So...My local Petco hates me. :D

[Brittany_Lynn]

I walked into Petco today and they had the most adorable chins. One little boy looked just like Ivan, same size and everything :tissue: the other was older, quite a bit bigger. Not full grown though.
Anyway, I saw a bunch of crap in their food. Cut up apples, carrots, and a piece of lettuce. All covered with flies. You'd think that the fact that the chinchillas weren't eating the fruit would have tipped the workers off, but nooo~.
Anyway, I decided to be miss busy body, and went up to a cashier and asked him politely to please take the fruit out of the cage. He directed me to the guy who handles small animals, I guess. I told him "Hi, I don't mean to be a pain, but I have 4 chinchillas and I noticed you have fresh fruit and stuff in their cage...that's actually really bad for them. They're not supposed to get anything fresh at all, they could get really sick. I was wondering if you could please remove that and also make a note to not put any more fruit or veggies in there for them. I would hate to see your chinchillas get sick. They can have shredded wheat, though. -insert smile-"
He just stared at me. Then he said okay, and walked over to the chin cage. I bought my dust and stuff (ran out, was getting 'back up' supplies--a few willow branches, etc), and I heard him call to me after he'd thrown everything out, "Okay, we're all set!" and he gave me a thumbs up. Then he turned and looked at one of his fellow employees and I didn't see the face he made but I'm sure I can imagine it. :impatient:
Anyway, I thought I'd share my chuckle-worthy story with you all.

 

[chin_gal]

Hey, at least they listened!

 

[mishellyshel]

he was definitely doing this: :rolleyes2:

 

[lin18lou]

they may hate you, but the chins are probably happier

 

[Rickman]

Yeah - he listened for the moment!!
Go back in a week, with an instruction book for the Manager!

 

[3CsMommy]

Pet Co is (reportedly, I got this from an employee, but he's in a store with exceptional animal care) trying to improve their in store animal care across the board. The store my source works at immediately pulled a Columbian Red-tailed boa from the display when I pointed out he'd retained some shed skin near his eye, and they allow *any* employee to refuse sale if they think a customer isn't going to provide a proper home, which he claims includes intentionally buying a cage that's too small, etc. I agree 100% with Rick: go back and show them how it's done.

 

[Linda]

Pet Co is (reportedly, I got this from an employee, but he's in a store with exceptional animal care) trying to improve their in store animal care across the board... and they allow *any* employee to refuse sale if they think a customer isn't going to provide a proper home, which he claims includes intentionally buying a cage that's too small, etc.[/QUOTE

It's the store employees who convince people to buy cages that are too small. I've seen it repeatedly. And unfortunately the customers believe them.

And they'll need to start carrying chin-appropriate cages, then.

http://www.petco.com/product/13557/...hillas.aspx?CoreCat=ChinchillaHPCagesHabitats

Here's a "Roomy chew-proof wire cage with ramps and two lofts as well as an easy to clean deep plastic base." Did they ever consider that the chin would chew the plastic making this not a "chew-proof" cage? And that's a plastic bottle that many chins will chew. And it comes complete with "Kaytee Fiesta Chinchilla Food and Kaytee YoDips treats."

This is just a chin example, but they do this with all of the animals they sell. These are their offerings for chin cages. I doubt many on this forum will have any of those cages although I've seen the ferret one on Craigslist many times.

http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_...88+122.aspx?CoreCat=ChinchillaHPCagesHabitats

I agree that many of the workers want to do a good job, but Corporate just doesn't provide them with the tools (education, training, etc.) nor does Corporate provide them with quality products or quality animals. There are already three strikes against them.

If you have a store willing to listen and learn, by all means help them. It's just sad that the customers have to do the education and not Corporate. (And Petsmart is not any better.) And some customers don't know enough either to do proper education.

Linda

 

[equusus]

At least they are not fishtanks........