- Joined
- Aug 12, 2011
- Messages
- 1,579
Me too.
Little training, low pay and many coworkers can be lazy and not interested in learning anything, often just repeating what someone else who has no idea has said.
Then there's dealing with all y'all know it alls too who think they know it all OR they do know what they're talking about but instead of educating they just scoff in disapproval. Tell the employee, tell the manager and write to corporate. Some people wont care but others will.
Put yourself in their shoes as well. Many are young college students who often know little about the animals they carry when hired (many of them don't even have any pets!) and then get minimally trained while often overworked (depending on the store's business of course). Then we deal with customers who scoff in our faces when we warn them against putting goldfish in the one gallon tanks that have pictures of goldfish on them. Most of my customers seem pretty happy with me and I always try to give the right advice or none at all if I don't know. People need to realize too that most people don't see tarantulas as anything more than a fear inducing monster who wants to suck their blood. I do my best to settle their fears but it's not easy trying to talk strangers out of their old habits.
Why would someone tell you to mist them directly is beyond me. You (generally speaking) should probably tell that person respectfully, after you take a nice deep breath and step down from your high horse, that their information is incorrect and will cause harm to the animal. Tell management if your advice is blown off. Tell them nicely though, because sitting on the pedestal looking down at all the "dumb employees" will get nothing done, except maybe puff up your own ego (isn't that why we make fun of stupid people?). Many of them are honest, hard working people who are just trying to put food on the table. I understand others are just kids who make stuff up because they weren't properly trained, but give people the benefit of the doubt. I have learned a lot and the main thing I learned working at a pet store is I'm no always right and there's more than one way to crack an egg.
And yes, that care guide is terrible.
Most customers are pretty good but I've gotten the dirty looks from fish forum fighters who see a dead fish or a grimy tank lol. Like I have enough time to clean 100 tanks while stopping to catch 50 crickets or 20 feeder fish every 5 to ten minutes or to answer my favorite of all questions and most common "I've never had a fish tank, how do I set it up? Is it hard? What can I do to make sure I don't kill all my fish?". This one takes about 20 minutes for the short version. Meanwhile all the answers are sitting there on their smartphones. I've actually had customers look something up on their phones and then HAND THE PHONE TO ME TO READ TO THEM! Like, really?
Idk about everyone else who works at these stores but I work my ass off, running around trying to catch up on tasks that didn't get done, clean up other messes left by other employees or myself or do the tasks I need to be doing all the while stopping every few minutes to fetch 50 crickets or explain the dynamics and chemical structure of the fish cycle that is to the best of my knowledge. "Does this hamster bite?" or showcasing animals while you put tasks on hold for kids whose parents often drop them off there while they shop somewhere else is just another a wonderful benefit
.---------- Post added 08-01-2013 at 02:54 PM ----------
Uneducated employees are the result of a lack of training or care. They often hire people with no pets and no interest. Why? Idk.
For the first statement I will have to disagree. PetSmart has a two week guarantee and we definitely do not want you to spend hundreds of dollars on an impulse buy just to have you return it dead in a week with all the useless stuff you bought for the dead animal that has to be tossed out and negatively reflected on the department. Example: Two employees spent 45 minutes explaining the care of a conure to a family. The family was told that it will need lots of attention, will likely make a lot of noise and will not at all be a simple little pet like a hamster. They totally understood this and were excited. They bought a nice big cage/starter kit. Probably 150 bucks or something like that. Two weeks later they returned everything because they said it was like caring for another kid. Luckily the bird was alive and healthy but that 150 dollar cage was tossed out and wasted at the store's expense. Either impulse buying or not, we (myself and management) definitely do care (maybe not everyone) what happens to that animal after it gets home.
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