Petmania becoming a sponsor

Hi All,
My name is Stephen Walpole and i am the Aquatics Manager for the Petmania Group.We are a 100% Irish owned company and are in the middle of becoming a new sponsor on the forum and i would like to introduce myself.
I have been working for Petmania since march of last year and we have been working hard to provide our customers with a high standard of customer service, a wide variety of coldwater, tropical and marine fish along with competitive pricing on aquariums and equipment.
We are dedicated at Petmania to providing our customers with the best service in aquatics and would appreciate any feed back from the members on any of our 14 stores around the country and advice on what you would like to see in our stores in the future.
Looking forward to your replies
Stephen

Welcome Stephen and Petmania to the Forum.

Kev.

Welcome; maybe more species; more plants and marines in the near future?

regards;
andrew

the one in ashboure is very good

Welcome aboard Petmania as a sponsor to the forum. I am sure there will be plenty of comments about yer stores as i think most people here have visited at least one the petmania stores. Let me start with the whole "ban the bowl" issue and want to know are u aware of it and do u support it? Dont mean to put u on the spot but we here are very passionate about our fish and like our lfs to not only to sell top quality goods and fish but also to educate people coing into the hobby with good fishkeepin practice. Fairplay Stephen again for joining up and i hope yer stay with us is a good one.

Mick...

Welcome to the forum Stephen



Mark

welcome to you, and to petmania

comments i would have about your stores (portlaoise being my closest) are that lately it is looking much improved in species selection, health and generally how the different species are held (ie 2 or 3 species in the one tank are actually compatible). plus you are stocking gamma frozen foods, seemingly the full selection, and at good prices!
one thing i would suggest is to really educate a few select staff members in each store on proper and responsible fishkeeping, including above mentioned "ban the bowl" but also specific species requirements, even if this means the stores hold booklets about the fish in stock and there care, requirements and compatibility. it'll get more and more customers returning if they have got good advice and quality stock

oh, and do we get any membership special offers??

welcome, new sponsors always welcome

hi and welcome
would say you will get plenty of comments from members here
visited plenty of your stores around ireland the last few years
the ones in waterford and carlow are very good.waterford is great for frozen food the last time i was there i got buy 1 get 1 free.fish selection is great towards some of ure other outlets.
have to say the 1 in kilkenny is brutal,fish selection is poor and never had frozen food.there was only 1 guy knew what he was talking about and i think hes gone.
could do with educating the staff on more fishy things

eire1978 wrote:

the one in ashboure is very good

Think that is Equipet mate.

Welcome to the Forum Stephen

thanks peter

Welcome to the forum Stephen,

i was in the Santry branch on Monday and things have very much improved compared to the last time i was there.You have Gerard(Gerrythechip) working there who is a fishkeeper himself,so that's a good start.I noticed you had Tropheus for sale,3 variants and just 2 of each and way to expensive..Tropheus should only be sold in groups of Ten or more.If your going to sell Tropheus,source the best Qualty and price and do deals on groups of ten and don't mix them together in tanks.

Welcome to the Forum Stephen

Have to admire you for putting yourself straight in firing line

Just wondering what would you prefer, if any has something to say about one of your stores that might not be of the best nature

Make it a public view or to pm you first

I only ask as so there is no confusion

Welcome to the forum Steven!!
As you wish my remarks based on my Portlaoise, Wexford and Waterford Petmania's stores:
1. The offer for substrate does not exist at all (forget about planted tanks if your stores are the only place for shopping)
2. Gravel - only medium or bigger grade have seen there. What about 1 - 3 mm?
3. What about introducing full range of JBL, Hikari and Mosura food products?
4. As mentioned by my colleagus: range of plants is very limited to basic ones. Nobody knows their names and requirements because they are not given this information...

But generally, in comparison with the begining of last year, I can see improvement in fish department in your stores. But still long way to perfection.

(are we a part of market reaserch )

Hi All,
Thanks for your warm welcome, most appreciated!
Just to comment of some points you have made,
- If anyone has anything they are unhappy about or they would like to speak to me about then please pm me, thats no problem
-Plants is an issue and we are dealing with it, but again to do it right comes with a training program.
-Gravel i will look into( please suggest any favourites)
-Marines will be more readily available with better stocking, also we have the full range of the new red sea reef care program and TMC products.
-You will find a wider range of tropical and coldwater species coming along over the next few week, at the moment we have a nice range in Santry which i have posted below.
-A few issues raised on staff. Every store has a dedicated fish person who is currently undergoing the OATA fish course and they are eager and willing to learn in order to provide the best customer service.
-The comment on the kilkenny store, we have a garden centre/petmania there but no we dont carry our full range there and only have 2 fish bays.
-The Tropheus, I would have no problems with keeping mixed species of Tropeus (except the bulu point)unless you intend to breed a certain species but yes you are correct about them being a group fish but they can happily go in ones and twos with malawi s and the like.

Santry fish list
BITTERLING RAINBOW M
TURTLE MUSK SM
ANGEL ASSORTED ML
APISTOGRAMMA BORELLI WILD M
APISTOGRAMMA CACATOIDES DOUBLE RED ML
APISTOGRAMMA CACATOIDES SUNBURST ML
APISTOGRAMMA PANDOURINI M
AULONOCARA RED M
AULONOCARA TANGERINE M
AULONOCARA USSISYA M
BARB TINFOIL GOLD M
BUTTERFLY FISH L
CATFISH ASIAN RED TAIL ALBINO M
CATFISH COLUMBIAN SHARK M
CATFISH GRASSCUTTER M
CATFISH WOOD BLACK TIP ML
CICHLASOMA CARPINTIS M
CICHLASOMA CHOCOLATE M
CICHLASOMA SYNSPILLUM M
CICHLASOMA TRIMACULATUS M
CICHLID PARROT ORANGE ML
CICHLID RAM RED L
CORYDORAS HABROSUS M
CORYDORAS MELANISTIUS L
CORYDORAS METAE L
CORYDORAS METAE L
CORYDORAS OLGA L
CORYDORAS PANDA TB
CORYDORAS PUNCTATUS L
CORYDORAS SCHWARTZI L
CORYDORAS UNDULATUS L
DANIO GLOWLIGHT M
DANIO REGANI ML
DISCUS BLUE GERMAN 2.5"
DISCUS PIDGEON BLOOD 2.5"
DISCUS PURPLE 2.5"
DISCUS RED TURQUOISE 2.5"
EEL FIRE M
FIGHTER CROWN TAIL L
FIGHTER MALE L
GEPHYROCHROMIS ACEI (WHITE FIN) M
GUPPY ENDLER RED MELAZONA ML
GUPPY ENDLER YELLOW LEOPARD ML
GUPPY MALE ONYX L
GUPPY VENUS ML
GUPPY WILD ML
HAPLOCHROMIS BOADZULU (EMPRESS RED) M
HAPLOCHROMIS BORLEYI M
HAPLOCHROMIS CHRYSONATUS M
HAPLOCHROMIS OBLIQUIDENS M
HEADSTANDER SPOTTED SM
KILLIEFISH CLOWN M
KNIFE GLASS ML
LAMP EYE M
LOACH SUCKING GOLD M
LOACH SUCKING ML
LOBSTER COBALT BLUE M
MOLLY NEON SPOTTED ML
NOTHOBRANCHIUS RACHOVII L
OSCAR TIGER ALBINO RED 3"
PLECOSTOMUS BULLDOG SPOTTED L148 L
RASBORA EMERALD EYE M
RASBORA ESPEI ML
SCAT SILVER M
SWORD COMET RED XL
SYNODONTIS NIGRITA L
SYNODONTIS OCCELIFER TB
SYNODONTIS PARDALIS M
TETRA HATCHET SILVER GIANT L
TETRA KERRI 'SUPER BLUE' L
TETRA RED BLACK HEART ML
TETRA ROBERTY L
TETRA VIETNAMESE CARDINAL MINNOW L
TROPHEUS LUPOTA ML
TROPHEUS MOLIRO ML
TROPHEUS MURAGO ML
WHIPTAIL ROYAL TANK BRED M
WHIPTAIL TIFFANY M
SNAIL APPLE BLACK L
SNAIL RABBIT YELLOW L

Thanks again and keep em coming

Welcome to the forum.

This is the clothes LFS to me only up the road, and i will say there is a huge difference in the quality in the fish and in the tanks over the last few months compared to the past.

Was in 2 weeks ago and the tanks look great and so did the fish. A few small issuses on stocking of fish but other then that things looked great.

Maybe look into setting up an area for plants, always been something that has never really been sold in the shop.

Alan

Welcome to the forum. Ive only been in the Santry store and although there have been big improvements, past experiences in there have left a bad taste in the mouth. Heres hoping you folks are on the up and up. Take on board what the members here say and no doubt you will find more coming in the door.

Jay

Welcome along.I wasnt on the forum for a few days and when I went back on it and the Petmenia banner was on it I wasnt impressed at all.Above are already a good few reasons mentioned.Main problem is in my opinion the training of staff or better the not training of staff and the related problems with it.I know you work on it and fair play for stepping forward.But dont worry other sponsors are aswell far from perfect.I think it was the right step you did and working together with the forum both sites will benefit in the future.All the best,Tim

Is JohnH on holidays or why is the thread not blocked;)

hi stephen,welcome to the forum,i have only been to one patmania store and that was the one in manor west tralee and allthough it could do with some more tanks(we allways want more)that particular store was very well run,the place was spotless inc the tanks,good healthy fish and a very nice marine section and the staff were very pleasent to deal with and could understand english also.hopefully a store will open in cork in the future

Frontosa wrote:

Welcome along.I wasnt on the forum for a few days and when I went back on it and the Petmenia banner was on it I wasnt impressed at all.Above are already a good few reasons mentioned.Main problem is in my opinion the training of staff or better the not training of staff and the related problems with it.I know you work on it and fair play for stepping forward.But dont worry other sponsors are aswell far from perfect.I think it was the right step you did and working together with the forum both sites will benefit in the future.All the best,Tim

Is JohnH on holidays or why is the thread not blocked;)

why would the thread be blocked?

stephen welcome again, good to see you are taking all that is being said in good heart as feedback, and delighted to hear your training your staff in the oata qualifications (just a suggestion but shouldnt it be 2 per store so someone is on duty at all times who knows there stuff) maybe you can get these people once qualified to train the rest of the staff in the solid basics of bread and butter fish and tank maintenance etc. and then have your (preferably 2) specialists. great to see ye being progressive and also being honest enough in your response above as to whats in the pipelines. thanks also for listening to above suggestions re gravel etc. keep this up and your company will go from strength to strength, but as they say ignore the customer at your peril... anyway once again welcome, and please participate in this forum as much as you can, remember there is nobody who knows it all but together we'll get there

eire1978 wrote:

Frontosa wrote:

Welcome along.I wasnt on the forum for a few days and when I went back on it and the Petmenia banner was on it I wasnt impressed at all.Above are already a good few reasons mentioned.Main problem is in my opinion the training of staff or better the not training of staff and the related problems with it.I know you work on it and fair play for stepping forward.But dont worry other sponsors are aswell far from perfect.I think it was the right step you did and working together with the forum both sites will benefit in the future.All the best,Tim

Is JohnH on holidays or why is the thread not blocked;)

why would the thread be blocked?

Only slagging john.Sometimes I miss that you can critisize or write your opinion here on the forum,specially when sponsors are involved.Regards,Tim

Hi again Stephen Limerick is your nearest store to me

and to be honest most of the staff there are very friendly but a little clueless on fish and mixing spieces
just a few of my own points on this store

Poor selection of substrate
No composite what so ever
No Bog wood
No Decor rock
Plant range not great
Inverts very poor
Fish selection not great and i also find most of the fish to be very juvinile

and finally i have also tried to order fish there with very little luck and could not get a price on these untill they have been orderd

Sorry but as i said these are my own views

wellcome steven and petmania.looking forward to new things in carlow.

JohnH wrote:

Frontosa:

"Is JohnH on holidays or why is the thread not blocked"

Sorry, perhaps this might have been better answered before now but I spoke at length with Stephen and suggested he might get some 'varied' responses but he assured me that he was prepared for this and would be happy to receive any 'observations' via the PM facility.
He also told me that he was trying his best to remedy any complaints there might be regarding the Petmania stores and would welcome suggestions for improvement and any potential criticism there might be - but, please, by PM.

im sorry john but i have to disagree with you on the point of sending a PM! i think there is no harm in people making suggestions and airing their views in public,
as long as it is done in a constructive way, an i have to say by reading some of the posts it has been,
so why not have it out it the open???
as many of the lads have said why not work together to improve things for everyone!!
and fair play to stephen and petmania for asking the question..

Its probably better for them to receive these contructive critisms in the open rather than pm s otherwise every tom dick and harry on the forum will be pming whinging about the same problems that have been mentioned. Stephens plan is to remedy and fix past reputations that their store has. Best of luck stephen.

Hey Stephen,

Welcome to the forum!

Getting involved here at ITFS is a great thing for your fish business. You have a shop about 15 mins away from me that I didn't even know about until I saw your ad and had a look at your website. As it happens I just got a new tank and have already spent about 100 quid in your shop in Navan.

btw in terms of feedback on that shop, its excellent. The tanks are kept in pristine condition from what I can see, great selection of stock (if you are into tropicals - which I am!). Could really do with some more plants. The staff are super friendly and willing to help, but of two people (on two visits) I spoke to only one had a clue. To be fair on the first visit it was the weekend and my 2nd visit was yesterday afternoon. I'm sure its a challenge to find staff that have an interest in fish keeping, I'd just be worried that someone new to fishkeeping would get sent home with a "lovely angel" and a "lovely betta" for their same starter tropical tank.

The fact that you are willing to "engage" with your customers here speaks volumes to everyone on here about the type of organisation you are running, not to mention the fact that this site is well ranked in Google, so you will have people organically searching finding your business.

That said you shouldn't be afraid (or try to control) what people have to say about your company or your brand on here. The biggest mistake companies make in our post social media revolution world is to be afraid people will "hear/read" bad things about their company.

Ok, if someone comes on here and says: "Your shop is XXX is absolutely brutal. Its got this this and this wrong with it", its hard to read that about your company. But there's no point in trying to censor it because if there is any truth in it, then you can be sure that the "conversation" is going on somewhere else too.

The absolute best thing you can do for your company is to deal with negative comments head on. People online now, have a lot more respect for companies that use the feedback they get from forums like this/blogs etc to become better and to improve their services.

So my advice is to forget this PM business and have an open and honest discussion on the forum. Saying you only want comments by PM is just going to kill the "conversation" about your shops etc on here, not to mention makes it look like you have something to hide.

(and yes in case you haven't figured it out I work in social media/internet marketing - the advice is free )

Looking forward to heading back up to Navan today to get some new fish now that my tank has some plants in it and is ready for them...

JohnH wrote:

Dyco,
Please re-read the paragraph I'm repeating below:

Sorry, perhaps this might have been better answered before now but I spoke at length with Stephen and suggested he might get some 'varied' responses but he assured me that he was prepared for this and would be happy to receive any 'observations' via the PM facility.
He also told me that he was trying his best to remedy any complaints there might be regarding the Petmania stores and would welcome suggestions for improvement and any potential criticism there might be - but, please, by PM.

I was Stephen's request that the comments be made by PM, I'm merely passing that request on to the Forum.

John

apologizes john, now that i read it again!!