On the Register

I ended up getting stuck on the register today.

Like for the first...I don't know...two or three hours of my shift...it felt like I spent most of it on the register helping to backup cashier and to be the cashier to cover breaks and such.

Which....not my most favorite place to be in the store. 

Like in normal times I didn't ever like register because you basically just stand there waiting for people to come to you...and I much prefer the freedom of wandering around the store.

During current times aka pandemic times....I really don't like getting stuck on register because you encounter waaaaay more people on register than anywhere else in the store.

After all, you have to check out all the customers buying things. Soo you interact with far more people than if you're in the back stocking, or wandering around the store helping people with their questions.

I mean yes, if it's a slow day in the store, then you end up interacting with basically everyone anyways whether you're on the floor or on register.

But still. It's not my favorite place to be. 

About the only interesting thing about register is seeing how much money people are willing to spend on their pets. Like you get the people who are ecking out as much bang for their buck as they can. And then others who will happily drop $100-$300 without blinking an eye.

You get all sorts here.

But probably the memorable experience of being on register today was an older gentleman who came in to buy a dog carrier and made a point to tell me at the register that the guy who helped him out on the floor had done an amazing job and that he deserved a raise.

lol don't we all? Pretty sure all of us in the store deserve a raise after all the crap we've had to deal with with all the pandemic related chaos. 

But it's nice to have customers make a point to compliment our workers. To tell them that they did a great job and wonderful service.

Lol and the gentleman made a point to tell me that I was doing a great job too and that I also deserved the raise.

XD lol. It was a good moment. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Let Me In!

So there's this old guy who is a regular grooming customer at our salon.

He probably only comes in like once a month. But it sometimes feels like more often.

And he's notable and memorable mostly because he comes in first thing in the morning right when Grooming opens up.

And since the pandemic...has also been notable in the fact that he never seems to be wearing a mask when he walks in the store.

Like this dude is definitely in the 'at high risk' age range...and he's just wandering around willy nilly without a mask on.

He's quite willing to put one on if you offer it to him....but like he hardly remembers to bring his own. And today forgot to wear it twice. Once when dropping off the dog, and again when picking it up.

Who knows...maybe he got the vaccine and thinks he's safe now? Who knows. 

In any case.

He showed up right at 8am wanting to drop off his dog at the grooming salon.

Only....our salon was still dark. No one had arrived yet.

Which is unusual...and so I went to go investigate why no one had come in yet especially when we apparently had a customer waiting.

And the person scheduled in was the only one scheduled in. And so they had been told to come half an hour later when the second grooming person was scheduled. 

As it's policy that you can't groom any dogs unless there are two people present in the salon. And so the first groomer didn't want to waste time sitting around doing nothing. 

Especially since the first customer wasn't scheduled to come in until 9. 

That's right.

The old guy came in an HOUR early to drop off his dog.

*exhales* 

And when I informed him that our grooming salon wouldn't be opening until 8:30 today due to a scheduling issue. He was like "But your sign says you open at Eight!" 

Well...yah....but like I said. There was a grooming issue.

And he was like "But I have to get to work!"

(At his age he should be retired.) 

"Can't you just take my dog into the back for me and put it in the cage?"

Ha. No.

Because the groomers have to 'check in' your dog and they have to 'evaluate' your dog to make sure it's healthy, happy, and able to be groomed. We don't just go "Oh yes, you're here let me put the dog in back and call it good."

No. We don't do that.

And I have no training whatsoever in grooming. That's not my expertise or responsibility in the store. 

-And by this point I'd been made aware that he was an hour early. So like....dude. You're early. Not my fault. If you wanted to drop off your dog early you need to call first and make sure it's okay because often they don't want you to bring your dog until the appointed time. We're not a doggy day care. It's a grooming salon. 

*exhales*

In any case. Our groomer happened to come in a few minutes later and so was able to check the dude's dog in so he could go off to 'work'

Though again. I do wonder what his 'job' is.

Because he was back in the store at 11:15 to pick up his dog from its groom.

And last I checked....there aren't many places that schedule two hour shifts.

Of course he could be on like "crossing guard" duty or could have taken a 'lunch break' to pick up his dog.

But I kinda just feel like he pulled the "I got to go to work!" excuse to try and force our hand and let him drop off his dog earlier.

*rolls eyes* 

-Sarnic Dirchi

New Thing

I had an older couple come into the store today.

Because they'd heard about fish that 'glowed' and tanks made for them. 

So I took them over to our GloFish and showed them the different types and what colors they came in and told them a little bit about the fish.

Which after showing them that I took them over to our tanks to show them the varieties that they came in.

As we have tanks with white lights, white/blue lights, as well as 7 different colors lights and depending on what type of fish the customer wanted to show off in which type of environment.

Lol the guy of the couple was tickled pink by the fact that we have tanks that have 7 different color lights that they can shine into the tank.

It was just...kinda fun helping them discover things.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Did You Call Us?

 I don't understand the logic of customers some days.

So today I got a phone call from a customer.

Who told me that they had adopted a cat from our sister store two years ago.

Which...Okay?? Why are you telling me this?

Well.

Apparently the cat had gotten outside and run away. So it's missing.

And they wanted to know if MY store had any knowledge of if the cat they adopted from our SISTER store was microchipped or not and if there was a way to look it up?

Which....How in the world am I supposed to know?

Why in the world would you ask MY STORE when you didn't get the cat from MY STORE? 

Like...where is the logic in that? Where?

If you got the cat from the sister store? Why not call the sister store FIRST and ask them your question? 

Just because we're in the same company doesn't mean that we have the same records in all the same stores.

Especially for Adoptions.

Like every store partners with different adoption groups throughout the state to give homeless pets homes.

And while there may be some overlap between adoption groups where they may go to one or more of our stores...that isn't always the case.

And in two years....it's hard to know what was and wasn't being done between the different adoption groups.

So I was like "Call the Sister Store as they would have better knowledge of which adoption groups they were working with during that time than I would." 

And like....every cat that gets adopted usually comes with paperwork that the owner receieves.

Said paperwork would have their rabies and vaccination information. But also usually contains a sticker telling the customer what the microchip number is for their new pet if they've been microchipped....

I just....

I don't get it?

Like why call our store? 

Call the store you got the cat from they'll have better answers for you.

-Sarnic Dirchi

No I Don't Have Any

 With the cold weather that hit like...73% of the United States last week....we've been experiencing shortages in many of our animal shipments.

As it's been too cold to ship things out and such.

To the point where we received a notice that most of our shipments have been cancelled until things 'warm up' basically. 

Which....isn't good...when people are wanting creatures and we don't have them.

The major issue has been with our reptile food. Aka the crickets and the worms and such.

As I only ever receive my worms on Thursday.

But because of the cold...that shipment didn't show up.

And my crickets...well we haven't gotten any since...I don't know? Wednesday? When we usually get shipments in at least twice a week--though with how much they've been shorting us in our shipments we've been getting in shipments practically daily....

Only for us to get nothing.

Like by Saturday I was out of crickets.

And I keep having people call asking if we have any...and we don't.

And they want to know when we're going to get more in.

And we basically have to shrug and go "maybe tomorrow" 

Which I've been saying "Maybe tomorrow" since Saturday. 

But because of the weather...we've got nothing and because there's no crickets people are turning to other bugs to buy in the meantime and since I only had a minimal supply of those they ended up selling rather quickly and yah....

It's not fun to run out of things.

Because I don't like telling people no.

And today has been quite the "no" day.

Not just with crickets but with like....everything.

Like fish? We haven't gotten in like Angelfish or Clown Loaches or a handful of other types in over a month.

Birds? They didn't send me any so I've been out of birds for a week.

Guinea Pigs? Sold them all.

Reptiles? Ha. We only have like two frogs and four anoles left. Everything else? Empty.

Hamsters? We've sold through enough that we're back to only using 6 of the 16 cages we have available.

We're low on everything.

And I have no idea when we'll be getting anything in. Like will the weather have warmed up enough in the U.S. to ship things around again? To be able to get all our creatures in? Who knows. It's the waiting game at this point.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Lost Among the Dog Food

 Customers are weird. 

Because I constantly find them looking for things for animals in sections for different animals. 

Like. The most common case is that I'll see a customer looking lost over in our dog food section. Which is like the back right of the store. And when I ask them if they need help finding something they're like "Oh I'm looking for "item." and said item is usually something over in our "Small Pet" section. Like hamster food, or cat collars, or fish filters.

And like....All that stuff is in the front left corner of the store. Like...you see the cages holding reptiles and birds and guinea pigs and such....it should make sense that anything you need for them would be near them right?

Apparently not. 

Because customers constantly walk right by the cages as well and go "Hey do you have birds?"

Like yes you walked by them. *shakes head* 

Still...if you're seeing just bags of dog food...would it not follow that your CAT stuff or your BIRD stuff Would Not be among the Dog stuff? 

*shakes head*

Silly people. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Let It Settle

 You gotta 'love' it when customers don't listen to your advice. *exhales*

So I only know pieces of the story.

As I came on to help the customer after my fellow manager had already been attempting to help them figure out what was going on with their tank.

Which really...after listening to the customer blabber on and on and on about some of the 'timeline' of things that 'happened' before it went wrong....

It really just sounds like the customer tried to start their tank too quickly, panicked when things went wrong, tried to fix it, ended up causing other issues, tried to fix it again....and yah. All the fish in the tank died.

*exhales*

It sounds like the concern started when a 'foam' began forming on the top of the tank.

Which considering the customer had TWO over the back filters and then a wall of bubbles along the back of the tank....my guess was that the tank was too turbulent. 

Like water that gets stirred around too much causes foam. You see it in waterfalls, in oceans, even in boiling pots of water --though probably just when you're trying to stir pasta--in any case....the customer just needed to cut back some of the water flow.

Which the easiest way to do so would be to turn off the air bubble wall.

Which the customer had apparently done already, and they had noticed that the foam had drastically decreased.

But for whatever reason....the customer hadn't been content to leave it at that?

As they also seemed to assume that the temperature of the water was also affecting the foaming nature? As they said that when it was in the 60s and low 70s it was fine...but if it got above 74 degrees it would start foaming again?

O_o??? I honestly have no idea with that one. Still leaning with the too much water turbulence theory. 

But the customer also ended up doing a FULL water change on the tank.

And it was all hunky doory....until the foam started...and the water got cloudy. 

And so the customer panicked that something was wrong and did another FULL water change as well as deeply cleaned every nook and cranny of that tank to ensure that 'nothing' like 'soap' or anything had caused the issue.

*exhales*

Doing a full water change means that you're basically starting your tank over brand new.

There's no beneficial bacteria set up in the tank to help with the biological ecosystem. And adding a bunch of a fish to a 'brand new' tank that hasn't even gotten the ammonia cycle properly going again....

It's no surprise that the fish all ended up dying over the weekened.

The customer had stressed out the tank further by doing too much cleaning. The fish couldn't handle the 'newness' and so died.

And the customer was thinking it was the cloudy water that was the issue. 

Which no...it's quite common for tanks to experience cloudy water for up to a month after being set up because the tank is still 'settling' it's still 'cycling' there's a lot of things that get stirred up that need time to calm down. 

Hence why we don't recommend adding in fish for at least 24 hours after set up. 

And the longer you wait, the better really. To let your tank settle further. 

But this customer was running head tilt into the dreaded 'death cycle' where they keep adding in fish and the fish keep dying so they keep adding in more fish only to have them die.

And I strongly recommended that the customer just let their tank run empty for a couple of days. To let it settle. To help it cycle.

Otherwise their fish would keep dying if they tried to get more today.

Customer didn't quite believe me.

Well...they believed me. But they had little impulse control and decided that they just 'had' to have fish in the tank anyways. Even if they do die. Because the customer couldn't stand to have the tank have 'nothing' in it. *exhales*

Like dude. I told you that the fish would die....and you want to buy fish anyways...and you know that they might die....but you don't want to wait and actually have them live? Like dude. Learn a bit of patience. 

But it seems like this customer is the "must touch the stove to believe it's hot." sort of learner as they were like "well if they die then I'll know you were right and I won't get any fish after this point." 

*exhales*

JUST WAIT YOU DUMB PERSON.

But nooooo *shakes head*

I won't be surprised if they come back in tomorrow telling me the fish died. 

All because they couldn't wait freaking 48 hours like I suggested to let the tank settle. 

Customers are rather irritating at times.

-Sarnic Dirchi

White Fungus

My VP Manager has a tendency to drop random phone calls on me at work.

Mostly because I tend to have the most experience with animals and so when a customer asks a PetCare related question that the VP doesn't know, they tend to hand the phone off to me.

Which is always 'fun' because I never know what I'm going to get into by answering the phone as my VP doesn't always tell me the situation before placing the phone in my face.

In this case, the customer was calling to ask about a Fungus problem she had been having for the past couple months.

Where a white fungus has been growing in her tank. Thick enough to be like 'batting' aka the stuffing in the middle of quilts and such.

And that she's cleaned it off multiple times but it keeps growing back.

And like most situations "Nothing has changed." in the customer's life to cause this to happen.

...pretty sure something has changed, otherwise the fungus wouldn't be growing.

But after getting a bit more information about the care and such that they'd been taking of the tank....

I was no closer to figuring out why it was growing. 

And unfortunately...I don't carry any products to kill fungus growth in tanks. Sure I have fungus cure for fish...but the customer said that her fish were fine. No fungus there.

In the end, I suggested to the customer that they take out all their decorations and boil it and then let it dry for a few days.

As well as take the gravel out and replace it--though the customer did ask if she could boil the gravel too...which yah, probably...depending on how much work you want to do with that.

i also suggested deep cleaning the filter that they have.

And then to wait a few days before putting anything back to see if the fungus would still continue to grow.

Because if it didn't...obviously the source was in either the decor or the rocks. 

And if it did....then there was a problem in the water or possibly the filter. 

So yah....

Probably not the solution that the customer was looking for....but it's the only idea I had that might work to get rid of it all.

Guess we'll see.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Corner Tank

 Had a customer call the store today looking for a specific type of tank.

They needed a 'corner tank that comes with a stand.' because they were planning to start up a salt water tank...and for some reason the corner one was considered the best? Or at least would fit well where they wanted their tank.

And like....if the customer had just called like....six months earlier...I probably could have easily helped them as we did carry a 54 gallon corner tank. 

But it's been ages since I've seen one come into the store, and when I looked at the shelf...there was no spot for it.

Which it's possible that we just faced over it to make room for all the other tanks we do carry.

But odds are that we aren't getting that particular tank back in.....which just barely glancing at our website....I don't see that particular tank listed there either. 

So yah....the customer was rather out of luck.

Like I still have a couple of small corner tanks. A 6 gallon and a 10 gallon, but that's far too small to put salt water fish in.

-Though we did have a family come into the store a bit ago that had like only a 3 gallon tank and they'd placed a few clownfish in it?? Not sure how many clownfish but it was over the recommended amount and like...salt water fish need a ton of space....having a bunch in a 3 gallon....pretty sure they won't all live that long....

In any case.

The customer was like "Well do you know where I could find a corner tank? I need it!"

Like....it's cool that you need it....but I'm not about to call up all the local pet stores in the area and do all the work for you. You managed to find our store number, you can find the other store numbers as well.

I did tell them to look online (as I didn't know if we had a corner one online at that point) and gave them the names of our local pet stores for them to call and check.

But yah...not gonna do the leg work. I can tell you what I have and don't have in my store. But it's not like I actively stalk the other pet stores in the area. It's been years since I've been in some of them and others I've never entered. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Already Dead

So yesterday, I ended up catching like ten glofish for a customer. 2 greens, 2 reds, 2 purples, 2 blues, 2 oranges. 

It seemed like a bit much to add at once, but at the time I was trying to keep up with a rush of customers and so didn't question it too much hoping....hoping...that this customer actually knew what they were doing.

...

*exhales*

Well....I don't know what they did, but they did it wrong.

As apparently the guy's other fish are all perfectly fine. 

But somehow ALL of the glofish tetras I'd caught for him yesterday....died. 

Like....what did you do put them in salt dude?? 

It's just....weird.

As I caught those fish from 3 different tanks.

And to have only the glofish die?

It's rather suspicious. 

Though I don't know the entire story of how the dude managed to kill all the fish....as I was helping another customer when he came in and my coworker ended up reaching him and assisting before I got there. 

But yah.....it's weird. So weird. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Crate Training

 So we've been going through a bit of a crate shortage at our store. 

Who knows exactly why they're struggling to get dog crates sent to us. 

But they are. 

As we've been out of most of our major crates for like...a month now if not longer than that.

Which is bad when everyone and their mom has gotten the 'puppy bug' and wants to 'crate train' their new family member....

Because basically as soon as the crates hit the shelves....they're gone.

And one thing that isn't really helping matters is that we have 'display crates' on display on a shelf about head height.

So basically it's still low enough that customers can reach up and grab it down if needed.

Which many customers 'need' them.

It happens at least six times a week...and sometimes multiple times a day where I'll find customers on their way to the front of the store (if they haven't already made it to the register) with the display crate in their carts....and I have to tell them that that cage is only for display...we can't sell it to them.

Honestly, I just want to take the crates down and move them into a back room until we actually get the ones we can sell back in stock. 
However, my head manager has nixed that idea as the crates help to 'fill the empty spaces' *exhales*

I did manage to convince my head manager that we should at least take down the price tags underneath the display crates, as I'm pretty certain seeing a price tag below them makes customers think that they can purchase them....despite the "DISPLAY ONLY" signs on them. 

We'll see if taking those prices down helps at all.

But in any case, I had to deal with a customer who gave me quite the puppy dog eyes when I told her that she couldn't buy the display crate she was trying to take up to the front.

"But we're picking up our puppy and we neeeeeeddd it." 

Mhmm you and the twenty other people I've informed the past couple weeks. 

Luckily for her we actually had the crate size she was trying to buy in stock albeit in a different brand...though good news it was the less expensive brand so they ended up saving like $10 or so by buying that one.

But yah.

Hopefully we can get our crates in soon. *fingers crossed*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Work With The Birds

 So there I was. 

Cleaning out the bird cages as that was the bedding change that needed to be done today.

And I have this customer approach and ask.....If I worked with the birds.

Like....yes?

Did you not see me come out of the bird enclosure? Did you not watch me cleaning the glass on our cages? Did you not see me scrubbing at the pans to make sure they're clean before putting fresh bedding on the bottom....like I'm here with the birds in the bird section......Of course I work with them. *shakes head*

I suppose I can get the confusion though. Like I'm pretty sure there's a disconnect with customers when they see me Cleaning as opposed to seeing me just wandering around my department.

As cleaning probably means 'less knowledgeable' in a way. And so they assume I'm just there to clean cages and don't actually know anything about the animals I'm working with.

It's happened before with the rodents and reptiles and fish....so it makes sense it would happen with the birds as well.

*shakes head*

Silly customer. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

The 10 Minute Fish

 Had a couple come into the store looking at the fish.

And after a while they ended up asking the typical fish question of "How long does "X" live?"

Usually we get it with the betta fish.

But today the question was "How long do your Neon Tetras live?"

Like....if you give them a good life? "Ten years." is potentially how long the egg laying fish can live.

And the customer was like "Oh, he *points to companion* thought that they would only live ten minutes!"

Which.. Ha. Ha. Funny.

But at the same time. Can you imagine that? Imagine there being a fish that only lives ten minutes?

I'm pretty sure our store would never carry it if that was the case. Like...we'd have to have a constant influx of thousands if not millions of the fish in order to keep them in stock. 

And us poor workers would be having to fish out dead constantly.

No. It would definitely not be cost effective or worth the hassle to carry a fish that lived so short of a time.

Like...who would even want to buy such a fish??? It could possibly be dead before you left the store, real high chance it wouldn't even make it home if you were able to get in and out real quick....

Like yikes. :S 

Still it's an interesting thought exercise to have. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

I.D. Please

 A group of three teenagers came into the store today and wanted to buy a hamster.

Normally, that isn't a problem...except these particular teenagers didn't quite look like they were 18.

And with no guardian in sight...I asked how old they were.

Their leader proclaimed that she was 18. Which is great and all...but I wasn't quite buying it.

Like. I understand, having a young face myself, that she could definitely be 18 years old or older and just look young.

But to be safe I asked to see her Driver's License. To confirm that she was indeed 18. 

As in order to buy any animals in our store.

You have to be at least 18 years old or else have a guardian with you who can fill out the paperwork.

The leader of the group confidently pulled out her wallet and flipped it open.

And one of her cohorts was like "There it is." and pointed to one part of the wallet.

But the leader quickly flipped her wallet closed and was like "Oh, I left it in the car. We'll be right back."

Yah...that's not totally a red flag right there. *shakes head*

I understand people leaving their wallets in their car by mistake...but shouldn't your license be in your wallet?

In any case. A good fifteen minutes later, two of the girls come back in. No idea where the third went to.

And the girl was like "So, I left my license home apparently, can I show you my student i.d. instead?" 

Ha. *shakes head* No. I shut that down rather quickly. As I know that there are 17 year olds who go to college. I was like "Unfortunately, I need to have a form of i.d. with your date of birth on it." 

So a no go for the student i.d.

The girls were like "Oh, okay. We'll try tomorrow then." And left.

But yah...pretty sure they're not 18.

*shakes head*

We'll see if they actually come back or not.

-Sarnic Dirchi

To The Vet

 I ran some of our animals to the vet this morning. 

Which was kinda different. Showing up at work long enough to gather the animals and place them in their critter totes and then driving off to the vet.

Lol in the premorning light it nearly felt like being on a spy mission. 

Because usually we show up in the midmorning time.

But the vet had mentioned that they were open an hour earlier than my store was.

And with me being the only person in my department...it would be far easier to head out before we opened so I wouldn't have to worry about someone covering my department while I was gone.

Which was a good thing.

Because today was one of those Wednesdays where we had customers in the store right at opening. And some of them immediately needed help in the department with crickets and fish and such.

So it was great that I managed to get to the vet and back before we opened.

Though I had a heart stopping moment when I thought I'd shown up too early despite being told I could come before our store opened, because when I showed up up the lights were dim enough that it looked like the place was dark. 

However, I could see the receptionists inside. And when I grabbed the door it opened for me. And I wasn't scolded for coming in before they were open.

So woot!!

So I was able to drop off our animals to be checked out and return to the store before we opened. 

It was great for a plan to actually work out well. Especially since the morning was slightly busier than expected.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Straws

There's those sort of people that come into the store that you just automatically don't like.

Most recently those particular customers have been the anti-maskers. 

Tonight we had one of those people come into the store.

The slightly more clever type. That uses loopholes to get around the rules.

The Dummy.

This particular anti-masker is the type who you kinda think of as the pretty boy frat boy type. 

Has the looks.

But no brains.

Or well....he has brains. But he's using them for all the wrong reasons. 

As the dude had one of those scarf masks on...but it was around his neck. Not over his nose and mouth.

The reason?

He had a drink in hand. One that had a straw.

And his excuse?

Was that he was 'drinking' his drink. And therefore couldn't wear his mask.

*rolls eyes*

He gave us this reason after we asked him to wear a mask.

And then was petty enough to then keep the straw firmly in his mouth the rest of the time he was in the store.

Like I said. Clever.

But oh so stupid.

*exhales*

Wish he would have used his brains for something more than being a petty anti-masker.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Which Option?

 Had a customer call the store first thing this morning, wanting to know if we did shots for dogs.

Which our vet clinic within the store does shots. But our store itself does not sell them or give them out. 

Unfortunately our phone systems don't quite connect with the vet's phones. 

So the customers need to recall the number and hit the vet option listed. 

The customer today was like "But there wasn't an option for a vet! I called and it sent me here!" 

*exhales*

What that means is that you didn't listen to all the options.

As the vet option is there. 

However with the pandemic corporate has changed the spiel given on the phone for when they're giving you options of which number to press for certain areas of the store. 

It's no longer a quick thing.

They have to give more details on how to do the curbside pick up and how to contact grooming and the like.

So it's like a five minute listening process to hear all the options.

And people are impatient.

So I bet most people just hit 'zero' to get through quicker. And then pretend that 'that option wasn't listed.' 

It is.

I've listened to the spiel.

Though I am tempted to listen to it again so I can memorize which numbers go to which area of the store so I can just tell the customer to call back and hit "#" instead of just vaguely telling them to listen to it and the option will be there.

At the same time...people really should just listen to all the options before deciding that their option isn't there.

-Sarnic Dirchi