Argh! P@h Refused To Sell Me A Betta

[modaz]

Daz, I know they are doing 3 months on the guppies at the mo. because i bought a few off them a while back. never buying from there again anyway, the shop was empty but there were so many tnaks with floaters today, much more than is acceptable. And yeah, they had the bettas in with black widows, or neons, or danios. Stupid! I have mentioned to the staff before that this is bad but they have not made any changes. I will stick to my other LFS which at least has divided (but small) tanks for their bettas. if only I could get to them this week - I just wanted to surprise my brother. he bought a betta the other week and it died overnight, he was gutted Ah well. You live and learn. i am a little calmer now!

well even though your day wasnt good, it sounds like your P&H are slightly better than ours

 

[tibby25731]

LOL! Still, serves me right for even considering buying a fish from pets at Home. Every time I am there I hear them give crap advice and have to hold my tongue. I am still shocked that I did not scream whilst I was in there, lol. I manged to get all the way home before exploding! My husband is slightly scared - I very rarely lose my temper!

 

[lugobetta]

was he in a normal pet store betta cup container??? if he was these people are trully out of there minds

 

[modaz]

was he in a normal pet store betta cup container??? if he was these people are trully out of there minds

no "pets at home" always have their bettas in community tanks from what ive seen

 

[tibby25731]

Yup, they are always cowering at the back away from the tetras Poor little sods. There was one there that was a sort of peachy colour, but I am actually wondering if that was his real colour now... he stayed behind the filter and seemed very lethargic, looked sick to me. Could his colour have drained so significantly? P@H only usually have red or blue bettas, or occasionally a mix of the 2....

 

[modaz]

Yup, they are always cowering at the back away from the tetras Poor little sods. There was one there that was a sort of peachy colour, but I am actually wondering if that was his real colour now... he stayed behind the filter and seemed very lethargic, looked sick to me. Could his colour have drained so significantly? P@H only usually have red or blue bettas, or occasionally a mix of the 2....

he would be a pineapple bettas, becoming very common in VT strains

 

[ReMz]

wow how frustrating tibby.

nice they are trying to do the right thing as a fish store... but talk about some stupid policies that just destroy their revenues!

Since when did they become experts and decide that a betta cannot live in an unfiltered tank anyways?

I would have told them that i had a tank divider and could just temporarily divide a mature tank instead.

 

[LauraFrog]

It's so ridiculous - the experienced fishkeepers are turned away and the clueless 'its' just a fish who gives' people lie and get them anyway!

I've taken to lying... if the staff are juniors and have been told 'this is the policy - stick to it' well if you know what you're doing, just tell em what they wanna hear. Most of my bettas are in unfiltered tanks - this is not ideal, but I say I'm going to do water changes and I do them. If the shop is run by the people who own it, even if there are policies like that people who can't keep fish do not keep enough alive to run a fish shop. So they'll know enough to recognise an experienced and knowledgeable fishkeeper.

I prefer buying from private fish store owners anyway. I don't like chain stores. Sure, they start out the same way but once you get beyond two or three stores, when money becomes more important than the animals it's a lost cause IMO.

The guppy thing is ridiculous, if there are no females in the tank the guppies are fine. If you're going to have any females though the 3:1 is correct.

 

[tibby25731]

I said i could divide a tank and put the betta in there instead but they said that because I had already stated I would keep him unfiltered that they couldn't sell him to me now anyway. Felt like telling them that there is no way on this earth i would put one of their fish into a tank with any other fish until it had quarantined anyway! Grrr. i am still mad this morning. I am mostly pissed off by the fact that they insisted running a filter on an empty tank for a week would be enough to cycle my tank! argh.

 

[modaz]

I said i could divide a tank and put the betta in there instead but they said that because I had already stated I would keep him unfiltered that they couldn't sell him to me now anyway. Felt like telling them that there is no way on this earth i would put one of their fish into a tank with any other fish until it had quarantined anyway! Grrr. i am still mad this morning. I am mostly pissed off by the fact that they insisted running a filter on an empty tank for a week would be enough to cycle my tank! argh.

a new day, and P @ H is in the past, smile be happy then ring them up and give them some heavy breathing

 

[Gill]

Ha Ha Ha.

Both My PAH have been warned about me.

Since i now am clse freinds with the Animal Welfare inspectors, and have had them Closed Down before in the past and had there stock taken off sale and returned to the suppliers.

they don't question me for feasr of me having them closed or having Animal welfare on there doorstep.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi Tibby

Get a friend to go in today and get them to recite the following - "I have a 30 litre tank, cycled for 4 weeks, filtered, heated, and no other fish". "I would like that betta please". Or if they cant remember that, just get them to say "yes" to everything!

I know it must have been a pain in the......but I suppose they are doing their best with the little training they get. The trouble is, its not the guys on the shop floor, nor the store manager, that make these rules. Its some shiny bum sat in their ivory tower somewhere Its not just P@H that have policies like this though. Even some independant stores, that dont specialise in bettas would say no. One of our local ones would have refused to sell a betta if they knew it was going in a bowl, no matter how short a time. The problem for them is, unless they know you, they only have your word for it

 

[Redsky]

thats crazy we have a couple of p@h here i doubt they would even ask me if i had a tank if i tryed to buy from them

 

[Zawiha]

The trouble is, its not the guys on the shop floor, nor the store manager, that make these rules. Its some shiny bum sat in their ivory tower somewhere

If they really valued keeping fish or even wanted to perfom there job well theyd do some research.
From my experience the people i know who work in P@H fish area's dont care about the animals. They just want the paycheck.

 

[tibby25731]

ahahaha Gill, you have me thinking now. I would appreciate a PM telling me a little more about how you go about getting P@H shut down...lol. I am always upset when i leave there as there is always some poor fish in a state. I actually met a manager of a P@H t a party once and got chatting. She told me that if a fish is obviously dying, it is policy to leave it in the tank until it does die. Then they fish it out and advise the suppliers. I can't beleive that - if the fish has an infectious disease, he is giving it to all the other fish in there! And I have NEVER seen a tank in quarantine. And believe me, I go in about twice a month if not more, looking for nice food or decoration for my fish. But no more! Unless I decide to start sending tip offs to animal welfare that is...