Petsmart's carrying new fish

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Casey Norris said:
The Petsmarts in my city have plenty of fish, now what they really need is to train their employees. A few weeks ago I heard one employee tell another employee not to volunteer any information that might keep the customer from buying the fish, like incompatible fish and tanks that were going to be way too small. I was disgusted. I asked a few employees what type of training that they had been given and they all told me that they didn’t have any training at all, except for one guy who actually had fish of his own. How can you be a fish specialist and have never owned any fish….?
Click to expand...

Salespeople and fishkeepers have opposite motives.
 
The Petsmart nearest my house isn't too bad. At least two of the employees know what they're talking about. The third, though... When I come in, if she has a customer, she points and says, "Ask her! She knows!" Well, you do have to know your limitations...

Their fish have always been good quality, though. They're where I get the fish for my kids' tanks, by and large. The cherry barbs have survived living in a 5 year old's room, and flourished. The betta withstands the trials of an aspiring 7 year old aquarist. And I can get fish equipment there for reasonably cheap.

We only have one "ma and pa" store in town that's worth anything, and they're overpriced and across town for anything big or uncommon. (Overpriced as in, it's cheaper for me to buy online and have the fish flown in.) Petland is a little closer and better, but their distributors are just horrible.
 
The local petsmart here is great, I have to admit. I know the staff pretty well and they know if I see something weird I'll let them know. Plus, they're fun to talk with sometimes. They also agreed that they should not be selling red terrors. I did buy an albino senegal bichir and 2 jag cichlids from petsmart which was from the newer stock. They're doing grea and have eaten on the first day of me buying them.
 
yeah i saw some bichir's at the petsmart near me the other and they had some gars and other stuff they ussally dont carry
 
Dragon said:
I like petsmart. Next to a LFS, their fish seem to have a higher survival rate. Way better than Petco! Plus the better prices.
Click to expand...


Amen! I can't stand Pet Co. You can NEVER get them to help you, and when they do decide to help you, you get the 20 questions game. A cousin of mine wanted a certain fish, and they asked what she had at home and she told them, and they would not sell her the fish. I figure it was her money, she was informed of her decision, the fish would have worked out just fine, but the sales person (or fish catcher) was not as informed and would not sell the fish to her....total crap.

I do have to agree Pets Mart is getting better fish in, and they are the only place I can go to get fish unless we want a 2 hour outing to town. I have always had good luck with them, and will continue to go.

Also, if you ever want to sell a fish, Pet Co will not "buy" the fish from you or give you store credit...but they will adopt it out to a "new family" at a price to them....adopting out a fish...total crap. Why cant they be just a little less politically correct and say..."give us your fish and we'll sell them again!"
 
They do have cheaper equipment and food, but most employees can't tell a fish from a gerbil and their selection is somewaht poor (better lately), and their fish are not necessarily high quality specimens. I saw an employee try and "net" a gerbil with a fish net!
 
The PetSmart by my parents house is alright, but the PetCo is terrible. Horrible tank conditions, horrible fish. The PetSmart had an ok selection, although I knew more about fish than any of the employees. I happened to find the GT in my avatar for $5.79 there, it was a customer return (it was bullying her pretty mollies), and had been quarantined for a few weeks, so it was 3 times the size of the others in the tank. An lfs mean me was charging $15 for te same size, so I got a pretty good deal. PetSmart also was clearing out their Top Fin heaters, and I got a 200w for $8, a 150w for $8, and a 100w for $7, which is way less than any heaters I've seen before. I love my local PetLand, and I actually just got a job there. We carry many rare fish including rtc's, aros, gars, barracudas, fronts, a lung fish, and many other cichlids. I start working monday and I can't wait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom