Is It Worth Putting In A Complaint?

[ollyhtafc]

Gone in today spoke to the manager (by coincidence) he didn't know if anything was on the plants, they didn't put anything on the plants they come straight from the box to the shop floor. Found it odd that only the shrimp died (was unaware of the dangers of copper, to which i explained.) Said sorry and advised me to get in touch with head office or the supplier.

 

[Schmill]

Slopey shoulders then...
Head Office it is then!

 

[shroob]

I recently put in a complaint over P@H, got an email reply fairly quickly and they did seem to be genuinely interested in looking into the issue, but I don't know if anythings actually been done. Mine was over a different topic though. Its worth complaining and if I had to say a tip is write or make a note of peoples names, wish I had done that.

 

[kenny fish fanatic]

yes next step head office,best of luck,hope you get sorted,,kenny

 

[raptorrex]

Gone in today spoke to the manager (by coincidence) he didn't know if anything was on the plants, they didn't put anything on the plants they come straight from the box to the shop floor. Found it odd that only the shrimp died (was unaware of the dangers of copper, to which i explained.) Said sorry and advised me to get in touch with head office or the supplier.

if the shop is unaware of any treatment by the supplier, remember they have a "duty of care" to their customer. effectively that means they are still responsible, even if they didn't know. have/did you check your water for copper? also it might be worth getting a sample of the plant water(from the shop) to test, bit naughty i know. but hey, it was your stock that died. if you get a positive on both, you will know you are on sure ground with your argument. ( though i would resist the temptation to admit you had tested their water lol)

 

[tez2k007]

Thats why I never bother with Pets at Home no more.

 

[ollyhtafc]

Customer service is one of our top priorities and we are always keen to hear of situations where the customer feels we have let them down. I assure you that we take matters of this nature very seriously and will clearly be investigated.

The store manager called me earlier today regarding this matter, he asked me to contact the supplier to find out if there is copper used in the treatment of the live plants before they are sent to the store.

I have spoken to the supplier and they have assured me that no copper is used in any of the treatment processes for the live plants.


Please could you return to the store to see the store manager with regards to this matter so that he can resolve this for you.


I don't understand?! If it wasn't copper that killed all my shrimp within an hour, what was it?

 

[Teuchter]

Hey olly, sorry to hear of your loss.

I just notices that pixelpefekt and three-fingers reported in another thread loosing their shrimps after adding plants too, just a few days ago. They are both in Scotland.

It certainly looks like copper treatment to me. Anyone know if it would be possible to have the plants or water tested for heavy metals?

 

[ollyhtafc]

ok so i went back to speak to the store manager. He has spoken to the uk manager who rang the suppliers in Asia who deny dipping in copper...
But just to make sure, random water tests will be carried out throughout the uk this week and a copper testing kit is being posted from a marine P@H to my local one so they can test their water, which they will not touch up untill then. If copper is found they will be happy to order me in 40 yamato shrimp free. But these aren't anywhere near as attractive and not worth the value of the cherry shrimp that i was going to sell, but nevertheless its something.

If the P@H contains copper, theyll give me the kit to test my water, because ive heard stories of copper staying in your tank for a long time, so compensating me with shrimp would just mean them dying! If i have copper theyll be more than happy to reemburse me at £1 per shrimp..so £40.

Overall i am very impressed with this responce.

 

[Schmill]

Agreed, sounds like a very reasonable response, and in quite quick time too.
Seems you have it resolved, will be interesting to know the readings that are obtained from the copper test kit though...

 

[ollyhtafc]

I havn't been able to find anything online about anything relating to the death of shrimp thats not copper related. It must be copper! I'll look silly now if it isn't though.
But if it is copper, all P@H stores will display signs saying that their plants may contain copper.

Like i said to the guy..it's not nice for me, but imagine a small child having a few pet shrimp and adding plants and everything dies...it'd be awful.

 

[Schmill]

Can copper just be 'rinsed off', or would we have to do more than that?

I only ask as I am due to receive plants on Friday, and hopefully picking up some shrimp on Monday. If I just tap rinsed the plants before putting in the tank will that be ok?

 

[Inchworm]

ok so i went back to speak to the store manager. He has spoken to the uk manager who rang the suppliers in Asia who deny dipping in copper...
But just to make sure, random water tests will be carried out throughout the uk this week and a copper testing kit is being posted from a marine P@H to my local one so they can test their water, which they will not touch up untill then. If copper is found they will be happy to order me in 40 yamato shrimp free. But these aren't anywhere near as attractive and not worth the value of the cherry shrimp that i was going to sell, but nevertheless its something.

If the P@H contains copper, theyll give me the kit to test my water, because ive heard stories of copper staying in your tank for a long time, so compensating me with shrimp would just mean them dying! If i have copper theyll be more than happy to reemburse me at £1 per shrimp..so £40.

Overall i am very impressed with this responce.

Hi ollyhtafc

I'm happy to hear that the store manager was so cooperative and concerned. It's good to know that there are still some places to go where the well being of the fish and the satisfaction of the customer are considered important.

 

[raptorrex]

ok so i went back to speak to the store manager. He has spoken to the uk manager who rang the suppliers in Asia who deny dipping in copper...
But just to make sure, random water tests will be carried out throughout the uk this week and a copper testing kit is being posted from a marine P@H to my local one so they can test their water, which they will not touch up untill then. If copper is found they will be happy to order me in 40 yamato shrimp free. But these aren't anywhere near as attractive and not worth the value of the cherry shrimp that i was going to sell, but nevertheless its something.

If the P@H contains copper, theyll give me the kit to test my water, because ive heard stories of copper staying in your tank for a long time, so compensating me with shrimp would just mean them dying! If i have copper theyll be more than happy to reemburse me at £1 per shrimp..so £40.

Overall i am very impressed with this responce.

Hi ollyhtafc

I'm happy to hear that the store manager was so cooperative and concerned. It's good to know that there are still some places to go where the well being of the fish and the satisfaction of the customer are considered important.

i too thought this seemed like good practice, both by manager and company. considering the kicking P@H often get, perhaps they are not that bad, after all. though as i have stated before, i have had no problems with the Leicester branch.

 

[rdd1952]

It doesn't necssarily have to be that they were dipped in copper itself. If they were dipped in something that contained copper, even in small amounts, you could run into problems. A product like "Had A Snail" is about 6% copper.

I may be wrong on this but I believe that if a glass tank has copper used in it, the copper can become attached or absorbed by the silicone and leech out into the tank again. I have seen that warning to someone planning to change a FW tank into a SW tank in reference to their getting inverts for it. So een if they just used a product lke that in their plant storage tank, it coujls still cause problems and be on the plants.