Pet Industry Annoynces

[CatStina]

* Customers who get mad at me because we don't sell choke chains/prong collars/shock collars/Cesar Milan books etc. "I'm sorry, we don't support aversive training methods, I would be happy to recommend a product/book/trainer for you, though!" "There is nothing aversive about choke chains/prong collars/shock collars/Cesar Milan." ... Yeah, ok...

* Flexi leads wrapping around the fixtures, tripping people, allowing the dogs to roam without the owner watching them even a little bit.

* Customer: "What is this thing?"
Me: "That's a naturally shed moose antler for your dog to chew on!"
Customer: "It'a a moose's ANTLER!?"
Me: "Yep! Our supplier goes in the woods in Northern Maine with his two black labs and finds them, cleans them off and then cuts them into smaller pieces! They're really great and long lasting, my dog LOVES his!"
Customer: "That is really weird to me, I really don't like the idea of my dog chewing on a moose's antler. I'll just take one of those Bully Sticks."

* People who use me as their personal shopper and have me hold their stuff and follow them around the store showing them where everything they need is.

* When someone has me carry a 5 lb bag of food out to their car. Seriously?

* When someone writes "SEE ID" on the back of their card and then gets mad at me for asking to see their ID.

* People who bring extremely DA dogs into the store without warning us. We are happy to figure something out for people if they need to bring their DA dog into the store to be groomed or try harnesses/coats/collars/etc. on, but PLEASE let us know when you walk in or even call ahead! We sometimes have our dogs with us and other customers bring their dogs in and we would like to be able to warn those customers or put our dogs in the office if need be.

* People who ask, "Is your dog good with other dogs?" Only to have their dog lunge and bite at my dog.

* This one's been mentioned before, but I just have to say again that I hate it when people get mad that we don't carry grocery store brands. Why not just buy it where you usually buy it.

* People who get mad when we don't sell puppies or kittens.


I could go on and on, but I'll just leave it at this for now!!

[crazedACD]

Originally Posted by CatStina

* People who use me as their personal shopper and have me hold their stuff and follow them around the store showing them where everything they need is.

Omg yes..we have people call and say "I need this parakeet treat, this bag of cat food, and 10 large crickets, can you put them at the front of the store for me?". It drives me nuts.

You know what bugs me to no end.. "I need 10 or 15 feeder fish.". Uh okay..they are 10c a piece..how many would you like? "10 or 15". Fine. You're getting 15.
And then "I need crickets.". Okay, sure, how many would you like? "I don't know.". And then we stand there for like 3 awkward minutes until they figure out I actually need an amount to count out.

[PWCorgi]

Originally Posted by crazedACD

Omg yes..we have people call and say "I need this parakeet treat, this bag of cat food, and 10 large crickets, can you put them at the front of the store for me?". It drives me nuts.

You know what bugs me to no end.. "I need 10 or 15 feeder fish.". Uh okay..they are 10c a piece..how many would you like? "10 or 15". Fine. You're getting 15.
And then "I need crickets.". Okay, sure, how many would you like? "I don't know.". And then we stand there for like 3 awkward minutes until they figure out I actually need an amount to count out.

I TOTALLY get this. When people say they want "a couple dozen" ... uh, so is that 2 or 3 or ??

[Lyzelle]

Originally Posted by CatStina

* When someone has me carry a 5 lb bag of food out to their car. Seriously?

LOL I actually had someone do this for me when I had Implanon put in. Fortunately with a bandage and a huge black and blue bruise on my arm, they didn't ask too many questions or make a big fuss about it. It was a 15lb bag, though, and I at least offered to carry the bully stick since I could hold it and open the car with one arm.

I think the only thing that ever bothered me was the whole "We don't sell Puppies/Kittens" thing. They thought for sure we did, especially since rescues would come up on the weekends. It was a mess trying to explain at least 10 times every day.

[PWCorgi]

I carry bags of cat cans and #5 kibble bags out for old ladies quite often. And if they're nice old ladies then I am MORE than happy to do it and chat with them on the way to their cars. But holy crap we have some grumpy old ladies who I swear try and make the walk to their cars as awkward as possible. There is one woman who if you try to strike up polite conversation will just completely ignore you, and I know she can hear just fine because she can answer all my questions when she's in the store.

[MandyPug]

People that walk in, ask if we have pets for their "delightful" brats to play with and then get all angry and storm out shouting "come on kids this isn't a REAL pet store"

[Fran101]

Thank god this thread is back.

People (after we tell them to remove harnesses before crating) who come in with chewed up harnesses after putting their dogs in the crates with them. Not sure what they want us to do but... no. that isn't refundable.

Furminators. We are a self-grooming store as well as offering prof grooming. Anyway, we used to have a few of these available for AFTER people blow-dry their dogs. People go frikin nuts. "You aren't supposed to go over one spot that many times, the dog isn't supposed to be wet. You have to be gentle. You are going to ruin his coat. It's not meant for dogs of that coat type".. I say these things but people just don't hear me.

We also offer a "staff wash" which, for really cheap, a member of our staff will give your dog a quick bath, blow-dry and brush. We PLEAD with owners to go have a seat at the end of the store or browse (still where they can see but the dog can't see them) No. They insist on cheering on their already anxious dog "IT'S OK BUDDY! IT'S OK!! MOMMYS HERE" your dog is freaking out because she is trying to get to you and you are making her excited.
UGH!!
and then, my personal favorite..trying to get professional grooming out of a staff wash. You KNOW what is included. Bath (wet, shampoo, condition), Brush out, Blow dry, bandana.
"Oh but could you please do her nails? She just needs a trim.. Oh but just a bit of a clip"
I. AM. NOT. A. GROOMER.

[crazedACD]

Originally Posted by MandyPug

People that walk in, ask if we have pets for their "delightful" brats to play with and then get all angry and storm out shouting "come on kids this isn't a REAL pet store"

We have separate locked rooms for the animals and birds. Like, you can see into them, you can pretty much see everything we have. We only let people in that want to actually purchase/pick out an animal. It's a headache...and people get so so angry that their kids can't run in and scare all the animals and hold the bunnies if they aren't purchasing. People ask to just go in and pet the bunnies..uh..no? We aren't babysitters and we aren't a petting zoo. We don't have the time to sit there if you aren't purchasing. We usually give them a disease/stress excuse if they are insistent.

My favorite is "How would I know if I wanted a pet if I can't go in and hold them?". My response is we don't encourage impulse buying and prefer that you do research on which pet would you suit you best.

I'm sure it's not the best customer service but you really learn to tell who is serious and who is not.

[crazedACD]

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

I TOTALLY get this. When people say they want "a couple dozen" ... uh, so is that 2 or 3 or ??

"I NEED TWO AND THREE QUARTERS DOZEN CRICKETS."

"I NEED ELEVEN DOZEN CRICKETS."

Way too much maths.

[PWCorgi]

Originally Posted by crazedACD

We have separate locked rooms for the animals and birds. Like, you can see into them, you can pretty much see everything we have. We only let people in that want to actually purchase/pick out an animal. It's a headache...and people get so so angry that their kids can't run in and scare all the animals and hold the bunnies if they aren't purchasing. People ask to just go in and pet the bunnies..uh..no? We aren't babysitters and we aren't a petting zoo. We don't have the time to sit there if you aren't purchasing. We usually give them a disease/stress excuse if they are insistent.

My favorite is "How would I know if I wanted a pet if I can't go in and hold them?". My response is we don't encourage impulse buying and prefer that you do research on which pet would you suit you best.

I'm sure it's not the best customer service but you really learn to tell who is serious and who is not.

We have foster cats in our store and we make customers fill out an adoption application for us to fax in if they want to hold the cat, that way if they aren't really serious they usually don't want to sit there and fill out a whole application.

And yes, way too many maths. And some people will try to talk to me when I'm counting crickets! I'm counting you poo head!