PetCo is horrible!!! The employees clearly don't care about their fish & have a very cavalier attitude. They got a HUGE shipment of Bettas in, when they already had a bunch left that are in crappy shape. The probably have over 50 fish now. I live in a small town & I know it they will not be able to sell them all. I can only assume they have such a large shipment because it’s easier to replace the dead fish than properly care for the ones they have. When I got my new guy on Thursday, I had to buy a Kritter Keeper, heater, thermometer, sand & a new net because I was not expecting to get another fish. I just felt so bad for him, I had t get him! The fish guy kept trying to steer me towards a tiny little tank that couldn’t have held more than 1.5 liters at most & told me I didn’t need anything else & gave me the puddle excuse. I kept getting more & more irritated the longer he talked so I ended up just walking away while he was in mid-sentence.
What pushed me over the edge was when I asked for a discount for Adonis because he was in bad shape & the cashier picked up is bowl, looked inside, shook it hard, then laughed!!! She blamed the kids that come by & tap the bowl for the severe fin biting (& apparently the SBD, fin rot, emaciation & disgusting water). I shot her such a death glare that she actually took a step back. Then I chewed her out & told her that she was a disgusting person & I sincerely hoped she didn’t own any animals because she clearly didn’t know what animal abuse was & was probably murdering her animals. I got my guy for free & went to my LFS that treats their fish humanely for my other supplies. Ugh!!! I would like to point out that I am rarely like that & then, only when severely provoked. I consider myself a nice person, but the cashier went way too far. I thought she had killed him when she shook the cup because he went limp & sunk straight to the bottom & stayed that way until I got him home. Thanks for letting me rant! I got him Thursday, but I’m still really upset!!!
1ST pic is of his tattered fins in his cup. 2nd shows the chunks of fins at the bottom of that cup, plus his yellow water. 3rd is how his body was when I got him. 4th is how his body looks today (day 4). He’s too scared of everything right now, but I hope to get better pics soon. I keep his tank covered all the time, which is helping him calm down alot. He did much better when I took the towel off & fed him today.
I'm glad you rescued him. He's very handsome (even in his tattered state)
poor sweetie! He's safe now tho.. i bet he's gonna be quite a looker when his fins grow back.
OMG how hideous! Who shakes an animal?! If you can't shake a human baby, what makes you think you can shake anything else...?
I'm sorry your PetCo experience was so awful; I love mine, and I'm there all the time. The one near my house is very clean, the animals are all in good shape and the staff is lovely. I would suggest that you call corporate and tell them this story, then ask for an email address to send the pictures of Adonis' fins flaking off into the bottom of the cup.
So glad he has a good home now! He's going to be stunning when he's healthy :)
Poor little fish! the petco in my area is really good with their bettas, which is good for them because I would do the same as you and chew them out if I saw an issue. But as the person above said, he's going to be a pretty one when he heals up.
Shook the fish?! Seriously that is beyond ok. Common sense should tell you not to pick up any animal in any container and shake it! You should complain often and LOUDLY to that store's general manager!!
Thanks everyone for the support! I'm sick right now, but I think I will get an email for corporate & send them pics when I'm better. I'll include one of my reciept (even though he was free they still had to ring him up), that has the dumb cashier's name on there. Also, it may (hopefully) eventually help them realize that they are losing $ by giving away sick fish & it's more profitable to have healthy fish to make $ off of. And thank you for the compliments on my lil guy. I was so focused on the water, condition of his fins, then the cashier that I was very suprised to find I had such a handsome guy! LOL Overall, he's doing great! It took him 4 days but he's (finally!) eating & has rapidly improved since then. He's swimming so much better now & his coloring is gorgeous. He's a DT & someone else on here said he might be a HMDT, which I'm crossing my fingers for.
Do you guys know about the website Yelp? I have yelped for years, usually because someone is AWESOME or HORRIBLE at a business.
Put those photos and your story on Yelp. You can make up an anonymous name so you don't give your real info. Don't put your photo of your face.
If you live in a small town the business might not care that much, but do it anyway. (Yelp is bigger in cities I think. It's huge in San Francisco where I lived, and you live in Northern Cali so it might actually matter there too.) It's getting bigger and people will read that. Maybe put that on Citysearch or Google-whatever or any other online rating website. Just be safe and don't out your real face or name or personal info on it.
Yelp is a great idea! I'm actually way farther North than SF. I'm only about 2-2.5 hours from the Oregon border. My friends & I always say we're in the real Northern California. lol Yelp isn't very popular up here yet, but hopefully someone will see it.
Yelp isn't popular where I just moved, but I am doing it anyway. If I am too lazy to write a review I just post pictures, you always have that option but I think your story is worth sharing because it is MESSED up!
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
PetCo Rant!
what a sick person that cashier is. She should be ashamed. 
