barrhaven superpet and dead fishes.

[Mettle]

A nice compliment from an intelligent customer used to make my day, and sometimes my week.

Ditto.

And we called them 'ghost runs' at the Barrhaven Super Pet, heh. We also had our ghost log to keep track of all the deaths. (Sometimes helpful for spotting possible problem tanks - but mostly just to keep track and tabulate lost revenue, I'm sure.)

[bassetluv]

Very good post, Zadig! I must say that I've seen dead fish in tanks in many pet stores (the most recent being Big Al's). But I do believe that - as Zadig suggested - it's really unavoidable, esp. when fish are constantly being transported in from long distances. As I stated, the last time I was at Big Al's I did see dead fish in more than a couple of tanks, but - it does happen. I also asked an employee there for advice, and got not much at all...in fact, I wound up walking over to PetSmart and got a lot more suggestions and advice from one of their employees instead. But does that mean that PetSmart's employees are better than Big Al's, or that the store is any better? No. Overall, I will go to Big Al's much sooner than I would go to PetSmart for advice on fishkeeping, simply because I've found BA's staff much more knowledgeable, and the prices better as well. On that particular day I just happened to hit on an employee who either a) hadn't been there very long and wasn't as knowledgeable; b) might have been having personal issues and it was affecting his work; or c) was an employee who really didn't care. It happens in all retail stores, but I will not abandon my loyalty to BA's based upon one experience, or one staff member.

I tend to make assessments about stores based upon several visits...seeing how the staff react when I need help; seeing what kind of advice I get - if it is accurate, and if it is good; and seeing, overall, what the store conditions are like. This is how I tend to assess a store (fish store, pet store, or otherwise): If you walk into an establishment several times over and there is no staff in sight, or they are constantly ignoring customers, and the tanks/cages/etc. are always looking under-cared-for, then red flags should definitely go up. However, if you walk into a store once and have a bad experience, or notice things that aren't being taken care of...speak up. Ask for a manager and mention your concerns. Go back and visit the store again...and again...before coming to any certain conclusions. And if at the end of the day you still aren't satisfied, then absolutely..don't give them your business. But on the other hand, if you find a store you like, then support them all you can. Retail can be cutthroat, dog-eat-dog (or fish-eat-fish) and the ones that survive will be the ones who draw customers back, hopefully for all the right reasons.