Rude Petsmart employee?

Question

We went to the pet store last night with a small army of five girls (field trip during daughters slumber party). We had promised her a small pet for her birthday. Her first choice was a turtle but they didn't have any. We looked around and decided on a parakeet. They sent an employee over and she began trying to talk us out of the pet. She told us every possible negative thing about owning a bird. This went on until the point of being ridiculous and me getting slightly agitated. She offered no tips on care and actually seemed very upset that we were buying the pet at all! I had told her that we have a dog and two cats and seemed convinced that we wouldn't be capable of keeping the bird alive. I kept telling her that we would try it for a week and if we found that it was too much we would return the bird. She was downright upset in the end and was very rude. She refused to answer questions, quickly caught the bird (then proceeded to drop the box!) and took it to the front of the store.

When I asked the cashier if this was typical behavior of pet store employees she said "Well, you have so many children..we try to talk people out of pets all the time". Not all of these kids were mine! We have four kids and we're all animal lovers and we realize a pet is a big responsibility.

We got the bird home, found a safe place to hang the cage where the cats cant get to it and got online to find MANY interesting details about parakeets that the employee failed to tell us about. We are already enjoying talking to it and trying to make it comfortable.

Sorry about the long winded story..but....
My question is this. Is this the typical experience of someone buying a pet? Is this something to complain to the store about? Do they realize that people come there to purchase pets?? Sorry for the rant but the whole process was a little annoying. So far we're happy with the feathered addition to the family....we'll give it a week and see if it works. Anyone have insight?

Everyone seems to think that this was an impulse purchase and that we did no research. My daughter (who is 10) had in fact done extensive research on owning a reptile, they just didn't have the one of her choosing. I was actually kind of happy because of the salmonella risks with turtles. We had done some research on birds but I'll will admit not as much as the reptiles.

The reason I said we would try it for a week is because I wasn't sure how the cats would react and if we could keep the bird safe or not. Not because I wasn't ready for the commitment.

As it turns out....we LOVE the bird! She's adorable. She finally calmed down today and was singing and seems very happy. We had to move her from the original place we wanted to keep her because a cat DID jump too close to her cage. (What I was most concerned about) My son has been the only one able to hold her yet. She loves him for some reason. We're happy that we chose a bird and it looks like we won't need to return it. :)

Answer 1

That was a bad employee, I work at PetSmart, and if we ever have someone new or "newer" - they tell the customer all of the negative things because they don't want to get the bird out. The birds there bite a lot, so they hate to mess with them. I don't mind it at all !! I have an African Grey, and I'd take a parakeet bite over my Grey any day! I'd get it out for you.

You can go to the manager and complain - they DO tell the employee if it's something like that - she should have given you a pet care sheet, more information, have you look at the food, toys etc, and helped you with a smile on their face.

I'm sure your daughter would have done great with a parakeet. Just because you have 2 dogs and a cat doesn't mean you can't have a parakeet. I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, an African Grey, 3 little sisters, a snake, and 2 Guinea Pigs - AND a parakeet.

Also, she shouldn't have assumed that those other girl were yours, too!

ADDED: NO, that's NOT the typical experience. Once you put in a complaint about the girl, she will most likely get written up - because I mean .. We're PetSmart ..We're supposed to be smart about your pets! Not do something like that! Lol.

I'm sorry that happened. :(

Answer 2

I have never experienced that in a pet store (usually because most employees don't seem to care about the pets and give wrong info), it does sound like she was being quite rude with all the negative behaviour (especially if they are going to base it on things like pets you already own and number of children!).

However, I do agree that they should tell you all the cons as well as the pros when buying a bird. They aren't low maintenance pets. They need a lot of time out of their large cage every single day to interact and play with their owner. They need a diet which involves not just seed, but also vegetables daily, maybe pellets, and other things. They need lots of toys too.

So it is important to know exactly what you are getting into when looking after a bird. The employee may have felt that you hadn't done your research on birds beforehand and was worried that the bird will end up in a bad home.

She still however, went around it quite the wrong way. If she wants to make sure it goes to a good home, she should have answered your questions and told you about care, and then encouraged you to continue research because there is a lot to learn (which I see you are doing, which is good).

She may have been worried about the bird's wellbeing, but she certainly wasn't helping it by being unhelpful.

Good luck with your new budgie. :)
If you have any questions about its care, feel free to ask me.

Answer 3

I worked at pet co and quit because the employees there didn't seem to know a thing about customer service. A lady walked in to buy some goldfish... granted a $.25 fish but still. My trainer dropped a few fish on the floor, and went ahead and put them in the ladies bag anyway. I piped up and said she should get the lady new fish. She gave me a look that could of killed and said that they would be fine... I refused to let it go so she ended up giving the lady differant fish, cause after all if they did die from it however unlikly there is no refunds on these fish. (I got repramanded by my boss for this.) She also read the instructions on milk replacement wrong and told someone a 4 week old puppy only needed the 16 week old puppy dose. I corrected her which "made her look bad" infront of a customer. (again I got reprimanded. But what was I supposed to do let the customer leave and than said something....) Big chain pet stores suck!

Answer 4

Actually, there is a rude employee that works at one of the Petsmarts I go to. When I had my hamsters (I had had them for over a year already), I needed to go get some supplies. I picked out the bedding that I ALWAYS got and NEVER had any problems with, and the rude employee came up to me and asked me who the bedding was for. I told her and she took the bedding out of my hands, told me it wasn't the right stuff, and put the most expensive bedding in my hands. She did that without my consent and she started rambling on about what I needed and what was bad, when I had done tons of research BEFORE I got my hammies, had gotten that brand of bedding every time, and never had any problems with it. And on top of that, the bedding that was "bad" according to that employee for hamsters, was found in the hamster section! There are some rude employees at Petsmart, but I have to admit, not all of them are like that. It just depends who you get.

Answer 5

Although Petco, and Petsmart has had a reputation of selling unhealthy birds and euthanizing their birds recently due to PBFD, That alone would be enough for people to seek out a breeder who specializes in what you what. That in no way gave this employee a reason to treat you unfairly. You also had a choice to walk out without a purchase, which is what you should have done!!

I would contact the store you dealt with and make sure they are aware of what happened and make sure you follow up on it. No one deserves to be treated the way you were or the children for that matter.

Please make sure your bird is seen by an avian vet for proper testing. There is an outbreak of Pssiticosis, which can be deadly to humans. This is not to be taken lightly.

Please make sure your bird is not only on a seed diet as well. I hope that your bird is in a happy home and congrats on your new family arrival.

Answer 6

I work at Petsmart and loathe morons like you, especially when you waltz on in 5 minutes before my shift is supposed to end.

Answer 7

Generally, I wish people would put more thought into a pet than that. You go for a "small pet", they do not have what you want, so you decide on something totally different. Clearly, you had done no research on birds, since you just picked that. I think it is their JOB to make sure people are prepared and know the down-side to each pet.
Giving it a "try" for a week and then having ti bring it back is not really great for the poor bird and teaches nothing about responsibility to the daughter.
Next time, decide on a pet, do some research, get the supplies, talk to store people, THEN get the pet. Even if it means waiting until they have one. Impulse buys for living things are generally a BAD idea!!!!!!!
My 7 year old got Fire-Belly toads last year, and she spend a LOT of time learning about them first. Still, she found they were a lot of work, but she was prepared and has done well. If she had changed her mind at the store and wanted something different, we would NOT have gotten anything that day.

Answer 8

I would have insisted on talking to a manager, even if there was none in the store and they had to call him/her on the phone. You should not have had to tolerate such rude behavior by an employee. I was in retail management for most of my working life, and I can tell you that someone like that would have faced unemployment if she worked for me and I heard she treated a customer that way!

I hope you go back to the store and talk to the manager - even hearing about it after the fact, he/she should be able to do something to make it up to you, and to discipline the employee.

Answer 9

Well, I kind of think the employee was right. Maybe you should have done the research first, and know whether you can handle the pet (which im sure you can), and the employee felt you were just getting it as a toy for the party, then once all the friends go home it will just be stuck in the cage. You are right, she shouldn't have been rude, but I think you could have done research and decided on a the pet you wanted instead of just running in and being like, ooh, ok, lets get you a pet. Do you get what I mean?

She shouldn't have been rude, but you should have been more prepaired.

Answer 10

If you brought five girls in to buy a parakeet as an impulse birthday present gift, that employee was absolutely right to try and talk you out of it. You'd done no research, you didn't know what you wanted, and you were buying a pet as though it were a toy and not a living being. The employee isn't supposed to be a substitute for doing your homework! The time to do research is before you get a pet, not when you're in the store and didn't get your first choice pet! I would've been horrified if I'd been that employee.

With that said, now is the time to get yourself educated. Visit www.budgietalk.com for a great primer on your new bird. Don't mess with the bird for the first few days, talk to him from outside the cage and let him get acclimated to your house and to you. Make sure the cage you have him in is big enough for him to move around and play, and that he has toys, easy access to food and water, and a cuttlebone or mineral block. Do research on switching him to a healthy diet of pellets and vegetables. Find a certified avian vet and get your new bird a checkup with a complete blood count and fecal wet mount, to check for any problems and to give your vet a baseline on your bird in case anything happens in the future.

Many people buy a pet without knowing what they're getting into. You can make up for that now by doing your homework and resolving to give your bird the best life you possibly can.