Comments regarding Northwest Seed & Pet

As an aquarist with two freshwater, coldwater tanks, I shop at in this store's fish room quite often.

When my first 20-gallon-high tank leaked, the manager, Gene, was very good about replacing it for me, and I haven't had any problems with the second one. I appreciate the gracious, no-hassle service he provided when that happened.

I also use this store for some of my gardening supplies.

Generally, my experiences have been good, with a few notable exceptions:

They don't stock some of my preferred fish supplies, but since they are one of two aquarium stores I regularly use, I can usually find at the other outlet what these folks don't have. It would be nice, though, when I'm in Spokane, if I could find everything I need at one time.

I also resent that they won't accept payment by check. One must either have cash or a credit card. This is inconvenient, and I personally think it's unfair. I feel I and other honest customers are being penalized for the bad behavior of a few by everyone having their check-writing privileges denied them. People should be judged by their individual behavior, not lumped into a common category like that. It's like the teacher who punishes the whole class because one or two kids within it act up.

As far as their stock goes, I have only gotten healthy fish from them, and I rarely see any dead or dying fish in their tanks. When I do see it, I quietly and discreetly inform the employee in charge, and he or she always appreciates it and takes care of the situation right away.

They do a good job of quarantining their new stock, but no matter how well they take care of it, there will always be a few inevitable casualties that nobody can have any control over. Just comes with the territory.

I have generally found their staff to be courteous and helpful. They do get a little busy in the fish room from time to time, and need more people on hand to help out. There have been times when I've waited for help longer than I feel I should have.

Also, depending on who is on staff while I'm there, the level and degree of knowledge and helpfulness varies. When I purchased a new Life-Glo bulb for my 65-gallon, I had a very hard time getting the salespersons to pay attention to my questions and address my concerns. They seemed to be ignoring them or blowing them off, despite my communicating them repeatedly. In fact, I came away without having them answered or addressed, at all.

I knew from researching the subject which bulb I really wanted and needed, but they didn't have it and neither did the other store I use. It's a fairly common aquarium bulb, so I couldn't understand why it was so difficult to find it. Their selection was sorely limited in the aquarium lights department. They really only had one in the right size and design for my ballast, and it was some off-brand that never showed up in any of my research.

The one I ended up having to settle for really wasn't ideal for my purposes (to grow my plants faster and more vigorously.) Ever since I've had this new light, I've had diatom build-ups in my tank which I didn't have before.

Overall, this is generally a good store, and I shall continue shopping there for certain things. But they would benefit from addressing some of the concerns I've expressed here. There is some room for improvement, which is why I've given them a neutral rating.

Good selection of basic gardening materials; well-priced. Excellent place to buy basic lawn seed and materials.

As to be expected, fairly traditional store. Not the place to go if you need information or are looking for native or xeriscaping plants.

Staff courtesy bumps the rating down to a neutral. While some of the employees are extremely courteous and helpful, some were less than interested in providing customer service. One employee was particularly condescending and abrupt about answering questions.