Lfs Outrage! A Big Rant And I Need Help!

[emeleeliggett]

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[emeleeliggett]

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[wilsonnw8]

Sadly you cant do much in this situation. If you feel really strongly try writing to a local councilor or writing to the RSPCA.

A lot of the time complaining to those who run the stores does little good as they take it personally as this chap clearly did! sorry he snapped at you!

 

[JasonU]

Part of my job is what is known as 'search engine reputation management'.

The idea behind it is that most content on the internet is now user generated, such as this forum and blogs.

What this means for a business or an individual is that people using the web can seriously damage the reputation of a company. Certain musicians and actors also use this service. If you search for their name in Google you will notice that negative articles and stories about drug issues do not appear until page four of five of the Google listings.

My suggestion is that if you want this store to change start a campaign that puts the boot into their online reputation, give them no option but to change how they treat bettas. Start posting on review sites, blogs etc.

 

[love4aquatic]

try everything! do anything!! write the letter!! but be sure to add the need for heat and filtration

also does your petland sell girls? (some dont) if so add in about putting them into a large tank together!! not in small tiny cups!!

give them an earfull!!

i was at my petland, and again at my petsmart but my mom pulled me out saying "this is their job they know what they are doing" as if!!! if they knew what they were doing they would know that bettas arent kept in tiny jars in the wild!!!

add in some pictures of thailand too!! show them the ricepaddies and how much room they have!!!

also post the letter wen you are done!! i want to read it!! mabey print it and send it to my lfs too!!

 

[love4aquatic]

 

[Tolak]

Most every Petland is a franchise. meaning each location has an owner, and uses the corporate name, as well as being able to get product through the parent company. This gives them much more leeway, good or bad, as far as how product is bought, kept and sold. The owner has a vested interest in the location, unlike other chains where the store manager does not, and can bounce any of the more serious problems or situations up to corporate.

The retail pet industry, as with many other industries, is often vastly different from the consumer end. The fish you buy as a pet and give a nice name if referred to as product by them, as is common in the industry. If you expected them to keep fish as you do as a pet it is quite likely many fish would more than triple in price. While this in no way condones poor aquatic practices on their end, it is the way the industry works.

Posting pictures or showing them pictures of the natural habitat of the fish proves nothing other than all the fish we keep are unsuitably kept. I happen to keep & breed New World cichlids, my tanks are not even close to the size of the Amazon or its tributaries.

Having an owner, he/she is looking for a monetary return. The owner's family being fed and perhaps kids going to college takes precedence over the lives of the product he/she sells. Explain to the owner that the poorly kept product is a potential monetary loss, as well as a poor representation of quality pet care. Something his business would probably like to be known for is quality, this equals return customers, more product sales, and an increase in his/her profit.

Mention that if the owner and this Petland does not offer quality, the shop down the road will, and will reap the benefits of their poor product care and poor representation of pet care in general. The store is not a fish keeping venture, they store and sell product. Poor storage equals product loss. Focus on this owners main concern; the dollar.

 

[emeleeliggett]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am in the process of writing a letter to the corporate office and am trying to also find who the local manager for the chain is. I found a website that investigates pet shop cruelty and had run some news stories of fish being poorly kept so I will send them a copy of the letter as well hoping they will take interest and add their opinions as well.

Tomorrow I'm going back to take pictures of the small cups and to see if the aquatics manager did indeed give them some air holes. I understand that these businesses are wanting profit, what business wouldn't, but still they will sell more product if the fish looks healthy and active. All of their other tanks are fairly well kept, it is just the Betta that are so miserably kept. Surely they can afford to give them a little more room to at least turn around in!! Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the letter finished and edited and I'll post it on here so you all can give me any tips on what to say.

Thanks again for any advice!!

Emelee

 

[love4aquatic]

tolak i wasnt saying for them to give them ridiculously large 1000000000000000000000000000000 gallon tanks!!

i am saying that in the wild they dont live in flooded horse foot prints!!

i was told by a person there that they live most their life in small pot holes or foot prints!! does that picture look like a flooded pot hole?

the lady looked at me like i was a lunatic because i was buying a filter and a heater for a betta!! because they live in stagnant tiny pools!! that does not look like a stagnant tiny pool!!!

i was laughed at when i said that bettas need more room to swim!! they said that bettas dont need room because they dont do much and because they are slow and afraid of big places!! from keping my bettas properly i know that one betta will swim around my 55 gallon tank prety fast!!

 

[love4aquatic]

 

[Tolak]

The best info you could provide them would be from successful and profitable betta breeders. The most important aspect of that is profitable, these are the people who know best the proper care & treatment of a betta in an aquarium. They make a profit out of successful care, and are the ones that should be referred to.

Provide the lunatic hoof print lady with the name & number of a breeder, that should straighten her out.

 

[love4aquatic]

The best info you could provide them would be from successful and profitable betta breeders. The most important aspect of that is profitable, these are the people who know best the proper care & treatment of a betta in an aquarium. They make a profit out of successful care, and are the ones that should be referred to.

Provide the lunatic hoof print lady with the name & number of a breeder, that should straighten her out.

soo we need netty and bronzecat!!! and modaz!

also the awesome Victoria!!

 

[Tolak]

Contact names & numbers of for profit breeders, as well as info from their websites, with web addresses. The word profit is key, while many breeders breed just as a hobby the more serious try to at least break even. Making a living off of breeding alone is tough, few have done it ethically.

I sell angels to a Petland near me, and have a pretty good idea how that shop, as well as their organization operates. One personal ethic I have is that I won't sell fish to a shop I wouldn't buy fish from. This means they had better have their act together. I deal with the owner there, their aquatics manager on occasion when dropping off an order.

 

[love4aquatic]

pretty sure Victoria will be an influense!! around $30 for a betta is profit!!

[URL="http/bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.imp?catid=858"]http/bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.imp?catid=858[/URL]

 

[emeleeliggett]

Do you think I should add the links to their sites as references? Should I email them and ask?? I want to make an impact and any knowledgeable breeder who would be willing to help would be awesome.

Thanks, Emelee