- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 17,851
Hello All,
I had my conference call with three of Petco's employees yesterday. We spoke for about 35 mins.
Let me preface by saying the following: Don't go on about "corporate America" etc and all the typical rants many of us do here (myself included), save it for another thread.
My purpose of the phone call was to discuss the selling of OW Ts to the general public.
They were very cordial/friendly/respectful. They were very happy that I came to them with my concern about their news release (thanks @gypsy cola ).
Here's what I learned in no specific order, just from my notes.
They have not shipped out any OW species anywhere in the USA.
They felt I had "valid concerns", their in-house Vet approved the species in the press release.
They have a supplier who is going to provide all their Ts. I was told the supplier is a "large, well known breeder", but because of a NDA they contractually could not provide me who their vendor is. I also know that their vendor provided them input as to what species would/could be sold.
I asked them how they came to selecting various OW species, as certain OW species made sense to me from a business perspective why they would be chosen. For example, Pterinochilus murinus is easy to reproduce and brightly colored. A business needs a reasonable supply.
The answer I was provided was that Petco has sold OW Ts in the past, and they based the species offering on what species had sold well n the past, along with advice from their vendor who breeds them.
I spoke to them about the challenges of owning any OW T, and emphasized the medically significant venom as well. The clinical papers I have of people getting bit by an OW T. While I was told they have not ever received a report of an OW bite from a customer, they certainly wouldn't want that to happen, that's bad business, to which they all agreed.
I told them it's my opinion, that it isn't a question of IF Petco will have lawsuit on their hands, but a question of WHEN should they proceed with selling OWs, especially in this highly litigious country.
They said they are going to re-examine their species list and perhaps remove the OWs or some of them. I don't know if that will happen or not, time will tell. I hope they remove them, esp the Poki's.
I also suggested there are many NW species they could choose from. I specifically mentioned the Green-Bottle Blue if they were looking for a T that had bright color and is very hardy.
They are continuing to evaluate other NW species, such as the Costa Rican Tiger Rump.
In any event, Petco has a "tarantula project" I'll call it that (they didn't), and they see tarantulas as a growth segment of the pet market (it is), and any business is looking for new revenue streams. So for now, they are including Ts as a regular part of their offerings.
They said they want to help grow the hobby, ie expose Ts to more people in a responsible manner. We will see.
They welcomed any input I had to offer be it now, or down the road.
Later that evening one of the employees contacted me and they have found this forum (that's good).
It seems Petco is going to reach out to some members of the AB community. Below is a portion of the email that was sent to me.
"We received a few letters from others on that board and are hoping to have calls with them too. I want to make sure we ease their concerns as well. I believe our customer service team is reaching out to them to see if we can get their phone numbers to setup a call. I don’t know if they will want to talk to us or not. If not, could you at least let them know that we spoke to you and that their concerns have been heard and will be addressed? We’re here to promote their hobby, not hurt it."
So whether people like it or not, Petco is moving forward w/selling tarantulas. My take on it is here's an opportunity to make things better than they are on some level.
I propose people who are actually interested in effecting change, not complaining, provide their constructive criticism, as I did, to Petco in the areas you feel they need it.
For example, you think they need better care sheets or better care info on their website, let them know it, not by telling them this is wrong alone, but by providing the information so many of us have.
I do believe they took my seriously because these are professionals and they have better things to do with their time than call me and continue to foster a relationship with myself or others. Does that mean they will make all the changes we'd like to see, not necessarily, but they are receptive to hearing feedback, as any good company who is consumer-oriented NOT product-oriented should be. If they weren't prepared to at least consider making changes, they would not have even replied back to me. They didn't have to do this at all.
My personal opinion is Petco is going to sell tarantulas (for now at least) whether you provide input or not. If only 10-20% of the suggestions are taken, that is better than none.
I had my conference call with three of Petco's employees yesterday. We spoke for about 35 mins.
Let me preface by saying the following: Don't go on about "corporate America" etc and all the typical rants many of us do here (myself included), save it for another thread.
My purpose of the phone call was to discuss the selling of OW Ts to the general public.
They were very cordial/friendly/respectful. They were very happy that I came to them with my concern about their news release (thanks @gypsy cola ).
Here's what I learned in no specific order, just from my notes.
They have not shipped out any OW species anywhere in the USA.
They felt I had "valid concerns", their in-house Vet approved the species in the press release.
They have a supplier who is going to provide all their Ts. I was told the supplier is a "large, well known breeder", but because of a NDA they contractually could not provide me who their vendor is. I also know that their vendor provided them input as to what species would/could be sold.
I asked them how they came to selecting various OW species, as certain OW species made sense to me from a business perspective why they would be chosen. For example, Pterinochilus murinus is easy to reproduce and brightly colored. A business needs a reasonable supply.
The answer I was provided was that Petco has sold OW Ts in the past, and they based the species offering on what species had sold well n the past, along with advice from their vendor who breeds them.
I spoke to them about the challenges of owning any OW T, and emphasized the medically significant venom as well. The clinical papers I have of people getting bit by an OW T. While I was told they have not ever received a report of an OW bite from a customer, they certainly wouldn't want that to happen, that's bad business, to which they all agreed.
I told them it's my opinion, that it isn't a question of IF Petco will have lawsuit on their hands, but a question of WHEN should they proceed with selling OWs, especially in this highly litigious country.
They said they are going to re-examine their species list and perhaps remove the OWs or some of them. I don't know if that will happen or not, time will tell. I hope they remove them, esp the Poki's.
I also suggested there are many NW species they could choose from. I specifically mentioned the Green-Bottle Blue if they were looking for a T that had bright color and is very hardy.
They are continuing to evaluate other NW species, such as the Costa Rican Tiger Rump.
In any event, Petco has a "tarantula project" I'll call it that (they didn't), and they see tarantulas as a growth segment of the pet market (it is), and any business is looking for new revenue streams. So for now, they are including Ts as a regular part of their offerings.
They said they want to help grow the hobby, ie expose Ts to more people in a responsible manner. We will see.
They welcomed any input I had to offer be it now, or down the road.
Later that evening one of the employees contacted me and they have found this forum (that's good).
It seems Petco is going to reach out to some members of the AB community. Below is a portion of the email that was sent to me.
"We received a few letters from others on that board and are hoping to have calls with them too. I want to make sure we ease their concerns as well. I believe our customer service team is reaching out to them to see if we can get their phone numbers to setup a call. I don’t know if they will want to talk to us or not. If not, could you at least let them know that we spoke to you and that their concerns have been heard and will be addressed? We’re here to promote their hobby, not hurt it."
So whether people like it or not, Petco is moving forward w/selling tarantulas. My take on it is here's an opportunity to make things better than they are on some level.
I propose people who are actually interested in effecting change, not complaining, provide their constructive criticism, as I did, to Petco in the areas you feel they need it.
For example, you think they need better care sheets or better care info on their website, let them know it, not by telling them this is wrong alone, but by providing the information so many of us have.
I do believe they took my seriously because these are professionals and they have better things to do with their time than call me and continue to foster a relationship with myself or others. Does that mean they will make all the changes we'd like to see, not necessarily, but they are receptive to hearing feedback, as any good company who is consumer-oriented NOT product-oriented should be. If they weren't prepared to at least consider making changes, they would not have even replied back to me. They didn't have to do this at all.
My personal opinion is Petco is going to sell tarantulas (for now at least) whether you provide input or not. If only 10-20% of the suggestions are taken, that is better than none.