L8 2 RISE uuuuhhhhhhh.....try finding another LFS, I dont know anywhere, apart from petco and petsmart, that sells hermits for more than .99 each. And petco/petsmart really aren't great places to buy live pets because thestaff really doessnt know that much about specific animals, they pretty much higher anyone off the street, it's alright to buy food and supplies, but the live animals are over priced, under cared for, and under quality in my experience.
I work at Petco and so does shane .... but yes you are somewhat right... i would look at another fish store or order them online... and yes our hermits are expensive but we do beat prices on some things than any LFS can ex:any fish from ORA.... some of the staff doesn't know much about the salt but some do... it really depends on the store... we are a small store and only have 11 employees and of those 11 5 have reef tanks.. well one just sold his... and we all care very much about all of the animal... i have gone to great lengths to take care of many of them... I now own her... but shane and I had to take home a bird at night so that she could be in constant supervision, i have bottle fed a baby hamster every 3-4 hours, and for about a month went into work twice a day to flush a guinea pigs wound, I have rushed animals to the vet, and tried to save somes lives at my expense... About the staff it depends on who the store manager is that is hiring, they don't let just anyone take care of the animals... some of the animals might be overpriced for your area but it depends on the area in which you live and the other store competition you have in your area... here there is a group of pet stores but they are priced WAY higher than we are....The animals are not undercared for... they are not ideal situations and are not meant to be perminant or even extended living arrangements... a LOT of our animals have names and we are very attached to any that are there very long.... it is our policy to reduce the price or adopt out animals that have been there more than 3 months with the exception of some of the reptiles and there is no way to know which goldfish is the new one and which is the older one, we all take great care in providing everything we can for every animal... we give everything "treats" and attention that is appropriate for them... we go to the store for them and we all often bring things from home that they would like that we do not have at the store... as far as being under quality it depends on the type of animal... we do have problems with the genes being too thin on our mice and rats... and like any pet store we do have an unfortunate loss... and depending on the store I would or would not recommend buying their salt fish, and which type of fish to purchase...
sorry about the rant... but i hope i got my point across