Asking Petsmart to change their ways

[BeardieGrandma]

Hi,

after several posts this past week of new beardie owners who went into petsmart, bought beardies that were supposedly 2 months old (that were really 2-3 weeks old), told to feed them large crickets and mealworms, house them on sand or crushed walnut, buy the starter kit with the coil bulb and the stick-on thermometers, etc, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't know if it will make any difference, but I wrote a note on the Petsmart customer care board about working on their ability to provide advisement, changing their starter kit bundles, and working on general education. i recieved the following response back, and if they really ask me the actual locations, I'd like to provide them with a specific list - my own local Petsmart is just as culpable. So please weigh in on your location and the infraction (sold me mealworms, convinced me of calci-sand, starter kit useless, etc) and let's see if we can help our new beardie owners be better equipped, not get ripped off, and avoid any suffering of the little tiny baby beardies out there at the same time.

here's the response i got back:

Thank you for your e-mail. We apologize for the experience you've had in our local store. To help you get a fair resolution, we will be filing an official store complaint. These are recorded and reviewed customer experiences that require a resolution and follow up. Before the complaint can be initiated, we would appreciate it if you would let us know the store location where this occurred. Please reply to this message with the store number or the city and state where the store is located. If there is more than one PetSmart store in your city, it would be helpful if you included the street name as well. Once we receive your reply, the complaint will be initiated. A member of our Management Team will be in contact with you once a fair resolution has been determined, depending upon the circumstances. We apologize again for any frustration or inconvenience you have experienced and plan to help resolve the issue in a timely manner for you.

Please respond with your new beardie owner experience, and I'll consolidate and provide them feedback. thanks.

 

[Snowball0807]

This wasn't me, however I saw and heard it in line at a local petsmart. I was standing in line behind an older man getting crickets for his dragon. As he got the crickets he grabbed a tub of super worms and started to walk away and the lady told him not to buy supers for ANY sized beardie, that mealworms are much better. He set the supers down and said that "It was okay, this is the first time it was getting insects in months, the beardie gets fed mice." The lady said ok and let him walk away. As i was standing behing him to check out, he had the crickets and a bag of calci-sand. A different woman at the register looked at the bag of calci-sand and said "You couldn't find the crushed walnut shells?" and they talked about how that's what he uses for the dragon, but he couldn't find it that day.
I just despise petstores! It appauled and disgusted me to no end!!
Add: Just realized you said to put the location. Las vegas, NV. Store #1381
I hope that petsmart will realize what terrible ways the animals are being treated, not only theirs, but the ones they sell BECAUSE of the ignorant emloyees.

 

[Terminator7777]

.

 

[broozersfam]

Wow i have gotten to know the folks at my local Petsmart and they all recommend different things for litters. I use the sand b/c i have "diggers" they love to dig! I found this out the hard way when i was walking them in my garden! You have to take alot of what some of them say with a grain of salt of sorts. I would say BEFORE you get a beardie research EVERYTHING about them! While i was in there one day a young boy and his mom were looking at the dragons. I commneting on how tiny they were compared to Bruce, Sampson and Delilah. The boy spoke up and said "you have dragons and i said Yes we have semi grown ones. He said and i had to laugh when he said it "So they're super easy to take care of right! "LMAO Ummmm NO i said! He mom's eyes got as big as quarters when i described all the light requirements, housing requirements, feedings, cleaning bathing, and general care required for a beardie! The mom thanked me for telling them the info and they decided to research more before they made a huge decision. Some place just don't give you the correct info. I think at Petsmart 80% of what they know about the animals are what they are taught and trained to say! The other 20% comes from personal knowledge. I think being here on this site is awesome especiall when it comes to connecting with fellow dragon owners.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

mine (Valencia, CA) originally told me to feed my beardie 50 crickets a week and put alfalfa pellets on the bottom of her cage.

 

[LaPrice]

i went in to buy crickets for my 10 month old one day. the lady recommended mealies instead of supers (i was buying supers as a treat, like 1 a day or so kind of thing), she balked when i told her that mealies had little to no meat and caused impaction, whereas supers were meaty but you shouldnt feed them to babies. She looked at me like i was dumb and handed me my crickets (she did not put 70 in there, maybe 50).
thats was at the northlake petsmart in charlotte nc

any other complaints have to do with nearly every petsmart about how they house their WATER dragons, the fact that they have no water now (they did untill a few months ago, now walnut shells ><)

 

[BeardieGrandma]

Thanks for the responses so far:

Valencia, CA
Northlake Petsmart, Charlott, NC
Tinley Park, IL
Las Vegas, NV #1381


It's my hope to give them several examples to dispel the 'it's an isolated issue' response and emphasize the need for corrective action.

Who else?

 

[LaPrice]

i dont know the other locations (their names and such) in charlotte, but pretty much every single one does not house their water dragons properly anymore. due to corporate unfortunately, we've talked to the people who work their and they hate to see it as much as we do.

 

[Fuzzyviper]

dont know the other locations (their names and such) in charlotte, but pretty much every single one does not house their water dragons properly anymore. due to corporate unfortunately, we've talked to the people who work their and they hate to see it as much as we do.

Did they say this was a new mandate or is it just a regional thing? I haven't heard that we have to change our water dragon habitat and I've been the one cleaning them (all the herps) all month. :shock: Water dragons get reptile carpet, big water dish (we have to clean that sucker out at least twice a day), large branches, and a few silk plants. I'm starting to think that my store must be a rebel because I haven't seen any of these horrible conditions/substraits/feeding issues. :shock:

 

[BeardieGrandma]

Hey Fuzzy - coming across a knowledgeable petsmart that provides correct information, looks after the dragons (bearded or water) appropriately, and equips new owners with the right stuff seems more the exception (and there are a few such as yours), rather than the norm. Having worked for a large retail chain in the past (computers), it has been my experience that they strive for the 'McDonald's experience', whereas you get a consistent shopping experience (or the same cheeseburger no matter where you are in the case of McDonalds) no matter what city it is in.

 

[LaPrice]

all of the ones near me had them in an all water set up, with a filter and some feeder guppys. they looked alot better in that set up, they had stuff to climb up out of the water on and everything. now they have mulch and a large water dish that they can barely soak in

 

[randommonks]

Local Petsmart in Conroe, TX in the Portofino Shopping Center.

I went there for crickets, and took a peek at the bearded dragons they had in stock at the time. When I got my beardie, he was 6 inches in length, largest in the bunch but the others weren't far off in length, and he was bright and perfect in tail and toes. The beardies I saw that day were in horrible shape, missing toes and/or tails on almost every single one of them. There was at least a few days' if not a week's worth of feces lying on the floor of their cage. There was one beardie that was tiny tiny (even in comaprison to the others in the tank who were all at most 4 inches long) that was lying with its eyes closed in the middle of the tank, not sure if it was dead or sleeping (this was around 3 pm). He was missing almost all of his tail, and some other beardies in the tank were on top of him, also missing tails and toes. It was so sad to see such a poor quality in animal and lack of care from the same store that sold me a very healthy and happy beardie.

 

[Atrax]

One of these days I'll just start shooting those stupid ignorant employees/sheeple", I had about enough of their excuses and mandates that are worth less than nothing when it comes to well being of these wonderful creatures. It pisses me off so much that I can't stand it anymore.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

Hey Atrax, I can totally relate.

Do you have a local Petsmart you want me to add to this list?

 

[rebel750]

I seen a Petco just yesterday her in the St Louis area that had Beardeds in a tropical enclosure with moss and misters. The hygro said it was like 70% in there, I complained about that and some normal Balls that looked like they have never been fed and have multiple bad sheds stuck to them.

Their response at the store was "So would you like to buy them or not?" I am not a rescue but I am an advocate.