Over the past several years, our family have purchased some Japanese kois indirectly through Pan Intercorp at local koi shows. This year, we were seeking a specific breed, an Asagi, so we decided to visit what's supposed to be one of the largest koi farms in the nation. Although we were initially excited to explore this place, the shopping experience in the end left us with much regrets.
First of all, it's nearly impossible to get hold of anyone at this place, whether over the phone or on-site during their limited 2-day per week retail hours. While there are staffs around, even when I stepped up to the counter I was not greeted by the man staring at the computer. Inside the tents, no staffs are ever present to help with anything. The vibe of the entire fish farm is very alienating, meaning they likely only cater to professional breeders and wholesales.
We weren't able to find any Asagi of our liking. But among the selections available, we decided to purchase a 5-inch Kujaku. We monitored this koi for a full week and noticed it's apparently not very healthy, and barely eats any variety of foods we gave. I was concerned about the longevity of this fish. Called Pan Intercorp and mentioned the frail-looking koi we paid $55 for does not seem to live up to its Japanese heritage. After Jordan informed me of their no-return/exchange policy, he continued to shift responsibility to the owner that the environments and behaviors of the kois are beyond their control once left their pond. My main concern was that during the 2.5 hours in the hot tent searching for our koi, a staff has fished out at least half a dozen kois that were borderline belly up. This observation made me anxious about the state of health the batch of kois ours were from, but Jordan started reprimanding me for picking a koi from a pond that's "not ready" but which his co-workers openly sold me as well as other customers next to us.
After much argument, Jordan offered an exception in which he will allow us to exchange a koi from his choices. At that point, I was totally fed up with their poor customer service and attitudes and have completely no trust over the integrity of this person or the fish he might offer. Based on the disarray of dirty outdoor ponds with barely any kois in sight, I have no reason to ever visit Pan Intercorp again. In my opinion, the staffs working at this fish farm is only concerned with raising kois to win championships. Perhaps over the years, instead of learning to judge kois, they have inherited unfortunate traits of discriminating their clients. I'm just glad that our kois are more friendly and happier to see me every moment of the day than the people I encountered at Pan Intercorp! read more
