Petco Disaster

[Kat1011]

I just got back from Petco where I purchased another betta. I have to say, I wish I could have taken all of them due to the condition of the containers they were living in. Most of them were in half empty yellow-colored water containers, with fecal matter and uneaten food swirling around the bottom. Is there a way to contact someone to complain about their living conditions? I even asked the (lucky if she was even 16) year old sales girl, if the water was going to be changed within the next day or so and she said probably not. It's sad. It really is.

[euRasian32]

Go to their website and see if they have a complaint form. Also, write a letter to the coorporate office.

[Im totally me]

I have a freind who has a lot of info on where to complain. Let me talk to her, and I will get back to her. The Bettas I saw at PetsMart yesterday had pieces of fin (they had fin rot) floating around there cups. Sooo sad

[AshleytheGreat]

I complained to Petsmart once and they gave me a 20 doller gift card lol. It works.

[Imbrium]

If the fish are in bad condition, don't buy fish there. Why support a store that doesn't take care of their animals?

[solar-ton]

theres no point in boycotting cause people just buy them anyway.the only point to buy them is to just rescue them.

[Damon]

Originally Posted by solar-ton

theres no point in boycotting cause people just buy them anyway.the only point to buy them is to just rescue them.

To quote a great betta breeder (not going to mention any names *cough* RC *cough*) but when you rescue 1 betta, you allow them to buy 4 more and keep them in the same conditions.

[aaa]

there IS a point in boycott them. the point is well point out by Simpte. if you stop buying that one sick betta, there is many more betta will NOT be sick at the same store. a betta is about $2 or so in store and they only cost less than a dollar to buy a betta. so when you buy one, they can use the money to buy more and more. why give them money for not taking care of their fish? imagine you give money to some guy to abuse your kid. it is the same way. plus you rescue those betta, the store will actually think that is the best way to get the sale up so they keep doing that and there is more and more betta to suffer.

so please stop your rescue, it will only let more betta to suffer, drive the good store out of business and give the bad people money. there should be no reward for people who did not take care of their fish.

[1nemo]

Hi all,

I have contacted both Petsmart and Petco about the over-stocking and also the poor conditions of the bettas in their stores. I've since seen conditions improve, somewhat. The more of us who do complain the better (I mentioned issues like the dirty water, the untreated fin rot, untreated various other bacterial infections, the floating bettas who have been overfed and have swim bladder problems, etc... ).

Here are the contact people/numbers.

Petco: 1-877-738-6742 (Julie Ann is one customer service rep to ask for to log complaint, and Jim Richardson is higher up on the ladder there).

Petsmart: call the Director of Customer Delight, Christie Frankle at 1-800-738-1385.

It would be great if they really did treat their sick bettas, not overfeed them, prevent sickness (by doing water changes when they need them, not just every 3 days, or whatever their schedule), if overfed- to treat for constipation with the pea trick, and overall to stock (I hate to use that term for these little fishes) fewer bettas at a time!
Not so sure what the methylene blue in the water of the Petsmart bettas is all too great for them on the shelves, either?

Let's all do what we can!

[solar-ton]

there should be a law aganist this stuff i hope the next president is a fish lover lol

[Im totally me]

1nemo! I meant to post the stuff, (just read what you posted at the other board). But you beat me to it!

I yelled at PetCo once, and they cleaned the Betta cups, the Bettas were sooo happy! But within a week there was another dead fish. So, guess I just have to remember to yell at them every week! (actually, every other day would be about right, eh!)

[Fishfirst]

sigh... do you realize how many fish go through their systems? Yell at them all you want but if those conditions are so horrible, then why do they only have one dead fish? One fish is not bad considering they have probably 40 bettas.

[Im totally me]

Ya, well, the Bettas fare better than there other fish. Another tank of fish had 2 dead female Bettas, 1 had 15 dead white clouds, 1 had 3 fancy gold fish that were dead, 1 tank had all 30 salt water fish suffering from bladder disorder, etc, etc. Every time you see 1 Betta dead, you are sure to find at least 5 others in there last day of life.

[Cichlid Man]

Fishfirst is right. Don't worry about it. If there was something really bad going on in my LFS, I will get the syphon myself and clean their tanks. They all know me in the lfs, and they even let me bag my own fish, and on ocassions when they are really busy, they let me serve the customers! If you get a good reputation in your chain of stores, they will even ask you to have a job, even to be a manager! I turned it down though because I already have my own business.

[MarkMI]

Please dont lump all the stores together in one. The Petsmart, and Petco, and even the Walmart by me, surprsingly take very good care of thier fish. Probably since they are really the only places to get fish in the area.

Evertyime I go to the petco near me, the water is VERY clear. They use a small sort of bowl with a lid for the betta's. The Petsmart by me, keeps thiers in smaller cups, but the water is always clear. I do occasionally see some bettas that look a bit under the weather, but never have seen a dead one. And I am sure they arent totally responsible for the condition they receive the fish in.

[BiographyGenius]

You have to look at this whole thing logically. Every store varies. Some bettas have excellent care, others don't. Talking about it won't help. All that we have acomplished by all the talking, is a good, solid understanding that every PetCo, PetsMart and Wal-Mart are different! Everybody will have there own opinion.

I started out volunteering to take care of PetsMarts fish, now I am manager. I started out as a sensitive little kid, but I've gotten over that. Look at it logically, the workers don't get paid enough money, they buy and sell fish, the fish aren't their pets. They come and go, and there isn't always time to make sure each and every fish lives in luxury. I would like it if every fish was loved, but not all people are loved either, they are starving kids, abused kids, etc, and nobody has been able to stop that yet!!!

[Cichlid Man]

You're a manager at sixteen?

[BiographyGenius]

Ya! I started out just working there, but there manager moved, and they were freaking, so they wanted me to take over for awhile, and I'm still there! Nobody would ever guess I was sixteen! I just completed 2 years of College and I'm hoping to get into Harvard, so if you ditch how old I look, I pass!

[Fishfirst]

Interesting... I work at petsmart too, but I'm not a manager. Sometimes I think I should be but I wouldn't like the paperwork anyway. But what gets me about petsmart is the whole pp's, most of them are pointless and some of them even get under my skin.

[BiographyGenius]

Lol, the paperwork isn't my favorite part of being manager! But, ya gotta remember, the bad comes with the good

Ya, the pp's annoy me also!

What do you do at PetsMart? Is there a big section of fish there? Cuz mine isn't very big, at least the fish section isn't, but I have seen ones that are huge.