pet store employee

I have to agree, I think that most stores are so focused on who has open availability and what their sales are at the end of the day that it makes actually caring for the animals get sent to the bottom of the list of importance. I think that if pet stores screened people first before they hired them, then their sales might actually increase because of the amount of knowledge that each employee has rather than the amount of hours they can work. If you work for a store and go against them for taking care of the animals rather than just help reach daily sales goals, then you are most likely going to get blown up rather than be rewarded for your efforts. I try to avoid big box stores but then again, not all of them have employees that lack knowledge about the animals. It really can depend on how the manager views the living things in the store as if they were just product/inventory or actual living creatures that need proper care.

Its happened to me alot. My local aquarium store was closed on a day I wanted to go so I went to petco and asked if they had any salt for freshwater tanks. They looked at me like I was stupid and proceded to tell me that freshwater fish dont need salt water and there was no such thing. I tried explaining to them that there are 2 types of aquarium salt and one is for freshwater for brakish fish. Also that it is a great temporary treatment for sick freshwater fish. They still didnt get it.

They also sell bearded dragons but dont carry any lights with UVB. Hmmm.

i work at petsmart.

i've also heard a lot of petsmart "horror stories"

all I have to say is that it isn't about sales. There is no commissions and no benefit in making the "big sale."

I know I care about the well-being of all the animals I work with (even the hamster, which I despise)

Its not fair to base such a hated opinion on one bad employee.

big d your right, it isnt fair, but what else are we s'posed think when we see it so often? it may just be, that whenever we have a "situation" we're just talking to the wrong person but it happens too often to just be the fault of 1 un-knowing employee.
should we be condemning the whole store for a few employees mistakes...probably not, but...again it happens too often.

I don't see the blame here being put on the employee, hey, they just need a job. I see the blame here being put on owners/managers for not making sure employees are properly trained. I know the employee don't benefit from the big sale but the owner/manager does. There is a pet store about an hour from my home that had a dude that was right on time with the reptiles...I was learning from him. I would visit to talk with him and he may be doing fish, stocking shelves, ect. When I asked him why he wasn't taking care of the reptiles that day he informed me that all employees were on a weekly rotating schedule and that he only got to work with the reptiles about every other month!!! Talk about poor management :O If I managed that store he would have never left the reptiles, no other employee had a clue. Keep in mind...90% of the general public are scared of snakes, pet stores are hiring employees out of the general public....which means 90% of the time snakes at pet stores are not being properly taken care of. :(

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

You want be in this hobby long before pet stores are on your no-no list. I haven't stepped foot in a petstore for years...til last week. Looking for somewhere to kill some time last weekend and stumbled across a pet store about 3 hours from my home, it looked clean so we went in. One of my main reasons for not going is MITES, I still didn't touch anything. Hatchling, normal, ball pythons....$129.99!!! Baby boas....$179.99!!!! I watched a young girl buy a boa. I wanted so bad to hand her a business card!

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If this store is in New Bern, I know which one you are probably referring too. Starts with a "B" and ends with a "S"... I almost want to spray myself down with PAM before going in there for feeders....

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

If you need anything for your snake start at Reptile Basics, Rich is very helpful and if he don't have what you want he will tell you where to go to get it.
Just remember, pet store....BAD :mad:...Reptile Basics....GOOD :gj:

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RB owns! i buy my hides and i bought my scale & rack from them :gj:
my younger BPs started to outgrow their hides and my larger BPs started to tip their water bowls so i also bought new water dishes :D:D

RB is the best fo sho:gj:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

If this store is in New Bern, I know which one you are probably referring too. Starts with a "B" and ends with a "S"... I almost want to spray myself down with PAM before going in there for feeders....

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Ohhhhh...I know the store you are refering to, remember I said "clean"!!! B!@#s is not clean. I was in there once and saw a tank with a regurge in it...it didn't even smell!!! :O How long does a regurge have to sit to loose it's smell???? That store SUCKS! The clean store I was refering to with the $$$$$ animals was in Greensboro, NC. The store with the one good reptile guy is in Myrtle Beach, SC. The only problem with the one in MB is you need to take a PAM bath before entering there too. :colbert:

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Originally Posted by big d

i work at petsmart.
all I have to say is that it isn't about sales. There is no commissions and no benefit in making the "big sale."

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I generally try not to jump on the "all pet stores and their employees are bad" bandwagon. However, I once had a job at a large department store (no, not a pet store, but still the same concept), and it was ALL about sales. We were constantly pushed to sell, sell, SELL. If we weren't on top of our customers in 5 seconds, putting on the fake smile and asking, "Hi! How can I help you?" we were berated for it. My point? None of us got commissions, either. Just because an employee doesn't receive commissions, does not mean they won't be pressured into swaying customers to buy useless or unneeded items, just for the sake of making a sale.

The one, short time I DID land a job at a pet store (mom & pop), my employment lasted less than 24 hours. Why? Because I wasn't "perky" enough or bouncing off the walls. In other words, I didn't "butter up" the customers. I didn't jump on them the second they walked in the door and schmooze them into purchasing unneeded items. Also, one of the owners didn't like my "aura". :rolleyes:

That, and their were numerous husbandry problems with many of the animals. ALL water bowls were disgusting. The ball python had a UV light, even when there was accurate information on how to care for the animal stuck onto the glass of the WAY too huge tank. All the birds were never given enough food. I told the owner, "Birds have very fast metabolisms, so they need to eat often. I don't think they are getting enough food." She said, "Oh my gosh! Really!? I didn't know that!" :weirdface

I don't want to offend any one but i generally hate pet stores. Not all but most of them stink. Ninety % of the time the animals are of second or maybe even third quality. Ive been in the reptile biz for a long time and own over a hundred snakes and i ONLY buy from breeders that i know or breeders at the shows with top quality reputations. Ive just been burned to many times when i was younger and maybe that scared me, whatever, all i know is that pet stores, fly by nite breeders, and high school kids needing a summer job are the last people or places id ever buy a reptile from. Long Live the Private Breeder and Down With All Who Dishonor that Name, Thanks for reading, Eyeball PS: our local pet store here in Cornelia Ga is run buy a complete group of morons and smells like more than one thing died in there, If you want to know why so many people have horror stories about pet stores just go to that place!!!!!!!:cool: