# The WORST service I've ever recieved, and I've had some bad ones.



## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

I was in a garden centre, with mum looking at plants, so I went to look at the fish out of interest. There were dead or diseased fish in most tanks that were all algae ridden.

The manager happened to be serving customers, but as it was empty, I approached his and told him about the dead/diseased fish. The reply I got was "I don't think so, we keep our fish to a very high standard."
I then told him about a Siamese Fighting Fish that was laying side down on the bottom. He told me that this is their natural behaviour, that they are bottom dwellers and are nocturnal. I then told him that I'd never heard of any behaviour like this before. He replied "Well you dont work here do you?". He then told me that he wouldnt sell me fish as I obviously have no knowledge on the hobby and am just a precocious child.

This is a word of warning not to buy fish from this centre, I dont know if I'm allowed to say the name, but if you live in the Staines area, PM me and I can let you know.


Harry


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## Stan193 (May 27, 2009)

I was in a petshop the other day and the assistant told me that all snakes are nocturnal. What a load of rubbish.


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## connor 1213 (Apr 6, 2009)

name and shame!


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## Superbuzz3 (Dec 7, 2007)

Im local....I reckon I have an idea of where your talking about



Cleopatra the Royal said:


> I was in a garden centre, with mum looking at plants, so I went to look at the fish out of interest. There were dead or diseased fish in most tanks that were all algae ridden.
> 
> The manager happened to be serving customers, but as it was empty, I approached his and told him about the dead/diseased fish. The reply I got was "I don't think so, we keep our fish to a very high standard."
> I then told him about a Siamese Fighting Fish that was laying side down on the bottom. He told me that this is their natural behaviour, that they are bottom dwellers and are nocturnal. I then told him that I'd never heard of any behaviour like this before. He replied "Well you dont work here do you?". He then told me that he wouldnt sell me fish as I obviously have no knowledge on the hobby and am just a precocious child.
> ...


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Give us a clue???? and i'll send him links to proper betta care


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## Reptileman1993 (Dec 3, 2009)

He'd better to some reserching.


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

I'll give you a clue. It sounds like Botcutts but with an N at the front.

First to guess wins the pride.



Harry


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## Superbuzz3 (Dec 7, 2007)

Harry,

Have you tried World of Water in Staines/Wraysbury?

I went there for the first time today, and was very impressed, quite cheap aswell and fish all look healthy



Cleopatra the Royal said:


> I'll give you a clue. It sounds like Botcutts but with an N at the front.
> 
> First to guess wins the pride.
> 
> ...


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Yep, I live just down the road from there.

At first it wasn't very good, more like a garden centre tbh, but now its much better in there. Some of the staff are a bit iffy, but if you speak to John he's great!

Harry


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## hedgehog738 (Oct 6, 2009)

i find pets at home a bit like that, not botherd about the fish just botherd about there pay cheque.


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

hedgehog738 said:


> i find pets at home a bit like that, not botherd about the fish just botherd about there pay cheque.


I think that sums it all up for most garden centres.

Harry


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## vonnie (Aug 20, 2007)

I think it sums up some aquatics shops too, not just garden centres. I visited one last year and had been really looking forward to picking up some more unusual stock. But there were 2 or 3 dead fish, and not recently deceased either! Their corals tanks were absolutely overrun with bubble algae. I'm having enough trouble with that stuff as it is without introducing even more!!! Needless to say I didn't buy anything.

My local garden centre was ok for a while. But my last purchase put me off for good. The shrimps were all kept in a large display tank which also housed all the live rock they had for sale plus lots of other stock. It was piled high and the assistant couldn't catch the shrimps which kept hiding inbetween rocks, as you'd expect. After at least 10 minutes of trying she lost patience and started just knocking the rocks out of the way. I am certain she crushed at least one fish and numerous snails. Now the tanks are all still there but at least 75% are empty, so I guess they realised it's not a lucrative business to get into.

I'm still looking for a really good shop locally.


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Staines is a bit far out from me so I dunno it.

Went to a few maidenhead aquatics owned places in Iver and one a few miles from that. Waterlife near heathrow is where I usually go.

Anyone rate these?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Cleopatra the Royal said:


> I think that sums it all up for most garden centres.
> 
> Harry



That's absolute bollocks.



Sorry but you can't brand everyone the same because you don't like garden centres that you've visited. I can name several garden centre aquatics round my area that are pretty good. The vast majority will never win shop of the year but that's usually because of the limited stock. That doesn't make them bad.

Most only stock bread and butter stuff because that's what their target market buy. You can't have a go at a shop because they won't waste time, money and effort getting in rare and exotic stock that won't sell. They are a business at the end of the day.

i work in a garden centre aquatics department and we all except one work very hard to do the best we can (Jamesh will know what I'm talking about lol). 

The fish are kept healthy, and those that inevitably fall sick etc are treated and cared for properly to get them back to full health. We don't stock a huge range because most of our customers are your basic community tank keepers. Half a dozen neons, some corys and some dwarf gouramis etc.


Wildwoods is a garden centre aquatics and is rated very high in the country. It also went bust a few years ago because they stocked a massive range of cichlids and oddballs that few people would buy.


So yeah, don't slag off an entire group because of the few you've experienced.


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

mike515 said:


> That's absolute bollocks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats why I said MOST. And thats round my area, anyway. I'm sure there are good garden centres else where.

Harry


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Staines is a bit far out from me so I dunno it.
> 
> Went to a few maidenhead aquatics owned places in Iver and one a few miles from that. Waterlife near heathrow is where I usually go.
> 
> Anyone rate these?


Favourites.

Maidenhead Aquatics are great. The fish are a bit more expensive but worth the extra money (in my view), and Waterlife is great. That's where I got my snake from (the rep part). They've asked me to do my work experience when it comes round for them in the rep shop. 

Really love both of them.


Harry


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## Robinlovesreptiles (Sep 26, 2009)

id disagree about pets at home not bothered about the fish...
they make sure your tank has cycled for long enough and the tankmates are alright with each other, they give decent advice and wont sell you fish if they dont think the tank is suitable yet. The fish are fairly healthy but i do worry sometimes about the tankmates, 

i dont like how they keep the reptiles but i think the fish section is alright,


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## CreepyCrumpet (Feb 26, 2009)

Cleopatra the Royal said:


> I was in a garden centre, with mum looking at plants, so I went to look at the fish out of interest. There were dead or diseased fish in most tanks that were all algae ridden.
> 
> The manager happened to be serving customers, but as it was empty, I approached his and told him about the dead/diseased fish. The reply I got was "I don't think so, we keep our fish to a very high standard."
> I then told him about a Siamese Fighting Fish that was laying side down on the bottom. He told me that this is their natural behaviour, that they are bottom dwellers and are nocturnal. I then told him that I'd never heard of any behaviour like this before. He replied "Well you dont work here do you?". He then told me that he wouldnt sell me fish as I obviously have no knowledge on the hobby and am just a precocious child.
> ...


 
Thats disgraceful, im not a fish keeper but the amount of times i have heard with my own ears and been told stories of shop keepers saying things like this:

" He told me that this is their natural behaviour, that they are bottom dwellers and are nocturnal"

They just try to make out its natural just to get out of facing responsibility and the fact their care isnt up to scratch!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Cleopatra the Royal said:


> Favourites.
> 
> Maidenhead Aquatics are great. The fish are a bit more expensive but worth the extra money (in my view), and Waterlife is great. That's where I got my snake from (the rep part). They've asked me to do my work experience when it comes round for them in the rep shop.
> 
> ...


Cool. Yeah if I'm ever stuck for livefood I go to the rep section at Waterlife.

Been going there since I was a kid :blush:


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## t1lissa (Sep 3, 2008)

i agree creepycrumpet, i had it done to me last week by a lfs, i understand its a business there trying to run but, if they want custom surely they would do everything they can to get that,not all the petshops are like this but a hand full are all i can say is if u find a lfs your happy with stick with it


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## Smigsy (Jul 30, 2009)

id agree with robinlovesreptiles my local PAH ask tons of questions to make sure any new fish purchased would fit comfortably into your set up.


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## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

wot a gimp, int staines where Ali G lives?


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## Reaper941 (Mar 21, 2008)

Patmufc said:


> wot a gimp, int staines where Ali G lives?


No, because he's not real. Sacha Baron Cohen is real.


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## jamesh (Jul 3, 2009)

mike515 said:


> That's absolute bollocks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL yes i do know who.


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## serpentsupplies (Sep 4, 2009)

mike incredibly well put. completely back you up to.

also if you ask most places even garden centres they will be able to order you pretty much anything if they use good suppliers.


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## Alaina (Nov 18, 2009)

Private breeders all the way!


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## serpentsupplies (Sep 4, 2009)

of fish???


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## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

Reaper941 said:


> No, because he's not real. Sacha Baron Cohen is real.


ye funnily enough it is a joke


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## Reptile-newb (Jul 13, 2009)

I just made a lengthy post and for some :censor:ing reason, I closed it by accident. Anyone I went to an absolutely horrid pet shop this morning. I'll give you a quick rundown on it.

Tropical/Coldwater section (no marine section present):
- Large numbers of dead fish in every tank
- All tanks covered with green slime algae and hair algae growing inside, some also had green water
- Red tailed black shark was eating a dead danio
- One tank had all but one of the 20+ platies in there dead
- Several guppies and mollies were swimming awkwardly
- A male betta had all it's fins ripped apart from being kept in a tank with an albino red finned shark

Pond section:
- Lots of dead fish in vats, the majority of the losses were in the goldfish, orfe and sterlet vats, however there were also significant losses in the tench, koi and mirror carp vats
- A dead male betta was in the goldfish vat for some reason
- All vats had masses of hair algae in them
- There was also a vat with white cloud mountain minnows for sale as pond fish, all the minnows were resting on the bottom barely moving and not active as they should be when happy, with several dead specimens

Small Furry section:
- A few obviously diseased puppies for sale in cages probably meant for use with hamsters
- Shared open-top enclosure containing african pygmy hedgehogs, gerbils, degus, chinchillas, guinea pigs, chipmunks and dwarf hamsters
- A tiny tank containing hundreds of mice, with several dead

Reptile section:
- Several dead animals of all kinds
- Shared vivariums, one with beardies, green iguanas, chinese water dragons and blue tongue skinks, the other with grass lizards, leopard geckos, lacerta lizards, golden geckos, house geckos, green anoles, brown anoles, green tree frogs, fire bellied toads, giant african land snails, hermit crabs and rough green snakes
- A burm that could not move in it's tank
- I spotted an unknown lizard running across the floor, it was too quick to identify

Bird section:
- One large shared aviary, with amazon parrots, quails, canaries, finches, cockatiels, diamond doves, ring necked doves, quaker parrots, budgies, conures, a cockatoo and love birds
- Several obviously diseased specimens


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

Reptile-newb said:


> I just made a lengthy post and for some :censor:ing reason, I closed it by accident. Anyone I went to an absolutely horrid pet shop this morning. I'll give you a quick rundown on it.
> 
> Tropical/Coldwater section (no marine section present):
> - Large numbers of dead fish in every tank
> ...


That is disgusting! Makes me realise how good the place I got my snake from is..


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## Sega (Dec 8, 2009)

Thats on a level you need to report Im afraid, a store round here used to be like that and lost their license.


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## jartok (May 13, 2009)

melbicks garden centre just outside coleshill by birmingham airport is pretty good for fish do marine and all sorts and they seems generally well looked after


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

jamesh said:


> LOL yes i do know who.


It's like you're a mind reader mate lol



serpentsupplies said:


> mike incredibly well put. completely back you up to.
> 
> also if you ask most places even garden centres they will be able to order you pretty much anything if they use good suppliers.


Cheers. I'm all for small one off stores etc but you can't deny that some big chain stores are good. Yet to find a decent pets at home, I find them average at best. But maidenhead aquatics is a brilliant example. There are 3 within half an hour of me. 1 is an absolute pit, another is ok, and the other one varies from ok to brilliant depending on what day of the week it is (in regards to stock and staff service)


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## Cleopatra the Royal (Nov 29, 2008)

Yep, love Maidenhead Aquatics.

Harry


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

I think its such a shame that these places still exisit, its not hard to care for the animals properly, how can these people sell animals to people when you dont know how to look after them theirselves. Arrghh justs makes me so angry!

I am pretty sure most people do research before buying anything these days, and I find the advice people give me in my local fish shop just ridiculus, they dont even know the name of fish, and I had to explain TO THEM what fish as they didnt know what they were?! Very frustrating. I try not to ask them questions, as I dont see the point they just make it up on the spot!

I was buying 2 lovely blue cheek gobies at the time at a Maidenhead Aquatics, and he guy spent about 10-15 minutes trying to catch the poor things, they were so stressed out, and needless to say one died in transit  which is so sad!  RIP poor squishy!

But there are some great store around I went to a fantastic place in the new forest a while back, and their fish and coral was amazing, and they were all healthy and well looked after.

When we see places like this, we need to complain as nothing will be done and they can just carry on trading!


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