Yes another Petco thread..... - Page 2

valexia · #26 09/17/2004, 12:57 PM

thanks for not hanging me and yes they appreciate me bucketloads. I hope now they just start getting some input from big time reef/fish people as far as better products etc.
I feel like they are getting better, I remember years ago there was no such watchdog in place, but you all see something, now there is a number...key to being heard? Be polite but focused on the issue and be sure to say you are a customer with a concern for the animals...
Trust me they do listen, and we do get feed back from management regarding issues.

I can't promise every person is an experienced person that you will talk to, I will say you can find them, and not to instantly assume they are all morons.

I love my job, and my customers, but most of all my hobby, and I would like to go to work each day thinking I am doing a good job...trust me I feel lucky my hobby is also my career!

SOMEthinsFISHY · #27 09/17/2004, 04:58 PM

Valexia That is good news u will make a difference i am sure of it !

JENnKerry · #28 09/17/2004, 04:59 PM

Valexia, I wish you could've been to the Petco in Howell, New Jersey where we saw this horrible tank. I'm sure you would've fired the person pouring medications into a reef tank.

skippy2 · #29 09/17/2004, 07:16 PM

Glad to hear it. It always has to start with 1 voice. Maybe I can stop in to the petco by me again. Hopefull, they are getting things under control. At least I might have a shot if I complain.

valexia · #30 09/17/2004, 10:17 PM

complain a ton, to management, and the numbers that are on the display tanks, corporate hates bad press..and if you threaten to call the mspca, or their all time favorite PETA, you'll get noticed fast, they dont' need any more negative press...

AND if you know of any young people or just people who like fish and want a fun part time job, don't be afraid to apply, I LOVE IT and chat and chat all day bout fish tanks with people, i love to open doors to this hobby for people, get them hooked and watch them feed a growing addiction.

SOrry for the bad stores...they are out there...but you can make a difference..and I am trying to make a difference in mine.
I really like the fact my losses are minimal, and I think if hobbiests run these fish departements it makes all the difference in the world...most of our "team" are seasoned people, in fresh and a few in salt/reef, and management knows more than me..what a plus.

Heres hoping all the stores improve to our standards.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #31 09/18/2004, 05:24 AM

very well said valexia !

MaterDei · #32 09/18/2004, 07:03 AM

Way to go, Valexia!

I am new to this board and so far haven't experienced that many unfriendly folks. I should know, I'm from Texas where friendly is a way of life.

Of course, I have seen a few nasty threads. It seems the guys in the Detroit area like to fight over things being sold on the board and of course there is Waterkeeper... His schtick is very humorous though.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #33 09/19/2004, 05:31 AM

TOM the water keeper is worth the price of admission any day !

deansreef · #34 09/21/2004, 11:09 AM

PETCO= LOOSER

Scuba_Dave · #35 09/21/2004, 12:00 PM

Way to go Valexia, wish there were more like you

SOMEthinsFISHY · #36 09/21/2004, 06:57 PM

ONE can always make a difference !!

WaterKeeper · #37 09/22/2004, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MaterDei
Of course, I have seen a few nasty threads. It seems the guys in the Detroit area like to fight over things being sold on the board and of course there is Waterkeeper... His schtick is very humorous though.

One of them Texas Cowboy Newbies. I got my eye out for you mister!!!

I developed my charming personal communications style after reading the Petco Employee Customer Relations Handbook.

You know sadly I'm seeing a decline in the way many large stores handle SW fish. When saltwater fish first started to appear on the market most stores were still the corner Mom & Pop variety. Many treated the SW just like the FW fish. The results were very bad. Back then the prices of most SW fish was 3-5 times what it is today so the LFS learned very quickly that the SW fish needed plenty of room and better care if they were to be alive to sell. Tank conditions improve immensely and the store owners started reading up on the care of these new fish and inverts.

Most of these small stores are now gone, replaced by the mega stores. These stores count on high volume sales to survive and they hope to sell the fish in a day or two of their receiving it. The result is again in reducing tank size and housing several fish in one tank. It is a bad trend IMO.

AquariaUSA · #38 09/28/2004, 08:15 PM

For every one Valexia...there are twenty non-educated "fish department" employees. I do not blame them for not knowing what Petco should have helped train them on...but honestly for those that have not a clue...what are they doing to better their income or career? I know many are laughing, but some of the people in Petco have a hard start in the retail world, and get stuck for years making minimum wage or slightly higher. My guess is that Valexia will have moved on in a year or two, or will advance in management, hopefully where things can be changed for the better. What I would do is try to recommend helpful learning sites like RC , or the local aquarium club to those employees that have not a clue. Sometimes they will act a bit snobbish (as if they know everything) but 8 out of 10 times, if they don't know and actually care about their job...they will take your advice (silently or otherwise).

I have seen much of the same disgusting practices in Petco, Petsmart, and local aquarium/pet stores. How about 3 Moorish Idols in the Columbia Mall, MD petstore? In a small tank with a queen angel, a trigger, etc. But wait, the price was only $50, so I guess that was a good buy? The Idols should have never been ordered in the first place, and this is a direct reflection of the business practices of that organization...all the way to the top "deuce biggolo" who calls him/herself an executive.

Reef This · #39 10/03/2004, 10:19 PM

Our Petco here in Anchorage just opened this weekend, I was in there today.

There were already dead fish. They had 2 display tanks, one with a plate coral. a Tomato clown and 2 Clarkii's fighting in it. The other with about 10 chromis and a few Cardnials of some kind, all breathing like marathon runners.

I think the most astonishing was the display tank they sold they yellow tangs out of. Probably 20-25 Yellow's, 3 Kole Tangs, an eel of some sort, 2 pygmy angels, a flame angel. There was a tank with 3 Royal Gramma's in about a 4 gallon space.

I was pretty astonished at it. Personally, I won't go in there. But I don't fault people for doing it. I also know that I can't do anything about what goes on in there, except don't spend my money there. In reality, why would you? They don't have anything appealing to any serious saltwater fish enthusiast.

Stuff for dogs was 40-60% of the store, the fish display was probably 20 tanks, and really small. The outside walls of the building were lined with dog food and cat food, the whole way around. I just hope that our LFS's dont get pushed around too badly. Saltwater fish isn't a big enough hobby here to keep a store in business. All of them sell dogs, and cats, along with food, meds, whatever else. That's how they survive, and our LFS are pretty good to other things I've seen.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #40 10/04/2004, 08:41 AM

a very sad story reef !

valexia · #41 10/05/2004, 03:30 PM

very sad...I hope you called their customer response number posted on the fish tanks...they will respond to complaints, especially people who know about fish!

PS, no management for me thank you, been there done that, staying where i can have fun and make a difference.

I think any lfs could turn into the same problems, people who sell these and other animals truely have to start caring about them.

I sleep well at night, but trust me I know our store is an exception to the rule.

pat_man_ta · #42 10/05/2004, 03:48 PM

The one in Brighton MA is tho one i will pop into from time to time. I am never sure if the salties are getting sold or dying off. They have been getting nice specimens in lately, though I wonder who they keep selling all those panther groupers, triggers, and sohal tangs too...because i HIGHLY doubt anyone with a tank that big gets their fish there. Most of the people I heve ever seen getting fish there are even more clueless than the most clueless of ther staff. I often cringe when I overhear the conversations in that store. I did get a damsel there once....it came with free Ich!

SOMEthinsFISHY · #43 10/06/2004, 05:32 AM

sounds like an ichey story 2 me ! a friend of mine buys sick fish from petco all of the time real cheap just o take them home to his E.R. just to save a lot of them that is how he got his soho 4 20 bucks !

pat_man_ta · #44 10/06/2004, 08:22 AM

The one in Brighton has notably currently:
A Sohal Tang that has NOTHING TO GRAZE ON and appears to be deteriorating.
A 7" Picasso Trigger in 10 gallons.
A 4" Harlequin Tusk.

Why any of these fish are sold at this store is beyond me.
Thy have added cleaner shrimp and "Chocolate Chip" stars recently too.

feh*

Kolbenschlag · #45 10/08/2004, 10:33 PM

Hi, I Recently started work at the howell petco as the aquatic specialist. I've only been there for about 2 weeks now, and am doing all that I can to ensure healthy conditions for all fish and inverts. I am experienced in fish and reefkeeping and I really care a lot about the animals at the store. I had shopped the store at the time that they had those purple tangs and it was terrible.

Being the aquatic specialist, the fish tanks are my respsonsibility. That means it's my job to take what is a horrible system and turn it around. Not exactly easy. I have begun treatment on the saltwater tanks for the parasites that plauge the remaining fish. However, not everyone at petco is an experienced aquatic hobbyist, and thats where it gets tricky.

Employees will do things like add salt to the tank and not tell me, dose the tanks with medications that shouldnt be used in tanks with inverts, etc. My first day i said "theres an obvious parasite problem, have you been treating these tanks?" and they then showed me the coppersafe they had been using on a system containing anemones, feather dusters, etc.

So basically, and progress i can make is erased on days that I'm not there. No one else cleans the algae, or even pulls out dead fish, so its obvious that no one else continues the treatments I start, and no one even feeds the fish. This isn't a knock on the other employees, they are good people, this is just a testament to how a company like petco is run. Money drives everything, and extensive training for every employee in every background is more costly than the incredible 84% shrink number for saltwater livestock the store suffered in june. *(again, I wasnt there, but I have seen the papers)

No matter how clean the system gets, a fish carrying ick will be introduced again. I have asked to add a UV sterilizer onto the system, but it isnt happening just yet. I don't wish to defend petco, only myself and the other handful of hardworking animal lovers who really to try our best to have things work out right. I don't blame anyone for not shopping at petco, I don't.

Hope this provides a little insight into why things as they are in petco.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #46 10/08/2004, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kolbenschlag
Hi, I Recently started work at the howell petco as the aquatic specialist. I've only been there for about 2 weeks now, and am doing all that I can to ensure healthy conditions for all fish and inverts. I am experienced in fish and reefkeeping and I really care a lot about the animals at the store. I had shopped the store at the time that they had those purple tangs and it was terrible.

Being the aquatic specialist, the fish tanks are my respsonsibility. That means it's my job to take what is a horrible system and turn it around. Not exactly easy. I have begun treatment on the saltwater tanks for the parasites that plauge the remaining fish. However, not everyone at petco is an experienced aquatic hobbyist, and thats where it gets tricky.

Employees will do things like add salt to the tank and not tell me, dose the tanks with medications that shouldnt be used in tanks with inverts, etc. My first day i said "theres an obvious parasite problem, have you been treating these tanks?" and they then showed me the coppersafe they had been using on a system containing anemones, feather dusters, etc.

So basically, and progress i can make is erased on days that I'm not there. No one else cleans the algae, or even pulls out dead fish, so its obvious that no one else continues the treatments I start, and no one even feeds the fish. This isn't a knock on the other employees, they are good people, this is just a testament to how a company like petco is run. Money drives everything, and extensive training for every employee in every background is more costly than the incredible 84% shrink number for saltwater livestock the store suffered in june. *(again, I wasnt there, but I have seen the papers)

No matter how clean the system gets, a fish carrying ick will be introduced again. I have asked to add a UV sterilizer onto the system, but it isnt happening just yet. I don't wish to defend petco, only myself and the other handful of hardworking animal lovers who really to try our best to have things work out right. I don't blame anyone for not shopping at petco, I don't.

Hope this provides a little insight into why things as they are in petco.

Thanks for your honesty kolben u can bet there are a lot of people that think u make a difference .. I do !! a few more like u and bush would not have been elected !

AquariaUSA · #47 10/08/2004, 10:45 PM

Now now...let's leave the politics out! I have plenty of them in DC that are my clients

As for making an impact on Petco...I think you raised a key point in that chain stores are out for cash. Until the shrink levels are consistently disasterous, the middle and upper management will not understand or care what is going on. But I assure you when they figure it out, they will first find ways to move livestock faster, versus caring for them. I think we have all seen the same with many of the online retailers (I won't name them!). But...how about newly acquired wild colony frags (just visited 3 sites today that are doing this!)??? What kind of aquaculture do you call that again? hehe

SOMEthinsFISHY · #48 10/09/2004, 04:12 AM

well saID and forgive me i lost my head !

WaterKeeper · #49 10/09/2004, 03:44 PM

John.

You heading for serious trouble with the political comments. You've been here long enough to know that the RC user agreement does not allow for that type of stuff. Please keep your comments to reef related subjects and take the political stuff to CNN or Fox.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #50 10/09/2004, 08:24 PM

one comment and i said i was sorry i will see if i can edit that !