Petsmart

[dcbluemeanie]

*crazysmiley*

Being new to the hobby, I was wondering what you all think.  The closest fish store to me is Petsmart.  Are these "Superstores" good places to buy new fish?  The one near me has a very good selection and the staff seems very knowledgeable and helpful.  The tanks seem clean and I really haven't seen any dead fish in the store outside some goldfish.  What is the general opinion on Petsmart and the like?
*thumbsdown2* *thumbsup2*

 

[Britfish]

Over here Petsmart has been renamed Petsathome.  I am personally not a fan as theyre fish do not seem of a very high quality. Of all the fish I have purchased the only ones that have perished are from there, and always inexplicably, i have never lost a fish purchased elsewhere. At my local store the tanks are littered with dead and dying fish.  Just my opinion, steer clear and support "mom 'n' pop" stores.

Britfish

 

[jts112278]

I find that for everything besdies livestock, there prices cannot be beat. I buy all my food, conditioners and anything else that might catch my eye from them. They also run many specials and discounts. As for the livestock I would find somewhere that takes a little more care with their animals.

 

[Somonas]

I don't care for petsmart.  

I prefer to buy my equipment online or at Big Als.

I don't buy fish at all from any LFS - I get them from private breeders or from people in my aquarium club.

 

[fishboy]

I agree with somonas   I try to avoid the big chain stores 1 Because the livestock is crud 2 The staff kinda shuffle you out or just want  you to buy something , if you need it or not.

I ususally buy all of my equipment online anyway ;D Most of  time  I buy my fish a my LFS also although  like Somonas said above i do enjoy a fish organization auction for  fauna also.                           

                                                   Feno'stol

                                             Daniel

 

[catfishmike]

the petsmart by my house was great untill recently. it had good fish didn't see sick fish too often,staff was real good but now i'm not so sure as the staff changed last time i was there i almost snaped and went nuts on some fish clerk he was scraping algae like he was pumping a well and was scaring the fish to death.any store is fine as long as the clerk care about fish,not sales.if you get a chance check out bigal's online d@mn that stuff is cheap!please do try to find a lfs that buys from local breeders or from the breeders themselves ,as the quality of fish is much higher. on that same note my oldest fish came from petsmart.

 

[Avalon]

I too try to steer away from chain stores. I'm not saying they aren't any good, but I think a lot of it depends on who works in the department. Colesea seems like she runs a pretty good store, but in my locale, they don't come close to ideal.

Descriptions/impressions of my local fish providers, in order of crappiness.

7. Wal-Mart (location 1)
What a joke! Every fish they carry has ich. I was evesdropping on a conversation yesterday. It was very apparent she didn't know what she was doing. The customer was leading the conversation, who didn't know much.

6. Pets Plus
Been there one time and I will not go back. Fish are an afterthought there. Ghetto store, but at least their fish didn't have ich. Cheap flea market quality supplies, overpriced and understocked. Need I say more?

5. Wal-Mart (location 2)
Really not a bad place. The lady that runs it cares for the fish really well, and is fairly educated. I like her, but there are too many other hands that dip into the water when she's gone. I once saw 20+ goldfish in one small bag...

4. Petsmart
The only reason that this place get ranked above the previous Wal-Mart is because of selection and warranty. The staff are nothing but kids who know jack shit about fish (maybe except for their own goldfish bowl at home). The fish here usually display signs of ich, with a few white dots here and there. They say they treat them, but I find this hard to believe. Heh, one time my buddy was getting some fish from the top tanks. The salesman was on a ladder and dropped 3 of them on the floor (yes, an 8 foot drop landing smack on the hard floor), and then he wanted to give him those fish! I could go on all day, but that's enough...

3. Hi-Tech (ma & pop store)
Awesome selection of rare/hard to find fish and cichlids. They have some nice planted display tanks as well as reef and saltwater tanks. They also have a 1500 gallon tank with a shark of some type (looks like jaws to me, i dunno much about sharks). Comes with a $1500 price tag too! Excellent prices, just as cheap as a chain store. Great plant selection also. The employees have been working there for a long, long time. The only problem with these guys are they are moody as all get out! The owner is always looking like he's doped up on Valium. You have to come on a lucky day to get friendly service.

2. Aquarilease (ma & pop store)
Great all around store. Nice display tanks and layout (of the general store). Equipment up front, tanks in the back, all black! Average selection on fish, but they can special order fish for you. This store gets my top honors because of their super-friendly, knowlegeable staff. The owner is got to be the friendliest person I know (for a salesperson). He will stop what he's doing and go well out of his way to help you. Overpriced equipment, but I shop at Big Al's, so no love lost. I'm planning on buying a 125 gallon or so tank there, so that should make up for it.

1. Private breeders
Best way to go to get fish. You know the history of these people and their fish, so you know they take care of their stock. Money rarely changes hands, unless they have something that is worthy of money (like Discus, etc).

What about your shops?

 

[colesea]

I used to buy my fish from my chainstore, because like I've said before, if I can't buy my own fish, then how the heck could I expect my customers too.

Then I quit. Big fight with manager which basically boiled down to the fact that he thought I should be doing other things like stock, register, fronting and facing, cleaning the break room, and basically covering the jobs that the 10+ other employees he had "working" for him never did because they were too busy scratching their arses, instead of run the gosh darn best chainstore fish room in the area (and in our company district) there was, which I had been initially hired to do and had been faithfully doing for two years dispite four managers and seeing the entire store staff turn over twice. Dude $1500 of our weekly store budget were my freshwater fish sales alone, and I was the only livestock department in the store that ever sold over-budget consistantly.

He went off on me because I simply asked, very politely, if I could hold a training session with some of the staff who were putting away the fish order on how to properly put the fish away (because they'd screwed it up for the 50th last straw).  Told me I needed to "do my job" and that he wanted me in the store "when he needed me."  And I shot back, "I already work full time, what the heck do you expect, for me to camp out in a dog bed in the back room?" Very hostile words were exchanged, to which he said "if you don't like it here, then quit." To which I replied, "Then ya know what, I quit."

That's how chainstores treat their knowledable aquatic staff.  Needless to say, they haven't found a replacement aquarist yet. Not less than a week of my leaving, the place looked like crap. Dead fish in tanks, algae everywhere, all my carefully nurtured snails dead, my pride and joy SW section suffering, the oscars look starved, the bagging station was a mess... Basically it broke my heart to see everything I had worked so hard for go neglected.  That is probably why no aquarist worth their salt will work for a chainstore. And the pay sucks too.  I had to learn my lesson the hard way.

Buy your fish where ever you feel confidant you're getting the best fish for your money. The key is to really shop around and look for the best deals.  
~~Colesea

 

[keprydak]

Okay well... I work at petsmart, and although it's not the most superb place ever, it's not all that bad. You really have to just take a good look inside the chain store near you. I mean, it is my first job, and yes the pay sucks, but I get paid more because I actually know something. And I do as much work as they ask me to do. Sometimes You have to understand that people who work at chains sell products to people that don't work because those people come in there looking for a cure all when there isn't one, and won't leave without one. I mean, a lady came in the other day and wanted a product to get rid of her white cloudiness in a new tank. I told her, "thats a bacteria bloom, it's a good thing, it'll be gone in a few days". But she insisted that she needed a product. So I gave her one even though she didn't need it.

I personally would never buy stock from this store, I don't have enough control over what goes into, and out of those tanks. And since I am not personaly maintaining them myself, I don't know about the quality of fish. As for dry goods and plants, heck yeah. We have cheap stuff and nice plants.

So if you really want to know if petsmart is good, take a look inside your own, ask some questions and scope out prices. Finding a good LFS is hard work, I know (it took me a long time to find mine, and now it's closing) and I'm going to have to do it again soon.

I suggest buying stock from mom n pops. They tend to care more. But buy dry goods from chains. The prices aren't that expensive, and sometimes are cheaper than mom n pop. HTH.

 

[Avalon]

Sorry to hear about that Cole. That's why I would never accept a job there. Too much politics going on in a store like that. Managers are concerned with how to make the numbers fit the sales estimates and how the employees could, well you know, not give them any heck (not my choice of words, but this will have to do). They are too busy with their heads in the clouds to see what's in front of them and who's working for them I guess. I've been there, been burned, and hated it. Never again. I wish you luck on your future ventures...

 

[WonderFish]

I find it's a good thing to find a really reliable fish dealer near you.  I have one near me, a small mom and pop store, that I can always rely on their fish. I don't have to quaruntine because I can know when the fish came in.  I can always rely on quality service as well as quality fish.  Just because the fish look ok doesn't mean that they will be ok.  It goes the same for any fish store, chain or not.  If they're new shipments they could still be carrying a disease or come down with something real fast.  But you could also get any fish from anywhere that looks healthy and keep it healthy.  So really, it all comes down to proper care and well, being careful not to add a new fish right away to an established aquarium with fish.  So basiclly you can buy a healthy looking fish anywhere if you know what you're doing. That's just my two bits.  

 

[Billy Bob]

personally i only use them for buying equipment and water conditioners!  I have heard they throw away aot of dead fish everyday so probally best to steer clear for livestock

 

[Britfish]

Hmm, would have to be Bala's or khuli's or Clown Loach's. My 3 Clown Loach's are getting mighty friendly!

 

[Britfish]

OOps, thought id clicked on the Which fish would you like to breed thread. Im having a blonde day!  

 

[colesea]

Thanks Avalon, yeah, the "gossip" and "competition" got to me, especially since I was there on -my- time to check on my fish to make sure they had been put away correctly.  I was the only animal care specialist in that store that actually took care of their animails, made sure the shelves in their department were dusted, made sure the floor was mopped and swept, made sure product was out, and so forth. THe small animal person was trying to starve her dwarf hamsters because she didn't like them, and I had never once witnessed her clean a cage, one of the managers would have to assign a cashier to do it when a customer complained. And they wondered why gerbils and mice dropped dead all the time  :.

Keprydak, I'm not knocking working for a chain store. Heck, when I first started two years ago, it was great.  I took care of the fish department, they let me do it my way, the customers were nice and friendly, I helped out around the store as much as I could doing over night resets and district walk visits. I took care of the reptiles and the birds because everyone else neglected them, and I came in alot on my own time, and spent my own money on fresh foods and tidbits.  Then managers changed, and after so long, you do get burnt out a bit. But instead of being supportive when I said, "ya know, this is too much for me, I can't be the only person taking care of all these critters on top of everything else expected to be done. Something needs to be done about the animal neglect around here. Hire somebody or something", the new manager told me "It is all your fault, nobody asked you to take on so much responsiblity, you took it upon yourself, so don't come crying to me."

After that, you can bet your bottom dollar I simply just dropped everything else except for being responsible for the fish department, which is what my job title was and what I had been hired to do by the previous manager (who was district now anyway).  For a first job, yeah, stocking out stuff when you're in HS for some weekend change is one thing. When you're 24 trying to pay rent on an apartment, pay for college (2x over), make car payments, carry a credit card debt, then work with HS kids who stand around and pick their noses all day for the same amount of salary, it doesn't cut it anymore.  But you haven't been burnt yet, so there is still more learning for you to do<G>.
~~Colesea

 

[aquaticgypsy]

My petsmart store is really great! I was surprised at most of the replies. I don't know how your local petsmart is run, but at mine, there's free water testing, staff who actually knows what they're talking about, good prices and it's really unlikely to see dead fish in the tanks. Actually, I want to work there when I'm 16! (and yes, Avalon, I know plenty about fish and diseases and such). Around here, it's the Pets Unlimited and Super Petz you have to look out for. Good luck in finding a decent pet shop!

                          ~aquaticgypsy

 

[aquaticgypsy]

OOOoo, I just remembered something! Once at Petsmart a lady was getting some dainty little ghost catfish out tank for me, and she couldn't catch one so she squished it up against the side of the tank to get it out.   I didn't realize until later that she had ripped its catfish whisker/feeler things off > ! It died that night, and I went back to the store and told the manager and the lady got fired. I was glad about that, but I didn't go back to that store for awhile. It was a few years ago, when I was 12, so I had forgotten. I guess, like Colesea said, it really depends on the staff. Hmmm, I sure hope I'm not the only one taking care of the animals when I work there. Maybe I'll wait till I'm 18, and start my own shop instead...

 

[keprydak]

Nah aquatic - when you're sixteen, you do the work that no one else wants to do - deal with the customers that is. The people are often irritable, irate, and don't give a bleep as to what is the right way if it's not their way. Which is why the older folks clean the cages for you (yes!) and do that kind of stuff and leave you to scoop up fish (which isn't so bad unless it's one of those squirmy alage eaters that NEVER go into the nets!). And most likely, they'll assign you to work with someone else at the same time so if you can't do something they can.

Colesea - I sympathize with you and your problems at your store. My store director is often not very friendly and is very strict about the stupidest things (like one day I didn't have a name tag, but I was going to the back to get a new one, and he gave me a lecture about secret shoppers and how if i didn't have a tag, the store would close if a secret shopper saw me... yeah right.) and i really try to avoid him as much as I can. So I do what I know is the right thing, or the right way, even if he's like upset about it later. But I really can't complain. A first job is usually scummy, and this is better than scummy. lol.

 

[colesea]

Name tag, shirt tucked in, kakies, hair neatly combed, no jewlery in odd places (nose, tongue, the likes), no tattos showing, must display professional apperiances at all times. *snork* the biggest problem in our store was the stupid aprons. I hated those aprons. There was no point to wearing them, none at all. Aprons suck! If the store were collapsing down around us, and all the dogfood suddenly spoiled, then it would be my fault because I wasn't wearing my apron that day. Talk about misplaced priorities.

Customers suck too. Well, a vast majority of them do, there were some customers I really liked working with, but most of them were irritiable and itrate.  That was always my biggest thing for getting in trouble about. Poor customer service. If some customer came up and started giving me attitude for no reason, I had a bad habit of blowing them off. Then of course they would rush to complain to the manager about how rude I was.  Usually I was rude because they were screaming or shouting at me for telling them, "Well, if you do that, you're gonna kill your fish" or "I wouldn't put an oscar with your neons if I were you..."

The customers are the things I don't miss about working in the chain store.
~~Colesea

 

[Avalon]

Hehe, Cole, it sounds like you need a lesson in politics <G>    Always make friends with your boss. I could rip a customer's arse in half, get complaints about it, and as soon as that customer is out of earshot, we're crackin' jokes right and left! I call that job security...

I've been in the customer service biz for way too long, and I hate it. I think we (as in anyone who has ever had to deal with customers) know that just about all customers suck. Being a psychology student (I'm done with psych courses), I get to worrying about people as a whole. Who in the h*ll do they think they are? Roll up in my place of bid'niss and display their stupidity on a golden pedestal? By god, if I can put a smile on and crack a grin for you, the least you can do is treat me with some respect.

There is something I don't get. Everyone at my work complains about customers being rude to them. Well, I've done the same job as they have, and I rarely had that problem. Some say I come off as intimidating, but I'm really a nice guy. I just don't put up with BS. Maybe it's cause I look people in the eye when I lie (ya, tell me you never bs your customers from time to time...). I believe in "what they don't know won't hurt them," as long as it's not immoral (besides the sheer fact of that little white lie  ;D ).

To sum it all up, people, don't take that BS from your customers. Know your stuff, front to back, inside and out. Only then will you be ready to handle your customers with complete confidence... If you get fired for "telling it like it is," the screw 'em. You were looking for a job when you found that one weren't you?