Petmart question... does the store suck?

[PelagicMagic]

so you are all talking about a single store not the chain?

 

[GregDoug]

yes a single store called Petmart.... it is not part of the national store chain of petSmart. Here is their site http://www.pet-mart.com/

 

[PelagicMagic]

we have a store like that here in Jacksonville called aquazoo. Its a great place to buy ich

 

[cschweitzer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8095119#post8095119 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
we have a store like that here in Jacksonville called aquazoo. Its a great place to buy ich

That's hilarious!!:lol: :lol: How much does ich cost? Gotta love those stores that don't bother caring or treating their animals at all.

 

[PelagicMagic]

if you buy enough ich you get a free fish

 

[cschweitzer]

Okay, now that I went to Pet Mart's online site, I no longer blame them for having bad practices...

Come on, guys. It's a pet superstore. Anywhere you can go in, buy a ferret, a dog, a tortoise, and a saltwater reef, you have to expect some of that. The people working on saltwater were either freshwater tank owners that thought it would be cool to work at a pet store, middle schoolers(nothing against you guys), or just working in the section because they have too many people working in dogs and the one fish worker is illiterate.

I know I'm making generalizations based on my experiences in similar stores, but this place is obviously not set for reefs. In ORCA, we always talk about LFS's, but one name that never comes up is Petland. We just don't expect great things from them and we leave it at that. Go to a LFS...they need your support to stay afloat(pun intended). You'll never get the service you want, the quality you expect, and the care the animals deserve going to a mega store like this. It's the Walmart of pet stores. You guys expect too much from a place like that, no offense intended to the posters or to the store. I just understand a bit better.

 

[angelsil]

You'll never get the service you want, the quality you expect, and the care the animals deserve going to a mega store like this. It's the Walmart of pet stores. You guys expect too much from a place like that...

I've made that point many, many times and it's always fallen on deaf ears. It always surprises me that some hobbyists prefer to shop at a Megastore for their livestock, but some people are more concerned about price and convienience than other things.

I used to work at a Petland so I have some experience with those kind of stores. Now and then you get an employee or two who knows their stuff but they're usually fighting against the store itself to do the right thing. If a store's profit doesn't completely rely on aquatic sales then you can be sure that their attention won't be totally on the aquatic section.

 

[ReefArtist]

I also agree with you cschweitzer and angelsil, you hit the nail on the head. Reef keeping is NOT a cheap hobby and to try to get a reef pet at a discount store or at a store that doesn't specialize in reefs is just asking for trouble. You do get what you pay for in everything - IMO. Now I do think if they had some hardware that was a brand name and I had done my research (Good company to back the warranty) then I might be able to stomach going in. That hasn’t happened with the discounts online and me personally I just can’t get pass the smell. Please this is just MPO.

 

[Sailor_jon]

Hey...thank goodness we live in an area with higher standards, options and choices right? If we didnt have a FAOIS, type store here, it might be hard for most people to know what a good vs. bad LFS is?

Geez. I used to buy crap from Lindsley Lumber before Home Depot came along, but even Home Depot sells some bad crap too, but we still go there. Yes Id prefer to go to a boutique designer home upgrade store (there are a few in the Ft lauderdale area), but when you need something like a 2x4, you go get it and thank goodness the store is there...

So...if you dont like the fish dont buy them. I now use my fish dollars with discretion, but I wasn't alway educated and experinced either.

I used to catch minnows and fiddler crabs and put them in a jelly jar when I was a kid and keep it alive with an airstone. Thank goodness I could buy an airpump with my allowance at my local bad LFS. They do have there usefullness....

I think its ok to chat about it..but lighten up already. The tide of the free enterprise marketplace finds its own levels.

 

[PelagicMagic]

remember fishfancy on gulf to bay blvd next to S&M truck world? it was a nice store for lps and soft corals. It went under

 

[cschweitzer]

To tell you the truth, the megastore that I will go to for cheap things that are good quality is Petsmart. They have an unconditional guarantee on their products. Used/unused/damaged, etc. You have a problem with something, bring it back with the receipt and the money is back in your hand. The people there are friendly and knowledgeable. The only downside is that they do not have reefs or saltwater fish. They have equipment, food, salt, buffers, etc. Good selection of freshwater fish with two week unconditional guarantee. Any place besides my LFS is this, despite their unwillingness to convert their whole fish dept. to SW.

 

[Sailor_jon]

It was 'nice' in regards to his show tank, but the owner didn't have anything worthwhile for sale...supposedly, he ran out of cash, and couldnt buy stock, or corals to sell. So how does that make it nice? I thought the definition of a successful business is one that caters to its customers, by providing quality, fairly proced goods for sale, as well as providing education on the best way to use those materials, which generates cash flow, and the customers provide feedback, which the owner uses to adjust the things on the store shelves.

That in my opinion makes it 'nice'....and thats the store I return to.

 

[cschweitzer]

Last time I went into Petsmart, two of the workers in the fish dept. had SW tanks in their house and of the four people in that dept. all of them were extremely knowledgable about fish. You rarely see that attention to detail. When I showed them a dead fish, they went to take care of that before getting me what I wanted. Some may say that's bad customer service, but when it comes to animals, their health comes before my immediate satisfaction. I think we can all agree that the longer that fish is dead in there, the worse off every other animal linked to that tank will be. JMHO, and I rarely talk about a megastore like this. I am one of those people that thinks WalMart is the beginning of the end of humanity.

 

[Warnberg]

I believe the store in question here is PETMART...... Not petsmart

 

[PelagicMagic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8096876#post8096876 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sailor_jon
It was 'nice' in regards to his show tank, but the owner didn't have anything worthwhile for sale...supposedly, he ran out of cash, and couldnt buy stock, or corals to sell. So how does that make it nice? I thought the definition of a successful business is one that caters to its customers, by providing quality, fairly proced goods for sale, as well as providing education on the best way to use those materials, which generates cash flow, and the customers provide feedback, which the owner uses to adjust the things on the store shelves.

That in my opinion makes it 'nice'....and thats the store I return to.

what made it nice was all the zoanthids I bought from there for 20-30 dollars a colony and resold them a year later at 3-4x what I paid :lol:


Everything was very healthy too

That show tank was good looking, the large sump style tank in the back with all the corals was nice too. He didnt have any acros or sps, clams but the lps and soft corals were healthy and cheap

 

[Squidly 1968]

I'll chime in on this one, only for the purpose of setting the record straight regarding the overall health of the fish at the aforementioned Bay Pines store.
Over the last several weeks ( I live close) I have personally observed a mortality rate beyond compare when it comes to both livestock yet-to-be-sold, and livestock returned (after it died within a few days.) As I type this post they have what would otherwise be an absolutely gorgeous 4-5" Regal or Hippo Tang that has a serious infestation / affliction of what appears to be HLLE. Interesting that none of their smaller tangs last more than a few days. I'm not trying to flame anyone...just for the record, but if you want to know conclusively...check it out for yourself. It was there at lunchtime today. Unfortunately, this has been my experience with this particular store. I drive 15-30 miles away to buy quality livestock for my tanks avoiding purchases at this place of business for the same reasons mentioned above. I'm afraid to even buy the dry goods, my only reason for going there is to say a prayer for the poor creatures that are awaiting ultimate euthenasia.

 

[cschweitzer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8096926#post8096926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Warnberg
I believe the store in question here is PETMART...... Not petsmart

The only reason I mentioned PetSmart was because of their decent practices for overall quality of care and knowledge for a big company. I've been involved in this conversation from the start and I understand they are talking about a different store. It was just that people(I guess I started it) began talking of the pet mega stores in general and someone else mentioned how they had to be used for certain items. I was just stating that when I need to use them, the one I like is actually not a SW fish carrier at all. I think they truely understand the complexities of SW and stay away from it for that reason. They still carry some SW equipment, but mainly a supermarket for pets. My whole point was be very careful buying livestock from a mega store. Try to support the LFS's who need and deserve your business, but when needed, go to a megastore that has decent practices and humanely keeps animals.

Sorry for being misleading, I hope this clarifies.

Petmart sounds like bad practices, PetSmart from what I've seen has very high standards, quality products, and good customer service along with a great guarantee on all their items. My mistake for being so vague.

 

[hexedagain]

I do agree with lisaandmikefamil that the tanks look way too crowded when I was in Petmart a week or so ago.
As far as the store, they seem to have decent deals on drygoods.
Not an add or promotion for the store. I have never bought a fish or coral from them. Only drygoods.

 

[ReefArtist]

Now I think this tread has been very informative. I now know that in the area there are two stores with very close names “Petmart” and “PetSmart”. I do however wonder how they got away with that. But the main points being, Petmart doesn’t seem like a good place for us to purchase livestock (pets). If you do, be very careful in your selection and be prepared to fight diseases - this seems to be the consensus among the customers. I live in Largo and would love to find a reliable source in this area. At this time I drive over to Tampa or north to Dunedin to do my shopping. Over the years of having FW I’ve had diseases from every store, but I try to take the average success rate of the LFS. To get quality pets for my reef tank if needed I’m willing to drive to Orlando, I just believe that is my responsibility of care. I’m very new to reef keeping so this thread has been very informative. I also believe that some of the general conversions about the LFS have helped immensely.
Mr. cschweitzer, I don’t think you were being misleading in the least â€"œ just informative.

 

[cschweitzer]

Thanks. Yeah Orlando is great for livestock(especially SITC, sea in the city. They will be expanding and tripling their store size over the next month, so be ready for some significant upgrades from the shortly.