Customer complaint

I definitely wouldn't bother with going to Petland. Have you tried Sea of Marvels in North Liberty or Coralville Bay in Iowa City/Coralville?

 

I worked at Petland for 7 years in the fish department. Sice then they have totally let it go to total hell. The owner is an IDIOT, and most of the employees they have are idiots + they have no idea what they're talking about. Honestly though, there aren't many fish guys outside of the club communities that do know what they're talking about.

You're wrong about Bronson, he's an idiot. Especially with saltwater stuff. Elliot is the only guy they have left and he only works one day a week so it's hard for him to make a difference.

The owner Petland has long ago decided that the fish department bleeds money and isn't worth his time or investment (even though back in the day we were netting 250k profit/yr). Since then the fish department has been put on a strict buy back budget. Since nowadays they can't hardly keep anything alive you reach a point of diminishing returns and eventually have no livestock left. The filtration, electrical and lighting badly need to be reworked and remodeled in that department. Like I said though, Ron wrote that department off long ago.

BTW the saltwater section is 16' ~800 gallons, and there might actually be 4 fish in there lol

 

On the topic of employee purchases. They basically never order anything worth having unless an employee orders it for themselves. That is not,they order it, like it, and then take it. But rather that they see it on a list, and order it in with the agreement that they will pay for it straight away no matter the condition (unless it's DOA). Otherwise they just never buy saltwater stuff to stock with. I'm sure a little cherry picking goes on, but what else do you work at a fish store for? It's certainly not the pay!

 

Be careful with Petco. Really look at there fish. They have had problems before with there fish and Ich. I seen your post on your clowns and I have seen there clowns have Ich about 3 weeks ago. I would buy from them you are right they have great prices, but i would look at there health before I buy. As I would with any Retailer except Hung at Sea of marvel. He has everyone beat on that department. You may pay a little more at most, but his fish and corals I find they are with out question healthy and happy. I have never seen a sick fish in there unless he has taken it in to get back to good health.
Coralville bay is also a great place. Its ture Petland has been a joke for some time now. I only look now, back in October when I set my first tank up the saltwater looked great, but it has slipped badly. 

 

I have my reservations with Petland.. They are often misinformed or just flat out wrong. Which is OK. That is part of the hobby is learning new things. We are not all marine biologists. If we were things would be really easy!

The biggest issue I have is hearing things like 'you need to make sure your calcium is perfect before you set your fish up' Or "a cycle can be done in two weeks" Things like this make me really nervous. I am no expert. I am a hobbyist. I have been doing this for a long long time, but none of this I have ever heard before going to petland. I have also personally seen them mark up live rock with 'anemones' living on them and charging people for Aptasia.

I personally do not shop there. And I would not send anyone I knew there.

*EDIT* I want to go ahead and add that I don't like to participate in bashing threads especially when it comes to something that could be considered preferences. However in this case, I cannot defend Petland based on my experiences there, as well as other hearsay and reputation...

 

This thread is 2 years old... ive been to petland a time or two. Its ok. Seemed pricey but normal for iowa. I stood there for 30 min for help and gave up. The puppy area definitely takes 90% of the business which is awesome but not having available fish staff suck for us aquaria finatics. Lol

 

I disagree. I like this place. NIce clowns.. Some nice frags.. Nice frozen food. Nice to have something in the area.

 

I have to be honest, theres a lot of people who've left complaints on here about Petland. Having read these I feel obliged to leave my POSITIVE remarks. I grew up in Belvidere Illinois, a short distance from Petland in Cherry Valley (Rockford IL). If it were'nt for Petland I never would have entered the Saltwater hobby just out of high school in 2009. They cut me a deal on a 29 gallon tank, matched the lowest price (new) that I could find, sold me a good stand and gave me X% off all my purchases thereafter as I entered the hobby, they even held the door open a couple of times as I hastily phoned them at the last minute before closing, arriving after they closed, only to purchase (NOTHING), rather to have my fears calmed over about 30 minutes of good advice that I probably could have gotten over the phone but how was I to know better?

I SAY THIS: I WAS A COMPLETE SALTWATER NOOBIE, KNOWING NOTHING, HAVING NEVER EVEN HAD FRESHWATER EXPERIENCE. TO SOMEBODY ENTERING THE HOBBY THEY WAITED ON ME IN A WAY PETCO, PETSMART NEVER WOULD HAVE.


I was a FISH ONLY guy, a ROOKIE, not a REEF JUNKIE with an all in attitude. I was totally unsure of the whole thing, they helped to keep me interested in it.

.. I moved to Iowa (Ames) in fall of 2010, soon thereafter around December I began to abandon the hobby because of college and a complete lack of funds, no stores nearby would match the price I had been getting at Petland, or carried a regular stock of the goods I prefered. Driving to Petco in WDSM got old, fast...


MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN, NOW I'M ALL IN, I'VE GOT YOU GUYS & GOOD FRIENDS IN THE HOBBY WHO WILL STOP BY, TAKE IN SOME FISH WHEN I SCREW UP, LEND ME A HAND TILL 1AM... THE LIST GOES ON!


Now as I return to the hobby, I am really all into it, and plan to far surpase my previous involvement... not just getting my feet wet anymore, I'm diving in head first.


I don't really prefer petland, petco, petsmart, or any place in particular... for the most part I don't care, I have more patience, I'll check with ya'll first before I rush to a store to buy something. I have a NEW & more social aproach to the hobby, spending time here on the forum. YES, today if I had some sort or real source of wealth I would try to find a clean, friendly local fist store, but I've found LFS out of my price range and sort of... well... yeah?... I won't say but some may notice..


TO A NEW GUY GETTING INTO IT, NOT KNOWING OF A REEF CLUB. ETC: I'M PROUD TO SAY CHEERS TO PETLAND!!!! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Been there lately? Dont bother. Last time I tried to purchase from there the carpet anemone was nearly ripped in half and when there was a maxi I wanted, I had to get it out of the tank myself.