Petco or Petsmart?

what do you think? what pet store is better: petco or petsmart? do you know of any other quality pet stores??
Answers:
Answers to this can and should be taken as differences in local management.
I shop at both chains, myself, depending on what part of town I'm in and what direction I'm going. And they're both nice stores. But there's an awful Petsmart a little west of here. There aren't as many Petcos but I'm sure some of them are bad too.
It depends on who is running them at any given time what kind of service you'll get and how well the animals are being taken care of.
I do like mom n pop stores and shop there as often as I can. I will NOT however, ever patronize a store where they sell live kittens and puppies, or dyed fish.

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I like petsmart, they have many different services for your pet as well as supplies.

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"the store that smells the best, sells the best." This applies only to restaurants and pet shops. I choose Applebees and Petco.

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I'd say Petsmart! Everyone's talking about Petsmart, and saying it's better then Petco! Good petstores in my area are: Petland, Aardvark pets, etc. Search around, and you may find a decent one!
Good luck!

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I used to work at Petco and I personally thought that the service they told us to offer, sucked.
I've been to PetSmart and the service and knowledge they have is way beyond the service and knowledge that Petco has.

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Neither.
I'll play along though. If those were the only two places to get my pet supplies, I'd go with petco.
In real life, I would look around for smaller, independent stores that only sell supplies, not animals. They usually have better products, better service, and better advice.

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my friend and i both have had bad experiences with petco. she bought anoles, all of them died before the little warrenty thing on the recipit was up, and they wouldnt honor it, even though she brought all their poor little dead bodys in with the recipt. they acknowleged the anoles had some weird skin thing, and that several others in the tank had the same issue, but they still wouldnt do anything for my friend to honor the warrenty dealy. i had similar issues with fish i bought there. ive had betas, so i know how to take care of them. i got one from pet co, it died two days later, and they wouldnt refund me or even offer me a new fish.
petsmart though, ive never had an issue with

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PETSMART!!! Cheaper and Cleaner. Take better care of the fish

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True fully I don't shop at either, I have found Pet Supplies Plus the best locally but in your area Petco may be the best, it really differs place by place!! But locally private owned pet store are Best they are the most knowledgeable!!

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For Freshwater i would go to petsmart
but for marine i would go to petco, it seems like they take better care of them then the freshwater
At least in my area
I would also check out any local private owned aquarium/petstores if you have any near you

hope that helps
Good luck

EB

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I think it just depends. I personally hate both of them now, but those 2 by me really suck. When I lived in Florida, the PetSmart I went to was great! The employees were all friendly, and in the fish section the employees kept their own fish tanks-so they actually had a clue what they were doing. Then I moved here to Tennessee, and the store is absolutely dreadful and the employees are completely clueless. Petco here is even worse. At Petsmart, I've actually talked and helped customers about certain fish because the employee had no clue what the fish was even called, much less any info about it. I think a lot may have to do with the manager of the stores/departments as well.
But, I do shop at Petsmart for supplies as much as I hate it, they're the cheapest, and I've found that Petco and other small mom and pop stores don't carry the stuff I use. But I will never buy a fish or other live animal from either of those stores. I would ideally love to shop online, like at drs. foster and smith, but their shipping charges make it almost not worth it unless you're buying a bunch of stuff at one time.
You're best bet is to shop around and compare price and more importantly quality. Some mom and pop stores are awful too, so you should always do your research on what you're buying before hand so you know what to expect.

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I've had better experiences in petsmart. the petco in my area is pretty dirty. but you have to check them out invidually, as I can't say the same for your area.

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depends on the indiviual store, some locations are better than others.
Example, there is a petco in Ny that is in the richest area(oyster bay area) where the owner spent more than 5-10 petcos combined.
Some petcos who dont realy care, have poor fish and animal ..items, and stock.
Example about petsmart: the petsmarts around me are fairly good.
I went to one in florida, and it was poor.

POINT is that it varys on location, so you cant really class one worest and one better.
On my prefrence? you will see me go to my local petsmart more often then my petco. It isnt base on location as my nearest petco is about 5 minutes away, and my nearest petsmart is 15 minutes away.
Personaly i like petsmart better, but that is just from my location.

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I got my fish from Petsmart. Just make sure to put the right chemicals in the water before you add the fish so that they don't die... And if you're adding fish to an already established tank, then make sure that you add the new fish correctly. They're all still swimming around after 7 months (and are getting huge).