A New Betta Fad....

[Chrissy]

Hi, sorry I wasn't able to let you know what happened all weekend, I was gone and my dad was backing up the hard drive and he was worried I would ruin it, so I wasn't allowed on.

Before I left Friday (My sister and I were visiting my aunt for the weekend) I told my mom about the letter, and she said she'd drop it off for me. She dropped it off, and said that the petstore doesn't have a sign with the name on it, it just says 'Petstore' in the window and basicly lists what they have. (No wonder I couldn't think of the name!) By next weekend I'll probably be able to get back there and check on the bettas, and if nothing has changed I'll write down the address, google it, and hopefully come up with a phone number. Or, atleast a name.

 

[boozybears]

That's really odd that they don't have a name. Guess they're not planning on staying around long? Good for you for doing something about it though!

 

[Chrissy]

I'm thinking that the sign isn't up yet. They're really new, so maybe thats why?

 

[Eunen_de]

Still sounds shady. Even if their big lighted sign is late coming in they should still be able to write the name of the store on posterboard and stick it in the window. Don't most stores WANT to advertise their name and phone number?

 

[BettaMomma]

Well, kids - after some legwork and several phone calls, I figured out what the place is. It's the Puppy Palace.
Here's their website:
Puppy Palace

I called the chamber of commerce - got their phone number, called there and asked to speak to a manager.
I told her what you saw in the store, Crissy, and the manager COMPLETELY went off on me. She made comments like (and I'm quoting DIRECTLY here) "This is OUR business. We don't come into your home and...." that's where I cut her off. I told her about how dangerous it is to have the candles in the betta water and she went ballistic on me and told me they had never had the candles lit. Which I don't believe, but if they didn't have them lit, why the hell would they have them IN the damn bowl with the fish? I told her that the reason I had contacted them in the first place was just to let them know that it wasn't safe, but MAN was she nasty. UUGH. It was obvious that she knew that they were doing something wrong with how defensive she was

I told her that she could finish listening to me tell her about how to take care of bettas, or I could contact some agencies such as the BBB, peta and the ASPCA. I told her she had that choice. She then asked me if she could put me on hold, to which I said no, and she put me on hold anyway.

The gloves are off. They're going DOWN! lol

Anyhow - if anyone feels like calling them, here's the phone number: 847-325-5115 AND... if anyone feels so inclined to send them snailmail, here's their address:
Puppy Palace
190 McHenry Road
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-1767

They have NO idea who they just pissed off.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Any store that sells (I stress sells, because my stores host shelter adoptions, and this differs greatly from buying from a breeder and selling for a fee with no consideration of if the home is good or not) dogs or cats is not a good store, in my opinion. Almost all pet store dogs come from puppy mills, and I can tell you straight up that no true feline breeder and enthusiast would EVER sell their purebred cats indiscriminately from a store. I don't know if there are "kitten mills" per say, but there are irresponsible backyard breeders looking to make a buck off of low quality purebred cats.

I've heard of puppy palace and they disgust me. They sell a bunch of over bred, inbred puppy milled dogs and custom "mixies" (puggles, labradoodles, and all that ####). I will definately be calling and complaining about the bettas. I HATE pet stores with a passion; if I could have things my way, ALL animal breeding would occur only in the hands of professional, liscenced breeders.

As Manson so eloquently put it... I wasn't born with enough middle fingers...

 

[BettaMomma]

LOL

I totally agree with you on the subject of selling cats & dogs rather than adopting them out. Our local Mounds Pet Food Warehouse Store is connected w/our humane society and the only animals they let go out of their store are the homeless or unwanted ones that are given to them (only a couple at a time) to adopt out for a small fee to cover the housing costs, etc. People who wish to adopt from them are fully screened and questioned as to how they'll take care of the pets. LOVE it. I buy from them over anyone else as far as supplies go whenever I can.

I hope you call today and talk to the super fun manager that I talked to. I already filed a complaint with the chamber of commerce - I'm looking for other places to report them to. The problem is that without something deeper than just sticking a few fish in a bowl with some candles won't hold much ground for someone to take action - BUT with the BBB and the chamber of commerce, they really frown on stores acting like asses and having consumers complain about them.

UUUgh!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Hahahahaha. I just called and they claim the candles have never been lit, and even though she had JUST admitted to selling the product, she then went on to say that "and we have never carried such a product..." So, I pretended like I'd been there and said "Well I do hope you're not calling a potential customer a liar, because I've seen them in your store and have a friend who has as well."
She was just like.... "They've never been lit." ::click::

 

[BettaMomma]

LOL
I bet she's going back there to get rid of the evidence as we type.
Nice work.
heh

I hope about 70 people call there today.
We should load up the betta bus and go picket out front of their store.
I live in Wisconsin - it's not THAT far from Illinois.....

 

[littlefishie]

I was beginning to think there was no hope that anyone would figure out what the store was, but leave it to BettaMomma to track them down! Honestly, BM, you really need to invest in that BettaBus..

I happen to have a very large envelope handy, and enough stamps to mail it off.. I think there shall be a letter in the works! As long as I don't put a return address on it stating I'm from Canada...

Orrr, if I do, say that I stopped in on my way home from Wisconsin or something. But I'm dumb and don't know if this place is on the way.
Maybe just no return address.

 

[BettaMomma]

Just call me BettaMomma, Private Eye. lol (probably Betta Mistreater Stalker, Extrordinaire would be better)

Those bastards were making me mad BEFORE I even talked to them. Now I hate them.
She sounded like a very uneducated snotty snippy little hillbilly with a HUMONGOUS attitude. I am guessing it's a bigtime family owned business and no one in the family dared to tell her she wasn't manager material.

Mess with the crazy betta people.
That'll teach them.

 

[Haiku]

That website made me sick. We need some more enraged emoticons like these:

I consider places like that directly responsible for the mass euthanasia of dogs and cats in shelters every year. I'm trying to decide what my best course of action would be here. I have a feeling calling and griping at that lady isn't going to do anything about getting that place in trouble. I'm betting their "stock" are not kept in the best of conditions... I wonder if animal control would go there and check out the conditions the animals are kept in..

 

[littlefishie]

BM, I'm thinking of getting Photoshop creative, since grandfather won't give me the tutorial book to do animations now..

"The Official Betta Rescue Club."

...anyone who rescues a betta gets to use it.

And anyone who makes an effort to improve their conditions gets to use it.
...I'm procrastinating on studying for exams, can you tell?

 

[eudielynn]

I've composed a letter to Puppy Palace and have several others who are going to send copies to the store telling them that the news of their horrid treatment of their bettas has reached national proportions. I have no problems with telling them that I am in another state and am hearing about how they mistreat bettas. We'll teach her to be rude to BettaMomma!!!

 

[BettaMomma]

YEAH.
I'm going to find several places for us to complain to about them, and I'll post them here once I find them.