Alligators

Had a prank call towards the end of my shift today.

I knew before answering that it most likely was a prank because the caller id said "Anonymous" on it. Which is a huge red flag for prank calls.

In any case.
It sounded like a young girl, giggling on the other end as she asked me if we carried 'small reptiles'

When I responded that yes we did.
She then asked if we carried baby alligators.

No. No we don't.

She said "Okay" and was giggling like crazy as she hung up.

*shakes head* At least it was a short conversation. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Count Them Out

Had a slightly crazy customer come into the store today with a container of waxworms that she had bought.

Which said containers usually have at least 50 waxworms in them, but I know they usually put in a few more to account for some dying.

But the woman was waving the container in my face stating that there had only been 45 in her container because like....5 of them had died.

So she wanted me to count out a new container of fifty for her. *exhales*

-At the same point the manager stated over the radio that she had "counted out 50 for her in that container" before....

In any case I told the customer there's usually more than 50 in the container...to which she adamantly refused that there were.
So I dumped the new container out onto the podium, and counted out the waxworms while the lady watched like a hawk.

I got to 48...and there were still like 5 or so other ones in the pile of sawdust, but I couldn't tell if they would be considered 'alive' so to appease the crazy lady, I went and grabbed a different container of waxworms and pulled out two healthy ones and placed them inside so she would have fifty.

Of course, miss hawk eyed lady missed the fact that I had put in 2 at the same time and though I only had 49.
To which I corrected her.

But then she was like "What about my five that died?!" 

So I pulled out five -because I was sick of her already- and placed them in the container.
-She thought I only put in 2 more because I grabbed 3 and then 2 at a time.

Corrected her again.
Handed her the container.

And sent her on her merry way.

Though apparently she's been a repeat hassle to the manager who counted them out to her last time....
As the manager was complaining about her to me after she left.

*shakes head*

Crazy lady expects the bugs to all be alive for the entire time she's using them...
Like she has to understand that those creatures die.

So I told the manager that if she comes in again, to let her know that the 50 had been alive when she left the store, and therefore we have no control over how long they last after that point.

Because seriously we don't.

And honestly. Why would you waste time counting waxworms anyways? 
I had another customer in a few months ago that was the same way.
And like seriously?

I get wanting to get your money's worth. But a handful of dead waxworms isn't something to come storming back into the store about. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Brave

I had a customer ask me to bag them some crickets today.
Which I didn't think much of,
Mostly because I bag crickets a lot.
So interacting with the little insects doesn't really bug me at all.

But when I was done bagging them.
The customer was like "You're so brave! I could never do that!"
Before she took the bag gingerly by the very tippy top with two fingers and walked it up to the register.

lol. I can see why people don't like to interact with them.
I mean multiple legs. And the capability to hop? 
Yah. Not fun.
But at the same time.
They're harmless creatures.

So being brave handling them....does seem weird to me. 
It's not that big of a deal.
Yet at the same time...I'm used to it. ^^;;

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Only One!

A customer approached me today, holding a three way valve thing that would allow you to control the airflow of three different air tubes.
And he was rather excited about it. "It was just what he was looking for" though he wasn't using it for fish tanks. He had some other system in mind for it.
But in order for it to work he needed more than one.
So he wanted to know if we had any more of this 'new product' -as he told me it was a new product though I know we've carried that particular thing like....the entire time I've worked here. So years and years.

In any case. I went the extra mile to go look up if we had any more of the product.
Nope.
Just the one.
To make it worse we had none on order.
And none listed at the supplier either.

Which meant I had no idea when or if we'd get that in again. 

It also didn't help that the next closest sister store to carry the product...was two valleys over. 

So understandably the customer wasn't happy.

But like...he ended up not buying the valve thingy.
Because he didn't want to go hunting all over the valley for it.
He was like "I'll go to Walmart and get it!"

…..
Which slight problem with that.
The piece he was holding....was under the brand name that can only be found in OUR stores. No other stores.
So....unless other stores sell it under their own brand names....

I really don't think he'll find it anywhere....let alone Walmart...

Still. Hopefully he managed to find what he wanted...without looking all over the valley for things....

But the funny thing was....
He kept saying it was new right? 
That there was a sticker and everything.
And was upset because why would we carry a new thing if we didn't have more than one and the supplier was out? What was the point of that?

Well after the customer had left, I went and put the product back in its spot...and found this 'new' sticker he'd been talking about.

It was a "New Lower Price!" sticker.
Aka....the product was now being sold for less. 
Not that it was new.

*shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Is It Actually Dead?

I had an old coworker come into the store today, bringing back a snail that they'd purchased the day before. Stating that 'it was dead.'

Which...this coworker had dabbled a bit in helping out in my department.
But not enough to know that the Mystery Snails....tend to hide out in their shells. Like...if it was moving when you bought it...it is very very very unlikely that it would have died within 24 hours.
As they can hide in their shells for at least 5 days before you should consider them dead.
They also have the tendency to like...be active at night, and can appear to 'not move' by returning to their original spots.

So. Taking the snail out of the baggy. I prodded the hard bit that protects the tender soft area of the snail when it's closed up.
It was still firm.
I lifted the snail up and smelled it.
Smelt like normal.
Aka not like rotten eggs which is how they actually smell when they're dead. 

But still.
Considering that the snail was a mystery, and the tank my coworker was putting the snail into was a betta tank.
I still suggested exchanging for a nerite snail instead.
As I'd learned in the recent past that mystery snails don't often do well with bettas because of the bettas like to pick on the tube like arm that the snails send out of their shells.
Sooo we went with a nerite instead.

Hopefully that snail works well in that tank.

As for the mystery snail, 
I placed him back in the snail tank with his buddies.
And the next time I looked....
He wasn't where I left him.
So.
Alive. 

Which is pretty good considering I don't know how long he was out of water for. :S 

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Reptiles?

We took some animals into the vet today. 
Three of our Reptiles and a Mouse for various issues. 

And I tend to keep my coworkers up to date on the happenings in the store --so long as I don't get distracted from other stressors or dealing with customers.

So when my next coworker came in for their shift.
I went up to them and said "so the reptiles and mouse were taken to the vet today" 

And they got the weirdest look on their face. "Wait...the reptiles?" They asked like they had no idea what I was talking about.

I could tell that my coworker was thinking that I meant like all the reptiles on the floor. Which there would have to be something really really really really wrong to need to take ALL the reptiles on the floor to the vet....
Apparently they didn't remember we had some in our sick room in the back.

Which makes sense as I'm pretty sure this coworker actively avoids closing down the back rooms at night, so it was doubtful they would actually know which animals we had back there.

So I was like "The ones in Iso?"

Yep.
Cleared the confusion off my coworker's face lickety-split. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Fish Bowl

I guilted people into not buying fish today.

As a couple of customers came into the store, wanting to get fish, but only wanted to put them in a fishbowl.

Which is an automatic red flag as most of the fish in the store don't do well in bowls.
So I was telling the customers that bettas would be the best, and that you could 'try' goldfish but you'd have to do water changes everyday and it's not a good idea....

And they were rather unconvinced, so I was doing my best to help them and asked what the fish was for...

And they wanted to use the fish to prank their coworker. 
>_<

Ummm….How about No?
How about you don't prank someone at the expense of a fish's life?

So I redoubled my efforts to tell them all the cons of keeping fish in bowls and that filters were better and how to care for them so they can live long....

And they finally were like "we need a minute to think about it."

So I left them to think.
And my coworker informed me that they walked out the door a few minutes later having bought nothing.

Good.

Like I feel bad that I made them feel bad.
But at the same time.

I'm glad I convinced them not to go through with their prank.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Farewell

I tried to go into work yesterday to say goodbye to a manager of mine that's leaving.
As it was his last day and I didn't work, so I wouldn't be able to see him otherwise.
Only.
He ended up having his shift switched. 
So he worked the morning instead of the evening like I thought.
So when I dropped by to say goodbye...

He'd already left. 
By like an hour.

:( :( :(

Which was kinda depressing, but kinda my luck really. 

So I left a little bit disheartened.

But.

He came in today.

Mostly to grab boxes so he could work on packing as he's moving.

But still.

I was still able to say goodbye to the manager and wish him well.
And he like...thanked me for being such a good hard worker, and that he'd miss working here and such and just...awww.

All the feelings.

I'm glad we were able to say goodbye. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Ring Ring

It was the weirdest thing.
Like...the clock hit 9am and suddenly the phones were ringing off the hook.
Like we hadn't been open 5 minutes and the phone rang with at least a dozen different phone calls.

From the coworkers calling to say they'll be late to work/ or calling out sick.
To the customers needing to talk to the grooming department.
To the random calls that customers want to make early in the morning...

It was basically me and the manager answering the phones nonstop.

It was crazy.
And weird.

Considering the store remained pretty dead throughout the day compared to the rather busy start with the phones. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Medium Collar

I had a customer today looking for a flea collar for his dog.
A dog that weighed like 17lbs.
Which our 'small dog' collar was for dogs up to 18lbs with a 13" neck.
So I figured it would fit his small dog.
And therefore went to grab it from the lock cabinet.
Gave it to the customer.
And thought all was good...
Until the customer came up saying that the collar was going to be too small....

I was skeptical as his dog was right there.
But I pulled out the collar and it just fit...like the last notch fit.

But the customer wanted the larger size because he wasn't sure how much bigger the dog was going to grow....

Though honestly it looked like it might already have been full grown?

In any case.
I went and grabbed the 'big' dog flea/tick collar.

Handed it to the customer.

Only for the customer to go "This is too big! Don't you have something smaller?"

….No.
I have small. I have large. 

I don't have a medium....

At least not that I could find.

So the customer was like "I'll have to think about it."

And didn't end up buying either one.

*exhales* It wasn't fun for me. Felt like I'd wasted my time trying to be helpful....

-Sarnic Dirchi

Do It For Me

Sometimes I wonder at the neediness of customers.
I had one call the store today, wanting to see if we had a particular Guinea Pig harness in stock.
Which the small and medium sizes....we haven't had in in forever.
Seriously I can't remember when we actually had them in stock. Probably not since last year....if it hasn't been a year.
Unfortunately she wasn't looking for the large size.
No she wanted a medium size.
Wanted to know when we would get it back in stock.
What other stores carried them.
If she could order it online...

Like she was talking like she expected me to be sitting at a computer desk and able to click my way into knowing things.

Nope.
I had to go track down a scan gun to see what our inventory said and look up what other stores said that they had inventory wise...
And basically every other store but mine appeared to have the one she wanted in stock. *shakes head*
But she wanted to know if we could order it online.
Which...it would have been easier for her to probably look it up herself....but no...she wanted me to do it.

Turns out she couldn't order it online.
Soooo

She is going to have to call the other stores to see if they have them in stock.
Because the scanner said that other stores did, but inventory isn't always accurate.

Hopefully she finds the one she's looking for.

-Sarnic Dirchi

How Big Is a Gallon?

Had a customer come into the store today who had had a couple of goldfish in a small tank with a pleco, but the fish had gotten sick and so they upgraded to a larger tank...but the goldfish still died. So the customer was wanting to know what would fit into their tank with a pleco. 

Which begged the question of 'how big' the tank was. 
Because the would influence the type of fish that I would recommend.

The customer told me that they had upgraded to a 17 gallon tank.

Which...was a weird size...but I suppose it was something that could be made.

But at some point...after we were talking about heaters for fish because if they wanted something besides goldfish they would need to do that....
I had her show me the tank they had 'bought here' because...we don't sell 17 gallon tanks.

So after some deliberation and pointing out different sized tanks...
The customer realized that the tank that had been bought (not by them but by their spouse)

… Was actually a Three point Five Gallon Tank. 

*shakes head* 3.5 gallons is a huge difference from 17 gallons.

And the customer was shocked to realize that the tank wasn't as 'big' as they thought it was. 
which had them wondering how big their original tank was...probably a gallon maybe is my guess.

But yah. 

17 gallons....

Makes me wonder if they comprehend how...much a gallon is....Like....*shakes head* 
I don't get it.
Don't get it. 

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Aggressive?

We had a customer come into the store to return a bearded dragon because it was being aggressive.

Which... O_o I've never really known those to be aggressive. Like Bearded Dragons are one of the more mellow pets to own.
Yet apparently this bearded dragon kept biting when handled. 

….Again. Weird.
Bearded Dragons rarely, if never, bite. Especially the baby ones. *shakes head*

So I was curious when they brought the Bearded Dragon back in, how it would react.

Yet. 
There was nothing out of the ordinary. 
The bearded dragon was acting pretty normal.
A bit more energetic than expected.
But it didn't try to bite me or anything. 
Mostly the bearded dragon just wanted to get out and run around. 

Soo...
Once the customers were gone. 
I put the bearded dragon back on the floor.
As it seemed healthy enough. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Hamster

Had a mother daughter duo come into the store today.
Originally they were looking to possibly get a chinchilla...but I didn't have any in stock as my supplier hasn't sent any for the past couple of weeks.

So I ended up showing them the guinea pigs and hamsters instead.

Though it sounded like they still really wanted the chinchilla.

So I was rather surprised when they came up to me saying that they were going to get a hamster. *shakes head* 

Still. I made sure that they had what they needed for the hamster.

I am curious why they decided to go with the hamster instead of the chinchilla.....

-Sarnic Dirchi

Swimming

There's these two betta fish, a male and a female, that have been sitting in the back area behind our fishwall for weeks now.
Why?
Because they have this swim bladder issue.
Not the normal kind where they get stuck at the top and can't swim down.
No this is the opposite.
Where both bettas have problems swimming around their little cups. So they spend most of the time sitting on the bottom of the container. 
Like they can still swim around.
It just takes them more effort to swim because if they stop...they just sink to the bottom.

And I felt bad for them.
Like no one is going to buy them because they're 'defective.' 
And unfortunately I don't have a small enough tank for them (as putting them in my 125 I think would be too much for them) and don't have the space to buy yet another tank for the two.

So.
I put them in our snail tank. 
As it's a mellower tank and would give them the chance to be in a bigger space.
So hopefully that works well for them.
And maybe with swimming around it might help them.... 
So we'll see. ^^;;

-Sarnic Dirchi

Gratitude

I'm grateful that I have an understanding work that is willing to help me out when I'm in need.
Whether it's letting me go early or covering a shift, or helping me switch shifts with a coworker....

If I have something come up where I can't work my normal shift, my managers are always really understanding and willing to help me out.

Today was no different.
When I brought up a concern where I would need to potentially miss work, they didn't hesitate to help out.

And I'm grateful for that. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Warning Risk

There was a customer who came into the store who seemed to like to look at every little tiny detail of every product in our fish department.

Those sorts of details where people never really look closely nor ask questions about because they don't see the detail nor worry that it is a detail. 

But this customer was like "I was reading the back of this particular tank and it had a warning on the back that it could cause cancer."

O_o

 Sure enough, when I went to look for myself.
There was a warning that the tank had been treated with chemicals that could potentially cause cancer. 

But the tank also said "In California."

And apparently, everything in California is labeled with a 'could cause cancer.' label. 

In any case.
The customer wanted to know if all our fish tanks had this warning label.

I had no idea. It's not something I needed to look for before.

Plus like....everything could give you cancer it seems like these days.

I told the customer the same thing. 

Like "I've never had a customer come up and tell me they got cancer from their fishtank." 

*shakes head*

It's weird. So weird.

-Sarnic Dirchi