why do pet stores always try to rip you off?!?

[ftf1101]

Ok i see what you are saying gatotsu and im sorry if i offended you but most big pet store chains dont have knowledgeble people. I want to start up my oun aquatic shop when i get older too! ( im only 14 lol) thanks for alll the responses and the different perspectives and ill try not to be hatin gourami!

 

[TorturedSOUL]

People at pet stores like petsmart always tell you false facts to get you to buy the things! They just care about the sales. I want everybody who has ever been ripped off or given false info at Petsmart to post on this thread andi will send it to them as a complain so maybe they will fix it!

Economics dear watson...economics.

 

[cyborob]

I agree with joylynn, you have to talk to people and get to know the stores in your area. There are a couple of employees at my PetSmart that I really value there advice/opinion, they've had their own fish and tanks for years.

My LFS fish store had me start my 36 with goldfish and bio spira, then sold me Rummynoses with ich, ich medications (two different kinds, didn't work). Keep their plants for sale with fish in the tanks.

What a mess I've been in for the past 7 weeks, just now starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Very grateful to find this group and salt treatment advice (Boy was everyone at the LFS dead set against that).

I have to say the PetSmart by me has a broad spectrum of knowledge in the fish dept employees. The mor I learn here the better I am getting at figuring out which employees I will talk to and which I won't. The have one young girl about 18-19 or so I would guess, who gets a deer in the headlights look for every question that we have ever asked. But at least she doesn't offer information she doesn't know. I have had a few others tell me bad information I have come to find out later, particularly about which fish can live with which others, and they say things with such authority I believe them. I have also found there are one or two people at my PetSmart that really do seem to know what they are talking about, so if I have questions now I try to deal only with them.

I am rapidly learning that the best way, as said before, is to do your research and get to know the stores in your area to figure out who to listen to and who not to. I am still a total newbie and am still probably going to listen to bad advice again somewhere along the way, but this site is helping me a lot!

 

[Wishful]

The first question I ask a petstore employee is the one I want answered.
The second question I ask is how long they've kept that animal/plant etc
themselves.

The answer to the latter gives me a guideline as to the likely value of first.

The question has also often led to the employee saying "Well, I've never actually kept "x", tell you what, let me get Dave, he's got a whole tank of 'em!".

If you want to improve chain store employees, concentrate on rewarding the GOOD ones. Get rid of a bad employee and they'll probably just hire an equally clueless one to replace them. Provide an incentive to retain a great employee and you'll make it more likely they'll stay and spread their knowledge. It can be as simple as spotting the manager on your way out of the store and mentioning your appreciation of that employee.

 

[ftf1101]

Thank you everybody for all of this!

 

[iann_kell]

You mainly have to think that the average Petco employee is there for work and money to make their own ends meet. They are not there to see you buy more, No dollar sighns in their eyes, just corperate. Does that make it ok to give bad info, no. But it is not totally their falt, the Petco or Petsmart do not look it to training their employees properly, mainly cuz of work enviroment and employee turnover.

Kudos to those employees that do take the extra time to learn about their area to the best that they can do. Also is the customers best interest to learn the most about the fish they are planning on buying.

 

[tmtpowers]

In one manner I agree that SOME employees are actually just there to sell what ever they can and others are there to actually try and help people. Actually I know this for fact. I work at Petsmart myself. I personally have studied as much as possible so that I can help people choose the right pet whether it be fish, reptile, or small pet. Matter of fact you wouldn't believe how many people I've told not to buy a certain hamster breed for their child (some of those breeds can be super MEAN!) and always tell them the benefits of other breeds as well as other pets such as rats and guinea pigs. However, there is one girl I work with that really makes me sick! She is a Lead (a step up from a regular employee and a step down from manager) and yet she will sell someone 10 gold fish for their 10 gallon aquarium!!! Its not that she doesn't no better either. I've watched her sell the meanest hamster that is meant to be a child's pet and then there was the time she sold over 40 gold fish for a wedding that she was told were going to be given to kids. She did not tell the woman that commit gold fish (or any gold fish for that matter) can't live in a bowl. The woman was quite upset when I had to tell her that unless the fish are properly housed in a filtered large aquarium, that they will die. The worst part though is what she told me once and I quote "As long as it goes out the store, it doesn't matter if it comes back in because it still goes as a sell"! Oh I could slap the s^%t out of her! She acts like she will win a million $$$ for selling all she can and yet the store does not work that away! Luckily with a lot of complaining from customers and employees, she has been written up twice and is walking on glass now.

Anyways, my best advice, when you do get advice that is incorrect, tell the manager what was said and who told you the information. If its a person that is learning and doing their best, the manager will simply give them the correct information but if its someone that tends to give a lot of bad information over and over, they will take care of it. Well at least I can say this for the petsmart I work at... I've had people call the manager on me when I have given wrong information and honestly I don't mind because if someone doesn't let me know that the information I am giving is wrong, then how will I know?

Well, thats just my .02 worth....