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.
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.