Had a customer come in the store today looking to get some Ghost Shrimp.
Which isn't usually a problem.
Except he wanted a boy and a girl one.
Which...I've never really been shown the difference between the genders in Ghost Shrimp.
Like I know you can see the eggs within the females on occasion, but I had no idea if that was an 'all the time thing' or just a 'once in a while' thing.
And when I mentioned I wasn't sure how to tell the difference,
the dude was like "Seriously?"
Well. Yah Seriously.
It's not like I specialize in knowing all the little details about every creature that we sell.
I just know the basics for most of them and then occasionally some special little detail.
In any case.
He pointed out the females. Saying "look see the berries?"
As apparently he refers to the eggs within the female ghost shrimp as 'berries.' O.o
But in any case.
I managed to fish out a couple males and females for him.
So hopefully he went home happy.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Monday, September 30, 2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Sorry
Had a customer come into the store today, looking for me specifically.
Saying that a different coworker had told him to come talk to me.
He was dressed in Sunday Clothes. Nice pants, white shirt, tie.
And he came.
To apologize.
Why?
Apparently he had come in with a date last weekend.
And had plans to buy some goldfish and then was going to go release them in the wild.
....Apparently that's romantic.
But he'd been told that that wasn't good.
And it's not. Releasing goldfish into the wild is not a good thing. The fish can ruin ecosystems they can overtake and out eat the natural fish in the waters.
Overall. Not. Good.
And he'd been told that. To not release them.
And so he lied.
Stating that he told my coworker that he was going to put them in a tank in order to get the fish.
They didn't put them in the tank.
No he and the date took the goldfish up the canyon to the local waterfall and released them.
Not sure how quickly those poor fish died.
But the customer was empathetic when I asked for clarification, that they were dead.
So he basically took those fish up to the waterfall to kill them.
Some romantic date. *shakes head*
In any case.
This customer, who was probably in his late teens, early twenties.
Wanted to apologize.
He apparently felt bad. Guilty that he hadn't listened to my coworkers and had killed those fish and lied to us.
And he wanted to know what he could do as recompense.
O.o....
Like what could I say to that?
Honestly, it was just kinda like the "well go catch the goldfish and bring them back" sort of thought process.
Only the fish were dead.
So i mostly was like "Well...don't do it again, learn about animals before buying them, don't release animals into the wild, and be sure that you're going to take care of them and don't let animals suffer needlessly"
*shakes head*
So yah. The dude apologized. Said that we were doing an upstanding job here. And then left.
It was just...weird.
Like why did you feel the need to come apologize?
It was weird.
Especially to me.
Why come apologize to me specifically.
Almost I felt like it was the set up for a joke or something.
I didn't really feel like the dude was sincere. Doing it for the attention. Not much more.
Especially because I had this sense of dejavu because like...I feel like I had had someone come in somewhat recently...but like maybe a year or two ago recently, and do a similar thing.
Come in to apologize for lying to us over something or another.
So it was weird.
Just weird.
I don't know why the dude did it.
But hopefully his conscience feels better. *shakes head*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Saying that a different coworker had told him to come talk to me.
He was dressed in Sunday Clothes. Nice pants, white shirt, tie.
And he came.
To apologize.
Why?
Apparently he had come in with a date last weekend.
And had plans to buy some goldfish and then was going to go release them in the wild.
....Apparently that's romantic.
But he'd been told that that wasn't good.
And it's not. Releasing goldfish into the wild is not a good thing. The fish can ruin ecosystems they can overtake and out eat the natural fish in the waters.
Overall. Not. Good.
And he'd been told that. To not release them.
And so he lied.
Stating that he told my coworker that he was going to put them in a tank in order to get the fish.
They didn't put them in the tank.
No he and the date took the goldfish up the canyon to the local waterfall and released them.
Not sure how quickly those poor fish died.
But the customer was empathetic when I asked for clarification, that they were dead.
So he basically took those fish up to the waterfall to kill them.
Some romantic date. *shakes head*
In any case.
This customer, who was probably in his late teens, early twenties.
Wanted to apologize.
He apparently felt bad. Guilty that he hadn't listened to my coworkers and had killed those fish and lied to us.
And he wanted to know what he could do as recompense.
O.o....
Like what could I say to that?
Honestly, it was just kinda like the "well go catch the goldfish and bring them back" sort of thought process.
Only the fish were dead.
So i mostly was like "Well...don't do it again, learn about animals before buying them, don't release animals into the wild, and be sure that you're going to take care of them and don't let animals suffer needlessly"
*shakes head*
So yah. The dude apologized. Said that we were doing an upstanding job here. And then left.
It was just...weird.
Like why did you feel the need to come apologize?
It was weird.
Especially to me.
Why come apologize to me specifically.
Almost I felt like it was the set up for a joke or something.
I didn't really feel like the dude was sincere. Doing it for the attention. Not much more.
Especially because I had this sense of dejavu because like...I feel like I had had someone come in somewhat recently...but like maybe a year or two ago recently, and do a similar thing.
Come in to apologize for lying to us over something or another.
So it was weird.
Just weird.
I don't know why the dude did it.
But hopefully his conscience feels better. *shakes head*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Betta Cups
Had a customer today who wanted to put more fish in with his betta fish.
Specifically he was pointing to our Black Moor Goldfish.
Which get rather large and need larger tanks.
And bettas are usually kept in smaller tanks. Often only one to two gallons.
So to check I asked the customer how big of a tank he had.
He said ten gallons.
Which is too small for a goldfish and a betta.
So I asked him the next important question.
Did he have a heater in his tank? Because the other fish would need warmer water to do well.
He did not.
But was willing to buy one once I reassured him that his betta would be okay in the tank with a heater.
So.
After showing him the heaters, I think pointed out the Neon Tetras as potentially good fish and went to show him more...and he was like "Nope! I want these ones!"
So I got him the neons out.
And while bagging them up, he had wandered over to the bettas in their cups.
And after staring at them for a bit was like "Why don't these have heaters?!"
....Dude seriously?
That's....that's.....one of the oddest questions I'd been asked really.
Like the betta cups are just that. Cups.
And with at least fifty some odd bettas in my store at a time?
Putting heaters in each individual cup would be laudable.
Especially considering how quickly we sell through our bettas.
Like I end up replacing almost my entire stock by the week.
Which means that heaters would get lost broken stolen...etc.
Plus like....we don't have/carry heaters that small.
Putting what we do have into those cups? Yah....would boil the fish probably. :S
Don't want that.
Like if it wasn't a temporary living situation in the store then I would be more likely to be like "yes, the bettas need heat" but in the cups? Not really.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Specifically he was pointing to our Black Moor Goldfish.
Which get rather large and need larger tanks.
And bettas are usually kept in smaller tanks. Often only one to two gallons.
So to check I asked the customer how big of a tank he had.
He said ten gallons.
Which is too small for a goldfish and a betta.
So I asked him the next important question.
Did he have a heater in his tank? Because the other fish would need warmer water to do well.
He did not.
But was willing to buy one once I reassured him that his betta would be okay in the tank with a heater.
So.
After showing him the heaters, I think pointed out the Neon Tetras as potentially good fish and went to show him more...and he was like "Nope! I want these ones!"
So I got him the neons out.
And while bagging them up, he had wandered over to the bettas in their cups.
And after staring at them for a bit was like "Why don't these have heaters?!"
....Dude seriously?
That's....that's.....one of the oddest questions I'd been asked really.
Like the betta cups are just that. Cups.
And with at least fifty some odd bettas in my store at a time?
Putting heaters in each individual cup would be laudable.
Especially considering how quickly we sell through our bettas.
Like I end up replacing almost my entire stock by the week.
Which means that heaters would get lost broken stolen...etc.
Plus like....we don't have/carry heaters that small.
Putting what we do have into those cups? Yah....would boil the fish probably. :S
Don't want that.
Like if it wasn't a temporary living situation in the store then I would be more likely to be like "yes, the bettas need heat" but in the cups? Not really.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Monday, September 23, 2019
Printing Ever Printing
My managers were in a printing craze today.
Like it's common that they need to print out things in the morning, you know, paperwork for the official books and records and such.
And me? I just needed to print out like four papers so I could do my tasks for the morning.
What do I find coming in?
The manager printing off like 100 pages worth of papers because they were stocking up on a particular form that we need to fill out.
It took like a good 10 minutes to print out everything and there I was just sitting there.
Like the manager had to come in and add more paper to the printer like twice because we ran out that's how much paper they were using.
*shakes head*
I didn't think much of it.
Until later in the day.
When I needed to go print out some other paper.
And there was a different manager.....also printing out like 100 forms for their department.
*exhales* It took like another five to ten minutes of waiting before I could get my forms printed out. *shakes head*
Sooo much paper. We had to reload the tray AGAIN because of how much paper was used today.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Like it's common that they need to print out things in the morning, you know, paperwork for the official books and records and such.
And me? I just needed to print out like four papers so I could do my tasks for the morning.
What do I find coming in?
The manager printing off like 100 pages worth of papers because they were stocking up on a particular form that we need to fill out.
It took like a good 10 minutes to print out everything and there I was just sitting there.
Like the manager had to come in and add more paper to the printer like twice because we ran out that's how much paper they were using.
*shakes head*
I didn't think much of it.
Until later in the day.
When I needed to go print out some other paper.
And there was a different manager.....also printing out like 100 forms for their department.
*exhales* It took like another five to ten minutes of waiting before I could get my forms printed out. *shakes head*
Sooo much paper. We had to reload the tray AGAIN because of how much paper was used today.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Allergies
So I had a mother and daughter come into the store looking to adopt a kitty as the mother wanted to get one.
Which meant holding a few of the kittens we had in the adoption center.
And the little girl was excited about the concept of cats....but was really hesitant to hold the kitty or have it near her.
Which is understandable if you haven't really been around cats as they do have claws and such.
And the Mother had almost decided to get one of the kittens.
When the child said something like "No I'm allergic!"
Which shocked the mom because...."You are?"
But she then noticed that her daughter was sniffling...when she hadn't been before.
So I suggested that the child touch the cat a little more --she ended up putting her face in the cat's fur--and then having the mother wait and see if there was a reaction at all as allergies usually show up within fifteen to thirty minutes if you've touched a cat and then touched your eyes.
So the mother decided to go to the store next door, but requested that we put the kitten on hold, which I could do for three hours, while she waited to see how her daughter reacted.
....I never saw them again.
The Mother had had a cart full of cat supplies ready to purchase and everything that she left by the adoption center.
....and yet never came back....the three hour window came and went....
:S I can only guess that she decided against it, or wanted to further test if the child was allergic, or wanted to look elsewhere first.... *exhales*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Which meant holding a few of the kittens we had in the adoption center.
And the little girl was excited about the concept of cats....but was really hesitant to hold the kitty or have it near her.
Which is understandable if you haven't really been around cats as they do have claws and such.
And the Mother had almost decided to get one of the kittens.
When the child said something like "No I'm allergic!"
Which shocked the mom because...."You are?"
But she then noticed that her daughter was sniffling...when she hadn't been before.
So I suggested that the child touch the cat a little more --she ended up putting her face in the cat's fur--and then having the mother wait and see if there was a reaction at all as allergies usually show up within fifteen to thirty minutes if you've touched a cat and then touched your eyes.
So the mother decided to go to the store next door, but requested that we put the kitten on hold, which I could do for three hours, while she waited to see how her daughter reacted.
....I never saw them again.
The Mother had had a cart full of cat supplies ready to purchase and everything that she left by the adoption center.
....and yet never came back....the three hour window came and went....
:S I can only guess that she decided against it, or wanted to further test if the child was allergic, or wanted to look elsewhere first.... *exhales*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Dishwasher Safe
A Customer called the store today.....stating that his fish tank water had been dirty....so he put it in the dishwasher to clean it and then wanted to know if his fish would be okay.
*exhales*
-_-
I hate prank calls. So annoying.
But at least this one was new. Hadn't heard the 'cleaned it in the dishwasher' one before.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Where Are Your Lizards?
I was working on the reptile bedding change today when a couple walked into the store, saw me, and were like "Where are your lizards?"
..... *shakes head*
Like....I was standing right in front of them? The cages are rather hard to miss.
But at the same time.
People miss them all the time.
They don't realize that they're cages apparently?? I have no idea.
But yah, people don't always see the reptiles. *shakes head*
So I was like *gestures to the wall of reptile cages* "Right here."
The customers had come in to buy a lizard as a present for their nephew because he really wanted one.
But they had no idea what all was entailed when it came to reptiles or which reptile would be the best.
Apparently the nephew wanted a chameleon...but those are pets that are better for people who've had more experience with easier reptiles.
So I directed them to either a Leopard Gecko or a Bearded Dragon because those pets are easier and more mellow.
They ended up deciding on a leopard gecko as the pet of choice because it wouldn't need as large of a cage as the bearded dragon would.
*fingers crossed* that the boy likes his present. Hopefully the leopard gecko does well for him.
-Sarnic Dirchi
..... *shakes head*
Like....I was standing right in front of them? The cages are rather hard to miss.
But at the same time.
People miss them all the time.
They don't realize that they're cages apparently?? I have no idea.
But yah, people don't always see the reptiles. *shakes head*
So I was like *gestures to the wall of reptile cages* "Right here."
The customers had come in to buy a lizard as a present for their nephew because he really wanted one.
But they had no idea what all was entailed when it came to reptiles or which reptile would be the best.
Apparently the nephew wanted a chameleon...but those are pets that are better for people who've had more experience with easier reptiles.
So I directed them to either a Leopard Gecko or a Bearded Dragon because those pets are easier and more mellow.
They ended up deciding on a leopard gecko as the pet of choice because it wouldn't need as large of a cage as the bearded dragon would.
*fingers crossed* that the boy likes his present. Hopefully the leopard gecko does well for him.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Switch Out
A little bit ago...like last week? It was just after Labor Day and our Labor Day sale.
We had a customer call the store to complain about a Canister Filter that he had bought over Labor Day and how he couldn't get it to work.
Only to call back later to ask if he was supposed to remove plastic bags holding the substrate within the canister filter.
Which yes. Yes he should have.
I had hoped that with this revelation....the customer's filter problems would be gone.
Though knowing that he'd been trying to run the filter with the plastic preventing a good water flow throughout the canister....
I wasn't going to be surprised if he called again or came back into the store with the filter not working.
Well.
That may just have happened.
As I had a customer come into the store carrying a Canister Filter of the make and model that the customer on the phone had complained about.
The customer also stated that he had 'called the store multiple times' to get this filter working and it would work for a little bit...then not...then work for a bit...then not.
Which yah...sounds like something went wrong there.
And the customer was understandably frustrated.
Even more so as he's constantly traveling between states.
....Which why would you have a fishtank in the first place if you're always out of town traveling for work?
In any case.
The customer wanted to get a new canister filter.
Preferably one that was more reliable than the one he'd bought.
And not wanting to have to repeat another filter incident with him over the phone -if it was the same customer-
I suggested that instead of getting another filter of the same brand, that he get a Fluval Canister Filter.
As those are more popular and reliable for customers and was the brand that we had used when we had Display FishTanks set up in the store.
The only problem?
The filer was like $100 more than what he'd paid for the other one.
So while he went outside to try and find the receipt.
I went to the manager and asked if there was anything we could do to make sure that he didn't have to pay more for a replacement.
Coincidentally.
The price of the filter that was being returned at it's normal full price.
Was almost the same price as the new filter on sale.
So the manager ended up doing an exchange across.
Meaning that the customer didn't have to pay any extra $$$ for the new filter.
So yay him.
Hopefully the Fluval brand gives him less trouble than the other one.
*fingers crossed*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Monday, September 16, 2019
Complicated Crickets
I had a customer come up to me while I was checking out other customers at the register and ask if I could get them a bag of 24 large crickets.
Which yah, I can easily.
Though it would have been much faster if they'd gone over to the podium and grabbed the bag of 24 large crickets I had bagged earlier in the day.
Figuring that the customer just hadn't realized that the number they needed was right there, I grabbed the bag of 24 and went to hand it to them.
When they were like "Actually...I'd like them in two bags of 12 please."
O_o.....
Oh....kay.....
I was automatically suspicious at that.
Because if you said you wanted 24 crickets....why did you not tell me sooner that you wanted 2 bags of 12?
I already had one bag of 12 prebagged so I was like "Will this one work?'
*exhales*
Nope.
Customer wanted both bags of 12 freshly bagged without cardboard in them.
*shakes head*
Like....I can do that.
But the way you had me do that....definitely got on my nerves.
Like why?
Why string me along like that.
Just be clear and succinct the first time. Say "I need two bags of 12 crickets without cardboard."
Easy peasy and I can do it without feeling like I'm pulling teeth.
Honestly though.
I just think the customer didn't want the prebagged crickets.
Which they could have just said so in the first place.
*shakes head* Silly customer.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Which yah, I can easily.
Though it would have been much faster if they'd gone over to the podium and grabbed the bag of 24 large crickets I had bagged earlier in the day.
Figuring that the customer just hadn't realized that the number they needed was right there, I grabbed the bag of 24 and went to hand it to them.
When they were like "Actually...I'd like them in two bags of 12 please."
O_o.....
Oh....kay.....
I was automatically suspicious at that.
Because if you said you wanted 24 crickets....why did you not tell me sooner that you wanted 2 bags of 12?
I already had one bag of 12 prebagged so I was like "Will this one work?'
*exhales*
Nope.
Customer wanted both bags of 12 freshly bagged without cardboard in them.
*shakes head*
Like....I can do that.
But the way you had me do that....definitely got on my nerves.
Like why?
Why string me along like that.
Just be clear and succinct the first time. Say "I need two bags of 12 crickets without cardboard."
Easy peasy and I can do it without feeling like I'm pulling teeth.
Honestly though.
I just think the customer didn't want the prebagged crickets.
Which they could have just said so in the first place.
*shakes head* Silly customer.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Specific Food
Had a customer who wanted to know if there was a breed specific food that he could feed his Maine Coon kitty that he had. As he'd read that they needed a high protein diet and wanted to know if we sold any food that was specifically for Maine Coons.
While he had picked one of our higher protein brand foods to feed his cat, and would have been fine to stick with it.
I led him instead to Royal Canin as I knew that they had breed specific foods for both cats and dogs.
Foods that have the nutrients and the shape of kibble that the animal would find most easy to chew and eat.
I had no idea if Royal Canin had Maine Coon specific food as I hadn't actively looked for it.
Thankfully.
They did sell Maine Coon breed specific food.
And the customer was so happy to find that.
And was like "Are you a Boss man?"
Which I'm not a manager no.
And he was like "Well I'm going to find a boss man and tell them that you're awesome!"
Because he stated that I 'had it together' here.
Probably meaning that I know my stuff here in the store and that he knew I would be able to help him when he saw me lol.
So yah. Made a customer really happy today. ^^;; Yay!
While he had picked one of our higher protein brand foods to feed his cat, and would have been fine to stick with it.
I led him instead to Royal Canin as I knew that they had breed specific foods for both cats and dogs.
Foods that have the nutrients and the shape of kibble that the animal would find most easy to chew and eat.
I had no idea if Royal Canin had Maine Coon specific food as I hadn't actively looked for it.
Thankfully.
They did sell Maine Coon breed specific food.
And the customer was so happy to find that.
And was like "Are you a Boss man?"
Which I'm not a manager no.
And he was like "Well I'm going to find a boss man and tell them that you're awesome!"
Because he stated that I 'had it together' here.
Probably meaning that I know my stuff here in the store and that he knew I would be able to help him when he saw me lol.
So yah. Made a customer really happy today. ^^;; Yay!
Thursday, September 12, 2019
The Right Delivery
So today is the day that we get our small pets and birds delivered into the store.
Which hasn't really been a fact to remark much upon because it's been the same guy for the past year or so.
But he recently quit the job, so the past couple of weeks it's been new people...I guess as they're figuring out who will take over that particular route.
Since it hasn't been the same guy these past two weeks.
Which makes it difficult to predict when they'll come.
As the other guy always showed up about the same time.
So I knew went to take my breaks so I could get those done with before he would come into the store.
But the past couple of guys have shown up at different times.
After when the other guy would come. So I've still managed to take my breaks before they show up.
It will probably be a couple more weeks or so before I can guesstimate when they'll come.
However the remarkable part of today's delivery....
Is the dude brought the wrong animals into the store.
Which...is pretty much a first.
I don't really remember that happening. If it did...it's been years.
But yah. The dude brought in animals meant for our competitor's store down the street. *shakes head*
Which is rather common for customers to confuse which store they're calling as they sound pretty similar.
But to have our delivery guy do it?
Yah.
That's different.
At least we noticed --mostly because I was expecting a conure and the dude had a box of parakeets with him- before he put the animals in the cages.
But yah. He had to go back out to his van to switch out the boxes before I could get my shipment.
So yah. That was something different. ^^;;
-Sarnic Dirchi
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Lightbulbs?
The Lizard Guy came back in to the store today.
*exhales*
I know that more than likely he's going to be a consistent regular customer.
But still.
Everytime I see him....I just wish I wasn't working.
Because the dude is a trial to deal with basically every. single. time.
Such a Chaotic Energy and you never quite know how the conversation is going to go or when it will ever end.
I had the unfortunate experience of being noticed by him just as I was heading to clock out as my shift was over.
But since I was still technically on the clock as I hadn't clocked out yet, when he flagged me down I couldn't just ignore him. *exhales*
Which is a trial because it could be a two minute question or a thirty minute question and with my luck it was going to be the thirty minute question as that is what most of his questions are it feels like.
And I was right.
The dude starts going on about how the lighbulbs keep exploding in one particular heat lamp that he purchased from us.
Which I was aware of because a manager had told me of the situation...like two weeks ago I feel like. It had been a while, long enough that I was surprised he was only NOW bringing in the light bulbs as my manager apparently...wasn't going to replace any of them until we could see the heat lamp?
I honestly don't know why he had the lightbulbs with him -only that the manager requested it- nor what he wanted out of the situation.
It could be that he wanted a new lamp.
Or new lightbubls.
I don't know.
I never actually heard what he wanted.
As he went into the pointless explanation as to why he was right and we were wrong.
As he said the lightbulbs kept exploding right?
So I checked the lamp he'd brought in and noticed that it sad MAX 75 WATTS in big lettering.
And the bulbs the dude was holding up that had 'exploded' after coming in 'contact' with 'water' 'somehow' were all showing as 100watts.
Which.
Obvious.
There's the problem right there.
But Nooooo that CAN'T be the problem. *rolls eyes*
As apparently the customer has done overwattage to multiple different lamps but this is the only brand and the only lamp that is having issues.
And it shouldn't matter that he's putting a 100watts into a max 75 watt lamp because 25watts shouldn't make that much of a difference and it says that it 'decreases the risk of fire' but because the dude works for some place that apparently makes lightbulbs he knows that all lightbulbs have to meet certain requirements to be sold and used which means that all lightbulbs can be used in any size of lamp and it should be fine because otherwise tons of customers would be suing the makers of lightbulbs for not being consistent yadda yadda ---i honestly stopped listening halfway through because I'm like "And how does this apply?" But the dude was insistent, even pulled out his phone at some point to show me the comparisions between voltages or something in all lightbulbs. And he showed me tiny writing on the lamp that says that more watts can be used if they don't exceed so many voltages...
But still.
If you put in 100 watts into a lamp that says Max 75 watts. and the 100 watts keep exploding....why not try a 75 watt or even a 50 watt bulb and see if it's the bulbs or the lamp that's the issue.
Because if the 75 watt bulb doesn't explode. Tada! It's the wattage that's the issue. If the lower wattage lighbulb also explodes, then obviously that lamp has a manufacturing issue.
*shakes head*
But again. I don't know what the customer was seeking.
Was he seeking to replace the lightbulbs? The lamps?
No idea.
Because for a good ten freaking minutes he was trying to convince me that it was okay to put higher wattage bulbs into lamps that state otherwise all the while describing his various tank set ups and other issues he's had with various products of ours in the past....which really.
Dude.
You've complained about more things breaking than anyone else in like a six month period.
Obviously it's more of a YOU problem than an US problem. *shakes head*
Thankfully, my coworker saw that I was stuck with this customer and grabbed the managers to come intervene and help the dude out (and hopefully get to the point of what he actually wanted from us) which left me free to finally go clock out nearly 15 minutes late. *exhales*
Gah.
-Sarnic Dirchi
*exhales*
I know that more than likely he's going to be a consistent regular customer.
But still.
Everytime I see him....I just wish I wasn't working.
Because the dude is a trial to deal with basically every. single. time.
Such a Chaotic Energy and you never quite know how the conversation is going to go or when it will ever end.
I had the unfortunate experience of being noticed by him just as I was heading to clock out as my shift was over.
But since I was still technically on the clock as I hadn't clocked out yet, when he flagged me down I couldn't just ignore him. *exhales*
Which is a trial because it could be a two minute question or a thirty minute question and with my luck it was going to be the thirty minute question as that is what most of his questions are it feels like.
And I was right.
The dude starts going on about how the lighbulbs keep exploding in one particular heat lamp that he purchased from us.
Which I was aware of because a manager had told me of the situation...like two weeks ago I feel like. It had been a while, long enough that I was surprised he was only NOW bringing in the light bulbs as my manager apparently...wasn't going to replace any of them until we could see the heat lamp?
I honestly don't know why he had the lightbulbs with him -only that the manager requested it- nor what he wanted out of the situation.
It could be that he wanted a new lamp.
Or new lightbubls.
I don't know.
I never actually heard what he wanted.
As he went into the pointless explanation as to why he was right and we were wrong.
As he said the lightbulbs kept exploding right?
So I checked the lamp he'd brought in and noticed that it sad MAX 75 WATTS in big lettering.
And the bulbs the dude was holding up that had 'exploded' after coming in 'contact' with 'water' 'somehow' were all showing as 100watts.
Which.
Obvious.
There's the problem right there.
But Nooooo that CAN'T be the problem. *rolls eyes*
As apparently the customer has done overwattage to multiple different lamps but this is the only brand and the only lamp that is having issues.
And it shouldn't matter that he's putting a 100watts into a max 75 watt lamp because 25watts shouldn't make that much of a difference and it says that it 'decreases the risk of fire' but because the dude works for some place that apparently makes lightbulbs he knows that all lightbulbs have to meet certain requirements to be sold and used which means that all lightbulbs can be used in any size of lamp and it should be fine because otherwise tons of customers would be suing the makers of lightbulbs for not being consistent yadda yadda ---i honestly stopped listening halfway through because I'm like "And how does this apply?" But the dude was insistent, even pulled out his phone at some point to show me the comparisions between voltages or something in all lightbulbs. And he showed me tiny writing on the lamp that says that more watts can be used if they don't exceed so many voltages...
But still.
If you put in 100 watts into a lamp that says Max 75 watts. and the 100 watts keep exploding....why not try a 75 watt or even a 50 watt bulb and see if it's the bulbs or the lamp that's the issue.
Because if the 75 watt bulb doesn't explode. Tada! It's the wattage that's the issue. If the lower wattage lighbulb also explodes, then obviously that lamp has a manufacturing issue.
*shakes head*
But again. I don't know what the customer was seeking.
Was he seeking to replace the lightbulbs? The lamps?
No idea.
Because for a good ten freaking minutes he was trying to convince me that it was okay to put higher wattage bulbs into lamps that state otherwise all the while describing his various tank set ups and other issues he's had with various products of ours in the past....which really.
Dude.
You've complained about more things breaking than anyone else in like a six month period.
Obviously it's more of a YOU problem than an US problem. *shakes head*
Thankfully, my coworker saw that I was stuck with this customer and grabbed the managers to come intervene and help the dude out (and hopefully get to the point of what he actually wanted from us) which left me free to finally go clock out nearly 15 minutes late. *exhales*
Gah.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Lift This?
Had a customer request help with a carry out of some cat litter today.
Which isn't that big of a deal....but a lot of customers who request carryouts are rather skeptical of my weight lifting skills when it comes to cat litter and bigger bags of dog food.
I can understand that to an extent because I am rather skinny and small compared to basically everyone else in the store.
But at the same time...I do question how weak they think I am.
Because today, the box of cat litter that needed to be carried out to the customer's car was only around 10lbs or so.
So nothing crazy heavy like the 40lb containers of cat litter that I've carried before.
I mean...I can understand it slightly because the customer was older, and I know that the grandparent aged ones cannot lift as much as they used to.
So I understand it.
But at the same time....
I do wonder why customers don't think I can lift that much myself.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Which isn't that big of a deal....but a lot of customers who request carryouts are rather skeptical of my weight lifting skills when it comes to cat litter and bigger bags of dog food.
I can understand that to an extent because I am rather skinny and small compared to basically everyone else in the store.
But at the same time...I do question how weak they think I am.
Because today, the box of cat litter that needed to be carried out to the customer's car was only around 10lbs or so.
So nothing crazy heavy like the 40lb containers of cat litter that I've carried before.
I mean...I can understand it slightly because the customer was older, and I know that the grandparent aged ones cannot lift as much as they used to.
So I understand it.
But at the same time....
I do wonder why customers don't think I can lift that much myself.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Monday, September 9, 2019
Bait?
I had a customer call the store today.
Asking if we sold Feeder Rats.
Which we don't.
We don't sell any live rodents for food.
So the customer was like: Do you sell Pet Rats?
Which, no, not anymore.
Our breeder stopped breeding rats like...four years ago now?
So nope. No rats.
Which even if we did....I wouldn't sell them to this gentleman because he'd specifically asked for feeder rats.
Which is an alarm bell because again, we don't sell rats as food.
The customer wouldn't be dissuaded though.
Upon finding out that we didn't have rats.
He was like "Well, what's the largest rodent you carry?"
Which would be a chinchilla or guinea pig.
But I was like "I don't sell animals for food."
*rolls eyes*
He was like "But I'm using them for bait! Not to feed!"
….What in the world do you think Bait is dude?
Bait is a food that is to tempt an animal closer and more than likely gets KILLED if it's alive when the animal you want to trap comes closer.
So I refused.
I was like "No we don't sell animals for food or bait."
And directed him to a couple of local petstores to try out instead.
Hopefully he found what he was looking for...just not at my store.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Thursday, September 5, 2019
A...Transaction...Problem
A customer called the store today needing help with a purchase that they had made on Monday.
They had chosen to divide up their purchase into two separate transactions.
Which isn't uncommon. It's more complicated for the cashier, but it's not that big of a deal to split up the transactions into two different purchases.
But what the customer was calling about...was the fact that there was a third charge on their card that they hadn't made also for the store.
:S I ended up transferring the customer over to a manager to have them help further--which resulted in the manager telling the customer to come into the store with their receipts and bank statements and they would see if they could help the customer figure out what happened.
However,
What made this particular conversation more memorable....was how long it took the customer to get to the point of why they were calling.
As most people would be like "Hey, I made a purchase at your store on Monday but I"m seeing another charge there that isn't mine."
Like it's quick and to the point.
But this customer?
It halfway sounded like they were multitasking over the phone. As I could hear clicking...like the sound the keys on a keyboard make while trying to talk to me.
And that conversation went. "So...*click click click* On Monday *click click click* I made a couple of *click click click click click click click* Purchases. For $$ and *click click click* and $$. *click click click click click click click* But on my bank statement *click click click click* There's a *click click* Third charge. *click click click click click click click click* I didn't make and *click click click* I want to know. *click click click* How we can *click* fix that.
Just like.
AHHHHHHHH
It was very hard to stay focused on the conversation at hand because the customer was taking foooorrreeeevvveeerrrr to say a single sentence. Like a thirty second conversation ended up being a good five minutes or so because the customer took forever to get the sentence out. *exhales*
At least I managed to figure out what the customer was needing even if I couldn't help them directly with their particular problem.
-Sarnic Dirchi
They had chosen to divide up their purchase into two separate transactions.
Which isn't uncommon. It's more complicated for the cashier, but it's not that big of a deal to split up the transactions into two different purchases.
But what the customer was calling about...was the fact that there was a third charge on their card that they hadn't made also for the store.
:S I ended up transferring the customer over to a manager to have them help further--which resulted in the manager telling the customer to come into the store with their receipts and bank statements and they would see if they could help the customer figure out what happened.
However,
What made this particular conversation more memorable....was how long it took the customer to get to the point of why they were calling.
As most people would be like "Hey, I made a purchase at your store on Monday but I"m seeing another charge there that isn't mine."
Like it's quick and to the point.
But this customer?
It halfway sounded like they were multitasking over the phone. As I could hear clicking...like the sound the keys on a keyboard make while trying to talk to me.
And that conversation went. "So...*click click click* On Monday *click click click* I made a couple of *click click click click click click click* Purchases. For $$ and *click click click* and $$. *click click click click click click click* But on my bank statement *click click click click* There's a *click click* Third charge. *click click click click click click click click* I didn't make and *click click click* I want to know. *click click click* How we can *click* fix that.
Just like.
AHHHHHHHH
It was very hard to stay focused on the conversation at hand because the customer was taking foooorrreeeevvveeerrrr to say a single sentence. Like a thirty second conversation ended up being a good five minutes or so because the customer took forever to get the sentence out. *exhales*
At least I managed to figure out what the customer was needing even if I couldn't help them directly with their particular problem.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Plastic?
I had a customer call the store today.
Stating that over Labor Day Weekend they had bought a tank because it was on sale, but also a Canister Filter.
But the customer had an issue.
In that the canister filter they'd purchased...wasn't working.
So after asking what Brand they'd purchased, I wandered over to that aisle just to see if I could figure out what was going on by looking at the box and listening to the customer describe the issue.
The issue being that the water wasn't flowing through the hoses properly. There was no siphoning effect, in their words, like bubbles were coming out of the outtake...but nothing really was working with the intake.
So I listed off a bunch of potential reasons.
To which the customer denied or confirmed that they had or hadn't done things.
And they even stated that they'd had a family member, who used to work for a different pet store come over to try and get it to work and they couldn't get it to work.
So finally it was suggested that the customer bring in the canister filter and we would look at it in the store and see if we could get it to work, and if we couldn't we would exchange the filter out and give the customer a new canister filter instead.
Well...to my knowledge the customer didn't ever end up coming in.
Because they called again a little bit later with a question.
You see. Canister filters come with multiple components in them to give you more stages of filtration for your water.
There's various types of pads you can use, and a few different substrates like loose carbon and biomax and ammonia stuff that you can use. Though usually the substrate is packaged in plastic to keep it from spilling all over before it's used.
In any case.
The customer called again and prefaced the conversation by saying that "No where in the directions does it tell me to do this, but I don't see how it will actually filter if I don't"
Before asking me if they needed to remove the plastic that the substrate was in.
*exhales*
The answer to that is a Big. YES.
But apparently, because it wasn't explicitly stated in the directions of how to set up the tank...the customer just assumed you would place the plastic baggy filled with the substrate in the appropriate spot and it would work fine.
*shakes head*
I'm not sure where the common sense went there.....
Because like...the substrate can't do the filtering if it's sealed up in plastic.
And like....there are very few things...honestly I can't think of any instances...where if a thing comes wrapped in plastic...you don't take the plastic off....
In any case.
I'm assuming that once the customer got the plastic off his differing substrates---after he had me open up a canister filter in the store to confirm that the plastic wrapped things within definitely needed to be removed (which they did)---but I'm assuming they got the canister to start working properly because there was no plastic blocking the flow of water anymore.
*fingers crossed* That that's the case.
But still....
It's still odd that they got so upset over the fact that it wasn't explicitly stated in the directions to remove the plastic packaging. *shakes head*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Stating that over Labor Day Weekend they had bought a tank because it was on sale, but also a Canister Filter.
But the customer had an issue.
In that the canister filter they'd purchased...wasn't working.
So after asking what Brand they'd purchased, I wandered over to that aisle just to see if I could figure out what was going on by looking at the box and listening to the customer describe the issue.
The issue being that the water wasn't flowing through the hoses properly. There was no siphoning effect, in their words, like bubbles were coming out of the outtake...but nothing really was working with the intake.
So I listed off a bunch of potential reasons.
To which the customer denied or confirmed that they had or hadn't done things.
And they even stated that they'd had a family member, who used to work for a different pet store come over to try and get it to work and they couldn't get it to work.
So finally it was suggested that the customer bring in the canister filter and we would look at it in the store and see if we could get it to work, and if we couldn't we would exchange the filter out and give the customer a new canister filter instead.
Well...to my knowledge the customer didn't ever end up coming in.
Because they called again a little bit later with a question.
You see. Canister filters come with multiple components in them to give you more stages of filtration for your water.
There's various types of pads you can use, and a few different substrates like loose carbon and biomax and ammonia stuff that you can use. Though usually the substrate is packaged in plastic to keep it from spilling all over before it's used.
In any case.
The customer called again and prefaced the conversation by saying that "No where in the directions does it tell me to do this, but I don't see how it will actually filter if I don't"
Before asking me if they needed to remove the plastic that the substrate was in.
*exhales*
The answer to that is a Big. YES.
But apparently, because it wasn't explicitly stated in the directions of how to set up the tank...the customer just assumed you would place the plastic baggy filled with the substrate in the appropriate spot and it would work fine.
*shakes head*
I'm not sure where the common sense went there.....
Because like...the substrate can't do the filtering if it's sealed up in plastic.
And like....there are very few things...honestly I can't think of any instances...where if a thing comes wrapped in plastic...you don't take the plastic off....
In any case.
I'm assuming that once the customer got the plastic off his differing substrates---after he had me open up a canister filter in the store to confirm that the plastic wrapped things within definitely needed to be removed (which they did)---but I'm assuming they got the canister to start working properly because there was no plastic blocking the flow of water anymore.
*fingers crossed* That that's the case.
But still....
It's still odd that they got so upset over the fact that it wasn't explicitly stated in the directions to remove the plastic packaging. *shakes head*
-Sarnic Dirchi
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Do I Have Everything?
An older gentleman came into the store today and flagged me down to assist him in the bird section as he's planning on getting a couple of parakeets as pets, but wants to make sure he has all the supplies first.
His main reason for talking to me was to make sure the types of feeders he was getting for the birds for their water and food would work for them and that they'd be able to use them okay.
Then he went on to double check that the toys he'd gotten in a past visit would be fine for the parakeets.
And wanted my opinion on the birds and what colors he should get and wanted me to point out which ones were females and males so he could see the difference.
And yah.
It was quite the long visit with this gentleman, but I patiently explained, clarified, and supported choices he'd made so that he was content that when he did get the birds that they would be fine.
-Sarnic Dirchi
His main reason for talking to me was to make sure the types of feeders he was getting for the birds for their water and food would work for them and that they'd be able to use them okay.
Then he went on to double check that the toys he'd gotten in a past visit would be fine for the parakeets.
And wanted my opinion on the birds and what colors he should get and wanted me to point out which ones were females and males so he could see the difference.
And yah.
It was quite the long visit with this gentleman, but I patiently explained, clarified, and supported choices he'd made so that he was content that when he did get the birds that they would be fine.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Monday, September 2, 2019
Getting to Water
Not sure what it was about today.
But it seemed like everyone was obsessed with the Guinea Pigs today.
And not in the "We want to hold one!" sort of obsession that is pretty common in the store.
No everyone seemed to be concerned about the guinea pigs health.
Specifically their ability to access their water bottle.
As today I had introduced new Guinea Pigs into the cage with the older ones.
Which always means a bit of dominating happening. Establishing who the head male would be and such.
Had one customer express concern over one guinea pig being too aggressive, so we ended up taking that one out and placing him by himself in his own cage to help keep the peace.
But in the course of the guinea pigs getting to know each other.
One of their houses ended up getting too close to the water bottle.
Making it a bit more difficult to access water, though they could still access the water.
We ended up getting called to the guinea pigs at least three times by three different customers who were worried about access to the water, because the guinea pigs had moved their house back closer to the water multiple times.
Frustrating.
Especially since like...it hadn't been an issue before.
But for whatever reason today.
It was an issue today.
Thankfully we were able to get the water accessible easily enough so no issue there.
-Sarnic Dirchi
But it seemed like everyone was obsessed with the Guinea Pigs today.
And not in the "We want to hold one!" sort of obsession that is pretty common in the store.
No everyone seemed to be concerned about the guinea pigs health.
Specifically their ability to access their water bottle.
As today I had introduced new Guinea Pigs into the cage with the older ones.
Which always means a bit of dominating happening. Establishing who the head male would be and such.
Had one customer express concern over one guinea pig being too aggressive, so we ended up taking that one out and placing him by himself in his own cage to help keep the peace.
But in the course of the guinea pigs getting to know each other.
One of their houses ended up getting too close to the water bottle.
Making it a bit more difficult to access water, though they could still access the water.
We ended up getting called to the guinea pigs at least three times by three different customers who were worried about access to the water, because the guinea pigs had moved their house back closer to the water multiple times.
Frustrating.
Especially since like...it hadn't been an issue before.
But for whatever reason today.
It was an issue today.
Thankfully we were able to get the water accessible easily enough so no issue there.
-Sarnic Dirchi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)