Its a Shame- Fish Buyers BEWARE of BEST in PETS

[nanafish]

I was in Best in Pets today and what I saw there is just about all I could stand! (Outside of the fact that they have pups that are outgrowing their jail cells, of which have seemingly there for quite some time...) I see the hired help standing about. talking and exchanging views on life. Why these actions anger me- there are fish that have been L-O-N-G dead (Saltwater) being enjoyed by the survivors. They were not the common least expensive fish but a modestly priced one. Now this is not the first time I have seen this. And I WILL bring this to the 'staffs' attention, usually for my own jollies when the store is bustling with customers. Now I am sure there are going to be some people out there that will blast me on this thread but as I have said- this is not the first time I have seen this. Why then do I patronize the store then? Well it is to purchase brine shrimp on my days off from work. I will usually stop at a LFS on my way home from work in Lakewood. At least there I do not see any floaters. And they do not stock any animal life (cute & cuddly) that does not sell. ( At least they are wise in that respect.)

Sure they (BIP) have good prices on their saltwater fish. but if the stock is not cared for adequately while in their possession- What guarantee do you have of buying something healthy? And jamming 2 large full grown Lionfish in a show tank- What about stressed fish????? I was certainly appalled at that no less watching a puffer fish being enjoyed by its' tank mates.

As of today I will NO longer give BEST in PETS in Elyria any more of my hard earned money. If this is the way they wish to conduct business- Thats their option. At least there are other stores in the Greater Cleveland area that have hard working, honest work ethics instilled in the owners and employees.
Perhaps more folks should share their views of the LPS. Hence Mystery SHoppers!
Yes the floors are clean, windows are clean- it does not reak terribly of animal urine- But would you buy an animal there if you have any knowledge of husbandry???????????????????

Just sign me as a concerned consumer and an animal lover.

 

[ctenophors rule]

good call, the place sounds horrible.

i am boycotting some places like that now, though i like to visit periodicaly just to see how bad they are, and possibly better educate a newb before they make a huge mistake.

 

[oldreefer76]

I see nothing has changed in that dump, I am glad some one has finally had the nerve to say some thing about it

 

[Jeff Trout]

The place has always been like that.
I tried to help them out but the young kids dont listen or care!
But I cant lie I still go there often and buy stuff.but I know what days to show-up.(delivery day)
And for the price most people from around here are willing to chance it to save a buck.
exsample
BIP(blonde naso) 5-8in under $60
AT (same) $280+tax

 

[puffster]

It's not the only place doing it. Almost all of the bigger pet stores that have or are trying to do saltwater fish have this happening on a daily basis. It is because that the current economic times are not allowing the real lfs to stay in business. It is a sad thing to see someone that would rather text than to be contributing a positive service. Just think, that coral that they just killed might just have been the cure that we all are looking for. Oh and don't expect him to sweep the floor either.

 

[oldreefer76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15127451#post15127451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jeff Trout
The place has always been like that.
I tried to help them out but the young kids dont listen or care!
But I cant lie I still go there often and buy stuff.but I know what days to show-up.(delivery day)
And for the price most people from around here are willing to chance it to save a buck.
exsample
BIP(blonde naso) 5-8in under $60
AT (same) $280+tax

Jeff long long before you worked there the salt water was very limited and the store lay out was very different and there was a very caring and dedicated staff that was knowledgeable but Greg got greedy with his wholesale sales, pushed that staff out remodeled the store to what it is today so that he could sell all the crap he was selling to RMS and make a higher profit margin on it in his own store, yes he provides 90% of the live stock to RMS stores or did, his only concern is the bottom line $$$

He had some great caring staff in the past your self included, one of the old staff members left years before you and to the best of my knowledge is still a keeper at the Cleveland Zoo others we have lost track of all were great people but that is not what Greg wants, he wants cheap help that will promote his sickly, poorly cared for animals and his over priced dry goods

I do not miss Elyria and as for Best In Pets they are Worst In Pets Nanafish I agree this is a store that should be boycotted from the owner to the staff there is no regards to the animals health wether it be fish, reptiles and dogs etc it is a place of animal cruelty

I could go on and on about the times my wife and daughter brought up issues to staff about the dogs etc conditions no food, water, filthy conditions to be ignored, and on many occasions my wife/ daughter would take some of the bulk food from bins and fill there bowls as the staff ignored there request to feed the animals

There is a reason why stores like Salty, Aquatic Tech, Phshy Buis, etc are higher priced on there live stock, it is because they care for the animals they are selling and not a profit margin.

Nana thank you for bringing this up

 

[sohal1025]

I agree with you all.. My son went there last week to get his second fish for his new tank. Acclimated him correctly and by morning the fish was dead. I think he recieved a sick or very stressed fish from them at (BIP) Any error on our part would have taken more than an evening to do this fish in. Went back to the store that morning and the best thing they could do was give him a store credit. Dont the other LFS usually give like a three day warrenty.

 

[adetamor]

He is lucky they gave him that, most places only give a 50% refund or store credit if any at all. The only places I have ever seen that have longer than a day warranty are the online fish stores.

There is a store down by us in Stow that is the same way, when they first opened their tanks were spotless but after a few months they started going downhill. They were overloading with all kinds of algae from hair to the red slime and over 80% of the fish we bought from there died not because of poor acclimation. A friend of mine even worked there and tried cleaning the tanks and got in trouble for doing it. They said they only wanted their main fish guy doing the cleaning and she has owned saltwater for over a year so it wasn't like she didn't know what she was doing and obviously the guy who was supposed to be doing it wasn't. If I would walk into a store and the tanks look as bad as this ones did at times I would never buy anything from them. I also go up to a place in Akron called two turtles and they keep their tanks in excellent condition, they can be a little pricey but you know everything is well taken care of and they actually care about the fish. But I got to talking to the guy and he was getting a lot of the people from the store in Stow coming and saying how bad the tanks were and they became his customers then.

I think some stores just stopped caring but I don't think they realize how many customers they loose by having gross tanks.

 

[fowlrATMhaha]

adetamor i am assuming you are speaking of pet junction? and two turtles has very clean tanks and they have a good staff there. wet pets plus in canton isnt very good either i had 6 discus the 3 i got from two turtles were way better priced and way healthier they are still alive the 3 i got from wet pets not so much. got fish in green has pretty decent prices and the guy wont sell you a fish unless it is healthy.

 

[nanafish]

Wow - I am certainly grateful I did not get my head chewed off for speaking up ! Perhaps what would be nice is if a list of good LFS could be placed on line. I personally purchase 90% of my fish on line. Only because I have not seen this type of animal available locally. The other come from Aquatic Tech. Yes they are modestly priced- but the staff there is VERY knowledgable, tanks are VERY clean( as I always see the being cleaned), you can see all the colors of the corals he has as opposed to a certain LFS that seems to have all just one color of their zoos, mushrooms, softies, etc. I even asked a staff member at this one certain FS if I could see the lighting of this tank- wouldn't you know there is CF. But every coral in that tank had a sick pinkish color to it. But they were all $38.99/each!{wow what a bargain!!!}
I know at one time it was brought up that no body runs to greet you/ask U what U want-- at AquaT. as soon as you walk in the door. I would turn around and leave if somebody did that to me. I DO NOT like to be badgered upon entering a store. Even if it is just to browse. But usually if one goes to a LFS store they are on a mission. Just walk around the store and look at the 'stuff'. Unless you are speficially looking for a particular item- approach the staff. More than likely they are busy helping another customer, cleaning the tanks, feeding the fish or straightening up. If you ask them- and they are with another customer- at least you let them know you need help. That's all I have to say about that...
So all in all - please patronize the other Saltwater stores here in the area. If their prices seem a little high for you- go and look on line. You will end up paying about the same after s/h has been tacked on. At the GOOD fish stores, at least time has been invested in their animals as far as acclimating them: Making sure that they are healty and eating.
The few places that I have purchased fish from on-line; I would sing their praises as they have healthy stock, they are shipped very well, have a good after purchase live guarentee (unless otherwise stated). It would be neat if somebody is pretty savvyto make a poll of sorts where we could submit our choices and rate them as such. Not like the Vendor feedback on the RC forum. We need something for our area that we can refer to like a BBB list - Good places to shop. ( Kindof like feedback on Ebay- ) I would love to rate them as such.

Well that is all I have to say...

 

[Kreeger1]

Didn't we all go over this last month or so about bashing stores. The mods laid the law down about that. Lets move on.