I say we Boycott Petco Fish. Who is with me.

[2poor2reef]

Boycotts are a cop-out. If you really want to change things then get involved, don't withraw and just complain. GrandCzar has given us great information. He is to be thanked for making his store a better place for the animals. Please don't quit!

I buy 90% of my stuff by mail order. But when I need salt or sand or similar things I go to a local store. And that store is often a Petco. I'm glad they are there. Like any business the quality of their individual employees makes a huge difference. Using the info from GrandCzar I can see several ways to improve things. If you just stop spending money there they will never notice. But if you complain to Corporate and they know you are a customer they will care just like any business does. Further, instead of just complaining, call or write corporate with ideas for improvement. Every business has trouble finding and keeping quality employees. What if you suggested a source of very good employees for their fish departments? What if each local reef club contacted Petco management and offered to supply resumes of its members who would be willing to work there. Petco would get a reliable source of quality employees and the hobby would get informed reefers working where they can make a difference.

If it's true that they have a policy to euthenize sick fish then maybe it could be suggested that management allow it's employees to drop a dime to the local reef club whenever it has a sick fish. The club could take the fish for free and nurse them in their own hospital tanks, and then sell the healthy fish back to Petco for a small fee. Some fish would be saved, the clubs would earn money, and the clubs might advertise Petco's corporate largess to gain them additional good will in the community.

The point is, don't disengage, complain and do nothing else. Get involved, be intelligent about it, and make a positive difference. My opinions only.

[ September 02, 2001: Message edited by: 2poor2reef ]

 

[Jenemone]

I just visited a Petco yesterday just because I was in the areaa. I was pleasantly surprised.

In the past, they have always had fairly healthy fish. Lots of tank raised percs, also. Saturday, they had several tanks with a label on them saying "Temporarily not for sale - fish under observation". I'm not sure if this is their equivalent of a sick tank, but it seems to be a step in the right direction.

I bought my Royal Gramma from that Petco several months ago, and I have no complaints.

While I understand that supporting this one encourages the bad ones also, I can tell you that I would NEVER purchase a fish from several of the LFS in town. Petco has much healthier stock.

 

[chris s1]

just because petco is a franchise doesnt mean every store is owned by the company. just like mcdonalds has indivually owned franchises, im sure petco does too. it isnt fair to the guy who really cares about his livestock and owns a franchise to say boycott them all. im sure your food has changed from one mcdonalds to the other and you still go there right?

 

[SPC]

Chris, all franchises that I know about have a strict set of corporate guidelines that each one must go by. This is done to ensure the "good" name of the corporation and these guidelines leave very little room (if any)for individual thinking.
Steve

 

[JennM]

Back in late August I wrote email to corporate headquarters complaining about a NEW Petco. I had gone there for some medication I knew (or thought) they carried. There were sick/dying/and dead fish, some with cottonmouth fungus, others with ich, some breathing incredibly hard, nobody doing anything about them. I had to find somebody in the bird section to help me, and they couldn't find what I was looking for, so they told me they don't carry it.

Even their RODENTS smelled horrible (and I've kept mice, rats and guinea pigs, I know what they "should" smell like).

Even their restroom was disgusting, clearly they care as much about people as they do about the fish.

I complained, in particular because this was a brand new store, it had been open for a few weeks but I went on the Monday after their big grand opening weekend.

What I got in reply was a "pat on the head" email explaining about "new tanks" and how fish get sick in them, but they'd have the local manager clean up the rodents. The respondant was shocked that I wouldn't ever consider buying marine livestock from them, since we're so close to their source (read: ORA in FL) that the fish are trucked in, not flown....whatever.

I replied back that I know how the nitrogen cycle works, that I'm in the business myself and have been for a while, and it would be better not to overstock a system until it's stabilized, etc.

They never replied to my second email. I've not spent a dime there since, and I don't ONLY have 7 tanks, I also have a dog and two cats.

My local Petsmart has qualified staff in their FW department, and I can sleep at night buying my dog and cat supplies there.

Jenn

 

[kipreefer]

I am also a former Petco employee. I have recently moved to new job at a better fish store. I worked there for 1 1/2 years. Yes petco has dirt cheap prices on salt fish. But at most petco's most employees cant tell the diffrence between a heater and a filter. I practically turned the petco that i worked at salt around. We barely had much only about 120 worth but i had tons of costumers come in there wanting to talk to me about salt. For those that do have petco's with nice salt sections give the knowledgeable who works on them a frag or something as a present some time. It would be very appreciated. I always got payed as much as the cashiers and knew so much more.

Teh down fall with petco is that they really dont train. They hire you expect you to do miracles and dont tell you how to do them. At the LFS that i work at now we have more people working at one time then the petco i used to work at. The petco i worked at is about 4 times the size too but it was staffed less. TO show some of the stupidness of its "Companion animal specialist"( corporate). They would not replace our uv bulbs on teh steralizers so if one thing got ick everything would. They said tehy cost to much and they dont help. In there previous planogram they wanted angels with the africans (PH totally diffrent) or on the same filter i mean. I brought that to corporates anttention and they changed that fast.

But for those who buy from petco. Dont buy a fish unless all the tanks at least three down dont have diseases. Just because they are all on the same filters and problems can spread.

Peace

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Petco carries awesome tank raise fishes. Clowns, Orchid dottyback, Sunraise dottyback, ect.
I have no problem with the one I shop at, other than that it is not anywhere near here. I have not seen any tank raise clowns, or other tank raise fishes, that are better than the ones at Petco.

 

[Seawrath]

So how is it that some people find chain stores better than locally owned stores. in any buisness that is never the case. the only improvement is low prices. locally owned stores will only get worse as we continue to support the suboptimal chains. if we need to encourage or support anyone, its the local buisness, not petco, petsmart, ect. the locally owned store by me is the best pet shop i have ever been so lucky to enter. how many times do you hear employees of chain pet stores discussing thier reef tanks as they bag your purchases? the people in local stores, as long as they are supported, know what they are selling far more often than in chains. anyone who buys at a chain just because the prices are lower are a sad example of what the big buisnesses know; people think of the price first, and then feel sorry later when they realize the quality they could have had was worth the extra dollar. I wont be supporting the chains where the employees cant tell you whats in the tanks by even common names, ill help the stores where the employees know the latin names of all the livestock, and where they recomend books (they even let me look up a dwarf cichlid i was unfamiliar with, in one of thier books, without purchasing the book) before you buy something. if you think that your money wont affect how successful the chains are, you should consider how much it helps a locally owned store. Im definitely for the boycott