White Spot

Had a customer come into the store today and after looking at the fish asked me if I could identify what was wrong with her own old goldfish.

Which the 'wrongness' was that at the base of the tail the body of the goldfish had this white triangle spot.

But no matter what I asked her.
She wouldn't give me any more details.
Just "there's a white spot." 

Was it the scales turning white? Was it a white growth? Was it a fungus/a cotton like covering on the fish?"

Who knows.
All she would say was that there was this "white spot."

….I can't identify a potential problem from 'it was white.' 

Because there are multiple issues it could be.
Or it could be nothing at all because goldfish do change colors on occasion. So the fish could just be turning white. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Random Questions

Usually I don't mind when my coworkers ask questions.

Because it's good to teach them things and help them out.

But at times...I just get....idk...frustrated with their questions? 

Or more really, I get frustrated with their questions they have regarding concerns they have.

And like.

I get it. They want to look out for the animals and such.

But sometimes the questioning just makes me want to throw up my hands and go "I don't know! Stop overthinking it!"

Like today.

I was doing the bird bedding change,

And my coworker was there who'd never seen it done.

So I explained a bit of the process.

How we take out the tray and dump it out and spray it down and put fresh bedding in the bottom.

And then clean the inside of the cage as well.

Sweeping out any seed and such on the bottom of the cage, before wiping down the glass.

And my coworker was like "What do you clean the glass with? Water?"

Because they were aware you can't spray the cleaning agent we use directly in the bird cages as we don't remove the birds while cleaning so the cleaning agent could hurt them.

Therefore. We just spray a paper towel with the cleaning solution and wipe down the glass that way and then use another dry paper towel to make sure the glass is dry. 

But my coworker, after being told this was like "But aren't the fumes harmful to the birds? We shouldn't be cleaning with that if it is!" 

…..

Like....

I've been doing this job for over Six years now.

I'm pretty darn sure that there isn't a strong enough fume scent to cause issues with the birds.

Like I could see the point.

But like...no. Just no.

I could see there being an issue if we were leaving the cleaning solution to sit.

But honestly it's like a five minute job at most to clean the glass. 

And if dried properly...I don't see an issue.

Especially because the cages are vented. Like...it's not completely glass, the back half where we access the cages are just bars so air can circulate and such.

*exhales*

I didn't offer much of an explanation to my coworker as my brain just went blank because it's such an odd out of the world sort of question that I couldn't comprehend it.

But like....dude. It's fine. The animals are fine. Just clean the cage already and be done with it. *shakes head* 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Phone Calls

I was wondering when it was going to happen.

I mean, we've had the customer's guinea pig for a couple of weeks now.

As they had returned a guinea pig to us for some spots of furloss on the lower back.

And we'd been treating it since then with a cream to help soothe the irritated skin and get the fur to grow back.

Which usually takes a couple of weeks to a month to grow back depending on the severity of the case.

And as it's been a bit over two weeks....

I'm not at all surprised the customer called asking how their pet was doing.

Honestly....I think we probably need to make an effort to do weekly updates or something on people's pets so that they know the progress.

But at the same time....I hate calling people just to tell them that their guinea pig isn't ready.

*exhales* 

In this case.

I was able to give slightly good news.

The guinea pig's fur is growing back.

So I think within the week I'll be able to give the customer the call to come get him.

If things go well, it might be as soon as Saturday. 

We'll have to see. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

How to Groom?

It's a week for weird calls apparently.

As this morning a customer called the store wanting to know if we did Grooming Classes.

Like a class where you come to learn how to groom your pet.


I mean. It's a cool idea.
But sadly we don't do that.

The only way we 'teach grooming' is if you get hired at our store.
Because we do send our groomers to 'school' to be trained on how to care for dogs and if you want to do more training, with cats.

But that's like...at least a year process because you have to come on as a Bather first and Bathe dogs for a certain time frame before you can go to the grooming school to train and like...you have to do so many dogs....

But the general. "Come in to learn how to brush your dog?"
Nope.
Don't do it.

I mean, it's a cool idea for sure.
And I could see the perks for customers, in learning how to care for their puppies.

But at the same time.
We'd probably lose a bit of revenue doing that.
Soo...I don't see my work offering that particular concept anytime soon. ^^;;

-Sarnic Dirchi

Spending Habits

Had a customer call today wanting to know if we would be able to look up what he spent at our store last year.

O.o
Such a weird question.
Like....if you want to know what you spent....why not look at your bank statements? Credit card bills? It would probably be easier than asking us to try and look up your information. 

My guess is they were trying to find a way to do a tax write off. But who knows for sure.

In any case.
I told him that we wouldn't be able to.

And he was like "But my wife has an account with you! The membership!"

Which great! But "We only hold records for sixty days." was my response.

Because we do.
we only keep track of transactions made in the past sixty days.
And like we don't keep track of how much individual people are spending in our stores. 
Just how much money we make overall in a day.

So if you wanted specific information?  You'd probably have to go to corporate.
Because the store itself doesn't store any user information on location beyond checking to see if you have a membership with us when you give us your phone number at the register. 
That's it.

So yah. I can print out the receipts of purchases you made within sixty days so long as you have a number with us...

But beyond that?
Nope.
No luck dude.

Sorry. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Busy Busy

I never understand why people come into the store right at opening.
I mean it was like maybe two minutes before we opened,
And we were all doing the morning huddle sort of thing.
And probably at least six people walked into the store....before we were officially open. *shakes head* 
The day didn't get much better. It was a consistent busy. Not crazy busy, but busy enough that there were a steady stream of customers to help.

Which is okay...
Unless it's today.
Where I would help a customer at guinea pigs.
Finish up with them.
Go over to the fish wall to check in on people there.
And then get called back to guinea pigs when I'd literally left them two minutes ago?
*shakes head*
So frustrating.
Must have done that at least four times before someone else took over but seriously.
Why the perfect timing in that way? 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Too Much Too Soon

So there's this customer that's been driving my coworkers and managers crazy this past week.
As they bought a 55 gallon tank.
And despite my coworkers best efforts, insisted that they get like 15 fish to put in that tank the same day they were setting it up.

The customer wouldn't take No for an answer.
So about the only thing we could do was void out the guarantee of the fish because it's not a good idea to add in a ton of fish, especially in a brand new tank.

Customer insisted they knew what they were doing though.
And so left with the new tank and 15 fish.

Only to return a day or so later and buy more fish.
Only to return the day after that to buy more fish.
And maybe the day after that to buy more fish. 

*shakes head*

*exhales*
Like....A brand new 55 gallon tank....I would say you could add in 15 small fish and be okay with it. But not on the same day. At least have the tank set up for 24 hours or so first.
And I would do closer to like 5-10 fish for that size of tank.
Just to not stress it out.

As we recommend adding fish in slowly.
A week at a time.
Add in 5-6 fish. 
Wait a week.
Add in 5-6 more fish.
Wait another week. 
Etc. 

But the customer has obtained like around 30 fish or so in possibly 4 days?

Far too many to add in a week. 

So my coworkers just basically all groan whenever they see this customer in the store now. 
Most try to avoid said customer.
Because most of them are just...furious that they're not listening at all to any of my coworkers. 

In any case.
Guess who came in again today?
Yep.
The customer. 

Not to buy fish today though.
They were getting different filters because the ones that came with the tank weren't ones that the customer liked. 

However.
They also were like "One of the fish we bought like yesterday was dead today. Why is that? I tested and the ammonia level is at a 1 how bad or good is that on the scale?"

Well...a 1. Is "Stressed"

It's about the middle zone.
So it can get worse.
And it's not good.

So I recommended a water change and such to get that down.

And the customer was like "What causes the Ammonia to go high?"

--The customer doesn't know that I know who they are and their purchase history. 

So I was like "Well if it's a brand new tank and you add in a ton of fish at once...the fish get stressed out and pee a lot more which increases the ammonia. 

Customer was like *light bulb* 
Oh. Yah I added a bunch of fish recently.

-Yah I know. 

"Then you'll want to avoid adding more fish until you get the ammonia under control." 

So like. 
At least the customer didn't buy fish today.
But I expect to see them at least three more times in the next week. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Horses!

Had a cute little girl come into the store today. 
She was bawling at first as her Dad led her over to the fish wall. But as soon as he pointed out the fish to her, she stopped crying, totally captivated by the fish swimming about lol. 

However she didn't call them fish.
She called them "Horses" 

I thought maybe she meant seahorses.

But her mother later told us that the girl was just obsessed with Horses so everything is a 'horse' to her.

lol it was rather cute. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Right There In Front Of You

I had a customer call today to see if we had a certain filter in stock. Our Fluval FX6.
Which when I went to look on the shelf, I didn't see one, but I knew there were overstock filters on the steel nearby, so I went to double check there and found the FX6 that the customer wanted.

Which they then requested that I put it on hold for them as they would be in within the next couple of hours to get it. 

So I grabbed a ladder and got the box down.
Took it over to the registers where both the cashier and the manager saw me with the box....

But apparently they didn't see where I put it down.
The last the cashier saw of it, I'd had it by register two as I was grabbing some receipt tape to write the customer's name on it so people would know the filter was on hold. 

And promptly forgot about it.

Until the cashier was like. "Sarnic, where is that filter you grabbed down?" 

As they obviously didn't see that I put it on the floor in front of the cabinet that holds all the online orders that are waiting for people to come pick up. 

So I was like "To your right, by the cabinet."

As the Cashier was facing register 2 and the cabinet was to the right of them.

What did my cashier do?

Turned to their LEFT and started walking towards me.
Like no. Dude. NO "It's behind you now." I said.

And the cashier is like "It's gone! Did someone go put it back?!"

So I went up to them. Looked them in the eyes. Pointed behind them and said. "You mean that filter there?" 

*shakes head*

Yah. Dude was like.

oh. 

Yah.

Maybe try looking harder than the foot radius around the registers next time?

*shakes head*

But honestly.

I don't get why people do that.
I tell them that something is to their right.

And then they turn to the left.

Like. Guys.
Did you learn the difference between right and left? 
Because it seems like you didn't with how often the mistake is made. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Saved?

I think I may have saved a fish's life today?
As when I went over to the fishwall...and noticed a fish on the ground.
:S :S

It wasn't moving.
And like the same thing had happened Saturday Morning when I went into work too.

But this guy wasn't as fresh as the dude on Saturday.
But the underneath side was still wet.

So.
On the off chance that the fish could be revived.
I tossed him back into the fishtank instead of into the trash.

And the end result?

I think he might have survived?

But I'm not sure.
I thought I tossed the fish into the first tank in our row of goldfish tanks.
And didn't see any dead fish when I later went by to do a dead fish pull....
But at the same time the tank next to it did have a dead goldfish in it....

So either I misremembered which tank I put the goldfish in....and it didn't live....
Or it was a coincidence and I did put it in the first tank and that one lived.

I hope it lived. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why The Death?

Had a customer come into the store with a fish issue. 
Where he has this tank with a bunch of fish and all of them are doing fine....
Except his neon tetras.

He's bought them multiple times and they keep dying on him.
But none of the other fish are having any issues. 

So he wanted to know what he was doing wrong so that the neons kept dying.

*shrugs*

Honestly it's hard to know.

There are some tanks where you just can't keep certain fish alive and it's a complete mystery.

I know that Platys never last for long in my tank for example.

And Mollies seem to be quite the divisive fish around the valley as they do great in some tanks and keep dying in others. 

But these particular neons?

Hard to know for sure.

Like the dude mentioned he had Angelfish.
So the angelfish could be picking on the neons as neons are a source of food for angelfish when they're larger.

But it could be the tank size. The tank temperature, the type of water used, the amount of neons you have together in the tank, how long the lights are on.....or you know just the fish themselves decide they don't like that tank. 

It's hard to know.
So I suggested trying different fish. To see how they did. 
And if there's any more death...to just let the tank set for a week or so before trying again. Just to make sure nothing else is stressing out the tank as well. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Weird?

Had a customer come up to the fishwall today singing to himself.
And he was like "Does it bug the fish if I sing?"
"No?" Was my response. "The sound is muffled to them so you'd have to get closer."

He got closer. 
*shakes head*
And kept singing before asking me "Am I weird?"

Which the tone of voice was the sort where he was expecting it to be a negative response. Like "Yes you're weird. Stop it."

Me?
Nah I was like "Up to you. Being weird isn't a bad thing. If you think you are then you are otherwise you're not." 

Something like that. 

Because like. It's not bad to be different. Not bad to do something out of the ordinary. If you're having fun why ruin your joy?

Lol I made the guy's day by saying that.
He's like "I've never had that sort of response. Thank you. I liked that."

-Sarnic Dirchi

Snakes

We finally got a kingsnake into work today.

I mean, it feels like it's been a year if not longer...two years? Maybe even three now.

Since we've had kingsnakes in the store.

Because at some point the bigwig in charge of animals decided that our store would only carry like Cornsnakes and Ball Pythons.

Only I haven't had cornsnakes in like a year either.

So we've only had ball pythons in the store (when they decide to send them to us) 

So when I saw that we were expecting a kingsnake today....

I wasn't actually expecting to get one in.

As like. I've seen it on our shipping order before but it usually doesn't get sent....

So I was surprised to open the box and find that the kingsnake -a Red Brooks X Goini? was actually inside. 

Though I wonder if we've switched to a different breeder....I mean it's been a month or two since the reptiles have arrived on a day where I've actually been working. 

But the containers were different. The labeling was different.

So I wonder if we have a new supplier....

No idea.

But it's been fun seeing the kingsnake in the store again. 

Of course he's burrowed himself up in the wood shavings so you can't really see him.

But yah.

We got a kingsnake in again! Woot!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Scrubadubdub

For the first time in a long time I was able to take the time to scrub tanks today.
Which I've been wanting to do that for...forever, but I've always had to give the task to the coworker that comes in after me because I ran out of time to do it myself.

And consequently...the tanks....haven't been as clean looking I feel?

Especially our feeder tanks.
Because like....
There was actual green algae in the mossy type form growing on the locklines and baskets when I was finally able to sit down and do a deeper scrub on them.

That's not something that grows overnight.
Like that takes time. Weeks. Months.
So a lot of neglect as people don't always realize those need to be scrubbed as well when they scrub the tanks.

In any case.
I was finally able to scrub those feeder tanks today!
So HA!

-Sarnic Dirchi

"In Stock"

A customer called on the phone today mentioning that she'd been browsing our website and noticed that we had canaries in the store, and wanted to make sure that was correct.

Which I confirmed that we do indeed carry canaries, but that I didn't have any currently in the store. We would be out of them until next week.

And she got...kinda uppity at me? 
And stated that we needed to 'update our website' because it said we 'had them in stock.' and 'where could she find canaries if we didn't have them?'

I gave her the names of a couple local pet stores to try.
But honestly I don't go into their locations so I had no idea what they actually carry.

The irritating thing though was the fact that she wanted us to 'update our website'

Which made it pretty obvious that she didn't realize that the website is for ALL of our stores and not just our location. 
Like you can put in your zipcode and such and get the stores nearest to you.
But unless you specify the store there's no way to know what the stock is on each store.

The other irritating thing was that I had literally spent 2 and a half hours last night counting all our animals so IF the number of animals was actually listed on the website (which it's not) then it would have shown that we had no canaries in stock because I had literally confirmed not 14 hours earlier that we had none in the store.

No.
What our website says when it comes to animals is that the animals are "available in store only." 
Which doesn't mean at all that we 'have them in stock'
It means that, unlike other products we sell in the store, you don't have the option of ordering the animal online and picking it up at the store.
It means that you actually have to go to the store and buy the animal there in person.
It by no means means that the animal you are looking at is currently available in the store. 

*exhales*
Yah...not the type of conversation I want to have first thing in the morning.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Pull Open?

So the store had been closed for basically an hour, with us workers focused on finishing the remaining closing tasks when I suddenly heard voices in the store.
I look up and see a couple in the store who were there to 'shop'

The problem.
We were already closed and had been for an hour.
Which meant the registers were all shut down for the night.
Which meant we couldn't sell anything to them.

So therefore the cashier apologized and sent them back out the door.

The main question though was...
How did they get in?

Well.
Apparently the cashier had turned off the automatic doors, but hadn't locked them as they were going to be leaving momentarily anyways.

And in that five minute time span...
The customers showed up.
And upon encountering the doors not opening for them.
Pulled them open and walked in.

*exhales*

Like...even the hours posted on the doors said we were closed.

So where was the common sense?
Like if the automatic doors don't automatically open that means we're not open.
That doesn't mean you pull the doors open.

*shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Tomato Tomahto

Had a customer come into the store today to get fish for his tank.
As our competitor down the valley....didn't have the fish that he wanted.
So after looking about for a bit, he found me and listed off the handful of fish that he wanted.

Among those fish?
He said "Leeches." 

O.o
….I don't carry leeches.

And told him so.

But he was insistent that we did in fact have them as they were in the tank 'over there.'

The leeches in question he described as being about 4 inches long and brown and wormy--

Which is when it clicked.

He wasn't looking for Leeches.
He was looking for Loaches.

Specifically our Kuhli Loaches. 

*shakes head*

He was like "Tomato Tomahto" about the mixup….

But like. Leeches are pretty different from our Loaches. 

At least I was able to figure out the mixup though I'm still not quite sure how he got "Leech" from the word "Loach" on the sign. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Hold Me?

A while back we put up signs on a few of our cages.
Basically saying "If you want to hold a pet, ask an associate"

Which has lead to a larger increase of people asking to hold hamsters and guinea pigs and snakes and other lizards and such.

Probably because the signs give customers confidence to ask to hold the animals. 

-Which is probably a ploy by corporate to get people to handle the pets a bit more so that they'll want to buy it...and therefore spend more money lol.

In any case.
A mother with a young son asked to hold a hamster today.
Because the boy really wanted to hold it.

But like a lot of children, Once the animal is out of the cage and near them.
They get really shy about handling the creature lol.

The boy just kinda stared at it and cautiously touched it before his mother helped him hold it and such.
And once he was done holding it he lost complete interest in the hamster and wanted to go look at other things lol.

But it was fun to see him handling the pet and not squishing him or freaking out or anything lol.

I'm grateful the hamster didn't try to bite him too. ^^;;

Yay for positive experiences. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Fish Friends

Had a customer call on the phone today wanting to see if she could put another fish in with her betta fish, but also to make sure that she was taking care of the fish correctly.

As she'd come in yesterday and bought the betta and a one gallon tank, and she's never had a fish before and so wanted to make sure she was taking good care of him and wanted to see if she could get him a buddy.

The main problem with the conversation is that I don't think English was her first language? So the words I was saying...I'm not quite sure if I got the point across.

As I told her if the betta was only in a one gallon tank then it had to be by itself.
And if she wanted to put other fish in with her betta she would need to get a larger tank.
At least a 10 gallon is recommended. 

-She thought 10 gallons was too big though.

Still I told her a 10 gallon was recommended.
But bettas would be fine by themselves in a one gallon tank.
But no you couldn't put other fish in that tank with it.
As the betta would kill the other fish in that small of a space.
Plus a one gallon tank is only meant to hold like...one fish anyways.

And yah.
Spent a good 10 minutes or so basically repeating myself in slightly different ways to try and get the point across....

Not sure I ever did....

But apparently my cashier remembers her from yesterday as well as when I mentioned how long of a phone call I'd just been on and that the customer was asking a lot of questions about Bettas.
My cashier was like "Did they come in last night?"
"Yah"
"Ooh I know just who you're talking about."

Unfortunately I couldn't delve in deeper to the topic because we both had customers interrupt us....

But yah. Fun times when you have to explain things but you're not sure your point is getting across. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

All of Them?

Had a customer come into the store today wanting to buy our red claw crabs.
She said "I only saw one in there, but if there's more I'll take them all."

So I went to look. 
And ended up finding seven total.

To which she said that she wanted like three of them.
But as I was going to grab a container for the crabs.
She changed her mind and wanted all seven.

O.o

I don't know why she wanted all seven.
But dutifully I went and caught them all. 
Even found an eighth one...but didn't get that one as it vanished inside a decoration and I couldn't get it out.

But yah.
That's a first that the customer wanted seven red claw crabs....

I hope they do her tank well....

-Sarnic Dirchi

Go To The Vet

Had a customer call the store today with a concern about her dog.
Apparently they've been monitoring it for the past couple of days.
But the Dog has blisters around it's mouth and by the ear and such.
And she just wanted my opinion on what I think could have caused that.
As her online research suggested that it was some sort of infection so she wanted to know if we carried anti-biotics.

Which we don't.

And like...even if we could diagnose issues with animals....it's usually easier to do so when you bring the animal into the store.
As the symptoms could be caused by anything from a bug bite, to an allergic reaction, to an infection....
So without seeing the animal it's hard to know what sort of treatment to recommend.

But besides that calling a PET STORE for a medical issue just....seems like a silly idea.
Like yes we deal with animals on a daily basis, but that by no means makes us qualified to tell you over the phone what to do to treat a health issue.

That's what Vets are for. 

So I recommended they take the dog to the vet and I could even transfer them to one here in the store if they wanted me to.

They declined and ended the call.

*exhales*

Like I get wanting to not spend a lot of money on things.
But if it's a health issue definitely take the pet to the vet. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Plumbing?

The customer had been acting rather weird to the cashier when he came into the store.
Older dude with a beard.
Apparently he'd been talking about Adoptions to the cashier before he suddenly was like "Where is my light?! I put it down!"

But he hadn't brought a light into the store.

Eventually he wandered away deeper into the store.
-This was happening like within the first hourish of opening.

And the cashier commented over the radios that he seemed a little lost so if a manager could go check in on him.

Head Manager did and asked if he could help the customer find something.

And the customer....was looking for the Plumbing Department.

….we don't have a plumbing department.

So the manager helpfully directed the customer to head two doors down to the Hardware store nearby that did do plumbing things.

And we didn't think much of it after he left the building.

However.

An hour or two later.
I looked outside and noticed that there were two trucks parked facing the store.
-In parking spots where the cars should be parallel to the store not facing it.

One had Police written in it, the other was unmarked.
Thought it was weird.

But didn't think much more on it.
Until we looked outside again.
And there was another marked police car.
And a police truck nearby.

And there were at least four officers standing in front of the store,
Talking to someone in a white car that was parked in front of the store.

A few minutes later an officer walked in wanting to know if we had cameras outside.
We didn't.

And after a bit I got a good look at the driver of the car.

It was the same fellow who'd come in a couple of hours earlier looking for the plumbing department.

But we couldn't figure out why so many officers were there.
Like normally one or two would be fine?

Had the car been broken into?
Had the car been hit?

Well, another customer told the cashier.

That apparently the gentleman had been making a nuisance of himself over at the Lowes.
I think to customers and maybe coworkers?

And so the store had called the police on him.

The officers talked to the gentleman for a while.
And then left.
And after they left.
The guy got into his car and drove away.

So...still have no idea what the full situation was about.
But hopefully they all got it sorted.

-Sarnic Dirchi