# Pet Smart Shenanigans



## Edarion (Apr 21, 2010)

It strikes me how intelligent Pet Smart employees are.
I was in there on boxing day. and asked them what fish would be suitable for my tank. 
Suprisingly, they started to tell me about 1 inch per gallon rule. 

So I asked her, Can you put an 18 inch oscar in a 20 gallon tank.

The answer : yes


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

PetSmart should really be called PetDumb. This kind of crap drives me crazy. I've contacted management a few times over stuff like this, as well as trying to gently educate the employee...not their fault management doesn't train them.

And I don't shop there unless I absolutely can't avoid it.


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## Edarion (Apr 21, 2010)

Unfortunately, they are my best bet. Now that Pet habitat in brentwood is closing and metrotown one is selling more dogs and cats than fish.


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## Grete_J (Oct 5, 2010)

I've actually started boycotting Petsmart, one in particular, after seeing a reptile that shouldn't have been sold due to illness. He was so deformed, my vet wanted to see him ASAP, but they still went & sold him after speaking with 2 managers & contacting head office 3 times.


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## shelby67 (Jun 19, 2011)

LMFAO! 
Well you know the saying " common sense isn't so common!"


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Edarion, if you're near Metrotown, you're close to J&L, IPU and King Ed's, to name a few. Way better options for fish stuff, and King Ed's does dog/cat stuff as well.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Our area chock full of fishstores. Even just by transit.

And yeah, the horrer stories of these retail pet stores annoy me to no bounds. Any of us could give better advice, and the majority of these people don't care about the livestock or this hobby at all.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

They just care that they can text message at work and get paid for just arriving. Atleast in the trades, these morons are weened out quickly

Sent via Tapatalk; SGH-T589R


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## enzotesta (Dec 20, 2011)

they are teenagers making minimum wage looking for a quick buck for the weekend when they call in sick . I mng retail and that's all corporations hire to start out...


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm guessing that the pet store employee was only thinking about the fish they had in the tanks you were looking at, and was trying to be helpful.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

This reminds me of a funny story. 10+ years ago a customer asked us if he could put a 12" oscar in a 10 gallon, our employee at the time replied "not without a blender"! Crude but funny.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Rastapus said:


> This reminds me of a funny story. 10+ years ago a customer asked us if he could put a 12" oscar in a 10 gallon, our employee at the time replied "not without a blender"! Crude but funny.


lol..............


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

personally i think the employees are a part of the issue when it comes to something like the aquatrade but i think the employers are at fault as well(mainly). most of these jobs are minimal wage and why would anyone with expertise work with minimal wage? i'm an amateur hobbyist for about two years now and the only thing i could really talk about without making an error is probably shrimps, ph and cycling beginner stuff. if i were to get a part time job because i love the hobby, it's going to be difficult for me to answer questions about puffers or oscars or stingrays or arowanas or any other thing that another hobbyist customer is really into. i think there has to be better training from the store of their employees, but since they keep hiring at minimum wage for people who's availability is EXTREMELY OPEN, thus meaning 24/7 on call whenever, and to be honest the only people with such an open schedule and will accept the 9.50 an hour are teenage kids. so i think if anything we should cut some slack on the employees and focus our reflective ideas to the company.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes and no. Many full time staff in this industry make good to very good wages. Part timers in general don't have a lot of experience so that makes it difficult on both fronts. This industry is vast and it is rarer to find very experienced hobbyists looking for part time. Another problem is the amount of contradiction in this hobby when it comes to what is best in terms of advice. In a perfect world, prices of fish, hardware etc. would be at such a level that having extremely experienced, perhaps more full time, employees could be a reality. Unfortunately this is really not so. 
Look at electronics, when is the last time you got unbelievable information from someone regarding a camera or stereo system? Same thing, margins are slim, etc. and businesses particularly retail can only devote so much to payroll in order to profit. 
I do agree with your points and of course there are many levels of what would be considered good advice in our industry. 
I am not defensive on this at all in case anyone might suspect that I am. When competition is what it is in retail, if a retailer can give great service and ensure the average employee is up to speed on water chemistry and average fish species, I think they are doing OK considering. The fault is on everyone involved, including what an average customer is willing to pay for something.
We do our best to ensure _consistent_ advice at IPU. Of course people skills plays a big part as well. Not an easy gig.

This is turning into a good topic!


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

Tarobot said:


> personally i think the employees are a part of the issue when it comes to something like the aquatrade but i think the employers are at fault as well(mainly). most of these jobs are minimal wage and why would anyone with expertise work with minimal wage? i'm an amateur hobbyist for about two years now and the only thing i could really talk about without making an error is probably shrimps, ph and cycling beginner stuff. if i were to get a part time job because i love the hobby, it's going to be difficult for me to answer questions about puffers or oscars or stingrays or arowanas or any other thing that another hobbyist customer is really into. i think there has to be better training from the store of their employees, but since they keep hiring at minimum wage for people who's availability is EXTREMELY OPEN, thus meaning 24/7 on call whenever, and to be honest the only people with such an open schedule and will accept the 9.50 an hour are teenage kids. so i think if anything we should cut some slack on the employees and focus our reflective ideas to the company.


My thoughts exactly, this is why I buy almost all my fish/equipment from the same store (IPU) . It's close by and Grant hires knowledgable people. The other closest store to me is PJ's and the fish people there don't know what's what. Its a wonder how a business like that can stay in business with no repeat customers but the chains are everywhere! they must be getting that stock for dirt cheap!


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Mike! We try. Pet Smart is a full line store, having a great line up of staff that are knowledgeable in all areas pet seems like an impossible task to me and not one I would want to take on. Of course stores that cater to all animals do well on volume and many of those customers already know what they want. Perhaps many full line stores treat aquatic the same, I don't know.

In regards to the $9.50 an hour, lets look at that for a moment. As many business owners would agree, $9.50 is not low. Yes we live in an expensive province but because of this, many people really focus on price. So, a store has to be very mindful of what they sell product for for this reason and minimum wage is high. Tricky combo. Another factor is the work ethic of many young people today. The minimum wage is increasing but not necessarily the work ethic in many cases. At what wage do you only attract great staff? And then how do you pay for that wage in a highly competitive market? The biggest issue in BC is the market itself with inflated costs to live versus the disposable income the average person has to devote to a hobby. I have personally interviewed many prospective employees that would be triple paid at $9.50 versus their worth on their work ethic. 

I apologize if this is coming across as mean, I don't mean to be but I have been exposed to a lot of different work ethics in various countries and believe me, it is a major problem in BC and many parts of Canada. Another great example would be California, I cant tell you how many companies rely on foreign workers, legal or not. Many would not be operating if not for that asset of their work ethic.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Does anybody ever wonder why BC has some of the cheapest aquarium product in Canada with the highest cost of living? Something else to think about........


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

does that mean your boxing week sale is going to extend for another couple weeks??? lol


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

For the above reasons no, more to give the opportunity for people to take advantage of the delay in Aqua Nova arriving. We are holding the sale throughout this weekend, FYI.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

just had to throw that out there Grant! oh i'll be in, you've got to come work the Richmond store sometime.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

I think it is a combination of corporations driving down wages in "tough" times and letting inflation continue the wage cuts when times are good. It has really driven down the disposable income that we once had readily available. Sure part of it is people wanting things dirt cheap and made cheap, but thats only a small part. The combination of that business attitude, and a generation of children who's parents (for the most part) forgot to teach them about ethics (manners, money, life, etc) created quite the careless mentality. Now couple that with a media that portrays the only valuable thing is your image and spending money. Think back to the way tv was, family values and the hard life (wonder years, roseanne)


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

monkE said:


> just had to throw that out there Grant! oh i'll be in, you've got to come work the Richmond store sometime.


I was there all day yesterday, where were you!


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

neven said:


> I think it is a combination of corporations driving down wages in "tough" times and letting inflation continue the wage cuts when times are good. It has really driven down the disposable income that we once had readily available. Sure part of it is people wanting things dirt cheap and made cheap, but thats only a small part. The combination of that business attitude, and a generation of children who's parents (for the most part) forgot to teach them about ethics (manners, money, life, etc) created quite the careless mentality. Now couple that with a media that portrays the only valuable thing is your image and spending money. Think back to the way tv was, family values and the hard life (wonder years, roseanne)


Agreed. There is so many factors creating the problem, some easy to fix in this industry in particular but it will likely never happen.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Inflation vs cost of living plays a major role without a doubt.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Rastapus said:


> I have personally interviewed many prospective employees that would be triple paid at $9.50 versus their worth on their work ethic.


Well, since this thread has taken a different turn, I will chime in.

Ha! How about people who claim to be professional and do not have the work ethics to deserve minimum wage.

My philosophy is wage comes after the worth is demonstrated. The problem with our society, that includes adults whom we are counting to teach our young people, are demanding higher wages without first asking what they have put in to deserve the higher wages.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Agree with this one too! I love it when people say, "I am worth ___ an hour. Really? Any job you do? Even one where you have no experience? Pay me first, perform later.....too often some people demand a specific salary for what they need, not what they are worth.


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

effox said:


> Inflation vs cost of living plays a major role without a doubt.


One of the reasons I am selling my stuff just can't afford it anymore, an example I have is 2 years ago I used to pay around $6 for a big pack of hamburger at the superstore now costs between $15 - $18.

I have had a couple buddy's that worked at Petsmart and they knew their stuff but were not allowed to do things the right way it had to be done the way the manual says too. I have been in there and mentioned to an employee that there were dead fish and her reply was we are not allowed to take them out till the end of the day. Like mentioned it's not necessarily the employees fault, alot of the times they are just doing what management tells them they have to do. I don't know how anyone other than a kid could survive on $9.50 and hour unless maybe your single. With a family it's pretty tough to make ends meet on a low salary. Right now I am myself trying to find work and finding it tough so we are living off of my girlfriend's income which isn't minimum wage but it isn't alot either and with this we have to go to the food bank, had to go to the xmas hamper so our kids could have a Christmas, behind on the bills and rent barely paid. This day and age and where we live I feel a family needs to bring in a combined minimum $30/hr to get by.

So basically you get what you pay for. As a business alot of LFS's just can't afford to pay much more than minimum wage and not many adult's with family's can afford to live off of minimum wage, that's why we see alot of younger people working in the retail field. I also agree too with Grant that one of the problems with the work force and the younger generation is alot of their work ethic basically sucks. My father in law works on the new Port Mann and he just turned 60 years old, the sad thing is that he out works all the younger guys on his crew, at times they will even stand around and watch him work. This blew me away when I heard this, I am only 35 and I could never let the old guy on the crew out work me. I used to work with a 60 year old man and everyone on the crew would give him heck for doing too much or lifting too much and always help him out. Guys at that age have put their time in already and deserve a break and should not be left having to outwork the younger guys but that is just the way it goes these days, not often you find a younger person who is willing to work their butts off to get ahead.


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

Rastapus said:


> Agree with this one too! I love it when people say, "I am worth ___ an hour. Really? Any job you do? Even one where you have no experience? Pay me first, perform later.....too often some people demand a specific salary for what they need, not what they are worth.


Totally agree with this too. You gotta prove yourself. What some people don't realize is that ya you may start off low but if you work your butt off and prove your learning and or showing what you know you will make more.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Off topic but worth a mention. I started in manual labour and at a fish factory, by summers end I was in charge of the department because I busted my butt off and showed initiative. I started at $8/hr at a temp agency and proved myself to be worthy of increase after increase. Hard work pays off.

I don't know what Petsmart pays, but I'm sure I would have outgrown the fish department in no time because of my desire to grow. I've done this over and over again in every job I've ever held, start from the bottom, and work my way up, GAINING AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE so others around me, however temporary could make more informed decisions.

Selfishly, I'm glad everyone at the places I worked at didn't share the same incentive, as I would have had competition at a very young age and would have failed miserably.


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

I just want to put a bit of a different opinion out there on this subject of wages and employees.

I'm 25 years old, and I've worked in retail a number of years. I work my butt off. My schedule is very open and available, and I would love to have a full time job. But nobody wants to hire for those positions anymore. Why bother getting one full time person who will, eventually, get benefits, when you can hire two part time people and not have to worry about the extra cost? And if one person has to leave, you only have those few days to cover for, rather than a whole five. 

I do my absolute best to ensure I am good to my customers. I love working with people, and in all my years of retail, I have heard very few complaints. I'm a good employee, and I always go out of my way to help my coworkers. The dilema in all this is, a lot of companies don't want to pay the minimum wage if they don't have to.

I am currently a stock girl at a dollar store, and my district manager wants me to work so hard I'm practically running up and down the isles trying to get all my stuff out. He wants us dripping in sweat by the end of the day. The difference between myself and the people who get paid $16 plus an hour working in a warehouse? They're putting stuff on a skid. I'm taking it off. Even the warehouse guys don't have to feel that rushed.

It's very difficult as an employee to want to work that hard, when there is little to no reward out of it. Not even a "good job" at the end of the day, which honestly goes a long long way.

This is just my two cents.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

raeven said:


> It's very difficult as an employee to want to work that hard, when there is little to no reward out of it. Not even a "good job" at the end of the day, which honestly goes a long long way.
> 
> This is just my two cents.


I shared you pain and it is sad that there are indeed business owners whoe exploit their employees. With your attitude and determination, I honestly think your chance will come. May be worthwhile to get a college degree, if you do not already has one, as a stepping stone to something better.

At the end of the day, when we go home from work we want to go to bed knowing that we have earned every single penny we got from my employers.


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

I am actually very seriously considering on getting into marine biology. I've had my first fish tank for a little under a year now, and it has become so addicting since I first got it. I'm now running three, looking into breeding guppies, platies, blueberry shrimp and hopefully some blue apple snails. At the way I'm going, my bedroom is going to be replaced with a massive aquarium at some point lol.

But hey, if I do the marine biology thing, maybe I can work at the vancouver aquarium. Besides, I'm sure it'd be the only job where I'm allowed to have a pet whale lol


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

raeven said:


> I just want to put a bit of a different opinion out there on this subject of wages and employees.
> 
> I'm 25 years old, and I've worked in retail a number of years. I work my butt off. My schedule is very open and available, and I would love to have a full time job. But nobody wants to hire for those positions anymore. Why bother getting one full time person who will, eventually, get benefits, when you can hire two part time people and not have to worry about the extra cost? And if one person has to leave, you only have those few days to cover for, rather than a whole five.
> 
> ...


Very fair point... I have worked in warehouses in the past and the one thing I can tell you is that every boss, every good boss will always try to push you to work harder and be more productive. That is their job as the boss. 
It sounds like you try very hard to keep your customers happy and I'm sure you are a very good employee, but If you havn't found a company that is offering a full time position, then you simply havn't been looking hard enough, or looking in the wrong area. (just my opinion - don't want to sound like a dick) There is PLENTY of work out there. There is PLENTY of opportunity. The majority of businesses out there are looking for full time, stable employees. The kind that you don't have to worry about them calling in sick or taking a day off because their own work ethic doesn't allow them to. The kind that show up every day and work as hard as they can. If you can be that person then you will find full time work.

- wow did I just have my old man moment? damn i'm only 27!


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

raeven said:


> But hey, if I do the marine biology thing, maybe I can work at the vancouver aquarium. Besides, I'm sure it'd be the only job where I'm allowed to have a pet whale lol


Do warn you that it is s narrow field. My friend's daughter finished marine biology and I think she is now doing some sort of amateur film or media / photography thing. She is a go getter and she will do just fine. You will also 

You will also get Shelley jealous about your pet beluga


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

monkE said:


> - wow did I just have my old man moment? damn i'm only 27!


HAHA, catches up with you eh? Just turned 30 this year and have already heard myself telling my kids things my parents said to me.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

another issue is people taking the abuse. Sure food needs to be put on the table, but by letting yourself be steamrolled by someone misplaced ego only makes them feel justified for what they've done. It may be the boss' job to ensure they get the most efficiency out of the crew, but its my job to do things correctly and safely, so i go at the most efficient pace i can. If they expect more its only them trying to make themselves look good at the cost of their crews morale, which isn't worth it, because in the end that drives down productivity. I never forget the partnership of employment, my job is to make my company money, their job is to respect me for doing that.


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

I definitely have to agree with you on that, Neven. A lot of employers tend to forget the value of employees. If your employees are not happy, it shows. Not only in their performance and attitude, but the customers see it as well.

My DM is an absolute nut job. I haven't seen it myself, but apparently this guy gets absolutely psychotic and has been known to throw boxes around, yelling at our manager. I don't care if she was responsible for losing all the money in the safe. That's no way to treat your staff.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Rob is quite right. Employers know quite well what is fair and who are the good workers. There are labour laws which protect the employees as well.

Chinese old saying: "Ride the donkey while looking for a horse." I don't like looking for another job while I am at one. I won't hesitate to do that when I know he/she is a real donkey.


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## Sanka101 (Dec 15, 2010)

I must say not all petsmart employes are that uninformed theres atleased 1 girl (was 2 havent seen the girl in a while) who it super knowledgeable and keeps multiple tanks her self, ive seen her convice people not to buy a fish because they did not have a large enough tank or it was cycled and in that case she went on to explain cycling a tank. they may be few and far between but there is a few diamonds in the ruff


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## pisces (Apr 22, 2010)

Morainy said:


> I'm guessing that the pet store employee was only thinking about the fish they had in the tanks you were looking at, and was trying to be helpful.


:bigsmile: haha.. so funny u said,,
i went to richmond that one, there is so small section for tropical fish.. i thought i back my home,even my home the fish and tank is bigger / more then them alot!!!
i went there only purchase the cichlids pellet only while they have good price!


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## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

bought a golden weather loach from the Grandview location a few days ago. As i was checking out, the cashier says to me, "enjoy your new algae eater fish". LOL


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