Pet Smart

[GemGoddess]

I went to Pet Smart earlier and I am very disappointed.

They were selling expired water conditioner from July of last year.

It is sad to know that they don't check the dates.

My main purpose of this post is to give a reminder that you should always look at the dates on products that you buy.

 

[stp8809]

Pet Smart is good about one thing though. If you find something on their website for less than what it is in the store they will take the website price. The other day I went in to by a filter and heater which would have cost over $70 but I got them for a little over $40.

Other stores like Petco don't do this.

 

[HeatherSweetness]

Man,I found an old old bottle of water conditioner I lost for a loooooooong time,and I opened it and it smelled like rotten eggs.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I didnt know water conditioner went bad... whoops

 

[solmartin]

do you know the average life span of water conditioner by any chance?

 

[noelberg]

While I like Petsmart for its convenience and wide selection of aquarium supplies, I have to agree that sometimes their quality falls a little short. The only fish that died in my aquarium came from Petsmart.
But I gotta say that Petsmart beats Walmart on any day that ends in "y".

 

[guppymonkey]

Petsmart is the best fish store in my area. I haven't run across any expired chemicals there. I wouldn't blame the store for the past date chemicals though. Anyone that has ever worked retail knows that its tough to check every date on every product. If you have ever worked in a grocery store you know how frustrating it can be to have to run around and check the dates on all the milks and sometimes you miss things.

That being said, some stores are better than others. Some employees are better than others. One employee at my petsmart grabbed a fish by its tail to put it in its bag! I would rather blame stupid employees than the store as a whole.

 

[plecoperson]

my water conditioner doesnt have a date on it! and employess in the store where i work often dont bother to rotate stock - so its easy to end up with out of date products on the shelves. of course I always rotate stock.

 

[SirMinion]

Never ever ever buy fish from Petsmart/Pets At Home. (In the UK) The fish are not quarentined and the water is cycled around the entire bank of tanks, both tropical and cold water thus spreading any infections very effectively. This is standard practice in all Uk stores.

Also, in my experience, many of the staff don't know their arse from their elbow when it come to the species they are selling. When I pointed to a fish in the "assorted Lake Malawi Cichlid" tank and asked what it was, I was told it was a "Lake Malawi Cichlid".. Well duh!

Although later it turned out to be a golden Julie anyway....

 

[drobbins27]

Though that may be the case, PET SMART does have a great selection of aquarium equipment and fish, and are still at the top of my list (my local PET SMART is the St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada location, amazing store)

 

[Shizat]

SirMinion I am sure you also payed close attention to the 35 UV lights that kill everything that passes through them and a top of the line filtration system that costs about 150,000 us dollars.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi GemGoddess

Thanks for the reminder.

You brought up a very good point here. It's easy to assume that these big chains have a high turnover in their products and should always have fresh merchandise for sale. However, they are only as good as their employees and lazy ones will restock the shelves by pushing the old stock to the back and putting the new up front. An old bottle could easily shift around and be sold long after its expiration date.

It is a good idea to look for these things.

 

[SirMinion]

I am sure you also payed close attention to the 35 UV lights that kill everything that passes through them and a top of the line filtration system that costs about 150,000 us dollars.

Maybe in the States, but not in UK stores.

It seems that the quality of this chain is very different in the USA compared to the British version. In Britain the livestock is overpriced and overcrowded and a tiny range of basic fish (neons, harlequins, albino cories) although the equipment and food is very competetively priced.

 

[plecoperson]

I have friends who work for pets at home. The fish are always well cared for. There is a large filter with five systems, one for coldwater, one for the pond and the others spread through tropical. diseases are treated immediately, and any fish losses carefully recorded. They ALWAYS make sure that any fish they sell are completely healthy. When you have over 2000 fish on the premises at any one time, it makes it very difficult to train staff to know different sub species, so its pretty ridiculous to expect staff (in any retail business) to specialise in every area.

 

[SirMinion]

I'm glad that the poor conditions in the 8 or so stores that I visited while working as a Hagen rep are not the case in all stores.

Sounds like the people in the Kent branch are doing it right.