Nothing like a verbal assault from Petsmart....

[packer43064]

Totally agree with you here, and did talk to customer care the day of the original post. Basically the care agent's reaction was the reason why I posted to begin with, she was 100% on my side here. I will obviously post again once I hear back from them, was told 3-5 business days. I am not expecting anything to change on their part honestly, but you never know.

Good. Most people get angry and never come back and start bashing when the problem can be fixed. The careline is what everyone should do if they have a bad visit at Petsmart.

[MarkS]

I also work at PetSmart and i believe me and Jay have been through this once before on the site.

It's a policy made for the best interest of the customers and shareholders. They want to promote a good image of animals and PetSmart does a great job of that. If someone walked into my store and asked if we had live feeders, I would reply "No, but we carry frozen feeders if you snake eachs frozen, if he eats live, try another pet store." Most customers don't mind and will leave knowing that just down the street is another store where they can buy as many as they want. We charge $10 for a rat and $7 for a mouse because people use them as feeders.

If your going to be sneaky and sleezy and try to con an employee into selling you a mouse for a feeder AND pay $7 for ONE MOUSE, then your the idiot and nothing else needs to be said. I get my adult mice for $.50 and can get a large rat for $1.75, but i digress.

I work at a PetSmart and have 7 snakes at home, so if you have any questions about them, i will gladly help out, but just don't expect for us to sell you live food. I always recomend what is best for the owner and snake a like, so the situation will vary my answer.

Don't hate on all Stores just because you had a bad expierience at ONE of them. Do you know how many thousands of stores we have??

But can you explain then why they sell feeder gold fish, feeder guppies, feeder rosies, feeder crickets etc? Just seems like a double standard to me. Furry pets are not allowed to be feeders but the cold blooded ones are fine?

I personally don't have a problem with someone refusing to sell me anything in their store, it's their store and they can sell to whoever they want to. It's the sneers and derision I get from merely asking that I'm not fond of. I can say from personal experience that I've been more rudely treated in petsmarts then in any other store I've ever been in. And I don't just mean pet stores, I mean ANY store. It's almost as if their company policy gives their employees a right to be rude.

[SNIKTTIME]

Well I did hear back from the management team from the specific store I visited. There is no solution to my problem because it is their company policy. With that said both customer care agents from Petsmart agreed 100% with my argument and said that I should have never been treated like that. They even went to the extent of saying that just because they have to enforce a policy does not mean that they agree with said policy. They will however look into the customer service part of the complaint and see if there is a way to be more discreet than saying repeatedly " I hope you're not going to feed those to your snake".

Also agree with last post. Double standards really bother me also, and was backed on the theory by the customer care agent I spoke with last.

[Jay_Bunny]

Trust me, we are not supposed to be rude for any reason. I was actually pulled into the office because I refused to sell a family two goldfish to live in a bowl. I was even polite about it, but that's another story.

In my store, we do not sneer or anything like that to ANYONE. No matter if you are a man, woman, child, senior, bird person, fish person, reptile person, or just someone coming in to look for a product for someone else.

According to Petsmart policy, we ARE supposed to RECOMMEND that you feed your snake frozen/thawed for the health of your animal. Like I said before, a lot of people that come into my store do feed live incorrectly, so my recommending frozen/thawed to them is a good thing. I also try and educate them about feeding responsibly. But we should NEVER look down on you for feeding live. That is something to take up with someone higher than the store manager (if you were not treated well by him/her either).

Are they being rude to you after they learn you have snakes and feed live? Or are they rude to you even without this knowledge? I've gone into a Petsmart near home (I don't work at this one but it is closer to my house) and I can honestly say that some of the people that work there are just plain rude and some are simply stupid. But again, this does not represent Petsmart as a whole.

Never thought I'd be on here defending Petsmart, but as an employee there, I do take a lot of pride in my job and I work hard to provide the animals with the proper care and give customers the right information without being rude. My co-workers are the same way.

As far as feeder fish and insects. Again, it is image. About 90% of the people that come in to purchase fish, whether for pets or feeders would not give a rat's behind if the animal died (most common excuse when I refuse to sell a fish to someone with a tiny tank "It only costs a dollar. Who cares if it dies?"). Fish are expendable and have no feelings. (much like people outside this hobby thing of reptiles). But 90% of the people who come in for mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, etc, get them as pets and would be heartbroken if their little critter died. So for that 90% of people who get fish and don't really care about them, to them, who cares if fish are used as feeders? Its not like they care. But with those that like the small animals, it would be a big deal if they saw people coming in to get them as feeders, would not be too happy with Petsmart.

Is it stupid, yes. But it is also business. At least in our store, we skirt around the policy and tell people where they can go for cheaper live rodents for their snakes.


I'm glad you heard back but that sucks they couldn't do anything for you. We are supposed to discreetly fish to see if you are purchasing the animal as a feeder but we are not supposed to come right out and ask "Are you feeding it to a snake?" Now, if you let it slip that yes you will be feeding it to a snake, we can and usually will refuse sale. But just keep it on the down low that you are buying them as feeders and there shouldn't be any problems. We have had people do that before. Just say you are buying it as a pet and have all the supplies at home, and we usually won't ask any other questions than that. Also do not mention if you are intending to breed the rodents either. They also will refuse sale for that as well.

[JeffFlanagan]

Then I asked if they were born frozen and they got pissed.

People who are being irrational don't want any holes poked in their "reasoning." Hulk Smash!

Some pet stores are weird. I laughed when asked to sign an anti-cruelty form at PetSmart when buying a dozen rats in a feeding emergency, and pointed out they were for food. A management crowd formed, and after a brief conversation they sold me the rats to feed my snakes. Some store managers are more reasonable than others and grasp that not all snakes eat f/t.

[Jay_Bunny]

But why would you pay $10 per rat and get a dozen rats? We don't even keep that many rats at one time. We only keep about 4 at a time.

[smd58]

ive seen this before, in the pet box here in va beach,

[packer43064]

But can you explain then why they sell feeder gold fish, feeder guppies, feeder rosies, feeder crickets etc? Just seems like a double standard to me. Furry pets are not allowed to be feeders but the cold blooded ones are fine?

I personally don't have a problem with someone refusing to sell me anything in their store, it's their store and they can sell to whoever they want to. It's the sneers and derision I get from merely asking that I'm not fond of. I can say from personal experience that I've been more rudely treated in petsmarts then in any other store I've ever been in. And I don't just mean pet stores, I mean ANY store. It's almost as if their company policy gives their employees a right to be rude.

Only thing I can say to this is....the feeder crickets and comets and etc. are bred for the sole purpose of a feeder. They are shipped to the store with the intentions of being used as a feeder. The rats, mice, hamsters are not. Petsmart hopes to sell each and every rat, mice, and hamster and etc. as a pet, not as a feeder. That's how I see it. If they refuse to sell the said animal to you because the petcare associate wants it to be sold as a pet not as a feeder then so be it. It's Petsmart's policy, I can't blame them for wanting to sell a "furry critter" as a pet than a feeder. Plus why would anyone pay Petsmart's price on these rats or mice, their not cheap as a feeder. You wouldn't buy a $150 chinchilla(pet) as a feeder when Joe Schmoe sells them for 30 bucks down the road. Petsmart sells feeder crickets, comets, goldfish, etc. but NOT feeder mice, rats, or hamsters. It's simple as that. Should they be rude about it...no not at all. Understand this is their store, their policy, their animals, if they refuse to sell them as a feeder than go on with your day, if their rude talk to the store manager and call the corporate office. If their always rude to you then don't go in a Petsmart again. I personally dislike Target for several reasons, which is why I don't shop there. End of story.

[ice#1]

i been doing some thinking and seeing how petsmart refuses to sell to those in the reptile world live feeders then i think as a group we should all picket them for there heartlessly selling other feeders off live as every type of feeder can be kept as a pet by somebody even crickets that means no buying even cages or water bottles from them

[anatess]

i been doing some thinking and seeing how petsmart refuses to sell to those in the reptile world live feeders then i think as a group we should all picket them for there heartlessly selling other feeders off live as every type of feeder can be kept as a pet by somebody even crickets that means no buying even cages or water bottles from them

Two wrongs don't make a right, yes?