Elodea

I went to Petsmart today to get substrate and plants for my tank. Walking over to the fish section, I decided to take a look at the fish. Naturally, they looked horrific, but even worse were the tiny "info tags" about the basics for each tank (feeding, min. tank size, etc.).

Shocked to see that the tags were horribly inaccurate:

Common pleco - Minimum tank size: 20 gallons

Oscar - Minimum tank size: 30 gallons

Tinfoil barb - Minimum tank size: 30 gallons

Tiger barb - Minimum tank size: 5 gallons

Angelfish - Minimum tank size: 10 gallons

Zebra danio - Minimum tank size: 5 gallons

Clown loach - Minimum tank size: 20 gallons

Also, they never specified if fish needed to school or not.

Now I'm planning on bombarding the company with somewhat polite emails telling them to change the tags. Who knows, maybe the've been told before and my email will tip the balance and they will change them. All for the better of people buying fish there.

Does anyone know the company's email or anything like that?

scatty

No idea but any action is better than no action at all - I say go for it. Couldn't you find the contact details for the company from their website or something? I hear google's pretty handy too

Goldwing_Don

...did you ask to talk to the store manager and talk to him / her about what your feelings are? (i'm sure you didn't. most people don't.) maybe you should tell them that you feel what the tag says in your judgement are not right...maybe you could ask them where they got there infomation. there is alot of books out there with this type of info in it ......just a thought

bruiser

I've noticed that time and time again, at petsmart, and other stores, big and small.. The tags are about as useful as the staff in most cases..

I'm to the point where I don't even consider reading the tags or asking the staff for information.. I just do the research on my own.. If I'm still stumped, I come to all of you fine folks..

Mislead by info tags and staff too many times..

Butterfly

The reaction I get at Petsmart and Petco is most often . "We are told what to do by the main office", "The tags and information sheets are sent by the main office." I'm pretty sure this is true so the main office is where you would need to start IMHO.
I'm lucky in that our Petco is pretty good, they at least have knowledgeable staff that will discuss the fishes needs. I still do my own research
One of the better Loach sites has made flyers up and are available for printing so they can be shared with LFS
Carol

Elodea

I got a "that's what the main office does" like you, Butterfly. But how do I contact the main office?

haedra

Elodea

Oh, stupid me. Thanks, Haedra. But do I have to contact the corporate office? Or the local store?

sirdarksol

Corporate office. Branches of large chains/franchises like that have little to no leeway with any of their display info. They will get in a ton of trouble if they deviate from the info the company sends them. The only way to change it is to get the corporate office to change it.

endlessecho74

I'd say the bright side of having to contact the corporate office is that once they do make the necessary changes, all the local stores will be required to follow suit!

LyndaB

Always start at the top and work your way down..... don't start at the local level. I usually call the President or CEO of any company I have an issue with. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. Not a letter, but a phone call. I follow up with a letter after I've spoken with the person.

sirdarksol

Not always the best policy. If something minor was missed or messed up on a purchase, or if there was some issue with the particular store, you risk doing one of two things by starting at the top:
1)You risk being ignored. When someone contacts upper management for something minor, when the problem could easily be fixed at the store level, upper management usually will call them crazy... often to the employees that the customer wanted chastised.
2)You risk getting someone in serious trouble for something small. When the above doesn't happen, it's usually a complete reverse. I've seen people lose their jobs because of this.

Also, letters tend to be more effective, unless for some reason you have the clout to actually get the president/CEO of a corp (and not his/her voicemail or secretary). They can be looked at, reviewed, copied and sent to the appropriate parties, etc...
However, e-mail is generally less effective than either.

haedra

Totally agree with what you've said SDS.

All I can really add is what I believe I did see mentioned at least once.

I used to work in retail store management for quite a few years before I got pregnant and became a stay at home mother. The store manager in most (but not all) large chains have little power to make the sorts of changes that might be reflected in this particular circumstance. The information cards are very well indeed likely sent to the store by what I'll call "corporate level" as they are a marketing procedure; and that is handled by them. When I worked my stores all promotional material, signs and displays were sent to me by the office. It was not within my purview to change such things; it was my job to simply see that the policies they had set in place were carried out to their satisfaction.

Now, if you are talking about husbandry, or tank upkeep of their fish I see that as a different matter; because lack thereof would imply more strongly that there is a deficiency at the store management level.

I honestly find it a sad fact that the large chains are tend to be so heavily micromanaged by upper management. There are many local managers who probably have great ideas for their stores that they simply can not deploy because they are forced to comply with what the company tells them. I experienced this myself and it was one of the reasons I ended up hating any store management position I had. I felt like little more than a pawn on a chessboard, following the commands of the fingers placing my piece.

It is also for this same reason I tend to blame the upper management for any grievous problems I might see at a large chain pet store, and not hold animosity towards the employees working in the location so much. While there will always be some that might not care as much; I truly believe most of them are just following the directions they are given to perform their jobs.

I suppose the TDLR version of this is that in this case, if you want to effect a change with the print on the actual cards, you will need to contact corporate level management. They are the ones who likely have the power to make such change. I wouldn't email or phone; I think a very polite and professionally worded letter in snail mail would go much further. Just my opinion.

whitedevil

Those tags are not the same ones ive seen, alot of those are right. thats per fish in its OWN tank no mates, they just dont say this because thats bad for business.

you can try but you wont make any difference. All my petsmart fish(entire stock I keep) are alive and well, breeding,my angels turn 4 this spring. Id complain about the store itself because not all are like this, the three I frequent, their managers own fish Ive bred and purchased from their employers. The ones I go to keep a very very knowledgeable staff( good thing about a bad economy, you get the best of the best) most hold degrees of some form in biology and marine biology. The pleco tags at the one I frequent the most even have the BNP listed at a minimum of 20g. the common plecos are marked at 55+ gallons.

Those are probably old tags thrown out there to make it look like they got their act together when the brass comes through.

Elodea

True, but I feel that our particular Petsmart is just horrific like that, just like how our Petco seems excellent in its upkeep of fish.

Amanda

My Petsmart has the same tags. It says something stupid like an Oscar can be in a 20 gal. or something.

Amanda

I have to respectfully disagree that those tags are correct. I do not believe an Oscar can be kept in a 30 gal. - one ALONE should be in a 55 gal.
Clown Loaches also need 90+ gal. ALONE.