Not sure what to do anymore

Yeah, if they're running their own store, they can charge whatever they want for feeders and change the price as they see fit. I don't know why you're sharing screenshots of text conversations?

I'd advise buying in bulk online. Yes, shipping cost a bit but when you figure out the cost per prey animal, it's not usually too bad.

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Originally Posted by Joshyboy

I'm in corona and I've looked around but I can't find anything within my range/ my mom's tolerance lol. I bit the bullet and went to petco and picked up some frozen mice although I hate supporting chain stores.

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Why is it that you don't like to support chain stores? For most people feel that way, it is due to things like labor practices, standard of care (in the case of pet store chains), monopolies or business practices harm communities, or just the idea of the giant faceless corporation out-competing Mom and Pop (I.e, scale).
Not coincidentally, those are all the exact reasons why chain stores are often cheaper than the small locally-owned competition.

Standing on principle is all well and good, but sometimes it means paying more for things, and that's still true whether you can afford to or not. If you can't afford to follow your principles with your cash, that's the way it is. But don't try to stand on principle about how you want pasture raised beef, handmade bread, and organic vegetables - and then expect people to sell it to you for the price of a big Mac.

At a certain point, you have to accept that Petco can afford to price match for feeders and the locally owned place can't or won't. Either your principle of not liking chain stores is worth paying the price difference, or it isn't. That's still true of you have limited funds.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Yeah, if they're running their own store, they can charge whatever they want for feeders and change the price as they see fit. I don't know why you're sharing screenshots of text conversations?

I'd advise buying in bulk online. Yes, shipping cost a bit but when you figure out the cost per prey animal, it's not usually too bad.

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I was just curious if it was appropriate to talk to a customer like this. Just wanted opinions and I thought you guys might have wanted to see the context of the conversation. It honestly doesn't really matter it's just the fact that I wasn't being treated as a customer.

Buy the feeder mice from reptile expos. It's where I get mine, expos in my state every 3 months so I figure the amount from that. I have a local pet store that's near me that are very rude unless you have a dog. They sell live mice, but the owner and his wife give me the biggest crap/glares when I buy them. I'm paying them $60+ a week just for mice/rats that they order but they'll complain about it loudly. I wish the local Petco sold live but sadly they're my only option.

Honestly dude, I'm on the owners side. I've worked in retail before and can tell you're one of those customers who tries to haggle too much.
You also keep trying to get a different answer to the same questions (but your dad said this... blah blah). They're obviously not interested in bringing the prices down. I would be sour with you as well if I were them, answering questions (be it the same one) over and over again take up time, time that they should be investing on running their shop. Don't expect them to spend hours going over info on a $3 product.
If I were you, I'd try to get back on their good side and just be happy as they seem to have good prices.
Otherwise, just go to petsmart, you don't need to buy mice/rats from experts.

I agree, you're not being treated as a regular good customer but from everything you posted and said, you haven't really been behaved like a good customer either. If you come in and ask a whole lot of leading questions about the price and try to imply that if they don't run the AC for the mice then they should be cheaper and you're there to buy a $3 mouse... no, they won't really want to jump through hoops to keep you coming back.

I'm sure you don't think you're being rude, but to a busy business owner who is trying to make the bills every month... yeah, you're being rude. "I'm just asking questions!" but you know you're trying to wheedle a deal and trying to wear them down so you'll get your rodents cheaper. I mean, just own up to that at least.

And sure, folks will pop in and go on about how the shop should be standing on their heads for every $1 spending customer and if it takes an hour of discussion and lowering the price and everything else to "make the customer happy", then the shop should do that... and as a former business owner and a service industry worker now... that ain't even half right. There's a point where you write off a potential customer because they literally are costing you too much time and bother.

I've literally fired clients because they want to constantly wheedle at me over a couple dollars on the price, or find out some magic loophole that will give them what they want and it's just not worth it some days.

Sorry to go on a rant over it, but it's the holiday season and I'm so over it already. Small businesses have a very slim margin of profit and customers seem to feel like if they don't give away the product, they're cheating the customers. It's annoying.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

I agree, you're not being treated as a regular good customer but from everything you posted and said, you haven't really been behaved like a good customer either. If you come in and ask a whole lot of leading questions about the price and try to imply that if they don't run the AC for the mice then they should be cheaper and you're there to buy a $3 mouse... no, they won't really want to jump through hoops to keep you coming back.

I'm sure you don't think you're being rude, but to a busy business owner who is trying to make the bills every month... yeah, you're being rude. "I'm just asking questions!" but you know you're trying to wheedle a deal and trying to wear them down so you'll get your rodents cheaper. I mean, just own up to that at least.

And sure, folks will pop in and go on about how the shop should be standing on their heads for every $1 spending customer and if it takes an hour of discussion and lowering the price and everything else to "make the customer happy", then the shop should do that... and as a former business owner and a service industry worker now... that ain't even half right. There's a point where you write off a potential customer because they literally are costing you too much time and bother.

I've literally fired clients because they want to constantly wheedle at me over a couple dollars on the price, or find out some magic loophole that will give them what they want and it's just not worth it some days.

Sorry to go on a rant over it, but it's the holiday season and I'm so over it already. Small businesses have a very slim margin of profit and customers seem to feel like if they don't give away the product, they're cheating the customers. It's annoying.

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They don't breed their own mice. They buy them I was told by the owners father that when they buy them from a breeder it costs more to keep them in AC. They don't even have AC. I'm not PETA I'm not worried for the mice, I mean I care about all animals but they are going to be food. As long as they have food and water. But the point is I wouldn't complain, I came in got my things and left. I spent nearly $700 on snakes from them and they treat me like this? I am the one who buys their outrageous stuff. They get in $500 carpet pythons that sit for months and I feel bad and try to get. But the point is that He said think of it like this, "do you want to breed mice" "yea" "but you have to keep them indoors and they stink" "okay now I don't anymore" "but someone has to do it to feed your snakes. that's why they cost more". And Asking questions on animal care is bad? I mean I didn't know being informed was bad. Hmmm guess next time I'm at an expo and I get a new animal I shouldn't ask how to take care of it so I don't piss off the seller. It's not the price. I couldn't give one. It's the point that when I walk in and ask for my damn mice and you're too lazy to even check if you have any that annoys me. I'm not your friend. I'm a customer. I don't constantly ask for price changes this was literally the first time I have ever done this. Ever. I love how you all jump to conclusions here. I wasn't even rude to him either, my mother would be in the car waiting for me on a time restraint and I would tell him this. And he would still sit, on his chair, and talk to me about his new projects and show me his new snakes. Like please I did nothing.



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That was a whole lot of words..

Did you ever just directly say "Hey my mom is waiting in the car and I only have 5 minutes to get my food and go"?

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Originally Posted by HannahLou

That was a whole lot of words..

Did you ever just directly say "Hey my mom is waiting in the car and I only have 5 minutes to get my food and go"?

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Yes. Multiple times. "Hey my mom is in the car I have to go in like 10 minutes" My mom would have to text me to get me out of there. I just wanted mice.

My advice, go to the upcoming super show in Pomona this January and stock up there. I go to a breeder in Temecula with decent prices, but honestly I don't really see anything wrong with the texts you posted. He was a little abrupt, but it is the holiday season and even small business owners sometimes like to take vacations. I know my rat guy has been abrupt lately in texts, but I just assume he's on vacation since hasn't been in the last week or two either. Don't take it too personally, they're just trying to make a living.

My issue with Petsmart was that I got a mite infestation that I traced back to their frozen rodents a couple of years ago. You could try ordering from lll reptile if you're in socal since their distribution center is in Vista, but their rodents tend to be small.


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