OT rant: clueless pet store employees (long)

I made what will probably turn into a bi-monthly trip down to Wichita
Falls, Texas yesterday to buy the gang some cat food. We don't have
much here in Lawton, Oklahoma, but I've found that within a fairly
small area there are two big pet stores in WF, a Petsmart and a Petco.
No dogs or cats for sell in either store, but both have cats on
display for adoption from the local shelter (they brings in dogs on
the weekend for adoption) So of course I had to check the cats -
quickly of course, since last time I almost fell in love with a 7
month old orange strippey dude.

Of course, being a new rat dad, I had to check out the rodent
population, and ask the salespeople a bunch of questions. I found the
folks at one store, Petsmart, to be extremely friendly and willing to
stand there and listen - even though I told them up front that I
wasn't looking to buy a rat, just checking them out. I did what I
usually do with salespeople (or mechanics), act dumb and ask questions
that I already know the answer to, and see how close the answers I'm
getting jibe with what I already know. After a couple minutes the
first person I talked to went and found their resident rat expert, who
I gather has some of her own. Their expert's answers all pretty much
agreed with everything I've been learning. All in all a pretty good
experience.

The other store, Petco, was pretty much the opposite. No one stopped
and asked me if they could help. I ended up flagging down a couple
people and tried to ask questions. I had some serious questions, too,
since I thought I had read that Petco carried a certain brand of cage,
and I was interested in and I wanted to see one set up. They were all
too busy to talk (even though two of them were just standing at the
checkout stands with no customers). While I was browsing around the
rodent area looking around I watched as a couple other shoppers
received much the same treatment. One couple were buying a ferret and
needed the works - cage, food, bedding, etc. The employee that was
helping wasn't much help, IMHO, they would have left the store without
a water bottle if the customer hadn't remembered it at the last
minute. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back (and why I've
decided not to visit the store again) came when I watched a rat being
sold. The customer went to the checkout and told one of the clerks
standing there that he wanted a rat. The clerk got a box out, went to
get the rat, grabbed it by the tail, lifted it up and put it in the
box. OK, three weeks ago I didn't know anything, but before I tried to
catch Hanna I took the time to google and learn that you DO NOT pick
up rats by the tail. I would think that part of employee training
should include how to handle any animals the store sells - even if the
employee is never going to be doing anything other then cleaning the
cages they should be told what NOT to do to keep from hurting the
merchandize (which clearly is all these animals are - not future
companions but store merchandize).

I'm not trying to convince anyone not to use Petco and shop at
Petsmart instead. I'm sure that a good manager at either store could
solve the problems I encountered, despite whatever the name is on the
sign outside the store. In fact, I have since read complaints against
both stores on their consumer sites. I'm really just venting because
of what I saw at the petco. Oh and BTW, as I mentioned above I had not
remembered correctly about which store carried the brand of cage I
wanted to see. Turns out it was the Petsmart where I was happy with
the staff, not petco where I was definitely not happy.
--
Steve Touchstone
Little Bit, Sammy, Spotty, Princess, Furby
and Rocky (RB)
Pix at http://tinyurl.com/22pfn8
Vids at http://tinyurl.com/4yb6nj

"Steve Touchstone" wrote in message
...
I made what will probably turn into a bi-monthly trip down to
Wichita
Falls, Texas yesterday to buy the gang some cat food. We don't
have
much here in Lawton, Oklahoma, but I've found that within a fairly
small area there are two big pet stores in WF, a Petsmart and a
Petco.
No dogs or cats for sell in either store, but both have cats on
display for adoption from the local shelter (they brings in dogs
on
the weekend for adoption) So of course I had to check the cats -
quickly of course, since last time I almost fell in love with a 7
month old orange strippey dude.

Of course, being a new rat dad, I had to check out the rodent
population, and ask the salespeople a bunch of questions. I found
the
folks at one store, Petsmart, to be extremely friendly and willing
to
stand there and listen - even though I told them up front that I
wasn't looking to buy a rat, just checking them out. I did what I
usually do with salespeople (or mechanics), act dumb and ask
questions
that I already know the answer to, and see how close the answers
I'm
getting jibe with what I already know. After a couple minutes the
first person I talked to went and found their resident rat expert,
who
I gather has some of her own. Their expert's answers all pretty
much
agreed with everything I've been learning. All in all a pretty
good
experience.

The other store, Petco, was pretty much the opposite. No one
stopped
and asked me if they could help. I ended up flagging down a couple
people and tried to ask questions. I had some serious questions,
too,
since I thought I had read that Petco carried a certain brand of
cage,
and I was interested in and I wanted to see one set up. They were
all
too busy to talk (even though two of them were just standing at
the
checkout stands with no customers). While I was browsing around
the
rodent area looking around I watched as a couple other shoppers
received much the same treatment. One couple were buying a ferret
and
needed the works - cage, food, bedding, etc. The employee that was
helping wasn't much help, IMHO, they would have left the store
without
a water bottle if the customer hadn't remembered it at the last
minute. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back (and why
I've
decided not to visit the store again) came when I watched a rat
being
sold. The customer went to the checkout and told one of the clerks
standing there that he wanted a rat. The clerk got a box out, went
to
get the rat, grabbed it by the tail, lifted it up and put it in
the
box. OK, three weeks ago I didn't know anything, but before I
tried to
catch Hanna I took the time to google and learn that you DO NOT
pick
up rats by the tail. I would think that part of employee training
should include how to handle any animals the store sells - even if
the
employee is never going to be doing anything other then cleaning
the
cages they should be told what NOT to do to keep from hurting the
merchandize (which clearly is all these animals are - not future
companions but store merchandize).

I'm not trying to convince anyone not to use Petco and shop at
Petsmart instead. I'm sure that a good manager at either store
could
solve the problems I encountered, despite whatever the name is on
the
sign outside the store. In fact, I have since read complaints
against
both stores on their consumer sites. I'm really just venting
because
of what I saw at the petco. Oh and BTW, as I mentioned above I had
not
remembered correctly about which store carried the brand of cage I
wanted to see. Turns out it was the Petsmart where I was happy
with
the staff, not petco where I was definitely not happy.
--


Its really a shame, pet stores were one place that small business
could shine. An owner operated store that could then specialize in
whatever was of interest to the owner. Our town could never quite
manage to support one so we had several over the years, and had just
landed a very nice one in out newly renovated downtown. No sooner
had they sunk money into store setup and some very nice aquatic
setup than the first box store arrived. PetSmart. Not to be
outdone, within a year, using the same statistics that PetSmart used
to decide we could now support a big box pet store, PetCo arrived.
So now we have two big box pet stores staffed by minimum wage
schlubs that are just fairly happy to have a steady job in retail
and don't have any particular in the purchasers or recipients of
their products.

The only reason both PetSmart and PetCo haven't both gone out of
business locally (and I really doubt they are turning a profit, but
are stuck in their leases) is because the most popular ranch supply
and feel store in town burned down. That's where everyone had
shopped before for dog and cat food, and they had a pretty decent
bird and rodent section as well. (Hobbies of the original owner's
granddaughter's)

Jo

On Aug 7, 10:33*pm, "Jofirey" wrote:
.. *An owner operated store that could then specialize in
whatever was of interest to the owner. *Our town could never quite
manage to support one so we had several over the years, and had just
landed a very nice one in out newly renovated downtown.

In the UK PetSmart and PetCo don't so far as I know exist, there are
some pet superstores but I've never seen one in London through there
was a small one in Romford but I think it closed down and a friend of
mine applied for a job in one in Milton Keynes.

We have a couple of pet shops around here through I won't unless use
one of them except very occasionally as they sell live animals. For
most food we can get what we need in the local supermarket apart from
Hills and Royal Canin, which we get from the vets. For everything else
there's a stall in the local market run by a family, they're good on
advice, know what they are talking about and always have details of
animals for adoption on the stall as well as contacts with the local
shelters


Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs.

On Aug 8, 10:04*am, "Jofirey" wrote:


Typo for feed store of course.

Yes but it made us laugh! It's like the place a few doors down from
us they do handwashing and valeting for cars and as their signs
proudly declare they offer the "Best hand jobs in London"- you often
see passers by stop, read it, read it again and burst out laughing

*But the combination isn't unheard of
in the US. *We have a lot of small towns that are a long ways from
any other towns. *Not unusual to find *single gas
station/mini-market/ diner/bait shop/video rental/adult
entertainment combinations.


Not quite as wide a variety but around here you do see newsagent/off
licence/mini marts and there is nothing in the World to top "This and
That" in Plaistow.

In one small shop they sell newspapers, confectionary, cigarettes,
beers, wine, spirits, soft drinks, groceries, lottery tickets,
greeting cards, stationery, cosmetics, toiletries, kitchen
appliances,saucepans, plates, cultery, clocks, hairdryers, framed
prints, religious and non religious statues.....and I am sure I;ve
left something out- it's like Aladdin's cave in there!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs.

In the UK PetSmart and PetCo don't so far as I know exist

PetSmart does, though I think they changed their name after
being reported in the national papers for requiring their
junior employees to put unsold hamsters in bags and smash
them to a pulp against the back wall of the shop. They may
be PetWorld now (they only operated in malls and I haven't
been to a mall in years).

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
****** I killfile Google posts - email me if you want to be whitelisted ******

"Steve Touchstone" wrote in message
...

(snip)
The other store, Petco, was pretty much the opposite. No one stopped
and asked me if they could help. I ended up flagging down a couple
people and tried to ask questions. I had some serious questions, too,
since I thought I had read that Petco carried a certain brand of cage,
and I was interested in and I wanted to see one set up. They were all
too busy to talk (even though two of them were just standing at the
checkout stands with no customers).

(and snip)

Steve Touchstone
Little Bit, Sammy, Spotty, Princess, Furby
and Rocky (RB)
Pix at http://tinyurl.com/22pfn8
Vids at http://tinyurl.com/4yb6nj


The problem with these big box stores is they're retail stores. They pay
minimum wage, which of course is fine if you're a teenager or are absolutely
desperate for work. But it doesn't require (nor do they provide) any
special training other than how to work the cash register and stock shelves.
Have you ever taken a vegetable or fruit to the check-out at the grocery
store and the person ringing up your purchases had to ask you, "what is
this?!" They don't give these folks a course in fruits and vegetables any
more than PetCo trains their staff to be knowledgeable about the pets they
sell.

Then, of course, there is the management factor. Sometimes the manager
knows something about animals, other times they don't. I remember going to
a PetCo in TN for some treats for Peaches. I spotted a sick zebra finch in
one of the cages. I grabbed the nearest cashier and said, "That bird is
ill." How do you know? (she asked). Trust me, healthy birds don't huddle
in the corner of their cages. Please get the manager. Fortunately this
manager knew something about birds. (I couldn't say this would be the case
with every PetCo store manager, which is my point.) She thanked me
profusely and immediately got the bird into a small isolation cage. She
told me what she was doing. She gave the bird some ornacycline (which is
tetracycline for birds, sort of an antibiotic) by eyedropper. She even
called me a day later to tell me the little finch was doing much better and
to thank me again for noticing it was sick. She knew what to do; her staff
didn't have any idea there was a problem.

Jill

"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Aug 12, 6:00 am, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Steve Touchstone" wrote in message

...

If you are ever in WF TX and need a great vet, Mike Bomar has a warm
spot in
my heart.



Didn't Steve say in the original post he went to Wichita Falls for pet
supplies? My oldest brother lives in WF and he may need to know about this
vet for his cat. Thanks!

Jill