Petco

[rtapia]

My local unit just opened about 45 days ago, and so far I am not impressed with their "aquatic experts". The main guy at my store has very little knowledge( if any) about marine fish and I find having myself having to give him tips from time to time, and I don't even know much myself.
Here is the situation at my local store:


I would not recommend buying fish from them unless they are your only choice. (I learned this the hard way after 2 dead fish bought there). My local Petco is a new type unit that "showcases" the aquatic department...Well, they should have kept it in the back. They opened the stores before the tanks had fully cycled and then overstocked them. They then proceded to set up 4 corner bow-front tanks in the front of the store to use as display units, and had them filled to capacity withing 1 1/2 weeks of the tanks being put in place. Then they get some uncured liverock that they proceed to put in the display tanks that are full of fish and have not even cycled yet..You can imagine what is next. The other smaller tanks have been riddled with ich ever since the store opened. I don't know if this is just an isolated example of Petco's fish handling techniques or if it is the norm..
Just wondering what your thoughts are about Petco's fish department.

[Twitterbait]

Petco is one of the worst examples of fish husbandry i have seen in a while. they just give basic training to new employees and then set them loose. i only buy feeder goldfish from them if i have no other choice. otherwise they are generally overpriced on everything. even with shipping, online stores are better. they also use copper to treat the fish, baaaaad mojo. i have a few of the guys in our local Petco store hand my business card to people who are serious about getting into the hobby so i can help them get better training and stuff.

[VWD]

Petco and stores like them hire just about anyone to fill the jobs they have. I will never say every person that works at Petco or Pet Smart are that way but the most part I think they are. Those stores also have a strange selection of supply for salt water. Never have what you need most of the time.

[Loverotties]

We have something like 7 Petco in our state and most have almost nothing ,then there's one thathas alot of stuff and not bad prices.They have big vats with LR alot of corals I was very suprised!

[VWD]

That is a something , Like I say I can speak for them all or all the employees at the stores just the ones I have been to.

[AnemicOak]

The few Petco's I've been in around here have actually had better looking tanks & livestock than some of the dedicated LFS. I wouldn't trust the sales drones to know much, but then I only trust a few LFS people either. For drygoods Petco basically has nothing very usefull. No corals or LR here, just fish & a very limited drygoods selection.


Like anything there else there are good and bad.

I know the argument is that if you support a good one you're also helping keep the bad ones around since their a chain & I guess to some extent that's probably true. I know some folks absolutely hate them. Never bought SW fish there, but their tanks are always clean & crystal clear.

[dobejazz]

I used to manage a Petcare Superstore here in Illinois. I quit when they decided to start selling Birds and small animals I couldn't face having to sell an animal or bird to someone that I felt would be a bad owner. That was 10 years ago. They were bought out by Petco soon after I left. I recently stopped in to a newly opened Petco store it had the salt water up front but they had barely any fish and what they did have looked thin and stressed 2 were quite dead.
I was there for about 10 minutes (I think there was 1 other customer in the store) Not 1 employee said anything to me !!!! Not 1 word. I saw at least 3 employees and not one of them bothered to even say hello let alone ask if I needed anything. If their customer service training is that poor I can only wonder at product knowledge.
I purchase some of my bird supplies and dog food from Petsmart but I always check the dates because they don't rotate the food and a lot of the bird food I find has expired. Once it was a year after the expiration date and still on the shelf.
Kelli

[BigDaddy]

basic things like heaters, pumps test kits can be found at petco. otherwise go somewhere else (although I did get some live sand - check the expiration date.)

[VWD]

Bigdaddy every time I see that bear laying on his back i think he looks drunk and laughing. it make me laugh

[BigDaddy]

well yeah he is drunk. but he slipped on the ice because he didnt read the sign. then he started laughing because he realize the irony of a polar bear slipping on ice, much less read. that was right about when I took the picture.

[Stang69]

Ok guys I can voice my opinion of PetCo now that I am not employed by them any longer.

One thing everyone need to know about PetCo is that they are mostly managed by management ppl. Meaning for the most part they hire the store mamagers that have management exp and not alot if any animal exp or ownership.

I being one of the Aquatic and Reptile managers most times was handled with respect on my knowledge of both dept's and the inhabitants in them.

On the other hand I was also sometimes treated like I knew nothing about display's and how to make them a sellable animal. This sometimes conflicted with the right habitat for the animals both fish and reptiles.

On the ordering side of things you are very limited on what you can order and the sales of the animals are limited to prior weeks sales and how the sales of the animals in the past were. The so called bread and butter fish IE mollies and such were always kept on hand. The stores are basically a beginner store that occasionally gets advanced fish in that I was very selective on who I sold them to. I knew that the beginner could not give them the right surroundings and believe it or not that is one of the requirments for petco to sell you an animal.

If you as a customer were not going to set up a habitat for instance for a Lizard that was correct they have the right to not sell you the animal. Upon making this decision the management would back you all the way to the Corp level. They are strong on the Animal coming first.

Hiring was always a concern of minethat sometimes I had a hand in others I didnt. BUt.............. where are you goin to find a hobbiest that will work for min wage?????? Advantage being that you could train the new ppl as to the right way to handle certian situations with fish or reptiles, dogs cats, or what ever tha animal. Petco has strict rules on certian things such as feeding and the right way (thier way) to do things and when it should be done.

On that note I better shut up.........

Anyways hope I have given you a little better look into petco and some of its operations.

Jeff

[menelaus22]

Here's a tip.... they'll match any price on their website in the store. So, for instance... i bought three $40 powerheads (store price) for $14 (internet price) and didn't have to pay for shipping.

I think they're ok... it's just kind of like the wal-mart of pet shops.