Working At A Pet Store

[fish_fetish65]

as a few of you may know, i do work a very popular pet store. i am not proud of the reputation that many employees give its fish department, but there isn't much i can do about that other than educate myself so that i may better educate all of my customers.

having said that, i do run into some very heartbreaking and upsetting situations, which i thought i would share with you all. perhaps sharing this will keep me from exploding with frustration and rage.

i have had people come in talking about how their two oscars are in a 10 gallon tank, people that complain that their angelfish is attacking their 8 platties and bala sharks in their 2.5 gallon tank, and in fact today a man came in bragging about his TWENTY-SEVEN jack dempseys he has crammed into a 20 gallon for the past 6 years. apparently, the fact that his fish have no room to move and are beating one another up was something he was proud of. i have had people insist that i should sell them a pacu to put in with their betta, and others that tell of their 5 south american cichlids living in a small fish bowl (which they later upgraded to a 5 gallon tank). i have been cursed at for refusing to sell a person neons to put in with their oscars or for telling people that they can't put four bala sharks into a 1/2 gallon bowl. people will sit there, look me straight in the face, and tell me that i don't know what i'm talking about because i tell them that the idea of goldfish in a bowl is a common misconception. i also have others that get angry with me because i tell them that they need at least a 55 gallon to house an oscar, and they already know that. they feel that i have insulted their intelligence by telling them so.

anyhow, thought i would get that out there after a particularly frustrating day at work. sometimes, when employees may seem to just not care what happens to the fish, it is actually a case of having given up on the human population, and abandoning all attempts at educating them because of people like those i mentioned above.

 

[Lynden]

I concur. Those that care enough about the miracle of life to educate themselves on it are a diamond in the ruff these days. Even those that care more about their fish's health and happiness than how they look "with the rest of their furniture" are rare.

How unfortunate the fish in the trade can be.
-Lynden

 

[RESGuy]

I think it is great that you are trying to educate the customers and refusing to sell fish to such ingnorant people

 

[Lord Zogat]

Just give anyone that gives you grief a flying elbow to the head, then say, Hey thats how your fish feel, they can't tell you so I will.

 

[juicebox]

Just give anyone that gives you grief a flying elbow to the head, then say, Hey thats how your fish feel, they can't tell you so I will.

yes, please!

i also think it's great that you're trying to educate them. it's unfornate that they don't take your advice as a fish department worker. many kudos to you for trying to save the fish! you should keep refusing to sell them fish until they decide to give them proper housing.

those stories are very terrible, by the way. poor fish.

 

[fish_fetish65]

unfortunately, due to the fact that myself and my fellow coworkers have been refusing sales to idiots like those listed above, my very stupid manager has decided that we are no longer allowed to refuse sales. it is apparently hurting his reputation when corporate gets complaints about the mean fish department people from customers.

 

[MaddieJ]

So your manager would rather sell fish to people who dont know how to look after them and who will misstreat them?

Ok so youve rightly tried the 'I simply wont serve you' approach to uneducated people. What else could you try? Talking to them ofcourse. But what else? How about printing off lots and lots of proper fact sheets? Ask your boss to get hold of posters. Advertising good foods, making people aware of tank size etc. Fact sheets with lots of bold writing 'DID YOU KNOW <ENTER FISH NAME HERE> NEEDS A 50 UK GALLON TANK FOR IT TO BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY?' etc. My lfs have nothing like this. Just little post-it notes under/over the tanks.

Just a thought as I never see anything like this in lfs. Especialy big chain stores. They have all sorts about puppies, cats, hamsters and stuff. But what about the poor likkle fishies at the back of the store?

 

[beds]

i dont think pet store managers care about any livestock once its left the store, the moneys in the till as far as there concerned and new stock will be on its way

 

[fish_fetish65]

my manager is particularly retarded. anyhow, we do have fact sheets under each tank regarding the fish within. unfortunately, the tank size listed is the bare minimum for a juvenile fish. oscars are listed as being fine in 30 gallons, as are pacus. basically, they're all wrong. i have brought this up many times, but to no avail. anyhow, i do my best to tell people exactly what they're getting into, but sometimes people just don't listen...

 

[rfisher]

It must be really frustrating for you sometimes, particularly when you are just trying to help the customer to make life better for there fish.

Rich

 

[Bignose]

Well, I'll go ahead and play devil's advocate. Refusing sales, as much as it pains me and you to see the pet fish mistreated, is a very, very poor strategy for long-term health of the store.

Customers do talk, to corporate complaint lines and amongst one another. There was a recent survey I read that the average person tells 6-9 people when they get good service somewhere, but tell 15-25 people when they receive bad service. And, in these people's minds they got bad service, so they will tell people.

If they convince others to not go to the store, the store closes, you lose your job, etc. At the very least, if fish are refused to sell to a lot of people, the market on fish becomes much tougher to justify. Your $1.00 guppies will have to sell for maybe $5.00, $10.00 or as much as $15.00 to compensate for keeping them. Now, the high prices will drive away all but the most serious fishkeeper, and correspondingly, the prices would probably have to go higher to keep them around. Something has to pay to keep the employees in the store, the tanks up and running, rent/lease on the store, etc. because you have to refuse 9 out of every 10 people that come up to you. In the limit of this thought experiment, there are almost no fish stores around at all, and those few still on business will be charging like 10 times what we pay now.

So, unfortunately, in terms of business, you have to sell to these people. You can try your best to educate and urge them to act compassionately, but ultimately, it is a business. Many LFSs are really operating on the verge of going under at the moment, many many cannot afford to turn away customers.

 

[catxx]

get pictures of full size fish and stick them next to the tanks.

*this is how big a pacu gets..
[------------------------------------------ETCETCETC]*

this is why i can't work in a pet store, i'd refuse 90% of the sales and get shut down in a week. i was chatting to one of the guys in my LFS when a customer came in and asked if they sold goldfish bowls (unfortunately they do) and if he could get a few goldfish for it and how much it was for his daughter, he didn't buy it was just wanting to know the price. both me and the guy i was chatting to were knawing our tongues to be polite. the guy said about £45. the customer left, don't know if he actually came back and bought it. but gah, i would gone mad.

 

[Edge]

I'd just like to add that in my brief experience of our local large pet chain store, some of the employees have offered us some relevant questions and advice before selling, and some have not had a clue. So I think it just depends on the person. I'm slightly worried about something though - fishless cycling. Our 2 lfs do not seem to be aware of it, and as such may not sell us a full stock of fish when our next tank is ready, because "the filter can't cope". Which is of course a fair point most of the time, has this ever happened to anyone? Sorry for hijacking.

 

[Chris_Wood]

my manager is particularly retarded.

Hi Fish Fetish,

I really feel for you, I am constantly dismayed how little peaple know about the fish they buy and keep.

It's really sad how many fish die in this 'hobby' a fact that put me off keeping fish for many years. However the industry will never stop so it is up to us in the know to keep educating!

Re. you manager, are you based in the US or the UK?

If you are in the UK there is a trade association OATA (Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association) who have guidelines for the keeping, selling, housing and transportation of ornamental fish. With other guidelines from the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) sellers have legal obligations to comply with regarding the sales of ornamental fish; sellers are fully entitled to refuse sales. I am sure there must be an equivalent in the US... ...it maybe worth making your boss aware of these bodies. I belive they can impose large fines if the sellers are found to be neglegent!

OATA also supply information posters for display in the shop with title such as 'Tropical Fish are Living Creatures Please Make Sure You Make Your Choice to Buy Carefully'.

Hope this helps!

CW

 

[samyboy]

its quite scary what people will keep in confined spaces my nan still keeps 2 large goldfish in an unfilterd 5gallon......recently upgraded from a 2.5G