Waterbury Aquarium — Local services in Waterbury

On 5/17/2021 at 10:10ishAM I had really bad customer service. I've been going to Waterbury Aquarium for about 3 years and I've probably spent $200-300 there, so I'm not keeping the lights on but I drove the extra distance to support a small business. For the dozen or so times I've been there I've had decent service and met some nice employees but today that was not the case. I called Saturday to see if they took back fish and offered any sort of store credit. I was told yes and to bring them down any time. This morning I got there right when they opened with 3 Congo Tetras and 1 Dwarf Gourami. 2 did not look great after the 25 min bagged transport. The employee tried to grab the bag out of my hand and then proceeded to dump the fish into one of their store tanks. She then started to walk away. I asked her if there was anything I could do to transport fish safer and in a less stressful manner. She explained more air in the bag then started to walk away. I explained that I was told that I might get store credit or trade credit, but could understand that she would want to see if the fish lived and were healthy. She barked at me that I might get about $5 and to call back later. I'm not going to call back later and I hope the fish are doing well and you can sell them to help the store. But that is the last time I'm stepping foot in the place for a long time. I hope the customer service can improve and they don't just laugh it off. It sounds like they were having a bad day....everyone has a bad day and in the customer service business it is literally your job to not take it out on...

For awhile I was satisfied with this business, most of the employees do a great job. However, I got very disappointed today with the customer service of one of the employees (she blames to be the owner). I went there with my son, I was the only customer In the store, she saw me right when I got in, I wait around 10 minutes near the cash register counter, then I nicely asked her “are you busy? I am waiting for while here.” Then she rudely/ unprofessionally/ disrespectfully said “well, you didn’t ask for help, you saw here but you didn’t ask for help she said. I got shocked that I don’t even recall what else she said...but she continued talking” Then I nicely said to her that I’ll be back to talk to the owner (which I know his father and I have a great friend that works there). Then she said “I am the owner!” At this point, I decided to leave. She followed me until the door giving excuses... but was too late. I sadly left very disappointed. It was unbelievable, I wish I had recorded this ridiculous unacceptable attitude. This is my first ever online complaint. It happened on 07/08/2020...

Normally i would give this shop 5 stars as I have had very good experiences with them in the past. They have a great selection of fish and the prices are very reasonable. I have some angels I bought from them 9 years ago in one of my tanks right now. My recent experience with them unfortunately was not so pleasant. I purchased a couple of Rubbernose/Bulldog plecos from them and within a couple of days of purchase I noticed one of them acting a little strange. Upon close inspection I noticed that both of the plecos were infested with Ich. I quickly quarantined the fish an started treating them but unfortunately one did not make it. I don't want to be too harsh here but when I called to explain the situation I was pretty much brushed off and the shop acted like it was no big deal that they sold me a fish with Ich. I understand that sometimes these things go unnoticed in pet shops but still a little disconcerting. My hope is that after I informed them of what happened that they have quarantined the remaining plecos in their store and have started...