PFK Stockist of the Year winners..... Very disappointed

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Thought I would take a break this afternoon and pop to a local store that has won the East Midlands vote for Shop of the Year in the Practical Fishkeeping Magazine awards a couple of times recently (which are apparently voted on by the readers). Boy was I disappointed!!!! I have been to much smaller stores with better stocks and health of livestock, especially on pond equipment!!! Even the tropical community tank keeper would be disappointed with the poor selection of fish available (essentially just the basic varieties in tiny tanks). They also had several Discus in 12" x 8" x 10" tanks alongside other fish and you could tell that the Discus were not happy whatsoever. Almost all of the empty "display" tanks (which were not your cheap aquariums) were filled with gaudy Spongebob or similar decor!!! That is not the mark of a professional outfit and the experienced fishkeeper would simply walk straight back out again. As for the pond fish, well, the Koi in the "stock ponds" were not in the best of health with several laying dead on the bottom or in the corners of them and when pointed out to a staff member, I was told that that is normal and the fish are not for sale!!!!!! Dead fish in a aquatic centre normal??? Every other shop I have ever been to (even Pets@Home!!!) will remove dead fish as soon as they are noticed or pointed out!!!! 20 minutes after pointing out the dead fish, they were still in the "stock ponds"!!!!

The staff had no time whatsoever to answer questions other than yes or no, and 30 seconds later after it was too much hassle for one guy to give me a price on some bits, he was walking back through the store holding a kettle to make a drink for himself!!!!!

As for the pricing, they were EXTREMELY expensive to more local shops.

Maidenhead Aquatics nr Oakham, Rutland - you should be very disappointed in yourselves!!!! I was going to spend several hundreds of pounds on some items, but obviously your staff did not seem interested in selling me anything or did not have the answers to even the most basic of questions.....

I will keep my money more local.
 
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Yes come across outlets that have owon the PFK awards themselves and werent up to the grade .
Thankfu;;y my own nearest outlet has really taken off since their new owners took it over some years ago "Emperor Tropicals", they have not taken their eye off the ball infact the expanded last yer and took over a former koi outlet in Tavistock.
I get our food suffs from them and equipment too plus the odd koi when we see a nice one .

Dave
 
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My local shop, Clearwater Aquatics (who I normally use) used to win the PFK Discus awards every year, until there was an influx of poor quality Discus saturating the market causing prices to drop, so they stopped doing them and then concentrated on marines (as well as developing a Wet & dry filter for Koi ponds - which I bought the last one they made due to most pond keepers not understanding how the filtration actually worked and preferring to spend £20 less on a smaller traditional gravity filter box!). They have just reopened their Discus room again and no doubt will be deservedly up there at the top again in no time. Their customer service is second to none as well, and nothing is ever too much hassle for them. It is a shame that they have limited space outside for coldwater fish and pond plants as they would make that a success in no time as well.

Might have to pay them a visit when I am down that neck of the woods again Dave. Got to go down to Cullompton soonish to get some more of the carp from my friends stock pond (as he is running out of room in there due to the sheer number of fish in it and the speed they are growing!).
 

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