Just another petstore thread

[Kokorobosoi]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...n-stores/page2

There were some comments here that I found really interesting. Instead of derailing, I figured I'd bring it here.

Truth: I worked at a PetSmart from 16 to just before my 18th birthday, then moved to a mom and pop place for a couple of years after I was discharged from the military.
Truth: I almost never admit that fact to any reptile keeper, since I am afraid of the backlash.

The times I admitted to a customer that I had no idea, they reported me. I received a poor performance review. I lost out on a raise that I very much needed. I tried to learn and remember everything that I could about everything in the store. And I mean everything. But how well can you really do that?

I was hired as a small pet specialist. Which meant if it wasn't livestock, I was the one to go to. And since we HAD no livestock person, that ended up being me too. Cats, dogs, birds of every size (even if we didn't sell it), lizards of all types, snakes, the eight legged monsters that I'm highly phobic of. Legless lizards. I didn't even know they existed... until they showed up in a shipment one day. Small caged critters. Chinchillas all the way down to dwarf hamsters.

People used me as a cage decorator, a trainer, a therapist, and a vet. I was expected to know pretty much everything about whatever we sold in the store, alive or otherwise. It was maddening. I became an expert in the bluff. When you tell a customer no, they get cranky. Cranky customers complain. So... I read labels out loud to people. I carried pamphlets around and handed them out. I lied.

There were days where my name was called... "koko to fish....koko to birds...koko to aisle 3 7 and 12. KOKO to small animals....KOKO TO FISH." all in one message. They didn't even put down the mic. And yes, I, in the indomitable wisdom of a 17 year old shouted that "Koko only has two hands" across the store. In the weeks before Christmas I resorted to handing out numbers on post it notes.

Is that insane? Absolutely. But the store I was in...well it was old. And dirty. And that meant corporate wouldn't hire any more people. the new people went to the new stores. For several months there was NO small animal manager. Just me a cashier, a stock boy, and a general manager. My stressed, bluffing butt was the best people were gonna get.

Was I wrong for basically bluffing people out of the store? Yes. Was there more behind the scenes then the customers knew? Yes. Did any of those customers ever see me spend my own money to buy toys for the conures, chew sticks for the hamsters, better bulbs for the beardies? No. I took my best guess to what they needed, offered up an often ignored, "I would really recommend a vet, but this will help in the meantime..."

Am I beneath a herper who never worked in a chain store? Am I to be looked down on, ridiculed? There is so much disdain and segregation between "herpers" and the "employees". Yes, many of the kids that work there have no clue, and don't really want to know. But the ones that do... their hands are tied. There are "plan-o-grams" that had to be followed. I would flat out ignore them. But I can't blame anyone for not doing the same.

Would you give up your job, the food on your family's table? For what very well may be something that sends you into a panic attack? I didn't have a choice in the eight legged demons. They just showed up one day. I opened a box, dropped it, knocked a shelf over, threw up. On my second attempt to do my job, I passed out when I got the container open and it jumped out. They called an ambulance.

Well, I hope this isn't a giant can of worms. But it is so strange, we all have all felt the sting of people who are "anti reptile". People who want to take our animals away, because they don't like them, or they don't understand. We are dismayed at the lack of positive publicity, and the over abundance of the negative. ..... Well, aren't we doing the very same thing? We all post or comment on the petstore atrocities. Which are horrible, and uncalled for. Absolutely. No excuses there. But we very rarely comment on a petstore doing it the right way.

This isn't meant to defend the store itself. There are big issues on corporations that large dealing with living things. This is just a plea to not condemn the herpers that have the "stain" of their chainstore jobs.

Hope everyone has a great day! Now that Ive put my soapbox away... I suspect my savannah monitor pooed in his water dish. He LOVES to wait until I clean it to just let loose.

[PitOnTheProwl]

There isn't a problem with someone making a living and wanting to learn.
There are too many people that like to jump on a wagon just because they can.
There are too many people that want to complain about something without having the knowledge of all of it.

Don't worry about it and its nothing to hide.
BTW do you have time to come help me feed my Ts?

[Hedonist]

"Customers" who think a shop-employee should know everything about anything are a) naive (not to say stupid) and b) lazy like hell. If I want to buy a pet (not a new TV!) I have to inform myself about it with books, forums, people who are expierienced with my pet of desire and MAYBE by asking an employee of a petstore. I (for myself) dont mind if the guy/girl in the shop has no REAL clue about the specific animal I want and I surely never complain about something like that BUT what someone working there never should do is "lie to get something sold". And THAT is something I witnessed very often. "You want a chameleon? Yeah, no problem, just a standard glastank, one bulb for light and heat, one brunch for climbing and a cricket or two every day." And Ka-Ching the animal was sold to someone who had absolutly no clue about those reptiles. Btw its the same problem in stores for salt-water-fish e.g.

[Kokorobosoi]

Whew. I feel much better now Its been weighing on me for a while....and very very recently someone made an unfortunate and cruel comment to me regarding this very topic.

Apparently, without bothering to see my collection or their setups... someone took it as their responsibility to "fear for my animals" since I must know nothing about them, since that's where I had worked. Oh, I was heated. Outraged and hurt do not make a great combination.

On a side note....there is not enough money in the WORLD to get me to help you feed those T's, Pit. Though I might be hunting for a "helper" soon, since hubby wants one. Bad. LOL.....I'm not cleaning it, not feeding it, not watering it, not looking at it. Its not living in my bedroom or TV room or living room or kitchen. But I suppose I can maybe allow it in the basement. On the opposite side of my laundry room. With motion detectors installed. Yeah, no. It and huby can live in the truck.

Oh wait. The truck's been totaled. So.... yeah back to NOPE.

LOL

[bcr229]

The times I admitted to a customer that I had no idea, they reported me. I received a poor performance review. I lost out on a raise that I very much needed.

OP while I feel for you, if anything your post merely reinforced my position of never shopping again at a big box pet store. No employee should ever be put into a position where corporate policies force him to choose between lying to customers versus getting a raise or keeping his job.

[Kokorobosoi]

OP while I feel for you, if anything your post merely reinforced my position of never shopping again at a big box pet store. No employee should ever be put into a position where corporate policies force him to choose between lying to customers versus getting a raise or keeping his job.

It really is a problem with those types of stores. It was just bothering me quite a bit today. I don't blame you for not shopping there at all. I think its just lumping in the employees that isn't productive. Some truly don't care, some are taught differently by the ones who train them and truly don't know they are wrong.

I wish as a collective group, we could sometimes try to focus more on productively fixing the problems, however that may be accomplished. I think our money speaks much louder than anything else. Its like that thread about perceptions of reptiles. We have these perceptions amongst ourselves as well.

Just my two cents for today.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Sounds like you did the best that you could do. Nothing more can be expected and you definitely don't have anything to feel bad about.

[Albert Clark]

It really is a problem with those types of stores. It was just bothering me quite a bit today. I don't blame you for not shopping there at all. I think its just lumping in the employees that isn't productive. Some truly don't care, some are taught differently by the ones who train them and truly don't know they are wrong.

I wish as a collective group, we could sometimes try to focus more on productively fixing the problems, however that may be accomplished. I think our money speaks much louder than anything else. Its like that thread about perceptions of reptiles. We have these perceptions amongst ourselves as well.

Just my two cents for today.

And your two cents matters! Just as its shed quite a bit of light on the reasons why we encounter instances where the neglected reptile, bird, Guinea pig happens. Being overworked and underpaid has been a big problem in this country. It has recently received the overdue outcome that it deserves. Thank you for highlighting the stressful conditions employees must work under at these "chain" stores. Also the extremes they go to trying to cut costs, limiting help and putting animals at risk. I do believe that the trend is changing in the focused care to the reptile populations in these stores and that different stores are operating at a higher standard than others. We really can't stereotypically group them all as substandard. Or as "disasters" as I did in a previous post. Thank you Koko for your insight and experience in the "chain" store operations.

[enginee837]

Although I will agree by and large the big box pet shops typically have no clue what they are doing when it comes to husbandry and typically could care less for animal welfare (at the corporate level) there are employees like yourself who do the best they can with what they have.
I was in your shoes many years ago however the general manager of the store I was at did in fact care for all of the creatures there. He encouraged education and expected healthy animals. The customers of that shop were very loyal to it for that reason. Now if I told you the name of the store I am sure to get sneered out of here. Unfortunately the stigma is there to stay.
No matter where you go you will find people who have animals and do not care for them properly. Big box stores, mom and pop stores AND individual breeders. Unfortunately there are ignorant people who get into this hobby for the wrong reasons and those people are everywhere.
Based on my experience, I judge the facility based on the condition of the animals not my previous conceived notion of what kind of shop I am at. To be honest, if you can't at least do that you should probably do some more research before your purchase anyway.