PetSmart

[Gail]

Earlier today I went into PetSmart to pick up a few fish and some ghost shrimp. First I waited forever for Kelsey to get done talking about dogs with someone, then she interrogated me on how big my tank was and how many fish I had in my tank.

I understand her concern, but I've had fish tanks all my life and know what I'm doing. But she insisted I talk to her and tell her everything about my fish tanks. Then after she took the 3 platys out of the tank and bagged them, she wouldn't sell me ghost shrimp because she said they would climb out of my tank. OM, how frustrating. Won't be going to PetSmart (southridge) in Greenfield, Wisconsin anymore.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

LOL gotta love PetSmart people. They are hit or miss. But shrimp definitely won't climb out.

 

[George9]

Well, the good thing is that she us actually concerned about the fish and shrimp in your tank, even though she was a little off. I give her credit for asking for tank specs and stuff, I think it's a good thing. Kinda like when you Pay with a credit card, some people ask for ID which is good, others don't which is bad. It's the same way with petsmart employees lol I'm rambling.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

Yeah, I was there today and the lady who bagged my fish was asking me how I can tell the difference between the male Molly's and female Molly's, I could tell she was serious so I told her. I later heard her teaching some little kids the difference.

 

[Laser]

I'm wondering if she ever saw them climbing the glass...

 

[Gail]

I didn't have an issue with her asking me about my tanks because I'm proud of my tanks and how far I've become as an aquarist. BUT she was rude and acted like I put her out asking her to sell me fish/shrimp. AND she treated me like I knew nothing about my tanks. She asked me how long I've had my tanks running and how long there were fish in the tanks. WHAT? I've had fish tanks longer then she's been alive.

She also wouldn't sell the man after me more then one fish. She thought she knew everything there is to know about fish, but she has quite alot to learn.

The only reason I went to PetSmart was because I had a $5.00 coupon for Blue Buffalo cat food. PetSmart's cat food is much cheaper then Pet Supplies Plus.

 

[Gail]

She said she would find them on the floor in the morning, she told me if my fish chase the ghost shrimp they will jump out of the tank. LOL

 

[mfdrookie516]

Well, I found numerous RCS on the carpet beside my tank... so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss her thoughts.

 

[Laser]

The people at my petsmart will only pretend to know as much about fish as the customer they are with expects them to. I can respect that to a certain point. Last time I was there I saw the fish department manager give two black moors to a lady who had a 10g setup at home. On one hand I can't blame them. It's better than a fish bowl. Just being at Petsmart for 20 minutes I see the sad realities of new fishkeepers getting advice there. It's a shame they aren't trained a little better. The reality is if they were trained better and sold fish only based on the moral guidelines of experienced fishkeepers they wouldn't make as many sales. What mother is going to setup a proper 50g tank to house a few fancies because their kid decided they wanted a fish?

That's strange, the pet supplies plus by me usually has cheaper cat food than petsmart.

 

[Gail]

Laser, won't discuss the girl by the cat food that asked what we were looking for and wouldn't walk away. Geeze, was it a full moon yesterday?

 

[pleechford]

I think the people at petsmart are so rude. Everytime I go in there try ask how big my tank is and the kind of stock in there. See I don't mind telling them but when I've told each employee about 5 times it's aggravating. Petsmart policy is they have to sell fish to you regardless of the size of the tank. I would definitely talk to a manager about that. That is ridiculous.

 

[alLexX]

She said she would find them on the floor in the morning, she told me if my fish chase the ghost shrimp they will jump out of the tank. LOL

my fish have chased out plenty of ghost shrimp...just sayin'

 

[pleechford]

my fish have chased out plenty of ghost shrimp...just sayin'

Mine have as well.

 

[LyndaB]

Earlier she interrogated me on how big my tank was and how many fish I had in my tank. I understand her concern, but I've had fish tanks all my life and know what I'm doing.

she wouldn't sell me ghost shrimp because she said they would climb out of my tank.

So, she gets a gold star for asking about your tank and a black check mark for not selling you the shrimp. I would've asked to speak to the manager about the shrimp. I'm fairly certain it was not legal for her to make that decision. They do have the abililty to refuse to serve a customer, however, she was already selling you fish.

 

[eizzle]

There is one woman at our local Petsmart that gives me grief when she asks about the fish we have. According to their grouping system (semi-aggressive, community, etc) she said the angel fish will harass my wife's black mollies to death, I told her that was funny because the mollies usually cause more trouble than the angelfish. My clown loach (krusty the clown loach) will chase the mollies all over if they try to pick the algae off "his" little piece of drift wood.

 

[Coursair]

I think the people at petsmart are so rude. Everytime I go in there try ask how big my tank is and the kind of stock in there. See I don't mind telling them but when I've told each employee about 5 times it's aggravating. Petsmart policy is they have to sell fish to you regardless of the size of the tank. I would definitely talk to a manager about that. That is ridiculous.

Petsmart Policy is the pets' welfare actually !!!
I had a lady get pissed because she wanted to put a big Oscar in a 20g. I refused to sell her the fish. Manager was called over at her request. He backed me up.

Yes, many employees are new and still learning. But we have to ask questions because we get so many newbies. One lady asked why her Guppies were dying. She brought in her tank. She'd crammed 10 male Guppies in a 1.5g tank !!!!

Having to repeat yourself is annoying ! I had regular customers that only bought from me. I no longer work at Petsmart, but they mostly try to do right by their fish and all pets. Even LFSs get stuff wrong.

Because we had such a generous return policy people would buy stuff and kill it over and over. I started to recognize the fish killers and if they refused to learn I refused to sell to them.

I'm sorry you have had bad experiences. My customers and co workers still miss me

 

[Coursair]

There is one woman at our local Petsmart that gives me grief when she asks about the fish we have. According to their grouping system (semi-aggressive, community, etc) she said the angel fish will harass my wife's black mollies to death, I told her that was funny because the mollies usually cause more trouble than the angelfish. My clown loach (krusty the clown loach) will chase the mollies all over if they try to pick the algae off "his" little piece of drift wood.

I classified Mollies as semi aggressive when I sold them. Depending on tank size.

 

[eizzle]

I classified Mollies as semi aggressive when I sold them. Depending on tank size.

I was referring to the stores general classification system, don't get me wrong, I understand it's geared more toward beginners, I think some of the emPloyees go a bit overboard with it.

 

[Scouser]

Ive had ghosties climb from a tank and die before.

I've read that a lot of people have had the same happen, while it may not have been right to refuse to sell them it is good that they have knowledge to back up refusals at least.

But at the end of the day I've found if you are friendly and oblige them any requests concerning you tank that employees are happy to help.

TL;DR

Be friendly, happy and maybe even joke a little.

It all helps in these situations.

 

[emerald76]

Petsmart. Drives. Me. Crazy.
I went in to pick up some cories for my tank and the lady insisted that my tank was not a good home for them because they go by the inch per gallon rule for all fish and the Cory I wanted( she wouldn't sell me 6) was an inch long and I already had 7 female guppies in the tank. OMG. they'll all go into a ninety soon.
The lady said that I would then have eight inches of fish in my ten gallon aquarium and that was too much. Wow, what happened to math? 8 is less than 10
Not that I like the rule but still.