Petco

[graceful.04]

Ok, so as of now I work full time at Petco in the aquatics department and there are SO MANY people who don't know what they're doing and don't care to find out anything about fish keeping. I try to explain for example how big plecos get and people just don't listen. What's worse is that employees will just sell fish to get a sale. How on earth am I supposed to stay sane?? Have any of you ever worked in a pet store and any advice you can give me?

[Trout]

Take joy in the customers (like myself) who ask questions and listen, and do their best to find out the best stuff for their tank. I think finding those gems and keeping them coming back may prove your best bet. That's just speculation though, since I've never worked selling pets.

[amagad]

petco/petsmart needs to hire more people like you who are actually on the forums and know their sh#t.

[emc7]

Congrats on employment. Can't take that for granted these days.

see it all the time, the difference between an abyssal chain store and a decent one in the same chain down the road is a few people who care.

[C. King]

I worked in a petstore with a huge fish room for years. It is discouraging when you meet people who just don't care much about the fish/animals, but there were so many more who wanted to take care of their pets. Focus your energy on them, and try to gently teach the others. Your position is an opportunity to make a difference, but if you allow yourself to become too discouraged by the "bad" pet owners, you will not be able to work there for long, which would deprive the ones who want to learn! The people who worked at the petstore the longest were the ones who kept up a positive, friendly attitude no matter how negative or unfriendly the customer, and did not take it personally. It helps to have a coworker with a good sense of humor to laugh with. There were some real characters that came to (and worked at) the petshop, but they were often different in a good way!

[lohachata]

just wait..........i also work at petco in the aquatics department....you are going to be spending many many hours on the computer....lots of training...and for all departments ; not just aquatics...then you will have to train for the "aquatics specialist" position...
traing for it is 16-20 hours...then you will have to take the test....the vast majority of what you will be doing in the "MLC...My Learning Center" has little or nothing to do with fish and fishkeeping...it is all about company procedures and policies and selling....
so far i have finished everything except the A.S. training and test...i am scheduled for that this week...it is all about sell sell sell , suggest and sell some more...
the very best of luck to you grace...you are going to need it...
just remember to leave your conscience at home....

[graceful.04]

To everyone, thanks for the advise and encouragement!! And loha, trust me, I already know all about Isabelle and Rocco... oy vey

[scottandgin]

I worked at a salt water only store for a few years while working on the undergrad degree. I was lucky It was locally owned and operated by a very knowledgeable gentleman. I learned much from him and even had a 220 gallon reef tank set up at home with 1 hp chiller under the house and 1700 watts of MH lights Corals grew like mad!!! WE reserved the right to refuse to sell animals if we knew they were not compatible with existing tankmates or the customer was not set up to accommodate them..IE tank too small...lights not strong enough etc... Chain stores have different rules...MAKE MONEY so I feel for you....good luck and congrats on the job!

[snyderguy]

Where I'm at, we can refuse to sell fish if people are buying them as live foods or if they want their fish to fight but legally, we can not refuse a sale.

[tigercrazy4612]

the petco in my area is the same way not one employee knows what the heck they are doing and i go there so much the store manager offered me a assistant manager position there so i might leave the morning stocking at petsmart and be in the aquatics area at petco but keep at it boss not a whole lot of aquatic lovers out there!!!

[graceful.04]

Thanks everyone, and I wish I could refuse to sell fish if their tank was too small. A crazy british couple came in asking for a bob. When I asked what a bob was, they pointed to a green spotted puffer and said "we can never remember the names of these guys so we just call them bob"... "our last bob died" they said "but we want to get another one, we quite liked him". I asked what size tank they had and it was a 6 gallon... I told them that bob needed AT LEAST 15 gallons, preferably 30 and then they said that our manager had given them the inch per gallon rule so it would be fine... augh!!!

[rtro92]

I bought my pleco from petsmart, I wish the saleperson would've informed me that my Sailfin will get about 18". Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get a 125g in about a year :/
It seems like it would be a cool job talking about fish all day. I know any retail position has its drags as I've worked a few myself, but if you're an animal person then hooray for you!

[endlerguppy]

its just like pets at home in the uk nobody knows what they are talking about 1 goldfish needs 10 litres each... and that single tail goldfish and fancy goldfish cant be put together because the single tail ones attack the fancy ones (i have 2 fancies and a single tail and they are friends for the time being lol)

[Trout]

Yeah. I wish folks would stop perpetuating the 1 inch per gallon rule, except for judging water changes. Space requirements are almost completely incompatible with that sillyness. Perhaps they should only make folks with experience in keeping ALL pet types managers, or at least if they don't know much about a particular type, make it mandatory to refer customers to someone who DOES know what they're talking about. :/ I still wish *I* could get a job at a pet store.