Swallow Aquatics East Harling Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff are friendly and very knowledgeable about the aquatics they keep."
• "Helpful and friendly staff."
• "The staff are friendly and full of information."
• "The staff were fantastic, both in their helpfulness and with their knowledge."
• "The staff are always very helpful and friendly and gladly give advice."
• "Fantastic service received from a brilliant staff member on Monday. Very helpful and patient with the children while they all picked out their fish!!"
• "The staff are attentive and knowledgeable, and the animals look well cared for and in decent environments."

Cons:

• "Today, fish keeping staff were not usual friendly selves. Actually a bit abrupt and rude."
• "Some staffing issues let it down though."
• "Customer service today was disgusting person on till didn’t say hello just grunted how much my purchases came to when I said thank you just walked away."
• "Been there on several occasions, mostly to buy for my aquarium... staff could do more to assist/help customers."
• "On our second visit a young boy who took the fish out of the tank as if he was putting the bins out."
• "Left stood waiting for assistance off a member of staff to have several walk past and ignore me."
• "This went down the hill big time."

Animal and Plant Selection

Pros:

• "Nice store, clean and well stocked for fish and reptiles, birds."
• "Absolutely love swallow aquatics. We have been coming here for years. It's brilliant for every type of animal supply you could need but it's also a free family afternoon out."
• "They also stock lots of other pets like birds tortoises snakes and spiders."
• "This place is incredible, the depth of range is exceptional and great variety."
• "Great selection of animals/pets along with equipment for all needs."
• "Has a huge variety here."
• "An absolute massive variety of animals, stock, food and supplies."

Cons:

• "However a lot of the tanks are filled with the same fish, mollies and guppies etc. Aquatic plant selection isn't vast."
• "The birds are in shocking condition, many are left to be picked on to the point that they are bald and bleeding."
• "The conditions in which so many of the birds and animals are kept is totally unacceptable and cruel."
• "Has a great selection of fish and other animals. Sadly the outside animals were not in such great shape. Two enclosures of Tortoise with no fresh water or food."
• "Really didn't enjoy my visit today, I see 4 mbu puffer fish all in very small tanks and did not look very healthy."
• "The tanks were rammed full of more fish than was necessary, poor fish had nowhere to swim."
• "Most of the plants were dead or nearly dead."

Price and Value

Pros:

• "A very dedicated and knowledgeable team. Excellent advice given, prices very good."
• "Good selection of products at reasonable prices."
• "Well done, a great example of somewhere that can be both an enjoyable visit but not a wallet breaker."
• "Prices on some items are slightly high but if you tell them where you have seen something cheaper they will look it up on the internet and then match the price on like for like items."
• "Always friendly. And great price."
• "Priced very reasonably and offering a high quality product (cakes were lovely)."
• "Friendly staff on hand to offer advice when required and leave you feeling assured."

Cons:

• "Things here are quite expensive."
• "Why is your live rock so expensive???? £12.99 per kg, surely it doesn’t cost that much when you get it…"
• "The only thing I will say is be prepared to part with your money, it's expensive."
• "The only downside is it's a tad expensive but with nothing else around it's worth a visit to pick up your essentials."
• "Dont buy fish from here, brought some beautiful neons to brighten up my tank and whatever disease they had wiped out my entire tank....absolutely gutted."
• "If I could give them zero stars I would... the place looked run down and dirty."
• "The plates, cups and cutlery was far from clean and the eating area was run down and dirty."

Cafe and Amenities

Pros:

• "Cafe is lovely but so slow! Not a problem if you have plenty of time like I did, though trickier to keep the kids entertained while you wait."
• "And the cafe..........a well prepared fresh breakfast that filled my plate for just under £6."
• "The cafe inside Swallow Aquatics is amazing…I would definitely go back and have a look around and have some lunch."
• "Also a lovely cafe with food cooked to order from 9 til 4pm including all day breakfasts."
• "The cafe is lovely, too, selling a variety of hand made desserts and a decent menu which caters for everyone."
• "Coffee shop has mostly cakes and pastry items but all tasty."
• "The cafe on site is generally very good, with some lovely homemade cakes, as well as reasonably priced food."

Cons:

• "Floors around the birds and fish are a bit grotty and could do with a deep clean."
• "We find that the cafe needs attention when it comes to cleaning."
• "Cafe today was very slow and one couple was waiting over an hour for a tuna sandwich and a sausage baguette."
• "The only downside to this whole place is the toilets, not the nicest, but animals before toilets."
• "The gerbils have flies all in there enclosures, but the rabbits no better, with fleas crawling over them!"
• "Its OK very enthusiastic staff but care of reptiles is hit and miss."
• "The lack of grazing for the Shetland pony, the sheep and the goats is rather alarming."