Petsmart employees

[Deku]

There's no need to hire "experts" when they have perfectly good advanced hobbyists walking in the door begging to work for minimum wage (so that they can feed themselves... which is always fun). Hobbyists like myself.

When a store actively turns down placing the appropriate person in the appropriate section of the store, because they use stock to treat/care for the animals (and using stock costs money), that is absolutely ridiculous. They wanted to stick me on cashier, and have all of the uneducated kids run over to ask questions rather than placing me in the reptile department and risking that I might open a UV bulb for the Iguanas. - Ridiculous -.

I refer specifically to one of the PetCo's in the DFW area. And also to one in Oklahoma. I have not named locations but if a friend asks I'll say "Yeah, don't." Other stores? Who knows.

A true hobbyst would get mad at the things the customers say. Been hired to one I know what Iam talking about. For the most part you CANT argue with a customer because you will get fired. Most customers will bish at you for very stupid things. You WILL end up frustrated. Its not just me, I know alot of hobbyst being hired into stores some which are my friends and they are frustrated. Most end up leaving. The rest they're mind is being battered by their own thoughts and opinion against what the customers and the boss say. Its not because they cant afford to hire experts. Thats just stupid anyone can be an expert as long as they keep the animals t hemselves they can speak. What Iam talking about is customers 85% of the customers that walk in everyday are as clueless as a 5 year old about the opposite sex. If you tell them the appropriate care it doesnt matter they will argue with you alot. I actually spent 2 hours trying to explain to a few people how to care for a certain animal. I got screamed at by my boss. Again its not just that. They wont hire you because they CANT hire you. Unless you will keep your mouth quiet and your feelings inside. MOSt people who work in a petstore that are TRUE hobbyst will get mad and frustrated. I cannot stress this enough. There is alot of contraversial about this. I used to be one of them. One of my friends even got fired because he got mad at a lady who was trying to purchase some tree frogs.

[Rat The Unloved]

I'm a big boy - I know how to behave appropriately with customers. I've run a small business since I was in my early teens and worked with my family on a production-scale rabbit ranch, mostly dealing with buyers.

Here's what the Dallas store manager said: "It's store policy to use product from the shelves to take care of the animals, and we've found that experienced people tend to pull more product, so we don't hire for specific areas. The kids can come over and ask you questions, though."

That blew my mind so hard I never went back. :P

[Deku]

I'm a big boy - I know how to behave appropriately with customers. I've run a small business since I was in my early teens and worked with my family on a production-scale rabbit ranch, mostly dealing with buyers.

Here's what the Dallas store manager said: "It's store policy to use product from the shelves to take care of the animals, and we've found that experienced people tend to pull more product, so we don't hire for specific areas. The kids can come over and ask you questions, though."

That blew my mind so hard I never went back. :P

This doesnt make any sense. But at any rate. Anyone who actually cares for the lives of the animals(any animal) doesnt matter what part you are expert in. If you care about it you will protect it. Just like if you see someone hurting a dog you would get mad right? Same thing.

[1beataway]

It surprises me he was so honest about not putting you in that department for that reason. Most of them would at least lie and say, "There's no position available over there." lol.

When it comes to pet stores, there's always going to be good and bad. That situation in Dallas is not something I've ever come across. When it comes down to it, the big pet stores are paying very little for very crappy work. My pay isn't worth what I have to do everyday, but I need the job, and it's not as bad as other places.

I know my manager prefers to hire people with at least some experience with animals, but sometimes she doesn't get those applicants. She went a while without hiring anyone when we needed another person because she wasn't pleased with the few people who had applied. But truthfully...when I started working, I had no experience with animals. As a child, I had dogs and a rabbit, and that was it. Now I can talk for hours about reptiles and amphibians and fish. So sometimes those uneducated workers learn some things on their own.

I know that in my petstore, when an animal is sick, it's immediately pulled off the floor and taken care of. If it is something more than just a broken tail on a lizard or bit wounds, etc, it's taken to the vet. I've never seen my managers express a problem with that.

So...in summary...each individual pet store is different, if you know what to look for you can easily spot which ones to stay away from, the situation in Dallas sucks (I hope you at least got a job soon after somewhere else!), and I didn't read all of Deku's posts because it made me think of some of my annoying customers, and I truly don't wish to think about them. :P

[Deku]

It surprises me he was so honest about not putting you in that department for that reason. Most of them would at least lie and say, "There's no position available over there." lol.

When it comes to pet stores, there's always going to be good and bad. That situation in Dallas is not something I've ever come across. When it comes down to it, the big pet stores are paying very little for very crappy work. My pay isn't worth what I have to do everyday, but I need the job, and it's not as bad as other places.

I know my manager prefers to hire people with at least some experience with animals, but sometimes she doesn't get those applicants. She went a while without hiring anyone when we needed another person because she wasn't pleased with the few people who had applied. But truthfully...when I started working, I had no experience with animals. As a child, I had dogs and a rabbit, and that was it. Now I can talk for hours about reptiles and amphibians and fish. So sometimes those uneducated workers learn some things on their own.

I know that in my petstore, when an animal is sick, it's immediately pulled off the floor and taken care of. If it is something more than just a broken tail on a lizard or bit wounds, etc, it's taken to the vet. I've never seen my managers express a problem with that.

So...in summary...each individual pet store is different, if you know what to look for you can easily spot which ones to stay away from, the situation in Dallas sucks (I hope you at least got a job soon after somewhere else!), and I didn't read all of Deku's posts because it made me think of some of my annoying customers, and I truly don't wish to think about them. :P

Agreed. Iam not fit or qualified to work in a petstore because I do have patience. But I dont have tolerance to carelesness and selfishness. Once you work in the petstore industry you will know what Iam speaking about. So dont get frustrated if you dont get hired. Truth be told depending on your tolerance for the many people who want to take the easy way out most of us would get frustrated. To be very honest I get very frustrated trying to work with those people. Most parents leave t he care to the child. Thats the first mistake. Then they wonder why the animal has either died, become ill or attacked the kid. Buying animals like hamsters, turtles, lizards, rabbits, guinea pigs, and pretty much any small animal to be taken care of by a mere child who does not understand the concept of being gentle, and has the attention span of a squirrel.
Small furred animals: Not good childrens pet due to the fact most can die out of fright(rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters), most die out of inproper care, most bite because are mishandled, and not given chew toys.
Reptiles: Having specific requirements, needing lamps that produce heat, heaters(for aquatics and undertank heaters), live foods, etc. Is certainly not good for a child. I mean common the light is a fire hazard. They cant go to the store and buy foods and supplies weekly. Chances are the animals will suppress the illness and kids wont be able to tell its sick until its late and die. Iam not saying all children will be bad with reptiles. But for the most part they are.
Amphibians: Not a touch pet, which kids like pets they can touch. Die out of stress easier than any other animal. Some could harm the child if its toxic. Some need heat lamps which is a fire hazard.

In fact any animal out there shouldnt be taken care of by a child(anyone under 13-14years of age). Animals should be researched before purchased to know what you're getting yourself into. Which alot of people just dont do. Where I used to work I had alot of people drop their animals onto us saying we didnt warn them this and that. Which we did but they were so far up their butts they never listen.
Its very true its not just the petstore. Some petstores are genuinly good. While others are bad. Agreed. But its also part of the customers fault. Alot of coorporations make their money off of ignorant people. Its business jungle. Coorporations are the predators and the ignorant consumers are the prey. Fact is bad service wont change unless action is taken care of. Unless you go out infront of every petstore and educate each and every customer then you will not be able to do anything. Sure alot of people are into reptiles. But guess what? The rest dont give a squat about them. Which is why they arent being taken care of very well. Funny thing is. People also get scammed by petstores. My petstore used to buy 5cent goldfish and then sell them off to the customers for like 10-30bucks a piece. Sometimes we would get rare fish dropped in bad shape in our doorstep.We would take it in. Try to cure it. Then we would just sell it to the customer for 3-4 times its original price. If you see a rare animal for the most part its a drop off. This is true because a petstore wont just order some random animal and expect it to sell.