Petco is Being Responsible!

Unlike a lot of stores my Petco in Totowa, NJ actually does a nice job caring for the fish and always have interesting stock and if I want something they don't have they will order it for me and hold it in the supplier bags, so it never hits their tanks. I've never had any problems with their livestock, though I have gone to specialty stores in my area and had numerous fish die in 2 weeks.

I know its not often that you hear good things about Petco, but I just called to order a few firefish and my local store just told me all shipments were halted due to the excessively cold weather. Apparently, their was a corporate decision to stop all orders as the fish were getting sick in transit.

Its nice they actually figured that out and instead of selling sick fish to customers they are holding off. I wouldn't have been surprised if just my local store had done that, but for it to be corporate is pretty substantial.

 

I wish my local Petco would get SW livestock just to see how they do with it. The manager says he requested permission from HQ but has yet to receive a reply. They've only been there about two years, though.

 

every now and then you bump into a petco that has employees in their fish section that actually care about the hobby and all...I actually picked up a few SPS frags from one in Manhattan for really good prices because the manager of the section said "most people that come here don't know what SPS coral even are, let alone buying them." So he marked them down for me knowing they were going to a good home. Their frag tank there was in pretty good shape and clean with proper lighting and all.

 

I think the other thing that helps is that my Petco has really good turnover, but then again the head of the department really does care. She has helped me with numerous special requests and calls me as soon as they get my orders to let me know they are there and waiting for me.

Additionally, she will actually order more fish than I want so i can choose which I want to take home and then she just sells the other out of their tanks.

 

Wow! It's great to hear that there is a Petco out there treating fish with care. The Petco stores in my area seem to lack staff who are knowledgable enough to keep marine fish healthy.

 

I think the big problem with chains such as Petco is hiring local help. If you get no applicants who have knowledge and who care, then you get neglect. FTR, I know two Petcos that are not exactly local, but within reach; one has the best SW department I've ever seen, the other has the worst. Go figure...