Annoyed With Pets At Home.. Advice Please.

[kazc31]

So I bought what I thought...or was told were to female bettas. I have a 15 gallon with 4 preexisting and all gravid I may add! Anyways there was one I picked out which didn't look to dissimillar from the rest but had slightly longer fins! I had a hunch but know u can get longer fined females so looked for the whit spot which he had! Even asked the employee which he guarenteed they were all female! Anyways added them slowly and when introduced there wasnt even any aggression what so ever. Come late ebening and i could hear splashing so decided to see whats going to which is when I noticed two courting and could see his membrane from his gills where he was flaring and he was attempting to blow a bubble nest! This is when I noticed the female become aggressive towards the rest and took him straight out! Anyways basically will my girls settle down! The rest seem fine but the female he was courting with seems hostile when they come to the opening of the tank like she thinks he'll return! She thought she was gna get lucky ha and basically she's not!! Will things settle? I knew I should have gone with my hunch! Soo miffed!

 

[Sophie]

Coming to the defence of Pets at Home - It is your responsibility as a fish keeper to do your research before purchasing. You cannot rely on a LFS employee to know everything nor get it right, especially in a large chain store which isn't dedicated solely to aquatics. The training provided is very basic and sexing fish (apart from livebearers) is not included. The fish training book is about 2/3rds thinner than the book on small animals and if the colleague in question has no interest in fish, they are not going to go out and learn off their own backs.
Secondly - When Pets at Home get their fish delivery, female bettas are bagged altogether in one big bag. They are then floated and released into the tank. Male bettas are bagged separately so unless they are extremely stupid, then a mistake should not of been made. Granted, it could've happened but just throwing the thought out there.
Lastly - If you are extremely dissatisfied, please contact the manager and explain or customer services who can act as middle man with the store in question to resolve your issues.
 
Is there a chance you could still be mistaken on the sex of the fish? Could you provide a picture and one of our more experienced betta keepers could help?
 
Sorry if it sounds negative but I feel people should really stop blaming Pets at Home or any other fish store for that matter. It is your duty as a fish keeper to get a wide range of opinions before coming to a conclusion.
 
But on the other hand, yes the colleagues can be extremely daft but 99% of the time, they are saying what they are told to say by the company.
 
Source: I am a Pets at Home colleague who actually genuinely cares about fish and didn't apply there so I could cuddle bunnies all day I am the colleague forced to look after the small animals and sell vicious hamsters!

 

[kazc31]

Yea Well I don't blame the employee but when u buy something labeled and told to be as specified generally that's what u expect to get! How was I supposed to know the person dealing with them knows very little. Of course i blame my self aswell and should have gone with my hunch. Im certain Hes male. 100%.

 

[techen]

The aquatic trade is different as sexing fish can be insanely hard for some people so of course pets at home expect you to know what you want instead of asking staff. However, the staff should always admit when they don't know

 

[the_lock_man]

I assume this is a Plakat male we're talking about, and they are very similar to females, so I can understand both the staff and kazc not spotting the error.
 
I should, however, point out that it is encumbent upon the retailer to ensure that their stock is correctly labelled, under the Trades Description Act. If you went to the supermarket, and bought a can of baked beans, you would not expect to find sweetcorn in the tin when you opened it. You would expect to be able to return the can and receive a replacement. The same principle is true in this instance - the goods were mislabelled, or misdescribed.
 
IMHO, in order for a retailer to comply with this law, they should be training their staff to a level where they are competent in the species that they are selling - they have a relatively limited range in that particular retailer's stores.
 
I accept Sophie's assertion that the buyer needs to be expert enough to know, but this isn't an ideal world. Legally, the retailer is responsible.

 

[Sophie]

My point still stands that upon delivery they are very much separate.. Only more "experienced" members of staff are permitted to deal with fish delivery so makes me believe it would be very hard to get a mix up unless the supplier themselves made a mistake.
To be fair - perhaps it'll spur you into exploring other LFS'

 

[fm1978]

This is could turn into a heated debate, indeed.
 
I'm with TLM on this one I'm afraid, Sophie. The onus is on the retailer to correctly label displayed products as in any retail environment. The law would be on the side of the consumer, kazc31. An employee in a retail shop, of almost any kind, must have up to date and accurate product knowledge.
 
Sophie; I do agree with your premise, though!

 

[Sophie]

Haha I am not defending them saying they are completely innocent - far from it! TLM knows more than well what I think of the company aha! I did mention he should go and complain because he will get somewhere by doing so

 

[the_lock_man]

My point still stands that upon delivery they are very much separate.. Only more "experienced" members of staff are permitted to deal with fish delivery so makes me believe it would be very hard to get a mix up unless the supplier themselves made a mistake.

 
No doubt you are right.
 
For sure, Kazc should contact the store as the first action - I'm sure the store staff will be more than happy to arrange an exchange.

 

[kazc31]

Basically I understand it can be hard to tell I'm not extremely bothered by it but will somewhat put my ladies in a state of confusion as I didn't want to breed them! However I was initially annoyed at the fact if I'd have realized They weren't that sure them selves I would have most likely.gone with my gut, i took the word of the emplyee and took trust at what the had market up to be female. Also when speaking to thr guy on the phone i mentioned a nother possible male in the tank and he laughed and said it wouldnt suprise him honestly i thought theyd be abit more profesional. Dont get me wrong im not against everyone in the company

 

[ky*weremiej]

I had trouble with pets at home, my local pets at home store always has dead fish floating around and sick fish, but I have to agree with Sophie, do your research before tanking on fish I learnt the hard way and ended up in a mess now I always ask about any fish and do research before even going to the LFS. If you want good knowledge on fish then your in the right place also find a good local aquatics centre.

 

[kazc31]

Well I done my research and alot of it in fact which gave me the hunch but the fact is being fairly new to the species I doubted my self and as a retailer selling fish I thought they'd have professionals who'd have known more than me so would have had it right as a newbie I had my doubts! And tat the end of the day if they're claiming to know what they're saying and selling something to you you'd expect them to get it right. Under the sales of good act something that is sold to you should be market up correct as specified and that should be what u expect to get. All this tells me is that someones second guessed it and thrown them all in together then claiming to know there stuff to sell the fish bottom line. I've learned a lesson which is to go by my own instinct!! Besides I didn't want a debate on who's right or wrong which isn't the reason I started this post! I don't think I'm indeed in the wrong nor the somewhat clueless employees who are hired by a company who sells something with an obvious lack of knowledge from what I gather! Exceptions for Sophie who obviously cares about what she sells.

 

[ky*weremiej]

I would not class pets at home as experts, I would class them as sales person and we all know a sales person will tell you they can make the sky pick as long as your giving them money.

 

[kazc31]

So then that just tells u Sumt then dunt it!!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well I done my research and alot of it in fact which gave me the hunch but the fact is being fairly new to the species I doubted my self and as a retailer selling fish I thought they'd have professionals who'd have known more than me so would have had it right as a newbie I had my doubts!

 
I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US, most of the people working in the aquatics department of the chain LFS are not 'professionals', they are high school and college aged kids who are doing this to earn some cash.  Many of them don't keep fish, but fill in the aquatics section whenever their supervisor puts that on the schedule.  Normally they are pulled from other departments when needed. 
 
There are a few members of the staff that are more experienced and you can tell by talking to them.  Generally, the best advice I can give for the future is to not purchase anything that you aren't 100% sure of.  While ideally we'd like the LFS to hire only knowledgeable staff, that's not practical.  If you have to go to the store check the stock, take a picture, go home, research it, and then go back to make a purchase, so be it.  It beats having to take a mistake purchase back.  And you won't have to worry about a new addition destroying your current stock.
 
BTW, having a QT is a great thing for giving you a bit of extra time before you put them with your stock.