The Right Size

Had an older customer come into the store looking for a specific type of dog bed.
Basically an orthopedic mattress.
Which we have plenty of....
Only the customer was looking for a very tiny one.

Which I feel like we carried at one point.
But upon searching our shelves.
I couldn't see anything smaller than like a 22X28 
And the guy was looking for a size smaller than that. Like a 22x18ish size.

And he was getting frustrated because apparently he had called the store last night and whoever he had talked to on the phone had told him that we had plenty of that smaller size in stock.

....Honestly I wonder if this coworker just mistook the 22x28 for the 22x18ish size the customer was looking for. 

I showed him other similar beds.
But they weren't as thick as he needed or the size he needed or the firmness he needed.

I even ended up leaving him at one point so he could think over the similar ones I had found for him---after I had called other sister stores to see if they had this supposed smaller size in stock.

As it turns out the customer was replacing an old bed that he'd gotten a while ago from us....
But like many things...products change overtime and some stay around for forever....and others get discontinued.

Methinks this mini bed got discontinued.

In any case.

When I checked back in with the customer he had found a folding dog crate mat that full length was like 26 inches long.
But folded in half was the exact size he needed.

So after dithering for a bit more (like I spent a good thirty minutes trying to help this guy) 
He decided to go buy the folding crate mat, especially after I reassured him that if it didn't work he could bring it right back to the store.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Gone

So one of my managers was watching the register while a coworker was on break.....when suddenly over the radio they were like "Oh no! So&So take over for me! I can't deal with this customer today!" 
And then they darted out of sight and vanished as one of our regular customers walked into the store. 

Which I recognized this customer.
I've dealt with them before.
Usually because they like to buy a certain brand of dog food for a certain breed of dog.
And get upset when the bags aren't in stock that they need.

So on occasion this customer has been difficult as they've sent me hunting all over the store before looking for specific food and such.

But I didn't know that there was a bigger issue.
Which I'm not certain if the issue this manager has with the customer is similar to the one listed above, or if it's something else entirely.

All I know is that the manager wanted nothing to do with this particular customer today.

Which makes sense because the manager wasn't feeling the best.

But from what I could tell...it was a pretty normal transaction with the customer that the manager who stepped up to cover had with them.

Sooo *shrugs*

Good to know that even my managers have certain customers they don't like dealing with. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Same Old Sale

 *Exhales*
Once again.
We have the same stupid fish sale in the store.
I say stupid.
Because it's been the same fish on sale for A YEAR NOW.

Like seriously.
I don't know what happened to the guy in charge of creating sales.
But they've severely slacked off when it comes to 'good' fish sales in the store.
Like after A YEAR you think that they would switch it up and put some different fish on sale.

But noooooooo.

Once again.
It's same old same old. *exhales*

Which is frustrating.
Because like, I want to buy fish on sale.
And the fish that are always on sale are ones I can't have in my tank. XP Bleh.

In any case.
I actually was ahead enough in opening that I joined in in putting up the 'new' sale prices as our previous sale ended the day before.

Honestly, some months i wonder why they even bothered.
LIke they should have just said that the sale extends until December at this point.
because we keep taking down and putting up the exact same product sales. 
The only difference is sometimes the price but mostly it's just the 'expiration' date on the sale. 

*exhales*

So tired of this.
Wish they would do something different. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Moving About

So towards the end of September, we ended up getting in a couple of new fish. 
Which meant that a new planner for the fish wall had to be dropping or already dropped.
Because a couple of times a year, usually with the changing of the seasons we stop carrying some fish and start carrying others. 
Well...upon looking up the planner online it was discovered....that the new fish who had come in....weren't on that planner for the fish wall. :S 

And after a closer examination....We had a good dozen or so fish missing from the planner.
Which usually means we won't be carrying them any more since they're no longer listed.
But like half of them were cichlids. 
Which was weird. Because....like we've had the same cichlids for forever. 

So I decided to wait to move fish around.
Just to make sure that this planner was the official one.

Which today I finally got a hold of the physical copy of the fish planner as it arrived in the store....

And it was the exact same one as online.

Which meant the two new fish we got in....still don't have official spots.

But since it was a slower Saturday, I went ahead and moved the fish around to their new spots.
As for the first time in a good two or three years, there was actually quite a bit of moving around to do.

Most of the time it's mostly just moving koi tanks back and forth as we get in more koi for the summer and less koi for the winter so the goldfish/koi section is adjusted as necessary.

But this time around, they're going to be giving us more guppies apparently. 
Which is interesting to have like four new varieties coming into the store.
Because those fish die so quickly.....they're like one of our higher losses. 
*shakes head*

Ah well.

At least I was able to entertain myself and move the fish to their new proper locations. :D yay me. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Window Clings

So our grooming salon has windows right?
To both the outside of the store and the inside of the store.

Basically we call their area the 'fish bowl' because people can just look in through the windows and watch the groomers do their job. 

Though a couple of years ago they put thicker coverings on the outdoor windows so people outside couldn't look in.
But the windows inside the store? Yah you could still see the groomers clear as day in there. 

Though this past couple of weeks I've noticed that we had a row of bins filled with dog beds sitting in front of those grooming windows. 

Which I figured we were just trying to sell the beds.
And didn't think much more on it, beyond the fact that some of the beds were piled high enough it was hard to see into the grooming salon and it definitely made it difficult for customers to stand there.

But today.

Those bins filled with beds vanished.

Why?

We had a couple of workers come into the store to install some new window clings on those windows.

Which the clings were basically the look of a bubble bath.

With the white shade thick enough at the bottom to block the sight of the groomers...but still thin enough that you can see the shadows of the groomers inside. 

Plus the handy dandy spaced bubbles means that customers can still look through those bubbles inside the grooming salon, but the puppy dogs can't see out. 

Which makes sense as the manager stated that it's safer for the groomers and the dogs if the dogs can't see their owners lurking nearby.

But one of the groomers was also excited for the window clings because apparently they would often have kids come up to the windows and tap on the glass to get the dog to look at them. 

And that could pose risks to both dog and groomer if the dog moves at the wrong time. 

So the window clings are to discourage tapping on the glass, but as well as to keep the dogs from seeing their owners and such.

It's going to be an interesting thing to get used to for sure.

But the groomers are rather happy about them I think. One less stress for them to worry about. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Tortoise

Had a customer come in the store today, interested in purchasing a tortoise to keep as a pet.

Because a while back they had a Sulcata Tortoise that started out as an itty bitty baby tortoise that could be placed in a pocket....and grew so large that you couldn't lift it up. 

So they eventually had to rehome that tortoise to a better enviroment as the customer was getting older and couldn't lift things that heavy.

But they loved having a tortoise and our Testudo Tortoises don't get nearly as big.

So despite their misgivings on spending $$$ on the tank and such. 

They purchased everything they would need to get a tortoise and picked out the one they wanted. 

Hopefully they enjoy their new little one. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

To Touch?

It's interesting how little kids react to animals.

I had a little girl like three or four years old with her parents.
And they wanted to look at the hamsters/guinea pigs. 

Because their daughter was looking at them and they wanted her to pet it.

And the child seemed interested in petting them....

Until I opened the cage and first pulled out a guinea pig.
And she darted behind her mom so fast. 

It took both her parents petting the guinea pig to convince her to come forward to pet the guinea pig herself.

She didn't quite like that though.
Was more interested int he hamsters.

So I pulled out a Syrian Hamster. 

And she was still skittish about wanting to pet the hamster, would flinch away every time it moved. 
But she kept trying to pet it at least.

And finally decided that she didn't like it much and went and hid back behind her Mom. 

Not all little kids like playing with the small pets up close.
But at least she was brave and tried it. 

-Sarnic Dirchi