. I make it a point to notify the employee working the fish section, but just like others on here, I get the shrug and "we'll take care of it" reply. Regardless, I continue to shop there. Of course this may change after my recent issue...

About 2 months ago, I went to Petco to purchase 5 Neon Tetras. Unfortunately, they only had 1 left. The employee there told me I could come back in a few days because they get their shipment in on Wednesdays. So I bought the one fish, and he is striving quite well.

A few weeks ago I decided to go back, (on a Wednesday), to get 4 more. Sure enough, the tank at Petco was full of hundreds of Neon Tetras. I was pleased to finally complete my school, however, now it has become a disaster. One of the fish that I got had Ich! I didn't notice it when I brought them home, but a few days later, my entire tank was infested. I believe that the Ich outbreak caused my Bala's death, (luckily that has been the only casualty thus far). I understand that this is a chance you take when buying fish, but I wonder how many other fish that resided w/ that one had Ich?

I'm finally making some progress on getting my Ich under control. However, I can't help but feel bad for the other people that got any of the other fish that were infested. I know that infestations, such as Ich, happens and it's easy to control if you know what you're doing. But it boggles my mind how a new shipment of fish would have it? I wouldn't think that the suppliers would ship ill fish so maybe Petco's tank was already infested?

Meh. It's just frustrating!!

Am I rambling?

I lost a full tank of fish when I added 5 Neon tetra's last year. Some of the fish we'd had from day 1. The worst were 2 14" Common Pleco.
They now have a head stone in our backyard.
Since then No fish will ever enter my tank until they've spent a month in quarantine. And they've had a treatment with Polyguard to make sure no ick is in hiding, just waiting to destroy my fish.
You never know what your getting when you bring home new fish.
The stress from having been delivered to the store that day. Then being transported again to your home, may have caused the ick outbreak. Or they may have already had ick before they even got to your LFS.
My quarantine tank has been a life saver (literally). It's nothing fancy, just a 10g tank with a couple decorations and gravel.
I also have a separate 5g hospital tank to separate sickly fish from healthy fish. Both of these tanks have prevented outbreaks of illness.
1 fish may get sick and on rare occasion die, but the rest are kept healthy and disease free.
I highly recommend a QT if not a hosp. tank. Even the most elite FS can get the occasional sick fish.
All of that is closing the barn door after the horses are out. It only helps for the future.
For now I wish you all the luck in the world in curing the ick and not loosing any more of your fish.
And I'm sorry to hear about your Bala Shark. They are really cool to watch when they have the room to swim.
Rambling is healthy when frustrated about loosing a fish to a case of ick. So feel free to ramble away.

 

[WendiDell]

Great way to force some action! I can just imagine the look on the sales associate's face when you do that. I don't think you'll be getting their vote for patron of the month though!

It was a moment I'll never forget, nor will they I imagine. But I still have a good repore with the staff at my local Petco.
I'm never mean or condescending toward them, just under foot and in the way.
Even though I find it deplorable to leave the dead just laying there for children to see. I try to always approach the staff with respect. That goes a long way when your pointing out their shortcomings in a public venue.
And it has achieved the desired results.
Give it a try, it's kind of fun.

 

[Homedog98]

I went to a new petsmart today, they had 16 huge tiger oscars in one ten gallon tank! I nearly cried it was so sad! They all were at the top desperate for air! It was the saddest thing ever! I'm definitely not getting any more stuff from there! It was appalling!

 

[mandy2936]

Around me, these are the fish/pet stores available.

•A 15 min. drive to a Petco that is just awful. Sure, it's very very convenient, but the fish are in disgusting conditions, I hate to see them like that, so I steer clear from that store.

•A 25 min. drive to a Petsmart that is not very good, either. The fish aren't usually in terribly bad tank conditions, but the employees know NOTHING and ALWAYS try to sell me unnecessary products. This store aggravates me the most because the employees are SO clueless and me, a 13 year old, know a lot lot lot more than them. WOW.

•A 45 min. drive to a family run LFS that's OK. They are a lot better than those Petsmarts or Petcos, but still just OK when it comes to quality.

•Finally, about 45 min. away I have another Petco. Surprisingly, I once went there while visiting my grandma (it was nearby) and was going to buy fish for my newly fishless cycled 20g tank. The Guppies seemed pretty healthy looking, (shocker! lol) so I bought them. The biggest shock, however, is that the employee asked me if I cycled my tank. WOW that's the most an employee has ever known with my local Petsmart/Petco experiences! He then told me that unless I've already fishless cycled, it's not fair to add the Guppies until I do so. Yay good job for once, Petco employee! Unfortunately, the 2nd time I went there he wasn't there and hasn't been since. Could you imagine if he lost his job from not selling fish to customers unless they have a proper tank setup?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I went to a new petsmart today, they had 16 huge tiger oscars in one ten gallon tank! I nearly cried it was so sad! They all were at the top desperate for air! It was the saddest thing ever! I'm definitely not getting any more stuff from there! It was appalling!

 

[mandy2936]

I went to a new petsmart today, they had 16 huge tiger oscars in one ten gallon tank! I nearly cried it was so sad! They all were at the top desperate for air! It was the saddest thing ever! I'm definitely not getting any more stuff from there! It was appalling!

Oh my gosh!!!! How in the world do 16 Oscars, (even of small size!) fit into a 10 gallon!!?!?!?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Could you imagine if he lost his job from not selling fish to customers unless they have a proper tank setup?

Sadly, that seems quite likely. They have to weigh making a sale with not. The thing is, most fish which die during the cycling process can be replaced or the owner will blame themselves. They won't often lose a customer by selling a fish to someone during cycling.

 

[Homedog98]

I know! I just about started crying in the middle of the store!

 

[mandy2936]

Another One

Sadly, that seems quite likely. They have to weigh making a sale with not. The thing is, most fish which die during the cycling process can be replaced or the owner will blame themselves. They won't often lose a customer by selling a fish to someone during cycling.

Yeah. Unfortunately, a lot of chain stores are all about making the sale. They would rather have employees around that don't know what they are talking about, or do but keep their mouths shut, and sell fish to customers who don't cycle, don't know how to care for them, or don't have the right sized tank in order to make the sale and get money. I have to admit it was pretty great of the guy to lecture me on cycling a tank, not putting making money for Petco first. Sure, I already knew about cycling tanks. However, it came to me as a complete surprised because believe it or not I actually end up explaining some things to most chain store employees! For example... this is how my most recent visit went...

Me: "Hi, do you guys carry the API Master Freshwater Test kit?" (the liquid tubes)
*Employee hands me Ammonia Test Strips*
Me: "I prefer testing with the liquid tubes because I often find the strips inaccurate. Plus, I also need to test for Nitrite and Nitrate."
Them: "Oh, well I like using the strips... they are easier and less of a hassle."
*Pause. I wasn't quite sure what to say to that*
He then adds: "What do you mean testing for 'Nitrites' and 'Nitrates' anyway " He sounded confused, as if he didn't know what the two were.
Me: "Well, I need to test for them because I'm cycling a tank."
Them: "Oh, well you don't have to do that. Actually, the fish are fine if you just add water conditioner. Cycling takes really long and the fish will be fine as long as you do a 12% water change each week. I don't recommend doing more than that because it's bad to change over 25% of the water."

WOW. He actually was speaking as if what he said actually made sense and was true. That last part just ticked me off and I left after politely declining his offer to sell me water conditioner, as I already have it at home.

 

[Homedog98]

The guy that talked to me when I started out had good intentions, but he handed me a bunch of stuff, and told me he wouldn't sell me fish until I brought back a ph sample. Since I thought I was getting scammed, I went somewhere else to buy fish the same day. Then of course, I went home and did my research, (still kicking myself for that!) and realized I should have listened. If he hadn't tried to give me three hours worth of information in five minutes, and handing me bottles of stuff left and right, I might would have listened.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Yeah, that is the tough tightrope these stores walk. What he should have done is given you the information and told you to go away and research, but you would have done exactly what you did: Gone somewhere else. The more I think about it, the more I understand the stores just selling the fish to anybody... As sad as that is!

 

[WendiDell]

We can't stop stores from selling fish to people that aren't ready but we can do something about how the fish are treated while at the store.
People are stubborn they want what they want when they want it. And if places like Petsmart won't sell it to them, they'll just go somewhere else.
That won't ever change.
It's like people and Bunnies at Easter or Black cats on Halloween.
What we can change is how the fish are treated while at these stores.
It can be done and it can be done nicely. I know, I've done it at the Petsmart where I live.
I am but one person that communicates here on AA. But AA is global (thank you Internet) if each of us here on AA picked one store to help make changes, to show them the cruelties of their ways. We can be a big gentle voice for change.
Just a thought

 

[Homedog98]

A good thought, besides, I was really upset about the whole Oscar tank thing. :'(