STUPID PET STORE EMPLOYEES!!

[SARBEAR]

I went into Petsmart today, and after learning that pet stores are completely wrong about how to take care of beardies, I decided to go in and pretend like I had no clue about bearded dragons. I told the guy I wanted to buy one later down the road, but wanted to know what exactly I needed for one, but I needed to go the cheap route.
So off we went walking through the reptile isles. This is what he showed me,
-10 gal fish tank. He then proceeded to tell me that I could get a smaller tank if I needed to, but it would be worth spending the extra few dollars on the 10 gal so the tank would last me 5 months maybe more.
-Heating mat. He told me I could use this instead of getting a basking light, because the basking lights are way more expensive.
-reptiglo 5.0 coil. He told me this is the top of the line UVB lights. He then told me that it was optional. He said the lizard would be okay with out it, but it would grow better with one. Then his next words are what pushed me over the line. His exact words were:"if you want to keep the 10 gal tank throughout his whole life, I would suggest not getting a UVB, that way you won't need to spend unnecessary money on a larger tank because he won't get as big."
That's when I said excuse me, and went to talk to his manager. I took one of their care guides with me, that specifically say right in it, you will need a UVB. His manager didn't seem to care at all, and assured me he would take care of the problem.

I really wish I would've recorded this. It makes me want to go in undercover and record everything they tell me, then send it to corporate or something

 

[babydragondaddy]

I feel for you. I can't stand to go into the pet stores and see how they are actually taking care of thier pets. My local store is privatly owned by a good couple who do everything they can to take care of thier animals. Unfortunatly, it would not be cost effective to house dragons as we would do so at home. Luckly, the pet sore owners and I get along great, and I offered to creat a flier stating what beardies would need to thrive, and they give them out with every beardie. The asked that I didn't single out any one brand, but I was able to put in things like... UVB bulbs are a must, undertank heaters are not recomended, temps must be ## degrees, enclosere size should be... all you can realy do is educate everyone... Good luck

 

[spyder79]

It is not this persons fault that the info he gave to you was incorrect. First he was only spouting what he was taught when getting the job. Probably has never owned or cared for any reptile before working there. The manager didnt care because he doesnt have to all he wants is for his employees to make sales. If you really wanted to make any kind of difference you should have went in there acting like you knew what you were talking about instead of going on a self imposed "covert" operation to see how dumb this "kid" was. Did you try to educate him at all? You should have. Always try to leave places a little better than you found them instead of worse. Nothing will ever change or get better if you dont get the ball rolling yourself.

 

[Pravius]

It is not this persons fault that the info he gave to you was incorrect. First he was only spouting what he was taught when getting the job. Probably has never owned or cared for any reptile before working there. The manager didnt care because he doesnt have to all he wants is for his employees to make sales. If you really wanted to make any kind of difference you should have went in there acting like you knew what you were talking about instead of going on a self imposed "covert" operation to see how dumb this "kid" was. Did you try to educate him at all? You should have. Always try to leave places a little better than you found them instead of worse. Nothing will ever change or get better if you dont get the ball rolling yourself.

I agree, but to be honest I have found that people get pretty defensive when doing this. I walked into a Pet Supplies Plus the other day and some dude was in there asking if the coil bulb would be ok for his dragon. The lady was like yea it's great, I chimed in and let him know my opinions and the lady who worked there actually tried to ask me to leave the store... it was a disaster to be honest. I waited till the guy left the store and gave him my number and wrote this site on the back of my business card. People these days seem to not like to admit they are wrong and ALWAYS try to blame someone else for their mistakes ... we are soldiers in a war that is controlled by marketing and profit, which in turn is driven by greed. It's like a never ending war...

 

[Freddiemom]

What I do in cases like that is say "you HAVETO check out this website-beardeddragon.org. It's so much fun & the people there are so helpful ". That way people don't get mad at you & hopefully they will check it out & learn something. I have gotten trouble for being outspoken about many animal issues & have learned to zip it (for the most part) . Liz PS I just had an issue wtih same chain store!

 

[uhohzombies]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say that chains are not ALWAYS that terrible or unwilling to change. There's a PetSmart near my house that had their beardies in a rather tall tank, too high for them to have optimal UV (or any at all for that matter). I brought it up to the girl working in that department and she said that she had been trying to get a decoration for them, but it had not been shipped. I started talking about their requirements and proper husbandry, after which she allowed me to pick some off-the-shelf items to go into their tank and charged them off for store use. The beardies can now get plenty close to their UV and every time I go back, I see them making good use of it!

 

[ColoradoRafter]

I know how you feel. Whenever I go to a petstore I see someone wanting to know information about beardies and for substrate I hear the same answer. Can you guess what it is? SAND!

Script:
Employee: Hello there sir what can I help you with today?
Customer: Hey I want to know about bearded dragons.
Employee: Lets start off with a suitable substrate.
Customer: What should I use?
Employee: Well there is nothing better than SAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Employee: Now onto food!
Customer: What should I use?
Employee: Well first you should use crickets with a healthy side of MEALWORMS!


I feel so bad for the poor little guys who go home and get impacted.
I want to rip the store employees to SHREDS!! :twisted:
One of these days this summer I will rescue one of those little guys and give him PROPER care.
You may think I am overreacting, but I feel the need to speak out for the little poopers.

 

[spyder79]

I know how you feel. Whenever I go to a petstore I see someone wanting to know information about beardies and for substrate I hear the same answer. Can you guess what it is? SAND!

Script:
Employee: Hello there sir what can I help you with today?
Customer: Hey I want to know about bearded dragons.
Employee: Lets start off with a suitable substrate.
Customer: What should I use?
Employee: Well there is nothing better than SAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

Employee: Now onto food!
Customer: What should I use?
Employee: Well first you should use crickets with a healthy side of MEALWORMS!


I feel so bad for the poor little guys who go home and get impacted.
I want to rip the store employees to SHREDS!! :twisted:
One of these days this summer I will rescue one of those little guys and give him PROPER care.
You may think I am overreacting, but I feel the need to speak out for the little poopers.

2 things

1 that employee is still only regurgitating what he was taught it is not his fault that he is ignorant to the proper care of bearded dragons. he is just there getting a pay check for regurgitating what his corporate leaders have passed down the chain for their employees to say.

2 if you "rescue" a dragon from one of these pet stores all you are doing is making it so they will purchase more animals that will suffer in their care until it gets purchased as well.

 

[SARBEAR]

I don't think it was so much the guy that was telling me the wrong info, it was the manager who didn't take his eyes off his computer screen while I was talking to him.
He seemed more concerned that I was bothering him then his employee was giving horrible advice.
I do understand that corporate tells the employees what they "need to know" but what I don't understand is how the managers let their employees walk around giving out all the wrong info, and not even taking into consideration helpful tips the customers are trying to give them. Or act like they even care.
That makes me mad.

 

[zebraflavencs]

That my dear, is when you employ the Mighty Pen and write, yes hand write a letter to the Head Office. It works
The Pen is indeed.. mightier than the stone.
Janie.

 

[SARBEAR]

Not a bad idea at all, lol

 

[BklynZoo]

SARBEAR- You can name your undercover story " Operation Foot in A$$" LOL... I know exactly how you feel, remember what I told about the kid that worked at the pet store where I bought my bearded from, He said, " Why waste $100 on a vet when you can buy another bearded for $60!" I actually went back and told the breeder what the kid said and they guy said that the kid was an *****... I agreed and but hey everyone is not passionate about what they do... If you write a letter let me know I'll band with you and write one as well...

 

[Freddiemom]

Count me in, too. If enough people do it - it just might make a differance!!!

 

[Kelcifer]

petsmart has been selling beardies for a while now and when i went in to buy some things for my dog whoo was with me as was my kenyen sand boa "lil man". i always stop to look at what poor reptiles they have cramed in their 2.5 gallon display cases. well one employee came up and asked what kind of snake i had. i told he is a male kenyen sand boa. and she then goes "oh! so thats what they look like. we're getting a few of these in from NY. we're going to start selling these soon. what store did you buy yours from?" i told her i bought him from a breeder from ohio and she looked at me like i had ten heads. are we not allowed to buy pets outside of petstores anymore? i hate the fact that they sell beardies in such horrible conditions and are uneducated because the suits in the big offices have no idea what they are dong. now they are moving on to my choice of snake and these people have no idea what they even look like. that same employee went and grabbed her manager to show him what lil man looked like. i didnt even bother buying phantoms dog food there i went to petco instead. the guys that work there atleast have a clue 88% of the time where petsmart is -10% most of the time. i dont go into comercial stores unless i have to buy phantoms food other then that i avoid them.

 

[Freddiemom]

I know! I walked outta there w/o buying anything, too. It's a shame cause there aren't too many places around here for me to shop. Let's put our money where our pens are :lol:. I would think pointing out the issues with all the reptiles would be better. Just remember, they do alot for the area shelters too. They aren't all bad.

Here is the contact info for corporate office:

PetSmart, Inc.
Store Support Group
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
(623) 580-6100
(800) 738-1385