petsmart...

[craig]

Big chain stores suck! Be it petsmart, petco or what ever. These places ruin the pet hobby for many people by selling unhealthy animals and giving out bad advise. They will just about hire anyone with out serious if any knowledge about animals. These unknowladgable people are now the "experts" that novice people go to for help. It is freeking pathetic.

Even the rare truly knowladable employee can't be as helpfull as they would like to. It will hurt sales when you tell people to not buy a fish or don't buy (insert what ever product) because it won't help.

It is such B.S. the garbage I hear just about every day that the local chain store in my area tells people to do. THings like, "your water quality is bad, buy this product and it will fix it" or If you add this product to your aquarium, you will only need to do one water change per year" (i really do hear that) or 1 fish per gallon. All these things help the stores sales, none of these things help the customer.

Did I mention I hate these places?

I work part time at PETCO in the fish department.When I give advice,At first people are skeptical because what other people that work there tell them doesn't work.Now customers look for me when they need help with a fish problem.And it's one inch of fish per gallon of water if it's a neon.Deep bodied or tall fish need more.Not everyone who works at lfs is dumb. .

 

[LeGrandB@t]

I used to work for Petco. When I started I new very little about fish but I took the responsibility upon myself to read the books that the store sold and educate myself. If people did this the hobby would benefit greatly. I understand that when your a customer it may be easier to ask someone else but when I would suggest people to read a book they looked at me like I was nuts. To me the real problem here is that people are lazy and they expect to be "served". Its all in the books and its much more gratifying to do it yourself.

With all the available resources that we have to educate ourselves on just about any topic why would you place that responsibility one someone you dont even know who makes minimum wage. If you think about it most people dont even know how to change a flat tire on thier car, something they depend on everyday. How can you expect a person at a pet store to motivate such a person to be a responsible fishkeeper? Its not easy. I would say that 99% of people do not go "above and beyond" at their jobs so they shouldnt be bashing anyone else for not starting a fishkeeping revolution at a major chain store. They are doing what they are paid to do and educating the average joe was not on the job description when I worked there.

While Im not anti-petco/petsmart I usually wont buy my fish at those stores because I think it is important to support the little guys. The big guys make all their money on dog and cat food anyway.

 

[craig]

I used to work for Petco. When I started I new very little about fish but I took the responsibility upon myself to read the books that the store sold and educate myself. If people did this the hobby would benefit greatly. I understand that when your a customer it may be easier to ask someone else but when I would suggest people to read a book they looked at me like I was nuts. To me the real problem here is that people are lazy and they expect to be "served". Its all in the books and its much more gratifying to do it yourself.

With all the available resources that we have to educate ourselves on just about any topic why would you place that responsibility one someone you dont even know who makes minimum wage. If you think about it most people dont even know how to change a flat tire on thier car, something they depend on everyday. How can you expect a person at a pet store to motivate such a person to be a responsible fishkeeper? Its not easy. I would say that 99% of people do not go "above and beyond" at their jobs so they shouldnt be bashing anyone else for not starting a fishkeeping revolution at a major chain store. They are doing what they are paid to do and educating the average joe was not on the job description when I worked there.

While Im not anti-petco/petsmart I usually wont buy my fish at those stores because I think it is important to support the little guys. The big guys make all their money on dog and cat food anyway.

I don't make minimum wage.I make $9.00 an hour part time.At PETCO in the FISH DEPARTMENT.I do not deal with anything else.

 

[guppy]

I don't make minimum wage.I make $9.00 an hour part time.At PETCO in the FISH DEPARTMENT.I do not deal with anything else.

I wish all the chain store outlets did that, the one nearby here is run by a reptile fan who neglects the fish section, at least 1/2 their FW tanks are always infested with ich and they use the same nets for all the tanks, including the salt, and just leave them in a dry plastic tub between uses. I will not buy from them. Suprisingly the tiny fish section in the local Wal-mart is always well kept and they treat and quarantine diseased tanks.

 

[LeGrandB@t]

I don't make minimum wage.I make $9.00 an hour part time.At PETCO in the FISH DEPARTMENT.I do not deal with anything else.

Man you got lucky. I made 6 something an hour and had to take care of the fish and reptiles and put away the dog/cat food when the truck came in and run register. All of that after working a full 8 hour day at my regular job. Even though I did all that work all they did was ***** about my PALS percentage so I walked out Man do I miss the 20% discount.

 

[theblast]

that place blows.

 

[ballsmcgee1234]

The petsmart here is great. I live maybe 20 min from That Fish Place don't know if all of u heard of it but its a pretty big fish place. I don't like that place at all u go there and there r numerous dead fish and i won't buy fish there its crazy they r supposed to be really good but i think it sucks.

that fish place is way too expensive. i saw blood parrots there for 40.00 and went up the block to a world of fish and saw them for fifteen. pretty much everything i saw there was ten or fifteen dollars more than any other place.

 

[Mourinho18]

Man you got lucky. I made 6 something an hour and had to take care of the fish and reptiles and put away the dog/cat food when the truck came in and run register. Even though I did all that work all they did was ***** about my PALS percentage so I walked out Man do I miss the 20% discount.

Yeah, thats what I'm gonna do man. There's absolutely no incentive to work there. Managers **** on you and do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (not all of them though, that would be unfair to say). But making crap pay doing 2 times more work than I was hired to do. Then they send me home early on soooooooo many different occasions because they don't have payroll to cover me for the day.

 

[cmersits]

Not to be mean or anything... but some of the people working at my local petsmart are down right dumb... One time I was looking at the fish they had and they had a tank with some fiddler crabs in it. I asked the person at the fish department. "Don't the crabs need brackish water?" The person replied by saying " oh no no these are freshwater crabs". And I said "No I'm pretty sure Fiddler crabs need brackish water...". And the person said "Oh no these are mini crabs". (meanwhile fiddler crabs and mini crabs are he same thing.... ) Then I asked the person "But dont the crabs need air?" Then she replied by saying "Oh we have a wave machine that ariates the water for the crabs"........
Not to mention all the feeder fish I buy from them are all sick and have some even have ich

 

[bearskookums]

My nearest petco is the worse...I once saw all the fish in their tank with ich...yuck. Never seen so much ich! EEK!
My petsmart is so much better...the fish guy and gal is very knowledgeable...the tanks are always clean and clear...fish healthy.
I prefer to support my small LFS though...which is only 2 mins away...prices are a couple cents more but I feel better that I am not paying to some big corporation. Plus the owner is so much more dedicated.