pet store loyalty

[photoman100169]

I just don't understand it. I had a friend come over the other day and she had her husband with her. We got to talking about animals and my reptiles so of course they wanted to see them. I took them into the room and while he was checking out my rack system he started asking questions. "why don't you have any heat lamps", "why don't you have lights on them." I tried my best to explain that ball pythons and leos don't need uvb bulbs and that I had flexwatt to provide heat. That is when he started getting worked up, telling me that he used to have a ball and that it did indeed need the uvb, because that is what the guy at the pet store told him. "Why would the pet store lie to me?"

After that long conversation I still couldn't make he believe that the pet store was wrong. (even though his bp died after just a year). Then he told me that when I have some babies he wanted to buy one from me. I told him that I would not sale one to him until he did some research. (he didn't like that much..oh well)

Anyway, what I'm getting at is how do you guys get through to people like that?

[Inknsteel]

Step 1: Direct them to the care-sheet here on this site...

If they listen to step 1, there shouldn't be a need for a step 2.

[RockyTop]

I just came from the store here purchasing some items for a new BP setup

If I listened to the nice lady who was trying to help me out, I would have a dead snake fast.

She told me UTH was bad because it did not provide UV for them. So she wanted to sell me some UV lights. Then she told me that a BP would get 6-8 ft long, so I needed to buy a 55g tank so it would "grow into it" and reach it's "full potential". She was telling me that even if I purchased a baby, bigger is better and it would only grow to the size of it's tank. I would be stunting it's growth by starting it in a smaller tank.


I kind of smiled and nodded politely, and only purchased a bag of Aspen and a 24x12 15g tank for the future baby BP I hope to own in a couple weeks I'll shop for a UTH, meters/stats, hides, etc online.

[photoman100169]

See that is what I am talking about. People go in there and are told this stuff then take it as gospel. Its like the pet stores are banking on your new pet will die in a couple months so you will come back and buy another one. I understand that these people didn't open a business to lose money but is just really scummy and very sad. Why don't they just stock the stuff that you ACTUALLY need and maybe help some people enjoy this hobbie?

sorry just on a little rant today

[Kyle@theHeathertoft]

I work in a pet store, one of the large national chains (three guesses which and the first two don't count) and I hate that we sell BPs. Fortunately the folk in our store aren't stupid about them...we do what we can to educate people about their future pet and try to help them make the right choices.

I oppose the fact that we sell the dang things, though. Not long ago a co-worker who honestly doesn't know jack (seriously, she's been fired for incompetence and then RE-HIRED time and again!) asked me why I'd pay a higher price for a PB from a breeder than just buy one from the store.

I explained to her that first off, the animals we sell have issues. They are normal-phase, unsexed animals of questionable origin...all we know is that they are captive bred, god alone knows where or by whom. They almost never eat after they arrive at the store and the majority of them die before sale or shortly AFTER sale. That and they're charging about eighty dollars (!!!!) for each one, which...NO. That's insane. I can get a quality normal phase python from a reputable breeder much cheaper than that, and the animal is less likely to up and DIE on me!

Plus, I explained to her that I wanted a specific colour morph, a Mojave, not a normal-phase animal. I also wanted to know the sex and age and other such details of the animal before purchasing it. That and, let's get real here, much as I like my job and enjoy my "associate discount" for store stuff, I'd rather give my money to a good breeder, thank you very much.

...drifting off topic here, sorry.

I think part of why people trust the word of a pet store employee over anyone else is that they assume that they actually know what they are talking about. This is not neccessarily the case, but still...people assume that with the position comes some kind of knowledge. It would, to most folk, be like saying "No, I never finished college and now work part-time in the fast food industry serving tacos but I KNOW BETTER THAN MY DOCTOR ABOUT MEDICAL THINGS."

They forget that for most pet store employees, it is ALL ABOUT SALES. The more cash they can wrack up, the better...and that means selling big expensive glass tanks (screw that, I switched to tubs and will NEVER go back!), fancy rocks and bowls for the critter (I think all of my snakes currently have old ceramic dog bowls and DIY shelters), super-special bedding (Simple aspen or heck, paper towels will work in a pinch!), and plenty of fancy lights and heating setups (bellyheat is the only non-ambient heat source I provide) to whoever can and will pay. They sucker people in, and think they somehow help the animals because, hey, don't all reptiles like basking in the sun? Don't they all love those plastic bowls shaped like rocks? Aren't they happiest in a glass tank that loses heat too fast and won't hold humidity worth crap (the air is so dry here I've had shed issues when the humidity drops)?

Most employees of such places get ultra-basic generic reptile info and are told to sell as much as possible, the actual needs of the animals be damned.

I say this: if you wouldn't go buy your next dog from a puppy-mill-supplied pet shop, why would you purchase your herptiles there?!

[kc261]

What do you expect from a person who shops at a store called PetDumb?

More seriously, I think it is left over from the days, not that long ago really, when you could have a reasonable expectation that an employee at any sort of specialty store would have at least some level of knowledge and expertise about the subject in question.

I once applied for a job at a very nice tropical fish store. I'd been keeping fish for about 7 years. I was turned down for the job, because although my knowledge with the kinds of fish I had kept was great, my experience wasn't broad enough. I'd never kept a saltwater tank, nor some of the bigger more aggressive freshwater fish like african cichlids.

One time, I got a job at a independent, family owned home-depot like store. I wanted to work in the garden section, because I like plants and gardening, but I didn't have enough knowledge. The only job I qualified for was cashier.

Now, stores don't seem to be so picky. One time when I went to get some hardware cloth at home depot, and asked where it was. The employee didn't think there was such a thing. Even after talking to a manager, and describing what it looks like, I was told they don't carry it, and it still felt like they thought I was crazy and no such product existed. I finally walked up and down aisles until I found it myself, and promptly showed it to the manager I'd spoken to, who just shrugged and said something about that they couldn't be expected to know every one of their products because they carry so many.

[kc261]

I work in a pet store, one of the large national chains (three guesses which and the first two don't count) and I hate that we sell BPs....They are normal-phase, unsexed animals of questionable origin...all we know is that they are captive bred, god alone knows where or by whom.

I'm pretty sure both petsmart and petco sell captive hatched, not captive bred. BIG difference. Look into it.

Not long ago a co-worker who honestly doesn't know jack (seriously, she's been fired for incompetence and then RE-HIRED time and again!) asked me why I'd pay a higher price for a PB from a breeder than just buy one from the store.

I think an interesting (and very sad) side effect of the push that "all" dogs and cats should be spayed and neutered otherwise you are an irresponsible owner is that some people think that means breeders are in the irresponsible owner category, and bad. Somehow, they think buying a puppy or kitten at a pet store is better. They don't understand the difference between puppy mills and good breeders, and feel a sale made in a traditional store is more legitimate than anything else. Your co-worker may fall in this category.

[jacob985]

all it is is sales they tell you what they have to so you will buy more stuff and if the snake dies then they think you will buy another one. im telling yo uits all for money they dont care about the snakes. that and most of the time the people behind the counter used to ork at doller general till they got fired . no offence intended if yo uwirk at doller general.

[musicalKeyes]

I always feel the need to buy those poor BPs I see in petstores It's not even just snakes; the majority of the animals seem so poorly cared for (at least in my area), and they're just passing along bad techniques. For instance, I have quite a few salamanders, and when I walked into a big chain store they had a yellow spotted, which i do not have. I bought it immediately as soon as I saw what state it was in. They were treating it like a newt, it was in a tank full of water. When they gave it to me to take home, it was given to me in a plastic bag half full of water, like a fish. When I tried explaining to them that damp paper towels would be better, and they need more land to live on and dig in than water (or at least some way to get out of the water), they got severely offended, and accused me of several very untrue things, despite the fact that I've had countless reptile and amphibians since I was old enough to use a net.

On a side note, these experiences have just about convinced me to open my own pet store, and sell people animals that are healthy, clean, and well taken care of, along with the knowledge they need to give that animal a long and happy life.

[iCandiBallPythons]

Tell him to come here and read a care sheet, he just might learn a thing or two.