Petsmart Megastores shouldn't be allowed to sell living things meant as pets (AKA the crying christmas gift) mega-monster Pet discount stores Lacey Washington

I worked for Petco for many years and was in charge of the aquatic department. I'm not going to blow my own horn on my own accomplishments while there.

I do have to say though I ran into many customers who despite myself and my team telling them they couldn't do the same thing you did they did it anyways. I don't know how many times I had to tell people that they couldn't throw in ten fish in a five gallon tank without heat or filtration. Or better yet the greatest myth that fish only grown to the size of their enclosure. So when they bought that cute little Oscar and put him in a ten gallon and were confused when suddenly it got too big for that ten gallon.

Also like every animal YOU need to do research on anything you buy before you buy it. I have scorpions at home some of them medically significant. I'd be a fool if I hadn't done my research before buying these animals the same research I'd do if I was going to buy tetras or mollies if I didn't have any knowledge on them.

This is a bit of propaganda that has made it onto the ripoff report. This should be on the urban legends site, appearing as false. The author is obviously not 8. Petsmart might be a crap store, and shouldn't be in business, but lies like this, and about piddly ol' replaceable fish should not be the ammunition you use to discredit them.

Don't waste my time.

Further, I want to be upset about parents letting that eight year old get up in the middle of the night to access the internet! Her parents should be horsewhipped for not supervising the child while on the internet. I don't even allow my fifteen year old on without being over his shoulder!

Hmmm... this appears to be either some bizarre piece of literature written by some bratty little idiot savant boy or his frumpy 40-something house keeping mother. Interesting. Let's countinue...

First of all, I work for a Petsmart and I see that the employee that you spoke to was misinformed. Heaters are needed for tropical fish and it's the assiociate's job to communicate with the customer on how to care for their new pet. The employee was in the wrong, it happens.

It is a large chain store and considering the quantity of fish provided, some become ill. Fish are delicate and have short life spans, I don't care who you get them from: fish die. Often. The only exception is if the owner is actually educated in caring for aquatic life. Research the animal before you buy it! Read Books! Google it for Godsake!

If you really valued the life of an animal than you wouldn't bring it home completely ignorant of how to care for it.

Don't rely on some snot-nosed teenager with a summer job in the fish department of Petsmart to be your guide and savior. Also, language such as "Phooey" and little plays on word such as "pet-not-so-smart-co" are not cute nor are they clever.

Thank you for your time.

Hmmm... this appears to be either some bizarre piece of literature written by some bratty little idiot savant boy or his frumpy 40-something house keeping mother. Interesting. Let's countinue...

First of all, I work for a Petsmart and I see that the employee that you spoke to was misinformed. Heaters are needed for tropical fish and it's the assiociate's job to communicate with the customer on how to care for their new pet. The employee was in the wrong, it happens.

It is a large chain store and considering the quantity of fish provided, some become ill. Fish are delicate and have short life spans, I don't care who you get them from: fish die. Often. The only exception is if the owner is actually educated in caring for aquatic life. Research the animal before you buy it! Read Books! Google it for Godsake!

If you really valued the life of an animal than you wouldn't bring it home completely ignorant of how to care for it.

Don't rely on some snot-nosed teenager with a summer job in the fish department of Petsmart to be your guide and savior. Also, language such as "Phooey" and little plays on word such as "pet-not-so-smart-co" are not cute nor are they clever.

Thank you for your time.

Hmmm... this appears to be either some bizarre piece of literature written by some bratty little idiot savant boy or his frumpy 40-something house keeping mother. Interesting. Let's countinue...

First of all, I work for a Petsmart and I see that the employee that you spoke to was misinformed. Heaters are needed for tropical fish and it's the assiociate's job to communicate with the customer on how to care for their new pet. The employee was in the wrong, it happens.

It is a large chain store and considering the quantity of fish provided, some become ill. Fish are delicate and have short life spans, I don't care who you get them from: fish die. Often. The only exception is if the owner is actually educated in caring for aquatic life. Research the animal before you buy it! Read Books! Google it for Godsake!

If you really valued the life of an animal than you wouldn't bring it home completely ignorant of how to care for it.

Don't rely on some snot-nosed teenager with a summer job in the fish department of Petsmart to be your guide and savior. Also, language such as "Phooey" and little plays on word such as "pet-not-so-smart-co" are not cute nor are they clever.

Thank you for your time.

Hmmm... this appears to be either some bizarre piece of literature written by some bratty little idiot savant boy or his frumpy 40-something house keeping mother. Interesting. Let's countinue...

First of all, I work for a Petsmart and I see that the employee that you spoke to was misinformed. Heaters are needed for tropical fish and it's the assiociate's job to communicate with the customer on how to care for their new pet. The employee was in the wrong, it happens.

It is a large chain store and considering the quantity of fish provided, some become ill. Fish are delicate and have short life spans, I don't care who you get them from: fish die. Often. The only exception is if the owner is actually educated in caring for aquatic life. Research the animal before you buy it! Read Books! Google it for Godsake!

If you really valued the life of an animal than you wouldn't bring it home completely ignorant of how to care for it.

Don't rely on some snot-nosed teenager with a summer job in the fish department of Petsmart to be your guide and savior. Also, language such as "Phooey" and little plays on word such as "pet-not-so-smart-co" are not cute nor are they clever.

Thank you for your time.

I would like to say on behalf of PetSmart that it is the Pet Parents responsibility to do all proper research before purchasing a new pet. I actually work in the Aquatics Deptartment at the Puyallup Petsmart. Every customer I come in contact with always asks the right questions. But everyonce and awhile they dont. So I tell them what they need to make their tank run properly and what it will take to make it healthy for the fish they want. Who in their right mind let that child purchase 5 neon tetra's without asking the associate the right questions? How dumb do you have to be to set up a tank and not knowing what in the hell you are doing. If you came to my store to buy fish I would not sell to you. I do not see ANY ANIMAL if it is going to go to a bad home. It is Petsmarts responsibility to "investigate" the petparents to see if they are going to buy or already have the right home for their new animal. How dumb do you have to be to know that NOTHING can go with a Betta????!!!!???? A betta goes by itself in bowl, mini tank, or something else. Yes everyonce and awhile people get away with putting other fish in with Bettas but to be safe I DO NOT SELL OTHER FISH WITH BETTAS. I DO NOT LET CUSTOMERS GET AWAY WITH PUTTING ANIMALS IN HARMS WAY.

I do not think it is petsmarts fault your fish dies. Once they go home with you, its becomes your fault if they die. By not asking the right questions or doing your research. You let them die! Poor fish, you and your parents should feel ashamed of yourselves! I am glad not everyone of my customers is not that dumb to just walk in and buy an animal and not know what it needs to survive. If that is now you treat a fish, I wonder how a poor child is treated

PISSES OFF FROM THE PUYALLUP, WA STORE
Puyallup, WA 98374

First off, Please read regarding how to take care of fish before buying them. I know that they aren't exactly EXPENSIVE animals but still deserve proper care nonetheless. They are living things. Its almost common knowledge that tropical fish need a heater and a filter. That basically goes without saying. You should also do something called "cycling" your tank BEFORE you buy fish. That's basically setting up the tank and have the heat on and the filter, and in about 30 days the water will be good enough for fish to live in. You should check the ammonia and PH of the water so both read O. Once that happens, THAN add the fish.

Bettas are different and I made the same mistake at first. A Male Betta actually requires atleast a 3 gallon tank with a filter AND a heater. I know Pet stores as well as Pet Smart have "Betta Bowls" and employees will say this is fine for bettas because they live in small puddles, but this is not true. Ammonia builds up so easily in a small "betta bowl" which is very harmful for the Betta. It is basically like smelling and having ammonia on your body all the time. I know Pet Smart employees don't tell people that, atleast mine does.

I know that was off the topic, but I run into so many people who don't know that the small betta bowls are not good for them, Pet Smart included. So I thought I would just give some advice on how to take care of your fish and please, read about a animal and learn about them before you buy them. It is the buyers responsiblity to do that, not the employees full responsiblity. The employees should be there to help you with your questions and answer them truthfully and correctly, but if you read up on the animal you wish to purchase than you really should have no need asking a employee from Pet Smart because you will already have the facts first.

Please just read up on them. That way you know you will be buying a healthy pet and know exactly how to take care of it without relying on young employees.

I am a pet owner. I have 2 beta fish, male and female, one gerbil and one cat.
When I went to go purchase my beta fish, I purchased them at Walmart. None of the employees knew how to care for them. Luckily, I went online and did some reseach ahead of time. We have had the bettas for a year now.
I purchased my gerbil at a mall petshop. I also researched on how to care for gerbils online before puchasing him. We had him for 10 months now.
My cat was purchased 10 years ago at a small petstore. I had cats before so I knew how to care for her.
My point is, if you want to buy a house, you reseach the area in which you want to buy it in. You are getting a medical procedure done, you reseach it first. It's the same thing in purchasing a pet.
A child should not be going to a store to purchase animals by him or her self. Adult supervision is needed, so that appropiate questions are asked and the ADULT can decide if the pet is right for the child. And it is the Adult's responsibility to do some light reseacrh a head of time to make sure the child isn't getting in over his/her head. Because more than likely, the responsibiliy of caring for the pet, will land back with the parent.
Honestly, I blame the parent and not Petsmart.
So, to avoid all this next time, simply do light reseach and go into the store with your child.
And yes, a 8 year old doesn't write sentences like that.

Actually Petsmart employees ARE supposed to ask questions regarding the purchase of fish. Every Petsmart associate ESPECIALLY in the fish dept are required to make sales with information to the buyer so the pet will live a healthy happy life. I know I used to work there!!!

The store i used to work in took this very seriously. If some of the other associates found out one of their coworkers didn't ask about the pet or make information regarding the health of the pet available to the buyer, they were very displeased to say the least! One thing you can do is go to the Petsmart web site, www.petsmart.com and send in a complaint online regarding the particular store. I think you go to the "contact us" section.

Every store is required to respond in some way to the compaint. The original compaint is forwarded to the store and the store manager is REQUIRED to respond. More importantly, each store is scored on how many CRO's (customer complaints) they have in a period. These scores play a big part in how well the store managers are doing and more importantly dictate their bonus for that period.

This won't bring your fish back, but it sure will put a thorn in their side. Also the district managers keep up with this sort of thing too. They will contact the store manager and make sure all associates are following the P&P's. This is always a bad thing for the store manager when they are called on for something like this.

Petsmart does care about the animals, at least the training guidelines are put in place that way, wheather or not an individual store abides by that practice is a different thing I am sure there are some Petsmart stores better than others. By the way the Petsmart "Vision" is.... "Total Lifetime Care, for every pet, every parent, every time". So I would contact the home office, and at least something will be on record about this particular store. Hope this helps.

First of all, it is obvious that the author of this cleverly-concocted story is NOT eight years old ... but rather is most likely a disgruntled parent writing on behalf of their little one in first-person narration. Perhaps they meant that mentally they are eight years old? Anyway, I digress...

Second of all, why are you blaming Petsmart for this situation? They sold you some fish. That is what they do -- they are a pet store and they sell pets and pet products. What is wrong with what they did?

Do you honestly believe that they should have TOLD you that you would need a tank and appropriate conditions for your fish? It seems like common sense to me. Any responsible pet owner would do some research before going out and buying an animal of any kind. If you still did not know how to take care of the fish, then why did you not ASK the store? Do you actually think they should tell each and every customer that buys fish that they will need a tank to put it in??? How stupid they would sound if they did say that with every purchase.

HOW did you think your fish would survive if you did NOT have a tank to put them in, and if you had no idea how to take care of them ... AND did not have the sense to ASK a professional? If you wanted to buy a horse, would you expect someone to TELL you that you needed to buy it a stable to live in and a trailer to transport it, or would you just give it a spare room inside your house and strap it to the roof of your car when you need to transport it?

It is clear that you are a very irresponsible pet owner, and brought this situation on yourself. Petsmart is in no way liable for the situation that you caused and could have easily prevented.