I am saddened by the quality of the saltwater fish at our local Petco, Jonesboro Arkansas. I have lost hundreds of dollars in fish purchased from that store. None of the fish I have purchased from that store have lived for over a week and usually die in the first 3 days, except for 2 green chromis that have made it 3 weeks so far. I have made a number of calls to customer service and to the store manager with no help or compensation. I feel strongly that a Boycott on all their saltwater fish is in order. Please join me in this. If anyone here has any pull with Petco, I could sure use some help, and if anyone knows of a good trustworthy LFS around Jonesboro please let me know. THANK YOU ALL.
According to google there are two LFS's in your area. Now whether or not they're good stores I really don't know. Also I don't know if they're still there or not as I don't live in Jonesboro and it's been a while since I've been over to that area.  Tropical Paradise 870-910-5165  Paradise Pets 870-934-0104  Â
come on now. Â what do you expect. Â they are a general pet store that mostly caters to dogs and cats. Â do you boycot a good mexican restaraunt because they serve a crappy hamburger? Â no, you go there for mexican food. Â do you boycot mcdonalds because the mcrib doesnt taste like good bbq, no you go to a real bbq joint when you want that. Â quit whining and drive to memphis if it upsets you that much, but theres no reason to hate on petco just because they dont specialize in salt water fish. Â come to the petco in north little rock and ask for a guy named whitney. Â he will change your thinking. sorry about the lack of capital letters, my phone keyboard is acting up
Usually big chain stores don't have the staff to care for saltwater critters. It's sad, but true they would rather hire someone at $7 an hour rather than spend money on a knowledgeable employee. The one in LR has Whitney, so it's an exception, but for the most part if you go to a large chain store, you are not going to be happy with the service or quality of animal you get there.You might see if any of your fellow reefers up there need jobs and suggest to Petco that they hire them. It would be better for the animals at the store and the customers of Petco. Like pbn2au said, there are a couple pretty good stores over in Memphis that you will be pleased with I'm sure. Also if you get a free few hours come down to the fish tank in LR, it's pretty nice too.
Now, this seems to be the best way to get the corporate office of Petco's attention. It's realy hard to make my 3 year old girl happy, when the fish she begged for is dead before the bag has been floating in my tank for only five minutes and the store that sold it to me could care less. It is pretty sad to have to drive to memphis to get a decent fish, when a reputible pet store wont change there care policies concerning saltwater fish to be able to offer a decent fish to its customers or at least offer an exchange .
Spilledsalt My name is phillip butler, I am the animal manager at the NLR petco. Sorry for the bad service at the Jonesboro store, but please don't group us all together. I am lucky to have people like Whitney and Chris(new to RRMAS). We all actively strive to do the best we can with what we have, even if sometimes petco doesn't give us what we need! We all have spent our own time and money to bring in better lights, set up "hospital" tanks, and try to learn the things we don't know. We do this to fight the stigma that goes along with "petco fish" and some petco employees. So once again I am sorry for the poor customer care, but remember that it is a jonesboro petco problem not a petco problem. Also I will be letting my regional animal manager know about the issues you are having and maybe we can get it corrected. If ur ever in the north little rock area, stop by and see us! my cell number is 501-413-1196 and for goodness sakes come to frag fest!!!
Thank you Mr. Butler, I am glad that my rant has reached someone, and I hope you will be able to help all of us who are having this problem, its nice to know you have a good store. But sadly our Petco is the only LFS jonesboro has that isn't at least an hour away. Thank you for your post and your help, and sorry but I can't make the frag fest, really wish I could.
Spilledsalt My name is Chris. I am an employee at Petco NLR and have been for 18 months. I have worked my way up to Aquatic Specialist. I can't really speak for the Petco in Jonesboro, because I have never been there, but as for Petco in NLR, between myself, Whitney (other Aquatic Specialist) and Philip Butler (Animal Manager),,,,,I like to believe that we offer good healthy livestock in both salt and fresh water. All three of us successfully maintain reef tanks at our homes, and we are constantly working to improve the Aquatics Department at NLR Petco. With the recent addition of hospital tanks and the fact that we are keeping more corals, should show that we are not just sitting on our hands at NLR Petco. Please come see us before you make judgement against all Petco Stores. chrish
I do believe this is why a lot of the other "big time" pet stores are getting out of the marine business, its better to lose a customer due to not having the product but still having their respect of your store than by losing them by pissing them off cause you sold them crap. Â Its true the petco is little rock is just as good as any other fish store in little rock. Â But, they need to clear out some more of that fresh water crap for saltwater. Â lol jkjk
Re: Re: Boycott Petco ! I'm sorry your experience at the Petco in Jonesboro wasn't an enjoyable one. I like to point out that all Petco's are not created equal. I have worked at the NLR Petco for 2.5 years. Its been a struggle to bring us from shame to where we are now. All this wouldn't have been possible without Chris and Phillip. We try to make as big of a difference as possible. BTW I'm Whitney Butler if you are ever in the area please come by and talk to one of us. Give me a call. Raffle grabber
I saw this post on Reef Central. I too work for Petco, and they are not created equally. I do think that their techniques are old and do need to be updated. I strongly feel that the Aquatics Section should be operate separate from the store and in order to yield higher profitability and success in the hobby.
The crappy fish may not even be petco's fault, but that of their supplier, but any case they have unhealthy fish.
The company we use supplies a lot of our other LFS and they do fine at other stores. I feel the conditions of each store varies from one another. But would say they are received in fair or good health and go down hill at the store depending multiple factors.
I support our NLR petco, when ever I need something there alway there to help, and I've only lost 1 fish I bought from them. It was probably my fault because he had a heart attack when I dropped him in my tank. Sad face! Other the. That every thing else has Been great ! Thank you Nlr petco ! Tommy
