"pre-packaged" no thanks/headache >must read!<

[ChuWuti]

vgaines said,

To be honest I don't buy from either petco or petsmart. I go to a mom and pop place and have been very happy with their crickets...

I feel the same way. I bought crickets ONCE from PetsMart. They were enclosed in a plastic bag (fish bag, as someone noted) with no food or hydration source. Two were dead by the time I arrived home (a 15-minute trip). I immediately began gut-loading overnight. The next morning, several more were dead. I fed 6 to our FBTs, and the rest died over the next two days.

After that, I drive 45 minutes one-way to a mom & pop place to buy crickets that actually live awhile.

 

[KiloTheChameleon]

Hell, just say hell when you mean it. If your upset enough to say "H E Double Hockey Sticks!" then just say "Hell!" and get it over with

Sorry, but that kind of thing really bugs me...

Personally, if I reacted that way as a customer in a place of business, it would be with the complete intention of never ever going back to that place. Retail employees have ways of getting their own back.

Anyway, I hope that having gotten it off your chest that you can now let it go and live on in your normally happy mood

Cheers

Chris thanks!

I was gonna say hell, but about a week ago I said the bad word of poop and got a warning that "theres children on the forum and we arent allowed to swear" sooo since you said it WHY THE HELL NOT

I must admit, I have Petsmart or Petco, unless I want to drive 20+ miles.
I will give petco 1 more strike and then I'll just have to call back and get more free crickets.


I also wanted to get my point across that if you have an issue at a petstore, that you should NOT hesistate. I.E. sick pet you bought from there, that is THEIR responsibliy. The lady on the phone was very kind and I asked her alot of questions about what they deal with and she explained pretty much everything and anything, you just gotta speak up and NOT deal directly with the petstore as they want to keep their money and not help you.

 

[KiloTheChameleon]

vgaines said,

I feel the same way. I bought crickets ONCE from PetsMart. They were enclosed in a plastic bag (fish bag, as someone noted) with no food or hydration source. Two were dead by the time I arrived home (a 15-minute trip). I immediately began gut-loading overnight. The next morning, several more were dead. I fed 6 to our FBTs, and the rest died over the next two days.

After that, I drive 45 minutes one-way to a mom & pop place to buy crickets that actually live awhile.

good for you! Its sad and crazy, lol breeding something to kill it in a plastic bag! doesnt make much sense to me! Any product should be waited to be bagged until its leaving where ever it was purchased.

 

[Video Master]

My Petco's here in Minnesota or at lest the 2 near me must be so different. Theirs that are in bags have food and are always moving around and even very loud. That sucks that you had trouble and had to go through that. Myself, I would have handled it differently, but that is what makes each one of us unique as we all handle things differently.

 

[Kate]

Why do you young people consider people of 65 old? Without giving my age away I feel quite resentful of the way this 65 year old woman has been spoken about. Perhaps her manners weren't the best but I wouldn't say that had anything to do with age. I would like to think that most 65 year olds could teach you young people a thing or two, after all they have been around longer than you.

 

[KiloTheChameleon]

My Petco's here in Minnesota or at lest the 2 near me must be so different. Theirs that are in bags have food and are always moving around and even very loud. That sucks that you had trouble and had to go through that. Myself, I would have handled it differently, but that is what makes each one of us unique as we all handle things differently.

Yeah I think she was doing a half butt job! Maybe I should have, but i was so caught off guard with the teeth sucking, I find that soooo discrespectful.

Why do you young people consider people of 65 old? Without giving my age away I feel quite resentful of the way this 65 year old woman has been spoken about. Perhaps her manners weren't the best but I wouldn't say that had anything to do with age. I would like to think that most 65 year olds could teach you young people a thing or two, after all they have been around longer than you.

I only included her age as a point of the story. There was no need for the teeth sucking. I do not consider her that old, my grandmother died at the age of 58 when i was very much younger, she was my BESTFRIEND and the closest person anyone will ever be to me. She died so young, I didn't mean to make you feel offended. I didnt mean to make you feel resentful, I also agree, I have many eldery women as well as men I massage monthly, I am in no way disrespecting you, I'm so sorry to come off like that.

 

[carol5208]

What do you think they feed the crickets in their bins? Nothing but potatoes and water which is like nothing anyways. I would not buy dead either, but as far as the feeding they are a joke when it comes to that

 

[stephencartolano]

Why do you young people consider people of 65 old? Without giving my age away I feel quite resentful of the way this 65 year old woman has been spoken about. Perhaps her manners weren't the best but I wouldn't say that had anything to do with age. I would like to think that most 65 year olds could teach you young people a thing or two, after all they have been around longer than you.

I agree, coming from a 22yr old, I think seniors should be respected no matter what.. unless they're racist, I don't stand for that.

I used to work at michaels arts n crafts, some customers are ret*rded as can be, sometimes employees are awful too, thats life :/

Once I get my cham ill either be raising my own feeders or purchasing them from a local mom n pop store.

 

[Nemesis]

Harsh. Did u snap your fingers at her and do the bobble head when she sucked in her teeth? Personally i would of laughed if i saw some lady suck in her dentures.

 

[crocky]

I mean no disrespect but since you asked for our thoughts, here is mine......
I cant say you over reacted as your feelings were your own and whatever they were it is not someone else place to say they were wrong, only how we might would have reacted. It is all in how you go about it and kindness often gets you much further than not. but i have to ask, is your point to get free crickets or resolve the issue of what you experienced of bad customer service. I have read that several times in your post about getting free crickets out of it. Honestly demanding something free is not the way to go about resolving a complaint. Heck if that is the case, maybe I should go to walmart and ask for free groceries as I have found some of the worst customer service there and it seems to be systemic for the company. Are their great staff there, sure but not the majority....sorry but that comes across as an ulterior motive to me and doesn't impress me in the least bit. I owned a pet shop for 5 yrs and if someone came in with an issue with a staff we dealt with it but if they came in demanding free stuff simply because they did not like the customer service they found the door really quickly. Would I make it right by replacing the crickets you did not get....absolutely and oribably give you a large over count, but I would not feed your chameleon for free for any length of time to make you feel better because a staff "sucked their teeth" . Deal with the staff and make you rorder right....yes.

We don't get anywhere fast in life by demanding things for free. Just my two cents for what it is worth.

 

[Olimpia]

What do you think they feed the crickets in their bins? Nothing but potatoes and water which is like nothing anyways. I would not buy dead either, but as far as the feeding they are a joke when it comes to that

Ditto. Much ado about requiring a high level of excellence but your gutloading is just as minimal, if you want an honest opinion. Look into ordering a bag of quality pre-made gutload like Repashy Superload or BugBurger, Cricket Crack, Dinofuel, etc. You'll thank us later when you see how much better it is than those weak little orange jello cubes!

 

[ChuWuti]

Olimpia, thanks for this info:

Look into ordering a bag of quality pre-made gutload like Repashy Superload or BugBurger, Cricket Crack, Dinofuel, etc. You'll thank us later

I've been feeding our crickets for our FBTs green jello cubes and a dry Fluker's mix + grated carrot, but your suggestions sound much better!

I keep coming back to this forum and exploring because I keep learning valuable information--thank you!

BTW, just for general info, our (usually my) drive to our good cricket seller is 28.7 miles. I buy crickets in three sizes so that I can begin with feeding the large ones to the FBTs while I feed the smaller two sizes of crickets and let them grow. After the large are gone, then I begin with what were once mediums, etc. That way I have about a two-to-three week supply of crickets so I don't have to drive up as often. However, for the first several months (until I figured out the trick to using various sizes and keeping them alive), I drove up every week. It was a pain in the rear, but keeping the FBTs healthy is top priority, so we do it.

Thanks again for the info, Olimpia--I'm going to order better cricket food tonight!

Sandy

 

[nobrate]

Yeah have to say "teeth sucking" doesn't sound that threatening to me. I've worked retail also and sometimes you're just having a bad day and sometimes a customer is just being ridiculous and sometimes you accidentally do something rude. Sounds like an overreaction to me :/ I honestly tend to respect stores more if they don't just bend and bow to customers and show a little backbone.

 

[Elizadolots]

What do you think they feed the crickets in their bins? Nothing but potatoes and water which is like nothing anyways. I would not buy dead either, but as far as the feeding they are a joke when it comes to that

All the Petcos here in San Diego feed Flucker's Cricket food and water gel.

However, I think the objection is to the crickets that have been in the fish bags for who knows how long. It's one thing to watch them bag the crickets and take them home. It's another to pick up a bag that has been there for hours.

Yeah have to say "teeth sucking" doesn't sound that threatening to me. I've worked retail also and sometimes you're just having a bad day and sometimes a customer is just being ridiculous and sometimes you accidentally do something rude. Sounds like an overreaction to me :/ I honestly tend to respect stores more if they don't just bend and bow to customers and show a little backbone.

I agree. In fact, it seems like something that could easily be misinterpreted. Possibly this woman has argued that the prebagged crickets don't sell so someone needs to be on call to get crickets when she's busy. Or maybe she's been saying that department is understaffed. Her exasperation might not have been directed at the customer at all.

If it had been me, I might have said something like"It's okay, I'll wait, I just really prefer to buy them fresh. You take such good care of your crickets I don't want to take anything but the best."

That might have taken the edge off.

If I really couldn't wait, I would just walk to the register, say "I need to get some crickets and the only clerk in that department has 4 customers, can you send someone to help me?"

That usually works really well.

All that said, all Petcos should adopt the practice of the one in Del Mar. When I want crickets, I walk to a register, tell the clerk what I want. The clerk announces that on the intercom. I then get in line and pay for my crickets. I take the receipt back to the fish department where, inevitably, a clerk is just coming out of the cricket room with my bag.

It's far and away the best system I've encountered.

 

[maxttu]

Forgive me as I'm at a wedding reception getting hammered. With that said, no matter how you feel in regards to the customer always being right: at the corp level, the customer is always right. And Don't. You. Forget. That.

That's all. Please resume with your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[djfishygillz]

PETCO SUCKS...

I think everyone knows that, order online or find another small business cricket supplier and support them.

Don't support the corp jerks!!!

 

[dlegare]

You did great IMO. I hate ore packaged crickets. My rationale for being demanding is such. Even bait shops sell better looking crickets than what you get pre-packaged.

I've even bitched if the crickets food and or water looks like crap. I paid hundreds of dollars for my reptiles I'm demanding that the food source is meticulously cared for.

That's why I usually buy in bulk from the cricket farm.

 

[NVcham89]

I am also curious as to what "sucking her teeth" means. I am assuming it is breathing in without opening the mouth, but that's just what I've gotten out of this.

I've worked retail, as many others have, but there are always days where it's kind of an overload. I agree with kindness goes a long way over hot tempered customers who like to cause a scene. I'm not saying you "over-reacted," but I think handling it differently probably wouldn't have gotten you so worked up over it.

Just think of it this way, you are still angry and frustrated over the situation, but she probably doesn't even give it a second thought as soon as you walked out the door.

Personally, I've seen the pre-packaged crickets and would not purchase them, but even when they get it out of the bin it's kind of a hit or miss on what you get. I purchase bulk online and even then have to pick out dead ones.

I kind of understand your point on customer service, but I would rather speak rationally and calmly with an angry customer than one who is past reasoning with. Especially because they probably don't really care much about the crickets themselves.

You can second guess whether or not you over-reacted, but after the fact, there isn't much you can do to change it. You just have to move past it and do what you think is right. Some will agree with you and others will disagree.

I hope that made sense.

 

[DavidBuchan]

So, as I understand the situation........there were two 'types' of cricket on offer at the store......

One really bad lot that were half dead.....
And one lot that were better.....

One poor overworked woman trying to serve people with the better crickets got frustrated......
I think you were correct to complain to the manager......who refused to take you seriously....
This led to complaints being taken further. I can understand all that so far.
A complaint does need to be dealt with.

I wasn't there so I can't really judge anybodies motivation or whether anyone overreacted.
I hope that when you have your meeting it can all be resolved in a pleasant manner with no teeth sucking or swearing

Lastly...on the age issue...I do think it is pretty ridiculous for a 21 year old to be so offended by teeth sucking.....and yes...I have seen it in action...lol.....

 

[dom1959]

i am not really surprised by the direction of the thread...

who is right or wrong?

but the tone of the thread i believe reveals something about society,
we don't really treat each other properly. should the op have just said i am
happy to wait(because he had a specific need)?... yes
should the customer service person have said... thanks, i will be with you asap?... yes

but in the world(at least the one i live in) we just don't!

don't take it wrong just my general observation