Stupid petsmart :p

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Here I'll throw another one out that bothered me the other day.

I was in line at Petsmart behind this guy with a basket full of bags of fish.
Here's what was in the bags:

10 goldfish
2 Jack Dempseys
2 Oscars
1 Dragon Goby
4 Bala Sharks
and something else I can't remember

All of this was going in his 55gal that he set-up the day before. So I tried to explain to him about cycling, fish compatability, fish size, etc.....

All I got from him was a dumb look:eek: and that's pretty much what I get every time I intervene and try to assist other people. I'm to the point now when I go in these stores I get what I need and get out. Cause I know the "real" LFS are doing the right thing and not just trying to make a buck.
 
mike dunagan;1086733; said:
well a lot of real LFS do the same thing... they also hire people who know nothing... It is like anyother hobby the hobbiest know more than most the people selling it...
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Yup. There are very few fish stores with educated fishkeepers and people that actually want you to keep your fish alive. You're lucky to find even one like that, I'm lucky to have found a few but they're spread between a few states, which kind of sucks.

What's sad, is if some of these stores try to do the right thing, petsmart or petco will put them out of business. One of the cities north of here has absolutely no fish stores since petco came into town.

The sad truth is, if you cater to ethical and knowledgeable hobbyists you're catering to a small market, and unless you're in a big city it's an EXTREMELY small market.
 
It's sad that since I've been working at PetSmart, I've gotten *****ed at more times for denying fish sales, than other employees have for selling ungodly amounts of fish for people to stick in a 5 gallon tank.

For example: One customer I had wanted to put a Dragon Goby in a 1 gallon "show tank". I told her nicely I could not sell her that fish as they require a much larger tank. She threw a fit in front of everyone making me look like the bad guy, then proceeded to go scream at my manager and write an e-mail to the corporate office.

That same day, a girl I work with sold this guy 2 bala sharks, a black banded leporinus, 2 rainbow sharks, and a pacu, all for his 5 gallon tank.

At the end of the day, I was written up, and she was given a gift certificate for a local restaurant for her high sales...

It is true that 90% of the people working there only care about numbers, and not about the well-being of the fish. But to say that everyone that works at PetSmart knows only what is on those little incorrect and unreliable fact cards under the tanks is just not true. I wish there was more I could do to change this, but as some one else said, there just aren't enough knowledgeable people out there to fill up every PetSmart and Petco.
 
it's sad that there are such employees out there, and such customers too. all of the blame can not be put on one area. maybe the employee who is helping that kid get 10 goldfish for a 30g tank is just sick of it. maybe they're been yelled at and talked down to by customers so often that, however sad it is, they just don't want the abuse anymore. so they let it go. they bag up the fish, say a prayer, and move on with their day.

when you find a good employee, do something about it! let them know. let the management know. write a note or an email saying that "so and so in store #123 helped me with fish today and s/he was very helpful and knowledgeable, etc. . . " if you can encourage a store to keep that employee, that will help every customer who walks in during that person's shift. my local petsmart has some crappy employees, and a few really great ones that i could stand around and talk fish with for an hour. the main person is very knowledgeable about tank sizes and compatibility, and doesn't hesitate to steer the customer in a better direction or refuse a sale. the pet supermarket girl asked my boyfriend and i all about our tank size and cycling when we bought an oscar. we thanked her for asking about it.
 
I went into a PetDumb on Sunday just to kill some time while I waited for another store nearby to open.

It was the usual - teens tending to tanks. The best part was watching these two young women feed the fish while they were engaged in a deep conversation about who came in to work at what time and did what, etc., etc.
Anyway, I watched in amusement as teen #1 was dipping a turkey baster in what looked like a flake food gruel, sucked up a bulb full and inoculated each tank with a blast of food. A LOT of food. Looked like a huge food cloud.

Now, to most of us this would make us cringe. I know I did. A five gallon tank crammed full of fish dodging the food cloud.

Do I say something and get attitude relative to the age? Sure, why not.
  • "Wow, thats a lot of food for a small tank..."
  • "Yep, sure is."
The tone was saying, "you're interrupting my conversation." Ok.

I was not in the mood to get into it with Princess Fish Tank, didnt have the time and I know better. Just one more reason why some of the fish in the LFS look like they do.
 
Buckdog;1124817; said:
Anyway, I watched in amusement as teen #1 was dipping a turkey baster in what looked like a flake food gruel, sucked up a bulb full and inoculated each tank with a blast of food. A LOT of food. Looked like a huge food cloud.
Now, to most of us this would make us cringe. I know I did. A five gallon tank crammed full of fish dodging the food cloud.
Do I say something and get attitude relative to the age? Sure, why not.
  • "Wow, thats a lot of food for a small tank..."
  • "Yep, sure is."
The tone was saying, "you're interrupting my conversation." Ok.
I was not in the mood to get into it with Princess Fish Tank, didnt have the time and I know better. Just one more reason why some of the fish in the LFS look like they do.
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You would complain if the fish looked skinny..

The central filtration systems can handle overcrowding and overfeeding.

Corporate pet stores employees get annoyed of customer commentating after about week 1.

I am not a teen, I am a fish person, and I would of given you the same answer under the same circumstances.. Does that makes me another clueless corporate schmoe who is in it for the buck and not the fish?
 
ugh, i have an independent LFS and the owner does the same thing. the employees know how to feed the fish properly, but you can tell when the owner has been there alone all day. . . flake everywhere! literally piles of it. one time i brought back a piece of bad driftwood that was stinking up my tank (and then after removal started to grow a ferocious mold) and he tried to tell me that it was normal. sorry, mold and stankness are not the same thing as water discoloration.
 
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