Terrible day at work...

Sorry to say, but that is a consequence of working for a corporation like Petland.

(not ripping on YOU, just your employer)

 

I hear ya. I deal with this all the time, after awhile you get use to it. Were these guys very short and oriental with one being much older than the other? If so I wouldnt worry about the fish as they have been in the hobby along time. Either way good luck and it does get easier.

 

IMO, selling to anyone who wants to buy is bad enough. As has been said, not ripping on you, and while we had a Petland in DSM I must say they had a really nice salt selection, selling to anyone who has the cash is a pretty crappy policy in terms of animal wellfare. That said, I have been to PLENTY of LFS with the same kind of mentality too, so it is in no way limited to just corporations. Coming from California, 9/10 LFS (yes, we had a ton in SoCal) had policies similar to yours.

 

omg kylie I can't believe you didn't put down your foot and walk out!
hehe j/k!!!!
that sucks, I see the same kinda stuff in the pc industry, yes it's not a live animal that requires much more care, but to see someone lay down the dough and you HAVE to give them something especially when they're not ready for it or won't even utilize it properly... easier just to learn from the experience and tack it on for a lesson learned, not that you can't do anything about it, but no matter what you at least tried to do the right thing and give them the best advice you could.

 

Aw sorry Kylie /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/hybrid//emoticons/sad.gif That WAS a beautiful regal angel and i liked that trigger too. hope they survive! good thing you got your midas blenny out when you did. hes such a nice looking fish, they would have taken him for sure.

 

Sorry for the crappy day Kylie,
We all have them, had the worst day at work a couple of days ago, so I know how you feel.
However, I must point out that you are to be commended, when I first started made the mistake of going to PETCO and trying to ask some questions and no one knew a damn thing.  This big chains could use a better reputation by having someone there that actually knows something and encourages customers in a responsible manner.  GOOD WORK, even though you efforts fell on deaf ears.  Hopefully the next one will take your advice and say thank you for being so helpful, and you can take a warm fuzzy home with you.

 

Years ago my husband and I decided to get a freshwater fish tank. We went into one of the larger pet/fish stores here in Des Moines and it wasn't a chain. Got the tank, filter, etc and loaded it in the car. My husband said...you know, those saltwater fish are pretty cool why don't we get those. SO we asked about how difficult it was to keep saltwater fish...the guy said not hard at all and said all we need is salt, what we had already bought for a tank and filter would work, mix the salt in the water and come back the next day and get fish and let it cycle. So that's what we did.

I decided I needed a little more info so I got online and started reading....GULP!!!!!!!!!! At that time there weren't a whole lot of message boards but there were a few. I thought, what the H*LL have I gotten myself into and nearly everything we had been told AND sold at the LFS, except for the salt, was almost all wrong.

I bought books, read and read and it all worked out but to this day, I do not like going in that store and what they don't know is that if I had been given just a little more information, I would have come home and read BEFORE and would have bought almost everything from them. I can promise, they passed up $1,000's of bucks from me over the years.

I had kept freshwater fish for a long time and assumed, stupidly, that saltwater would be similar. It's my fault but telling someone that saltwater are as easy as freshwater fish .......grrrrrrrrr It's like comparing apples and oranges.

So, no, it's not just Petco, Petland...it can be anywhere. If they can make a sale, make the sale. I have alwyas thought it would be a great program, maybe adult ed or through a fish store, if they would have a class every once in a while "So, you want to set up a saltwater tank" and they could do one for freshwater too. None of it is complicated but there sure are steps that would prevent failures and possibly a lot more enjoyment of a tank.

Sorry for getting off subject but at least you asked what they have for a tank, informed them about the compatibility of fish, etc. That's all you can do. Good job /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/hybrid//emoticons/smile.gif

 

I work at Petland in Omaha and my manager DID tell me i have the right to turn away a customer, aned i have. He stated if they don't know what they are doing and they dont have proper equipment, i may refuse any sale i wish. Last week i had a guy and his wife come in to buy "plants".... also know as corals... i asked about his lighting and he told me he had regular output bulbs. I told him i wasn't going to allow him to purchase anything untill he has proper equipment. He was NOT happy, but he understood. I also had a lady purchasing a betta bowl for the clownfish she was going to purchase for her 7 year old, i also was allowed to turn her away. My manager truly seems to care what type of homes our animals end up in.

 

+1 on this
Back when I used to work at...Petco...I had similar situations.  However my manager on duty was always on my side, if I didn't feel comfortable allowing the customer to purchase something, I always had "back up".  I never felt bad about telling someone my opinions and saying I won't sell it to you.  Some ppl look at fish, as just fish...they don't realize where they come from and they are more than just fish, at least to me they are.

 

Poor all of those fish, but I feel the worst for that Angel. It was gorgeous.

 

that is a huge bioload increase for any tank. Sometimes you just can't tell people anything. They always know better than you. I've been in reefkeeping 9 or 10 years and i am still just 27. So older men (the most common type of reef hobbiest) often completely blow off my advice. Then they approach a male employee to ask the same question and the guys go.. ask her... she'd know. They get sooo irritated to take advice from a woman half there age. It's not easy telling someone what they can and cant do. Some guy treated me like a scum bag b/c i suggested he use super glue gel to mount his new frags. He snuck off and complained to a male employee about how dumb i must be.... the other employee says "you should listen to her, she knows her stuff." He shook his head and said ok. But, i hate to play the gender card here, but I've learned that older men just don't want to listen to a woman when it comes to the saltwater hobby. In time, once patrons become more familiar with you, they ease up. They still may say, "are any guys working in this dept?" I laugh and tell them that i am sure I can help them. Sometimes they are pleasantly surprised and ask for my phone number =)

 

so darlin, are u coming to springfest? i gotta meet another chicki in the hobby!