I have an interview at petsmart in a couple days...

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boojumsnark25

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Aug 13, 2006
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I don't know if this is in the right forum, but I have a couple questions. First of all, has anyone ever worked there? What was it like for you? Would you recommend it? What sort of discount did you get?

Second, I know that at most places, Petsmart included, the number 1 goal is to sell fish. However, if I refused sale every time I thought the fish was going to go to a bad home, I'd never make a sale and get fired in a day. How does one find the balance?

Thanks guys!
 
Is it? Seems to me if all you do is repeatedly sell fish, and people keep bringing back dead ones, that it wouldn't be cost effective...
 
I think the money to be made would be in the fish SETUP. If I were selling the products, I would definitely focus on helping the person to create the perfect setup, to complement the fish.

And it's interesting you mention, do you just sell them and not say anything? I think you should make recommendations. A guy at Walmart sold a lady 3 fantail goldfish last week. Her 3 year old was holding one of those little plastic "catch a bug and look at it" 1/2 gallon size plastic bins. I asked the mom if they were going to have the fish live in that, and she nodded and smiled at me. No cycling, no filter, NO ROOM, and not even set up?! 3 goldfish in that? I told her to do water changes and recommended some dechlorinator (because all she asked about was what kind of food to give them.)

I WISH the guy who fished them out had done this...

"Which fish ma'am?"
"Where will they be living?"
"Oh ok ma'am, to be honest these fish aren't going to work for you, we have much better fish for that setup over here. You could actually have something with more color. Have you seen our Bettas?"

Now I know people think 1/2g is too small for a Betta... but gosh I wish I had told her to put them back and get a Betta. I just feel like it might have had much more of a chance than 3 goldfish.

I wonder how long they lasted...
 
I'd say choose your battles. If you learn to phrase yourself in the right manner, you can influence people to make better decisions and still make sales and have happy customers. But keep it to two comments max. For instance:

"I want to get 6 of those fancy guppies and my son wants one of those."*points to a red-tail shark*

"Ma'am, the red-tailed shark is known to be an aggressive fish that can grow to be a bully. If you don't mind a humble suggestion, I'd say perhaps you could buy your son a dwarf gourami or *insert a few other options* instead. It's a much more peaceful fish that wouldn't hurt your guppies."

She might take the offer, she might not. But it's important to be as humble as you can with your knowledge. Even if you know better... WAY better... 'the customer is always right' will get you in the butt every time. And no one will want to buy from you if you act superior to them. People don't like people who know more than they do or who make them feel ignorant in public.

Even if she's about to release a bala shark or a senegal bichir into her guppy tank... if she refuses the offer of information after two tries to find her a more peaceful alternative, just smile a big smile and net her up that polypterus. And read the person before you ask. Read their posture and their tone of voice. Some people will obviously take your criticism of their tank choices better than others. If you learn to pick and choose your battles, you'll help people who WANT help to make better decisions and maybe save a few more fish than if you hadn't while not compromising your job.
 
NeonJulie said:
Is it? Seems to me if all you do is repeatedly sell fish, and people keep bringing back dead ones, that it wouldn't be cost effective...
Click to expand...

A lot of people don't bring back their dead fish. This is how they make money off of their return policy... is by taking advantage of how lazy and prideful people can be. Too lazy to drive back to reimburse themselves for the loss of two $2 fish.... or too embarassed to say they were wrong about that advice they were given against putting that veiltail betta in with their tiger barb colony.
 
It all depends on the individual petsmart. I currently work in the specialty dept (fish, small animals, reptiles) and honestly, I love my job. It started as a christmas break job until I found work in archaeology again but then I found I just couldn't leave. I'm not 100% sure if its Petsmart policy or just my managers policy, but we do reserve the right to refuse a sale to a customer, and I have done so on many occasions. Keep in mind that when you work with aquatics you also are working with all the animals, including the birds, hamsters, snakes, etc. Plus its ok if you don't sell a billion dollars of fish in a day, most managers would rather the fish go to good homes where they receive good treatment than just be like "oh sure, this 6" goldfish would go well in that little bowl" to make some cash. We (the team I work with, along with Petsmart policy) hold our animal care first and foremost, and if you see a person doing something which will harm an animal definitely speak up.
If you have any questions you can always message me :)
~kristi
 
boojumsnark25 said:
I don't know if this is in the right forum, but I have a couple questions. First of all, has anyone ever worked there? What was it like for you? Would you recommend it? What sort of discount did you get?

Second, I know that at most places, Petsmart included, the number 1 goal is to sell fish. However, if I refused sale every time I thought the fish was going to go to a bad home, I'd never make a sale and get fired in a day. How does one find the balance?

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

I currently work at PetSmart. Have been for almost a year now. Would I recommend it? Hmmmmm......well everyone is different in terms of how they cope and deal with things. What department are you looking to go into? I assume it's Pet Care since you mentioned catching fish. Let me answer that question real quick.

Can you refuse a sale? Yes. Will a situation arise where you should? Definetley. Will the customer get pissed off if you do? Probably. Will they demand to speak to a manager? Likely. Will said manager back you up? Doubtful. Why? Money, cowardice and most people simply don't give a crap about fish. To put it bluntly: There is no balance except on the off chance you actually get decent managers which is HIGHLY unlikely. I wouldn't worry about it.

Now factor in all I just said and add in seeing dead, half eaten hamsters, putting countless dead animals into a freezer, netting dead fish on a daily basis, being one of the few who knows what you're talking about, dealing with customers who don't take any of your advice and then coming to places like this where people complain about the lack of knowledge LFS employees have, wondering where all of these really knowledgeable people live, dealing with being made to feel expendable by your superiors, being under constant stress, and not being paid enough to deal with all this. That is PetSmart and most customer service jobs in general.

I don't want to discourage you, but you wanted the facts. I did enjoy it at first, but it takes a toll on you mentally. Especially if you're an animal lover. While PetSmart is much better than many stores in terms of animal care, I still find many of their practices to be unethical and hypocritical. If you can deal with that, then do it. But expect to become very disillusioned at some point.
 
its all right dude. i think you may be dissappointed though. i worked at markheim tropical fish and pets for almost 6 months before my knee gave out and i loved it there. i worked in fish and was elling saltwater stockj mostly, sometimes to sports players on the sbares or bills or selling the good looking cichlids to the average joe. good place.
at my petsmart store, the people in the pet care department are terrible. i dont think they really know what they are doing to be honest. its an ok organization, they really do seem to have a passion for pets but in another fashion they seem to remind me being similar to the wal-mart in the pet industry.
one time really stands out. i work in stock, mostly working the forklift and loading dog and cat food out all the time. one time i asked a customer if needed service, they did and it was help setting up a saltwater aquarium. joy to the world for me- it wasa relief from the mudpits in the stockroom! so i showed them what we sell in saltwater items, pretty paltry selection, and i said he needed live rock, a skimmer, etc. yet, someone in management the pet care manager took offense at me assisting that customer, causing a bit of a blowup. i was shocked- here i was helping a customer and i get yelled at for trying to assist! thats petsmart for you. dont let me taint it for you- go in there and try your best.

EDIT: beefsteak, you put it right on the money in your 3rd paragraph. its true and its very typical im afraid.
 
As a teen, I worked at a local private owned pet-shop, I forget the name, but I think it was "Furry Friends and more!" Yeah I know the name is stupid and sounds like they abuse pets, but it was a pretty cool job. Their fish section was in dire need of some improvement, but I fixed that up. :)

I was fired after working there for 8 months because I "assaulted" a customer who wouldnt take "no" for an answer. She had just purchased a 125g tank and wanted like 20 mbuna's, a bunch of guppies, 10+ clownfish, a yellow tang, and a bunch of other "colorful" fish. Can you believe she wanted to put SW fish and FW fish in the same tank? She yelled at me for about 15 minutes saying she went to college, knows a marine biologist, blah, blah, blah.......... that said she could mix the fish as long as she added a little bit of salt (brackish conditions) and used a good filter.

I ended up pushing her out the door yelling I didn't want her service anymore here.

Well anyway, fish shops are fun places to work.
 
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