Petco "Going Blue"

[Somervell]

Just posted to Petco myself. Maybe some kind of petition is in order, or maybe clotting their mailbox with these kinds of e-mails will get the point across.

 

[dundadundun]

i recognize a few names... good job all. sploke seems you've been moderated already... nevermind, found it. i think i will be though... mine's under jim dandy, lol. i noticed people are actually buying this malarkey... unbelievable and a down right shame. oh and after i voted i saw no change in the rating out of 10 votes... hmmm?

 

[Somervell]

In case anyone is curious, Petco's response to my e-mail was to send me, word for word, the article that was linked above, after I had cited the article in my e-mail. I wrote back that it was personalized customer service like that that would make them undercut by their online competitors.

My issues with other companies, including those that rhyme with "Oster" have been resolved promptly and courteously by a personal e-mail from an actual customer service rep. Hmmmm.

 

[Reframer]

Some really good commenting from many of you. You can also vote on the comments. Let's let Petco know what we want, since they rarely bother to ask or care.

 

[Lexi_D]

I voted on almost all of them, and also posted a comment...:

"This is a terrible idea. Sure, some unexperienced hobbiests will use the wrong medication due to lack of research, but what happens when you’re an experienced hobbiest and your fish come down with a bacterial infection and petco is the only fish store within 50 miles of you? Then what? This is going to cause more harm then good in my opinion. If you really want to help people why not educate your employees? I have NEVER been to a petco where I’ve gotten good advice about fish. They are one of the largest contributing factors that lead me to do EVERYTHING wrong in the beginning when I had my first fish. If the workers there actually knew the first thing about fishkeeping, then your sales just might go up instead of down because no one can buy antibiotics at your stores. It would be a win-win situation and you’d be saving the lives of fish instead of cutting them short."

EDIT: Where can you contact them from? I'd like to give them what-for. :mad2: I'm sorry that I just spent $30 there the other day. I intend to boycott them until something is done and I hope that others will do the same. A petition would be a great idea.

 

[PDX-PLT]

This is sad. It reminds me of some of the worst cases of animal abuse I've seen - by some farmers attempting to raise "organic" meat. Bottom line is, they won't treat their sick animals. Their grazing animals tend to be ridden with parasites, because if they use wormer to treat an infection, the farm loses its organic certification for a long time. They refuse to treat easily-cured illnesses with antibiotics, too, as that renders them non-"organic" as well.

 

[jpappy789]

Wycco:

Also, antibiotics should only be recommended by a veterinarian. Otherwise you may accidentally do more harm than good...Therefore, PETCO is taking a stand as the industry leader, and is discontinuing the sale of fish antibiotics, effective August 10th, 2009. It’s not often that a corporation as big as PETCO can say they’re going to “do the right thing”, but that’s exactly what we’re doing...It makes me proud to help change the aquatics industry for the better. If more companies would step up and follow our lead, all fish owners would benefit in the long run.

All direct quotes from the article.

By saying that they are "taking a lead" and other companies should "step up and follow" is basically the same as saying that antibiotics should not be available to the average hobbyist. Not only that but you need to see a vet? A load of crap if you ask me.

 

[Luvbugz]

I finally posted on that site as well. If Petco is supposed to be "where animals come first", then why are they dooming sick fish to die by taking away meds that can actually treat and save them??

 

[jpappy789]

Here's what I posted.

The last several responses have pretty much said exactly what I am thinking.

You simply cannot coach an associate payed by the hour who has no experience firsthand with fish to be able to dish out the correct information to a new customer. Sorry, it does not work that way. You cannot beat years of experience and research.

And what do you consider proper care...uncycled tanks and bowls, monthly water changes at best, overstocked tanks, and the addition of snail oil products such as aquaruim salt? Sorry, but I've seen nothing but misinformation spewed by your employees. If you want to take a serious step forward, work from the bottom with your associates. Actually provide accurate care info for your paying customers.

And what about emergency situations? Can you absolutely guarantee that every one of your customer's fish are going to be 100% free of disease for their entire lifespan? No, I didn't think so. I find it frustrating that so many people bring home infected stock purchased from YOUR OWN STORES, yet you are now refusing to sell any medications to cure said diseases.

This is by far one of the worst PR stunts and business tactic I have ever seen. How does it feel to have angered so many potential customers? Not good, I would think. Its no wonder big chain stores like yours are laughed at and avoided by serious hobbyists. Have a good day.

 

[katschamne]

At work I posted a comment and you have to wait and see if they have accepted the post which two days later it was on there. I thought that it might be too negative and they wouldn't post it. I agree with all of you that it is a bad idea. I think that they should still carry it because like you said prevention and maintenance is only goes so far, they are times when we need to medicate not only our fish but ourselves as well.

I think that they should still carry the meds but have it were you have to ask for it. Then before that can happen educate the other employees to how to proper use the medication. I have to say at my store meds are not a big seller but that all depends if we have a new person working. I help when we get our shipment in so I know what is selling and what isn't in the aquatic department. They are supposed to have a book in the stores to help people cure diseases more naturally. My store doesn't have it yet.

The weird thing is that Maricin isn't on the selves but if you look we never used to carry products by Micro-lift and now we have a whole line of their products. I think they cut a deal with Micro-lift.

Thank you all for commenting on Petco Blog page. At work all the comments have been almost all against the new policy on the Portal, but when I went to website at home on the blog page it seemed most of the comments where positive. I know if I got the word out that I wasn't the only person to think that the new policy is full of poop.