# My experience at P**Land



## makeinu0 (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi,

Just wanted to share my experience from the well known Pet store in Kahala. 
I recently purchased two blue gouramis from the store, and one died the next day. I brought back the dead fish to the store for exchange, and found all gourami tank closed. The worker explained to me that 
the fish started to die, and they have no idea why. This got me worried that I may have added this unknown disease to my 120 gallon tank, and I requested that they call me once they identify the problem. They told me "sorry, can't really help you there. The best bet is to change out all the water and hope nothing wrong happens". I couldn't believe what I heard. 

I WILL NEVER BUY A FISH THERE AS THEY DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IN SELLING LIVESTOCK


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

First I'd like to say :welcome: I see this in your first post. We're glad you joined us.

While I understand how frustrating all this can be, this isn't as straightforward as it may seem. They may not really know what killed the fish. It's best to quarantine any new fish. We all know this but few of us ever do it. The fish mortality rate, as I understand it can be huge. Seldom does anyone know why unless it's very apparent. Maybe I am misunderstanding what went on. The highest expectation I have from a fish store is to refund my money. I also hope they will not knowingly sell a sick tank of fish, ie. ick, fungus. Other than that I try to ask how long a certain tank of fish has been in the store. I'd rather they take the losses than me. After all, they buy wholesale, I don't. If they've been there 2 weeks I feel relatively safe that what I see is what I will get. There are always exceptions. 

Good luck with your tank. I sincerely hope that they will be fine. I have a UV filter that helps to guard against any contaminate I might bring in to the fauna.


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## BlackLabelFish (Jun 14, 2011)

Keep in mind that livestock is pretty cheap overall. The pet stores barely make any money at all on the $2 fish that we buy from them. Still, it's good practice to refund or replace, but even the very best stores in all the land have fish die in their tanks or right after they're sold.

UV filters are a good addition if you're really attached to your fish and want to do everything you possibly can to ensure a parasite-free life.


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## makeinu0 (Aug 3, 2011)

@ TEXGAL 
Thanks! Yea I bought the two and first put them in 10 gallon tank but started fighting, so I transferred one to the 120 gal. The one in 10 gallon died but the second one is still alive and healthy. I wasn't expecting much from them, and yes refund or exchange is the most I expect from any LFS, but the phrase they used was very irking :-( They explained how they too are losing money and are very busy working on identifying, and that my problems are not theirs. All I asked was for them to let me know if they find out anything. But yea, you are right. 

@ Black Label fish

I'm not complaining about the death of the fish, but like I stated above, the way they said it was just not professional. People like that shouldn't be able to sell fish at all.


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## JustLikeAPill (Oct 9, 2006)

I don't mean to be rude... but what do you want them to do? This isn't a mom and pop shop, it's a chain store. If you really wanted to know, it would be your responsibility to call them back in a week or so to find out what it was after they gave you a refund or store credit or something. They don't have time for you, because they are a chain and quite honestly they don't really care if they lose you as a customer. You put an unquaranteed fish in a 120 gallon aquarium and put your other livestock at risk. 

Who's fault is that? You're putting the blame on the wrong party, I think. You can argue that they don't take responsibility in selling livestock... but it seems to me that you didn't taken responsibility in buying livestock when you chose to introduce them into your main aquarium. 

Again, no offense meant but you have to look at this more objectively.


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## makeinu0 (Aug 3, 2011)

JustLikeAPill said:


> I don't mean to be rude... but what do you want them to do? This isn't a mom and pop shop, it's a chain store. If you really wanted to know, it would be your responsibility to call them back in a week or so to find out what it was after they gave you a refund or store credit or something. *They don't have time for you, because they are a chain and quite honestly they don't really care if they lose you as a customer.* You put an unquaranteed fish in a 120 gallon aquarium and put your other livestock at risk.


This is the reason why I hate shops in Hawaii lol 
Never experienced anything like this in NY or Japan. 
But you're right! Petland is very well known to sell expired food and their service sucks, so yea I should of known better than to trust them!! All jokes aside, I did quarantine the fish but like I said above, the two were fighting so I had to transfer one of them to 120 before they killed each other. Luckily, the one in the 10 gal quarantine tank died from the disease petland couldn't identify, and the 120 gal didn't show any sign of illness.



JustLikeAPill said:


> Who's fault is that? You're putting the blame on the wrong party, I think. You can argue that they don't take responsibility in selling livestock... but it seems to me that you didn't taken responsibility in buying livestock when you chose to introduce them into your main aquarium.


The reason why I say they can't take responsibility is because I know one of the guy that worked there and from him I found out that when Petland receives the livestock they will put it in the tank and start selling, and even if there's sign of illness, unless it starts dying they will continue to sell it... so, the treatment doesn't start till five or six starts dying. No wonder they couldn't control the disease after 60% of the fish died. Yea, mistakes happen and I know it's hard to keep all the livestock healthy in the store, but they don't even TRY to keep them healthy. All they care about is profit.


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## BlackLabelFish (Jun 14, 2011)

I can absolutely assure you that Petland employees are not concerned with profit. The shareholders are, but your average hourly employ is not scheming to screw you out of a sick $4 fish.

Even if they are unprofessional, the fact is that most fish still make it and the store might be able to sell enough dog food and fish to pay the light bill and their employees' paychecks.

I've never worked at a pet store but I really feel for the people that do. You don't do it for money because nobody in that business makes much.

If you think that you know how to provide great customer service and fllawless quarantine with death guarantees and benefits for fish at a fair price, then please, we are all cheering for you to start your own store because I want to shop there!


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## makeinu0 (Aug 3, 2011)

BlackLabelFish said:


> I can absolutely assure you that *Petland employees are not concerned with profit. The shareholders are*, but your average hourly employ is not scheming to screw you out of a sick $4 fish.


Yea, I know a guy that worked there and he worked there because he loved animals. I'm not saying all the employee are trying to screw w/ the customers. They probably don't give a damn about making profits for Petland. However, the MANAGER there is paid to keep up the profit (cuz that's what they're paid for).

Try reading the rating on Yelp  
Seems like it's not only me that's b!tch!n'


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