is there someone we can call

balafreak

Large Fish
Mar 10, 2006
113
0
0
joliet illinios
#1
the petco by me treats there fish so bad.i went there a little while ago and they had so many dead fish in there tanks it wasnt funny.all of their employes are teenages who dont care about pets,only money and gossip.
i refuse to ever by from them again.in there guppy tank there was 12 dead fish stuck to the filter,8 scizor tail fish stuck to the filter in their tank,and
in the tank with tiger barbs there was 6 dead tiger barbs stuck to that filter and some floating.and that was the least of it.
 

fishtrap

Large Fish
Mar 19, 2005
429
1
0
#2
Yeah. The Petco near me has the same issues. Just the other day, the ADF tank had about a dozen+ frogs belly-up on the bottom. They looked almost human like. Really creepy. And the silver dollars... so much ich it hurt to look:(
 

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#3
Sounds like my Pet Supermarket. How depressing and creepy.... On any given trip to their fish department you'll most likely find fish with holes in their heads, fish skeletons, partially devoured fish, live fish with hunks out of them, fungus, ich, you name it.... My kids call it the Fish House of Horrors. Nauseating.
 

balafreak

Large Fish
Mar 10, 2006
113
0
0
joliet illinios
#6
jefftaylor said:
Yes it is so sad to see i see the same thing at my local big box pet stores (super pet, and pet smart is worse) that is why i only go to Als it is the best store out there in my opinion.
i dont believe ive ever seen an als,what state do you live in,and is it private owned or is it a chain.oh and i know ive asked this question before but what do pet stores do when their tank is overstocked.
 

Last edited:
Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#7
i think all the big chain stores have different care levels, the petsmart by my house almost never has sickness in the tanks and when the do they put up a sign or inform you they are not for sale till they are healthy, and in any petstore there will be dead fish, shipping causes them alot of stress, there isnt much you can do about it, but when my local petsmart has dead fish in the tanks the remove them, i have seen it plenty of times, i dont believe petstores should hire teenagers who have no idea of the resonsiblities of animal care, when i lived in maine the local petstore had a guy working for them that i went to school with, and he was sick, he tortured and killed at least 3 hampsters that i knew about, and possibly more but they still kept him as an employee, very good example of why you should no hire teenagers for such a demanding position unless you know they are capable of handling it.
 

Limi310

Superstar Fish
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#8
On the bottom of my Petco receipt it says 'To provide feedback call 1-877-431-3900 toll free. Never called it, so don't know if it's automated or if you can actually talk to someone, but give it a try. Or like Lotus said call the store manager....doesn't hurt to try starting there. Good Luck!
 

Mar 3, 2006
79
0
0
columbus, Tx
#9
I went to petco, and saw the same things, but the worst I've seen is Wal Mart by far.... GROSS.... I actually work at Wal Mart (Pharmacy Tech) and our Wal Mart is not a supercenter, so we dont have fish in our pet department, but I know how the employees there work. The Petsmart that I go to I was actually impressed with, but they have real good people working the fish department. There was a fish that was injured, and they quit waiting on me to go put the fish in isolation....I guess it just depends on the people working the department...
 

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#15
When you complain, you need to talk to the store manager. There's no point in complaining to a part-time staff member. If they ask you why you want to speak to the manager, tell them you have a complaint. No one wants to deal with them, and the store manager will only do it because they have to.

If you really want to take action, call the store manager, and say that you're disgusted by the way they keep their fish and tell him or her what you saw in the store. Ask him or her what he or she plans to do about it. If you're unsatisfied with the answer, you need to tell head office.
 

d_cohoon

Small Fish
Mar 6, 2006
13
0
0
48
Ashkum, IL
#17
Same here with how they take care of the fish. I three pet stores by me and all three tell me different things. One pet store called Pic a Pet one fourth of the fish look sick or our dead in the tank. When I went a week age an Oscar was dead in the tank with an algae eater eating on him but the worse part was I was there two weeks before there and the Oscar had been dead in that tank already. The other Petco fish look pretty could good but everyone there tells you something different to do with your tank, plus they are mostly teenagers that get mad when you ask for help. The only one that I like is Jacksons Pet Shop because its always clean, without fish dead in the tank, and they are friendly too. But I agree I wish there was something we could do to stop what is happening in the pet stores that don't take care of their fish. Plus I wish they had people that knew what they were talking about.
 

Big Vine

Elite Fish
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#19
d_cohoon said:
I wish they had people that knew what they were talking about.
Unfortunately it seems as though the majority do not. :eek:

One strategy that often helps when going to a new LFS (or any place where you aren't familiar with the people who work there) is to just walk up to one of the workers and ask them a simple question about fish-keeping. An "ice-breaker," if you will.
You can then ask them "So, do you keep fish at home?"

If they say "yes," then go ahead and ask them about their tanks. Tell them a bit about what you've got at home (and what you've kept in the past). You'll soon learn what their areas of "expertise" are, and you'll be in that much better a position to evaluate the advice that they provide you. They in turn will know more about your specific needs, which will be to your advantage as well, as they can tailor their advice accordingly.

Big Vine
 

TommyR

Medium Fish
Nov 15, 2004
58
0
0
66
Hudson Valley of N.Y.
Visit site
#20
My local Petco is pretty good. Tanks are always clean, fish are healthy looking. I can't complain.

I'd call the manager or go find him/her and show the problems to them. If they won't/don't do anything tell them you are calling the head office. Also follow up with a letter to the main office/headquarters. It probably won't do much but at least you DID something.

Tom