another sad petsmart story

[cocoa_pleco]

HOLY CRAP, talk about sad


I went to petsmart yesterday and bought decor and a few fish. If you do a phone survey, each day you can get 5$ of your next purchase. I went back today to get 5 neons for 5$, and i noticed they had extremely few fish, just a few goldies and a few tropicals. It took 20 minutes to get a worker, and then she said she didnt want to sell me fish. i asked why, and their heater broke last night and they lost 97% of their stock already. just yesterday all the tanks were loaded with fish. all i saw left for tropicals was a few needlefish, ghost shrimp, snails, pea puffers, platys, a oscar, and a killie.

[Rue]

Oh dear! Those poor fish! :(

Poor girl too...imagine how long it's gonna take to clean that up...

[cocoa_pleco]

the workers were all under 18 and didnt care, really pi$sed me off. all the survivors were depressed. The pea puffers were sitting at the top of the tank, the platys were laying down, and the killie was alone

[Nick_Pavlovski]

I guess we are lucky in Australia, there are lots of aquarium shops that are run by fish-lovin' folk, in fact most are.
The only chain I can think of, Pets Paradise, does basic fish (mostly coldwater) and that's it.

I've always bought from the aquarium shops, not Pets Paradise, as 99% of the owners/staff know their sh!t and are happy to chat about all things piscine, even do deals/take returns without hassle.

[Rue]

...where was the petcare manager?...

[cocoa_pleco]

NO idea. the only dam workers in the store literally were the cashiers and the regular fish person who could do nothing. The high-fin shark and the 3 kuhlis i bought yesterday should be thankful i got them. there still were some sharks, but all the other 50 kuhlis died

[bluefish101]

HOLY CRAP, talk about sad


I went to petsmart yesterday and bought decor and a few fish. If you do a phone survey, each day you can get 5$ of your next purchase. I went back today to get 5 neons for 5$, and i noticed they had extremely few fish, just a few goldies and a few tropicals. It took 20 minutes to get a worker, and then she said she didnt want to sell me fish. i asked why, and their heater broke last night and they lost 97% of their stock already. just yesterday all the tanks were loaded with fish. all i saw left for tropicals was a few needlefish, ghost shrimp, snails, pea puffers, platys, a oscar, and a killie.

you think thats sad over all of petco's fish are under observation infact just a week ago i bought a clown loach from them died before i got out of the store and all the fish are sick dying and depressed and lots o parisites so petco is a definat :c11:

[A340]

That's the problem with many big chain pet stores. Employees are usually undereducated (when it comes to pets), it's just a job for them. They buy fish in bulk. Prices, practices and how to set up and run the tanks is written in stone by head office. It's not really the stores themselves who are at fault, but it's the idiots at head office that should be held accountable.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

It's not really the stores themselves who are at fault, but it's the idiots at head office that should be held accountable.

Are you kidding??
They are too busy counting beans to be worried about the health of stock. After all, who ever investigates the health of a bean?!

[Incredulous_Ed]

I'm cheesed off at petsmart too. I was going to buy a few fish the other day and I asked this one guy if I could get some help in the fish department. He said to wait in front of the fish for an associate to come help me. I waited. and waited and waited and waited. I got so annoyed I just left.

[Mark Lathrop]

I'm cheesed off at petsmart too. I was going to buy a few fish the other day and I asked this one guy if I could get some help in the fish department. He said to wait in front of the fish for an associate to come help me. I waited. and waited and waited and waited. I got so annoyed I just left.

Happened to me last time too. Waited 20 minutes to get help, then another associate put a frog in my bag and had to fish it out, all the while the girl with my oto waited with the fish out of the water while the guy tried to net the frog (took at least 2 min), further stressing the oto already in the bag. One of my oto's died the next day.

[bluefish101]

one of petcos employes dropped six neons on the floor while getting my frog wich obviosly they all died after ten minuts and my frog to

[SkarloeysMom]

That is such a bummer about all those poor fish! PetSmart is totally hit or miss when it comes to their fish. I've been to 2 stores that I will not go to again for fish but I finally found one that has a (that's 1) knowledgeable fish dept. associate and got a pair of nice Otos there too.

[crackatinny]

You would think they would have backup heating, I have backups for heating filtration and everything for my tanks, last thing I want is for something to blow up and have to buy a relacement locally.

[Lady Hobbs]

How can going without heat for one night in the summer months kill all their stock? The store would have to be 25 degrees inside for temps to drop low enough in the tanks.

Filtration stopping due to a power outage or another problem is something that could not be helped but the heat has me confused.

[cocoa_pleco]

thats what i cant figure out. They had a tank with about 80 neons and all died.

[A340]

Are you kidding??
They are too busy counting beans to be worried about the health of stock. After all, who ever investigates the health of a bean?!
Exactly my point.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

Exactly my point.

:hmm3grin2orange:

[Incredulous_Ed]

How can going without heat for one night in the summer months kill all their stock? The store would have to be 25 degrees inside for temps to drop low enough in the tanks.

Filtration stopping due to a power outage or another problem is something that could not be helped but the heat has me confused.
their store always seems to be air conditioned, so maybe that's why.

[Mark Lathrop]

Perhaps the heaters malfunctioned the opposite way and cooked the fish. I had a friend whos house burned down because their parents fish tank heater malfunctioned, boiled the fish, got the water so hot that it burst the glass on the tank, and then set fire to the house. I went in a couple of days later and aquarium glass was everywhere. It was WILD.

[cocoa_pleco]

the worker said that all the heating systems went down and the tanks were freezing, odd because its 35C outside

[bscman]

Ok, think about this though...
If the heaters went out the night before...12+ hours in an airconditioned room could easily result in temps in the mid 60's. Keep in mind a lot of businesses shut off their heater/ac during night time to conserve electricity.

Consider the fish probably weren't in tip top shape to begwin with--as most chainstores don't give the best care. Also, think many of these fish were recently stocked (stressed from shipping, adjusting to new parameters, and now freezing).
I could see how a malfunctioning heater 12+ hours ago could cause serious damage.

What I want to know is why didn't they just set up a couple large tanks off the showroom floor. Surely they had enough 55+ gallon tanks and heaters that they could set up emergency tanks to keep fish alive for a day or two until the heater issue was resolved...

Just my thoughts...

[cocoa_pleco]

for sale they have a 125g and boxed 55g and pre-setup 5g to 75g's, so they easily could set up extra tanks, but as if they give a dam.

If they cared they would have stuck the stock heaters for sale in the expensive and delicate fish tanks like oscars and severums. yet, they just let the worker sit around

[A340]

for sale they have a 125g and boxed 55g and pre-setup 5g to 75g's, so they easily could set up extra tanks, but as if they give a dam.

If they cared they would have stuck the stock heaters for sale in the expensive and delicate fish tanks like oscars and severums. yet, they just let the worker sit around
Welcome to the "wonderful" world of chain stores and franchises! If the employees actually did do something to save the fish, such as set up extra/temp tanks with products they have for sale, I can assure you that those employee's would be looking for a new job real quick. Sad but true.

Best thing to do is not to even support stores like that. Out of all the stores we have around here, I spend most of my money at a small, locally run pet store and they will bend over backwards to help you out anyway they can. Best thing about this store is that they are passionate about the pets and they come before the customer.

[Rue]

There's a chain of command at the large petstores...

The workers have no autonomy. They have to ask their manager...the manager doesn't have much autonomy either...they have to ask the store manager...

...and then I'm not sure what happens..I imagine they, in turn, have to ask the district manager who has to ask the regional manager...etc.

And by then several days have gone by...


However, in my neck of the woods, Petsmart likely has the healthiest, best looked after fish...although that can easily change as management changes...

[Mark Lathrop]

Welcome to the "wonderful" world of chain stores and franchises! If the employees actually did do something to save the fish, such as set up extra/temp tanks with products they have for sale, I can assure you that those employee's would be looking for a new job real quick. Sad but true.

Best thing to do is not to even support stores like that. Out of all the stores we have around here, I spend most of my money at a small, locally run pet store and they will bend over backwards to help you out anyway they can. Best thing about this store is that they are passionate about the pets and they come before the customer.

Werd. No more petsmart fish for me. I just found a place named indoor reef just blocks from my house that sell both fresh/salt water fish. The thing that sold me on them is they didn't keep their betta's in cups like most chain stores. Each individual betta had it's own planted 1.5 gallon tank. Awesome.

[A340]

We don't have a Petsmart around here, but Petland is just as bad (and overpriced) $40 for an AC20, $50 for an AC30 ... :help:

One employee a few years ago, set up a SW display tank. He paid for it himself, maintained it himself and got fired for it because it did not meet company policies being SW. There was one store manager before that who got so fed up with head office that he quit, but before he left he had a huge sale he was selling All Glass 55g kits for less than $100 .... :wink2:

[Willyleigh]

My dad unplugged the heater on my 7 gal. tank for about 2 days recently, and I didn't lose a single fish or notice a decline in health, I only noticed when I put my hand in and the water was freezing.

I think that there is more to it than the heater breaking.

[cocoa_pleco]

and when i moved my auratus my heater fricked up bad and my water was at 91F and he acted fine with no issues, but hes a mbuna so its kinda expected

[Specialty]

I'd probably be fired if I tried to set up extra tanks to save the fish. Mainly because its product which would be a huge loss. In the eyes of corporate, its probably cheaper to lose fish then 60-200 dollar tanks. Sad but true :c11:

And about the waiting thing....

Specialty is the busiest department in Petsmart and sometimes theres only 1 pet care specialist available. Other regular employees such as stockers and cashiers can not go anywhere NEAR any animals. To become certified I had to complete 6 work books a safety book and a certification test as well as a hands on test. With a lot of customers, it can take a while for the 1 or even 2 employees to get to you. A lot of people that go into petsmart are there to buy animals or ask questions so we tend to get really backlogged. Add in at least 3 of the people wanting to buy crickets and you have a long wait. Crickets take a while, we have to bag, then count every individual cricket, even if somebody orders 200.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

I hope they pay you well for counting 200 crickets...

[cocoa_pleco]

dont get me started with crickets! before super pet and PJ's got those dial-a-lid cricket systems, i had to buy bagged crickets. half always got out, and ALL night in my house there would be chirping from loose crickets.

[pnphappy]

Similar accident occured in my local Petco, but it was out of the sheer ignorance of the workers. These high school kids do not know anything about their position. Just yesterday I went to check on some plants and stooped by the marine section. What I saw was a diaster! Dead damselfish everywhere. They should know that damsels are aggressive and cannot be housed in small tanks. What's worse is to observe the dead sea anemones. It was just horrible. They obviously do not know anything about caring for these animals. When I asked them why there were dead, they shrugged, told me they didn't know why, and asked if I wanted to puchase anything. That just threw me off.

[Specialty]

I hope they pay you well for counting 200 crickets...

Heh, not really. Minimum wage is $7.15 here, and I get paid $7.50 an hour :ssad:

[cocoa_pleco]

ouch, here with the job shortage you get paid ridiculously high wage for doing squat. all my friends work at home depot for 14$ a hour and they just walk around doing nothing. mcdonalds pays average 12$ PT and 14$ FT

[Drumachine09]

I live in kansas. WE are the ONLY state thats minumum wage is below that of federal. 5.15 an hour....thats terrible. most states are $7+. Good thing i work of the books, or taxes would reduce my paycheck even more.:28:

[cocoa_pleco]

i think ours is 7.50, but noone pays under 10$/hour anymore

[A340]

i think ours is 7.50, but noone pays under 10$/hour anymore
Same here, Subway and co. are paying $13 an hour. Arby's still refuses to pay more than minimum wage and have now changed their hours and are closed at 8pm. Same with Tim Hortons, we have 4 locations all of which used to be 24hrs but are now closed at 11pm.

[cocoa_pleco]

wendys here is PATHETIC. they are so dam under staffed that they are literally open only 4 hours a day and those 4 hours are drive-thru only

[Specialty]

Yeah, $7.50 is kind of high compared to $5, but I live in NJ where a soda is 2 bucks or more :scry: :rolleyes: