Pastel Ball Pythons at Petco

[CeeJay]

So working at Petco, we have a cage with about 7 or so ball pythons. They are on sale right now for $50. You think i have some sort of duty to remove the pastel from the enclosure, bring it to the register and say "charge me $250 for this" ???

Seriously. All you can go by is the marked price. If your store or the one I purchased from had 2 signs:

One saying Normal BP $80
2nd Saying Pastels PB 150.00 ( or whatever price)

Then that's what you pay. If I tried to dup an employee into thinking it was a normal the I deserve all the criticism from Mike and anyone else. BUT THAT's NOT what happened. There was ONE marked price outside the tank and I paid it. Its not my responsibility to make sure their items are correctly price. That's corporates job.

[CeeJay]

It is the law that if a product - with matching UPC label is priced one price and rings up another - that they have to match the price on the shelf.

If Petco puts a pastel in with normals and has a sign with ball pythons priced at $xyz price - they have to honor that price. It IS the law.

Is that state to state or nationally? I am not in retail so I don't know. I would agree that if a product, animal, whatever has a price tag that is lower than what rings up at the register, the business should honor it. I have never run into a place that wouldn't. It has happened to me a few times and the managers have no problem making the adjustment.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Ummmm.....wow.....

Mike, if you think that the bigger breeders aren't going to turn down or take advantage of a deal, then you don't know them as well as you think that you do.

Your taking what I said out of context here. There is a big difference between taking advantage of a good deal (seller intentionally sells something at a lower price to move it) and taking an item that was priced wrong in error, and getting over on someone.

Bottom line is if I walk into your pet shop and see that you obviously have an item marked wrong, I am not going to just try to be sneaky and buy the animal for the wrong price. Sorry, that is just not the way I roll.

Ceejay broke no laws. I was just trying to point out that acquiring such an animal in such a way isn't exactly something to brag about IMHO.

[CeeJay]

Mike

This is the last time I am going to address this. I promise to be civil.

How was I sneaky in buying the snake?

I walked in the store.
The snake was in the tank with others.
I requested to see the snake because it looked different.
After holding it I was 90% sure it was a Pastel.
I even asked the Manager (who by the way still works there) if the price was correct. The price tag below said "79.99" He said yes.
I told him "I'll take it"
The manager wrote up the ticket. I took it to the register and paid for it.

Is that really sneaky to you?

Just because I paid 75% less than what you or your fellow breeders charge doesn't make it wrong or give you the right to bash me for it. Should I have said "I think this snake is worth more, charge me more"? That is why I asked the manager if the price was correct? Whether or not I know you breeders sell them higher should not make any difference. If there was a sign saying Pastels "149.99" and I tried to convince the manager that the it was a normal and he believed me, then that is bad.

Maybe the original breeder thought he was an ugly Pastel and put it in the batch. For whatever the reason was, it was sent to that store. Whether or not the store messed up the price, we'll never know. But that doesn't give you the right to assume I was dishonest. I was only playing by the rules set in front of me. There was a snake for $80.00 and that's what I paid.

It may not have been a Graziani or a NERD or something that you bred, but to me he was just as nice as any snake I have seen on the internet. He was the first morph I have ever seen in person and held in my hand.

If you think I am dishonest for that, that's on you. I am proud to have found a great snake for a great price. I have no problem telling the world. I think most people would agree.

[EvesFriend]

It is the law that if a product - with matching UPC label is priced one price and rings up another - that they have to match the price on the shelf.

If Petco puts a pastel in with normals and has a sign with ball pythons priced at $xyz price - they have to honor that price. It IS the law.

According to poster Mike Cavanaugh's logic,that would be stealing.

[BigBlue56]

Ummmm.....wow.....

Mike, if you think that the bigger breeders aren't going to turn down or take advantage of a deal, then you don't know them as well as you think that you do.

In RETAIL, it's not up to the buyer to correct the retailer on their pricing. It is entirely up to the retailer to HONOR the price that they have a product listed at, even if it's marked incorrectly. It's the LAW. I know this, because I used to work in retail many, many years ago, as a scanning coordinator in a large grocery chain, and we were audited by the State for this very thing. And it doesn't apply to just grocery.

For you to make the leap and accuse someone of being dishonorable because of a retailer's mistake....wow! Good thing you don't live in a glass house.

For the OP - be sure that what you're seeing isn't just a really nice high yellow normal like this one:

Perfect response and you beat me too it. Lets not have this turn into a name calling festival. Obviously mike has higher standards of what HE feels is moral high ground then the rest of us. Fair enough, to each his own right?

Though I will say calling someone a thief because a multi billion dollar corporation could possibly be making a mistake with a price tag is a little harsh and dare I say arrogant and naive.

[BigBlue56]

You can get male pastels for around $100 breeding size. So yes $40 would be a steal especially if it were a female. I'm not buying into the pied at petco however thats just ridiculous. Thats like sayin I went through the McDonalds drive thru earlier and ordered a 99 cent double cheezburger and they accidently gave me a filet mignon....Come on now

You dont think people make mistakes? Wow, Id love to live in that world. What you need to understand is that with large businesses they are paying their employees peanuts. Mostly younger people who just need a job.

Its not the president of a breeder or petco that could be making this horrendous mistake, but more likely some guy that doesnt care about his job and is just there for his measly 10 bucks an hour to have some weekend drinking money.

Some of you are looking for too deep into this. PEOPLE SCREW UP! Regardless of the financial repercussions of the mistake, mistakes still happen.

Is this really that difficult of an idea to grasp?

Yes, a pie bald selling for $50 dollars is extremely rare, but to say it never has or will happen is short sighted to say the least.

[BigBlue56]

Bottom line is if I walk into your pet shop and see that you obviously have an item marked wrong, I am not going to just try to be sneaky and buy the animal for the wrong price. Sorry, that is just not the way I roll.

Why exactly would you have to be sneaky? THEY marked the price, its not like someone went around the store taking price tags and switched the products.

As a consumer, we see a product we want, and they price they are asking and determine if we would like to purchase said product for that said price. Now its the consumers job to make sure these companies are getting the most bang for their buck? Sorry, life doesnt work that way. As a consumer its OUR JOB to find products we want for the best possible price.

Not to mention, perhaps petco shouldnt be in the pet biz if they dont even know how to correctly price their animals. This is America last time I checked.

[PYMOM]

saw a spider for 350...cant remember if it was petco or petsmart

[J.Vandegrift]

I spoke to petco employees and one of them said that he saw a pied ball python end up in the batch and once he saw it he bought it for himself. .

He lied.