any pet store workers here?

I Did But I Was The Cashier For A Week

I work at Petsmart, in the fish depart.

I always ask the usual, tank size+inhabitants, etc etc... I hate it. I feel so guilty sometimes cause I know I'm sentencing somethings to death, cause I know they won't listen to my advice. For example, you'd be surprised how many people want goldfish for bowls, even when I tell them they need 20g at LEAST. I also tell them I don't get commision, but that never makes a difference to them. I also tell them to not get the 12c comets, since they get huge, but instead to go for the smaller oranda or lionheads.

I hate most customers.

My girlfriend used to work at a local privately owned pet store. She was amazed at how many of the same people would come in everyday. Obsessed or something...??..

She usually wouldn't ask much because she said she could kind of get a vibe of a person by what they say. Also, she said that most customers told her what they had anyway and most knew what they were buying/doing. She figured that since they were an aquarium specialty store they got more of the experienced aquariasts vs. like Petsmart that caters to the beginners.

She did quit selling to a couple of asian guys that would come in and buy almost all the male Bettas on occasion.

I have a full-time job during the week, but work weekends at a department-store sized pet store. Our fish room employees are, for the most part, very knowledgeable and our goal is to educate customers - not just to sell fish.

I generally ask customers how large their tank is, what they've got in the
tank ATM, and take it from there - if they want something like an oscar, pleco, bala shark, gar, etc. I'll ensure that they know the potential size of the fish and have a large enough tank. If they're having problems we break things down; I'll ask about their maintenance routine, tank size and inhabitants, how long the tank has been running, and anything else I need to know in order to help them pinpoint where their problem (algae, disease, mysterious deaths, incompatibility issues, etc.) stems from.

The worst customers, IMHO, are those who are determined that they're right, period, no matter what the issue. There are lots of different kinds, but they all share the common quality of being experts in their own minds. Some insist that keeping six oscars in a forty gallon tank is fine and not the cause of their ammonia and agression problems, others think using trios of goldfish as a table ornament at a wedding is fabulous - even after I explain that keeping them in those adorable, teacup-sized containers is likely to result in tables full of dead goldfish stinking up their special day. Some like to give other customers advice that conflicts what we're offering, even butting in to interject their opinions. After a while, I learned to allow these people to believe what they like and just go on with my day - if I didn't, I'd stay mad all day.

I used to work at a petstore in Texas (PetStop - College Station) that had an amazing fish showroom. It was one of the great LFS that I wish everybody had access to. We had one of those 10 day guarantees that was not offered if you did not take the staff advise about your fish. So if little Suzie wanted to put 8 goldfish in a bowl we could tell her (and her mom) to her face that they were going to die and we were not responsible. Also, since it was a full petstore, only people trained in fish worked in fish, only people trained in birds worked in birds, etc. Employees really had to know their stuff b/c the store did not tolerate having to reimburse people for staff mistakes. You ask about worst scenario...that little Suzie reference was true...a girl who had bought all those poor goldfish at Wal-Mart and came to us wanting to know why they died overnight...geez.

I work at a Petsmart in Charlotte, NC.
It's routine now LoL Ask for their tank size, tanks inhabitants, what they're looking etc etc. And show them in the right direction after that. Most will listen to the advice I give them but others are just a little pig-headed.

I do not sell a fish to anyone who doesn't have the right size tank or compatible fish.

I've had some nasty customers, but the one that blows my mind goes like this. (I wasn't working 2 weekends ago when this happened though, my team-mate so to speak had to deal with it)
A guy came in wanting fish. Long story short, he had a 29 gallon tank that had been setup only 2 days...obviously not cycled....he wanted a baby albino oscar about 3 inches and our remaining 3 Pacu's. First we told him that he couldn't have any of those fish in that size tank and pointed him to the fish that could go in there. Well, he said that he's been raising fish for ever and knows what he's doing. He said he's had oscars and pacu's before and it's bull that they need such a large tank. He basically told the girl to give him all those fish or he would get her fired etc etc. Very rude and loud. He was given no gaurantee on anything.
That guy was VERY LUCKY I wasn't there that day because I would have given him a mouthful and told him to go buy fish elsewhere. I would not have let those fish out that door. I guess not all people are as outspoken and such as I am over there. I don't just roll over and take it when I have an animals best interests at stake.
Other common ones are 6 feeder comets in one of those betta hex things wher you can put 2 bettas side by side...now that's crazy!!!
There are those wonderful customers that make up for all those know-it-alls and crazies though! :dance: