pets@home horror story!

[saxon]

Originally Posted by neep_neep

They haven't had the '7 day' guarantee for a couple of years now - because what do you do if your fish dies after 10 days? There effectively isn't a 'limit' as such, it's management discretion as to each individual case.

The still do in the one at the metrocentre Gateshead.
I got a couple of hamsters a few months ago and they gave me a 7 day guarantee.
Lots of inaccurate advice and a male and a female when I wanted two females but they are healthy and friendly little things.
They were in the little glass stacks but seemed happy enough they had toys, tubes etc.

They are trying to get me to breed my Robo's for them as they cant' get them.
Beside the fact my robo's aren't breeding I did tell them I dont' supply petshops. Definitely not P@H as the staff don't seem to have the training they should get.

Again I've had to 'interfere' when staff have been selling degu to a customer.
The customer was being told that degu are 'the same as gerbils just bigger'. They have babies every month or so. They can be fed as you would feed a hamster, gerbil or rat.

[neep_neep]

Originally Posted by saxon

The still do in the one at the metrocentre Gateshead.

They shouldn't though - this is what really bugs me about the company, stores just seem to ignore what they get told by head office

Originally Posted by saxon

They are trying to get me to breed my Robo's for them as they cant' get them.

Again, that is most definitely against policy...last time I heard they were absolutely not allowed to buy from random breeders! I don't mean that in a nasty way, I just mean they are only supposed to get their animals from specified breeders that are vet/RSPCA/council checked.

Originally Posted by saxon

The customer was being told that degu are 'the same as gerbils just bigger'. They have babies every month or so. They can be fed as you would feed a hamster, gerbil or rat.

Have you emailed head office with your concerns?

The problem with these stores is that head office don't know when the staff are ignoring guidelines and giving naff advice until someone takes the trouble to point it out to them. They are given all the right information, so I seriously struggle to work out how they come out with some of this rubbish.

[saxon]

Originally Posted by neep_neep

They shouldn't though - this is what really bugs me about the company, stores just seem to ignore what they get told by head office




Again, that is most definitely against policy...last time I heard they were absolutely not allowed to buy from random breeders! I don't mean that in a nasty way, I just mean they are only supposed to get their animals from specified breeders that are vet/RSPCA/council checked.




Have you emailed head office with your concerns?

The problem with these stores is that head office don't know when the staff are ignoring guidelines and giving naff advice until someone takes the trouble to point it out to them. They are given all the right information, so I seriously struggle to work out how they come out with some of this rubbish.

They are having problems with the suplier they are using, he also supplies other petshops in our area, he isn't getting them the animals they are asking for.

They cant' get Robo's anywhere. That may be because it seems no-ones are breeding this year. Last year there was a glut of them and this year there are hardly any about.
When I got my hamsters they were also selling top eared hooded rats as dumbos and when I pointed out they weren't dumbos the lass said yes they were as their ears were massive.
I tried to explain that they are called dumbo sue to the placement of the ears not the size but she told me quite categorically that I was wrong.
I took one of my dumbo's down the next day to show the girl but she wasnt' in. Another assistant showed me the 'dumbo' rats, I'd left my boy in the car, we went throgh the same discussion as I'd had the day before. I then brought Tornado in from the car to show them. They still wouldnt' have it the their rats werent' dumbo's. The breeder had said they were so they were as far as they were concerned.
If that's the kind of breeder who supplies them then I dont' wonder that they want better breeders.

There are currently no laws stating that petshops can only take stock form registered breeders as far as I have been told. Apparently the law is ready to be passed but not yet in operation.

As far as the degu are concerned.
That particular girl was more than happy to listen to the correct advice.
I havent' bothered emailing head office becaue it isn't oging to make any difference anyway.

[neep_neep]

Originally Posted by saxon

There are currently no laws stating that petshops can only take stock form registered breeders as far as I have been told. Apparently the law is ready to be passed but not yet in operation.

Oh no, it's not law, I was just saying that it's their policy.

Originally Posted by saxon

As far as the degu are concerned.
That particular girl was more than happy to listen to the correct advice.
I havent' bothered emailing head office becaue it isn't oging to make any difference anyway.

Well, that's good she listened to you - shame they didn't listen to information they got the first time around

As far as contacting head office - it does make a difference - they got constant complaints about keeping rats on woodshavings so company policy is now to keep them on paper bedding, they got complaints about keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together so they changed that... as Tescos says, every little helps

[ashley]

I used to work at Pets at home. All staff must complete "stage 1" in pet care within 12 weeks and then go onto stage 2. It was a good system but there is a huge problem with the staff. The turnover of staff is quite high so there are new people every month (students, school leavers) and they give out awful advice! There were many times I had to correct colleagues while I was there.

To be fair, head office has the right idea and there are inspectors out every month or so. The stores aren't allowed the staffing levels they need though.

Talking from my experience, when I was there, all the animals got the correct food and the animals on the shop floor were kept clean. Through the back was a different story. The animal in isolation (due to illness etc) are supposed to be cleaned out every day. The manager did not let us do this. In quarantine (where all the new livestock go for a set amount of time before going for sale) I was checking the animals before we went home for the night and there was a baby bunny who was just lying there. No-one would do anything about it so I gently removed it and put it in a cage on its own and tried giving it a little water. The next day, I went in at about lunch time and it was still there. I ended up taking it to the vet myself to get PTS, poor thing.

I spent every day for a while in the fish department, cleaning all the tanks etc until I wasn't embarassed of them (I worked extra to get on top of things) and a week after I left it was back to disgusting.

Some of the staff genuinely want to help but aren't given adequate training.

I wouldn't buy a fish from there and if I were to buy a rabbit or guinea pig, I would ask if I could check it over first as the ones we got in often had sniffles, cuts on their legs etc.

Sorry for the huge post

[TianRunty]

out of our local stores one is a disgrace the other is a little better.
i have photographic proof of the back of the store in the worst one, they have budgies in hamster cages by the dozen, rabbits upon rabbits in hamster cages. there is very little seperation for sick/new animals etc. a staff member sent me the pics, they are too scared to speak out because they really need the job.
the other one, though better still have things like african dwarf frogs in beside clawed frogs and being sold together because although the manager knows the difference the staff don't. the adfs are also in a tank thats way too deep for them considering they breath air and all.
both stores mix rabbits and guinea pigs, and have stocking level issues. the animals look healthy enough but if you look closer they are usually wheezing or have something else wrong with them.
i'm glad the stores have gotten better since petsmart days but there is still room for improvement....a whole lotta room

[m4rky]

Originally Posted by TianRunty

i have photographic proof of the back of the store in the worst one, they have budgies in hamster cages by the dozen, rabbits upon rabbits in hamster cages. there is very little seperation for sick/new animals etc. a staff member sent me the pics, they are too scared to speak out because they really need the job.

There have been no birds in stores for quite some time now.

[Andy b 1]

Originally Posted by retri

they have a gurantee thing, if anything dies under a week you can get your money back

and they give u a new one

[serz]

believe it or not i have never had any problems with are local one apart from that they have no knowledge at all on the animals that they keep in there. I went in once and asked them about a pet bed and told them i was buying it for a african pygymy hedgehog and they told me that it was illegal to keep hedgehogs!! They had never heard of one in captivity before.

[TianRunty]

Originally Posted by m4rky

There have been no birds in stores for quite some time now.

i know this but it was just before they stopped selling birds, which in this store wasn't too long ago. the other store got rid of the birds waaaay before the second store. it was less than a year ago and the staff member says nothing has changed through the back other than the types of animals kept in cramped conditions