Walmart

[Fish-Noobie]

vote i choose makes u throw up cause i went yesteday and it was gross 2 dead pleco's, a pleco eating a dead 1" oscar, advising that a common pleco can live in a 2g betta tank i talked to the person who works there and she guys look at it and walked away. then a girl comes up and says to her parents look a janitor fish it cleans the whole tank u dont need to do water changes anymore then she sees the pleco eatign the dead oscar look dad its cleaning the fish i want one can i have one god i want to.........

 

[cat.fish]

they're bad i don't go into walmart because of their poor section

 

[FishDan]

The poll is fundamentally flawed from the outset. Not all WalMart stores will be good, not all will be bad, and not all will be so-so. The WalMarts in my area are all of these, it just depends on which I go to. Polls like these are unfair to the stores, as it depends on the employees far more than it does on the sign over the entrance to the store, whether it be WalMart, PetSmart, PetCo, JimBob's Fish Mall or whatever.

\Dan

 

[abstract]

The poll is fundamentally flawed from the outset. Not all WalMart stores will be good, not all will be bad, and not all will be so-so. The WalMarts in my area are all of these, it just depends on which I go to. Polls like these are unfair to the stores, as it depends on the employees far more than it does on the sign over the entrance to the store, whether it be WalMart, PetSmart, PetCo, JimBob's Fish Mall or whatever.

\Dan

what he said

 

[Acrus]

While what you say is in fact very valid, It does make the differnce in the staff. But what wal-mart fails to do, is screen the staff they hire. So in most cases they have an employee that is simply there to fill a spot. But yes, on occasion they get an employee that actually knows a little or quite a bit about the subject.

Which is understandable on Wal-Mart part not to screen for pet knowledge, do you honestly think that wal-mart makes any significant money on fish sales??? not, likely.

But as far as hiring goes, when you get into a specialized position. As in a Local Fish Store, they aren't going to hire anyone that only knows how to play golf. So in that case teh quality is going to be better. Or in the larger cases, Pet Smart Etc. They will actually train (or attempt) the employees to properly look after the fish. It then falls on the shoulders of the employee to maintain the livestock. But when you talking about Wal-mart, they might spend... a Day in training, and that is to simply tell them to (try) clean out dead fish, and get rid of green slime etc. And 1/2 the time the poeple working in the pet section are only covering, and belong to other departments

LOL... what a long post... So in conclusion, i don't think that it is unfair to rate Wal-Mart on the quality as Poor, it is a corperate decision to lack in those divisions, or poor management procedures. (yes, they do get lucky and find a good employee) but on the whole wal-mart is sub par.

Flame away everyone! Just thought this might be a good counter insight

 

[fufanu360]

wow ur good at writing ESSAYS for posts, u even had a conclusion!

 

[wrs]

well my walmart AWSOME!! just didnt see that so i put in good. never any dead fish, female betta tanks. ive only seen one dead fish in the tank, and it just died at the time as well.

 

[SirMinion]

Can't vote, there's no Walmarts in the UK.

 

[FishDan]

But what wal-mart fails to do, is screen the staff they hire.

Do you know this for a fact? Do you work for WalMart or have you applied for a job there?

But as far as hiring goes, when you get into a specialized position. As in a Local Fish Store, they aren't going to hire anyone that only knows how to play golf. So in that case teh quality is going to be better. Or in the larger cases, Pet Smart Etc. They will actually train (or attempt) the employees to properly look after the fish. It then falls on the shoulders of the employee to maintain the livestock. But when you talking about Wal-mart, they might spend... a Day in training, and that is to simply tell them to (try) clean out dead fish, and get rid of green slime etc. And 1/2 the time the poeple working in the pet section are only covering, and belong to other departments

Again, do you work for PetSmart?

Many people in my experience at PetSmart are there for an "after school" job or because they like dogs. Very few of the employees I personally have dealt with are "fish people". I am not disputing that in general a "mom and pop" LFS is going to be of better quality than WalMart or PetSmart, but this is by no means always the case. I still think it is unfair to cast blanket judgement on a store chain because some stores are bad. Corporate WalMart may set guidelines and rules, that doesn't stop local stores from improving (or conversly trashing) them.

do you honestly think that wal-mart makes any significant money on fish sales??? not, likely.

If WalMart did not make a profit, they wouldn't bother selling fish. They didn't get to be among the biggest retail stores on the planet by doing things that don't bring in the profits.

\Dan

 

[Logitech]

I haven't been to a Walmart recently because I live in Japan. But back when I was in San Diego, the tanks in Walmart almost made me throw up. But sometimes they had their tanks in good conditions with no dead fish. If only they could stay like that forever.

 

[MrMashashin]

fortunatly my walmart is a super center so they cant sell fish. But the old walmart used to have a superb selection for fish. Plus the game where you dropped a penny into a 110g tank and if it makes it into a shot glass you win a free fish. I used to love that.

 

[parker313]

Makes u Throw Up When u Look into the tanks

That I went in one time and a whole tank of something (gouramis, I think) were so covered in ich it made me cry. Plus, they've probably all got that circulated water so who knows how many others got it before they "took care" of the problem. There are always dead fish and the poor neon tetras all look like they have neon tetra disease

Thankfully, they closed that Wal-Mart down altogether and built a big, huge new superstore just down the road. This was very recently so I haven't seen their tanks yet.

I know not every Wal-Mart is like this, but I wish the whole chain would stop selling fish if they aren't going to be dedicated about it.

--Kristin

 

[David]

The thing is, Walmart simply shouldn't stock fish. They do not specialize in animal care, much less fish care. Basically all they care about is raking in money, and although there may be the odd occasion when they accidentally hire someone who knows a bit about fish, that is purely coincidence. Mainly they will just stock fish and leave the rest to fate.

 

[leck85]

so-so..

the fish section at the wal mart near me is alright.. they treat sick fish.. 99% of the time, the fish come in sick.. i work at a pet store, so id know... but yea.. theyre alright.. know the basics of fish which is good...

1 of the ottos i bought did die on the way home in the bag but o well theyre cheap

 

[jrd77]

My Walmart is a supercenter and does carry fish; why wouldn't it be able to? Walmart (my Walmart) is hit or miss with fish. Some days you want to throw up other days the tanks and fish look great...same with my LFS and other pet stores. Timing is everything; I wish I had better timing...