PETCO Poulsbo RANT!

[Sleeves]

I am Boycotting PETCO of Poulsbo.

I went into the store and an employee asked if I needed help.

I said I wanted some fish.

The employee asked what I wanted. I pointed to the tank which had platys and swordtails in it.

I said I wanted some platys.

she points at the swordtails and asks me "you don't mean these do you?"

I said " no I want the platys"

She says 'ok I want to make sure you know the difference between the 2"

I looked at her like she was crazy really who cant tell that a fish with s sword coming out of its tail in a tank that says swordtail isn't a swordtail!

I said it doesn't matter because I just need them to cycle the tank for my African cichlid tank.

She asked what will I do with the platys when I get my cichlids.

I told her they can eat them.

She then tells me that she won't sell them to me because patys aren't feeders.

Last time I checked this is America and I can do what ever I want with my $1.50 fish!
Why does a platy have a better life status and protection from the food chain than a goldfish does?

I walked out!

Enjoy your part time minimum wage job!

 

[master chi]

Sorry but you shouldn't be feeding African Cichlids feeder fish anyways,Their digestion system does not properly allow the breakdown of so much animal protein.Because this is America businesses reserve the right to refuse service,your right to attain the fish now lies in the hands of a different purveyor.Have you read about fishless cycling? It is widely accepted as the superior option for cycling a fish tank

 lus1: Save the Platies campaign starts now

 

[Cory]

I looked at her like she was crazy    really who cant tell that a fish with s sword coming out of its tail in a tank that says swordtail isn't a swordtail!

You do realize all female swordtails don't have a swordtail right? And that all swordtails and platies in the hobby that have color are hybrids of Xiphophorus.

Sounds to me like a minimum wage employee was trying to offer some helpful advice. Which is isn't too common at these chain stores. It should be encouraged not belittled.

 

[Missgrumpygills]

 Save the Platies campaign starts now

 lus1:

 

[Anonymous]

If all else fails I have enough mature media to instantly cycle your aquarium. Or at lest seed it  :spoton: 


:  oO { these people would hate me if they knew what and how many fish I fed my  Peacock Bass and WC Pike cichlid)

 

[Madness]

^^^^  : 

 

[hose91]

The Kitsap LFS options are ridiculously limited, unfortunately.  I've found the PetSmart in Silverdale to have the bigger fish section, but actually I normally get pretty good service from the Poulsbo PetCo, although I would not generally buy livestock or plants from there because of potential quality issues.  I don't know about this instance, but there have been plenty of times when I'd have liked to see an LFS employee make a stand or at least tell a customer what I know to be the truth, rather than the standard "oh sure, that Pleco will be fine a 10G tank", or "no, no, those puffers wouldn't DARE nip the fins of that Betta.  The 10 of them will be fantastic in that 5.5 Nano we've got picked out for you up front.", etc.  

Sorry you had a crappy experience there, but it can be a loooong haul to the better LFS on the mainland, and Petco is OK for the dry goods normally!

 

[Sleeves]

Yeah I order most of my dry goods from Dr. Foster and Smith or from That Pet Place.

I agree that PetSmart in Silverdale has the "best" option for livestock compared to others in our area.

too bad Farmland has had its problems, they used to have a real good selection and healthy at that

 

[popss]

to peruse fish and mec stuff i go to bridges in snohomish, they have a very large selection.

 

[hose91]

Yeah   I order most of my dry goods from Dr. Foster and Smith or from That Pet Place.

I agree that PetSmart in Silverdale has the "best" option for livestock compared to others in our area.

too bad Farmland has had its problems, they used to have a real good selection and healthy at that

I went into Farmland once, full of hope, but wasn't very impressed, unfortunately.  Not sure exactly what problems they've had, and would love to see an improved economy pump some life into their fish department, but I'm not very hopeful.  

to peruse fish and mec stuff i go to bridges in snohomish, they have a very large selection.

I've not yet ventured up to Bridges.  I'd have to Ferry across at Edmonds, and normally just drop into the Co-Op.  Next time I'm up that way, though, I'm definitely going to take a look.  Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Sleeves]

I've not yet ventured up to Bridges.  I'd have to Ferry across at Edmonds, and normally just drop into the Co-Op.  Next time I'm up that way, though, I'm definitely going to take a look.  Thanks for the recommendation![/quote]

Where is the Co-op?

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Oh man, at the very bottom of this page is a link that says Aquarium Co-Op Seattle Area Fish store. Click it. You must!! He is a forum member and his store has had nothing but good reviews! I will be making the treck 2.5 hours one way to get there!

 

[Cory]

I've not yet ventured up to Bridges.  I'd have to Ferry across at Edmonds, and normally just drop into the Co-Op.  Next time I'm up that way, though, I'm definitely going to take a look.  Thanks for the recommendation!

Where is the Co-op?[/quote]

On you way out of Edmonds towards I-5 or HWY 99. We are in Firdale Village. We're closer to the Costco etc than the ferry terminal.

 

[ArtPleco]

I am bringing in this old thread as it is late and updating the local stores.

I really like Petco of gig harbor. We have bought a few fish from them, and their 1 dollar per gallon is awesome on sale.

But, this is my rant with the petco petsmart. As many of you know or care to care less.. I love plecos. I really dislike the fact that people either believe they know, and dont put try to help (fine) or, to make a sale, lie to you. Apparently it is ok to not know, but not be ok in not knowing.

At petsmart in silverdale, I got in to a debate about a butterfly pleco! They had a pic on the tag and a price with info on it. Showing clearly a L number butter fly pleco. I asked where is it? is it sold? And this girl points to a hillstream loach and says thats it..... I say no, that is a hillstream loach and looks nothing like what is pictured. She straight up said, well that is cause it is a different variety!

Why does anyone have to lie! How do they look like each other?? I have seen so far this "butterfly" pleco advert as such, and a marble sailfin. I dont get it, they look so different shouldnt people know by now that if it looks not like it shows on the tag, it isnt it?? It would be like saying yeah, thats a e-blue dempsy, when in fact its a gold fish.

I give a 4 to petco in gig harbor, and 0 to every other one. I have seen ich on the common plecos they had, and it was spreading to other fish at the petsmart in silverdale 2 weeks ago

 

[Erxkeel]

Last week I was in PETCO in Poulsbo and couldn't get any help, So I bagged and tagged my own fish. It was totally like self serve!

 

[retropineapple]

The only issues I have with Petco in Poulsbo relates to snails. They have all of the snails, including Assassins, in one tank and an employee refused to recognize that the Inca Snail is just a golden Mystery Snail. They couldn't explain how the Black mystery and Inca I bought from them had produced a total of 8 clutches.

I actually like that store in general because they marked a frog down 75% because he was the last one. They really wanted to find him a home and a couple people actually said good bye to him.

 

[skarz]

I haven't really had any issues with the Petco in Poulsbo. I don't ask the employees any questions because I know I can get much more accurate information on the internet (on the right websites, anyway). I am very selective with their fish and usually stick to dry goods. Usually for fish I'll go to Farmland.

Me at Petco/Petsmart:

 

[Jeffro]

It is worth finding a LFS and supporting them if they can provide better service. It may be more expensive, or you may have to drive (okay...so maybe not local to your area), but many chain stores do not provide the proper environment for healthy fish or happy employees.

Our Petco in Bellingham isn't too bad. They do get some decent fish in and maintain the tanks somewhat. The employees aren't always helpful, but they also don't feed you BS.

 

[Mac]

Living in Kitsap I take the ferry and travel to Edmonds for Aquarium Co-Op or Kirkland Dennys Pet World for ANY of my aquarium needs whether they be expertise, supplies, and/or fish.

Both the Poulsbo Petco and Silverdale Petsmart are a joke.

 

[VickiK]

First of all, I am LOVING this RANT thread!!!!

Secondly, I'm a firm believer in buying local if at all possible -- and that's not just fish stores. I work at a small, women owned business (PLUG TIME!) www.thecoopshop.com. We appreciate folks' appreciatin' us!

Of the many times over the years that I've bought fish at Petco or PetSmart, a decent percentage of those situations ended up in disease or death. I bought some mollies of some kind one time not too long ago and they actually died during the night. Didn't even last one day. WTH?

If I'm not going to the Co-op, Bridges in Monroe seems to have some real knowledgeable folks in the fish dept. They ask questions, etc. in an effort to make sure you're buying the right fish. When you ask questions they don't give you that deer in the headlights look that you get from the kids at the chain store.... right before they tell you what they think you want to hear....