At the Fish Wall

I had a customer standing at the fishwall talking on the phone while I was tasking.

And like, usually as a general rule, I don't try and talk to people when they're on the phone because like...that's rude? And I don't really want to get people mad at me. 

And he'd been standing there looking at the fish for a good ten minutes or so it felt like. 
And I could tell that he was trying to wind down whatever conversation he was having on the phone. 
But at the same time. He kept talking. So I figured if he needed help he would let me know when he needed help and therefore kept working on the tasks (cleaning the tanks) I was doing at the fish wall.

But then.
I got called away to help a customer buy a guinea pig and a skinny pig. 
So I left the fish wall to check in on those customers and established that they did indeed wanted to get both animals today.
And I turn around to grab paperwork for them.
And the customer who had been standing at the fish wall was standing right there.
Just looking at me. 

And I was like "You need help with fish?" 
To which he was like: "Yes."
And I was like "Okay, I'm helping these guys but I'll be right over.''

But like. 
Dude.
I was literally standing at the fish wall for TEN MINUTES and you didn't indicate at all that you needed help.
But the MOMENT I walk away to go help another person is when you decide to finish your conversation on the phone and seek help? Like. Seriously??

*exhales*

I ended up sending my manager over to help him as I knew that the paperwork for the guinea pig would take a while to fill out.

Which since that particular manager is new to catching fish...it ended up taking them a bit to get all the different types of fish the customer wanted....I probably could have finished the task in the same amount of time if I'd helped the guinea pig customer and then went to help this guy get his fish.

But yah.

Still kinda irritated that the customer only decided he needed help after I'd walked away after like ten minutes. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Escapee

We apparently have a leopard gecko loose in the store.

One that's been running around long enough gorging himself on crickets that he's apparently now to his adult size. 

My manager told me that while they were cleaning dishes in the back during the reptile bedding change.
They happened to look down by their foot and there he was. 

But...because another lizard had bitten my manager during the bedding change earlier.
They were a bit reluctant to grab this random adult lizard that appeared at their feet.

Plus it's a bit surprising to just see a lizard where you're not expecting to see one.

So he ended up vanishing, escaping into a dark hole where he couldn't be reached.

So yah.
We have an adult leopard gecko running around the store.
I'm kinda hoping I can find him tomorrow.
I kept an eye out today but didn't see him.

So we'll see what the morrow brings.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Two More Please!

I had a customer come into the store today wanting to buy a couple of guinea pigs.

Which isn't a surprise as we usually urge people to buy more than one guinea pig as they are a social creature and love to have a friend. 

What was surprising was that this customer....already had two guinea pigs.

I remembered them specifically as they had brought back one of their guinea pigs to us to care for because he'd ended up with a little bit of a cold and needed some medicine for it. 

So already knowing that they had two guinea pigs at home.

I was rather surprised that the customer wanted not one, but two more. 

Like. O.o 
Why would you want four guinea pigs??

I probably would understand it better if I owned a guinea pig myself.
But currently I don't.
So I don't understand it at all.

But the customer was excited because they were moving into a bigger place and therefore could have more room for more pets. 

At least I know that they're going to a good home.
Since I've helped this customer before.

Still...four guinea pigs.... Huh.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Still Out

Surprisingly enough.
We apparently got a fish shipment in yesterday despite the fact that we were told we weren't going to. 
And among those....were betta fish! Woot!

However....we either got very few....or we sold them all the same day because when I came into work this morning there were only two bettas left on the shelf.
Which I ended up having to pull one off the floor and place it in the back because it had swim bladder issues which meant for Saturday, usually our most busy day of the week....we only had one betta for sale.

Thinking it over...I do wonder how many bettas we will get in the next little while.
Because like...I'm pretty sure we have our bettas shipped from Indonesia to Florida and then to our store. 

But like with the pandemic...I'm not sure how much international travel is happening. Or how many international shipments of product -including live animals- are occuring.

And if places are shut down.....

I won't be surprised if we continue to remain low on bettas for the next little while.

Which is...unfortunate as people are constantly coming in looking for an easy pet.
And bettas are pretty easy. 

It definitely wasn't fun to tell customers today who were gathering supplies for betta fish and such...that we didn't have any (besides the expensive glo bettas) 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Sold Out

It's interesting how customers can fail to comprehend the concept that pet stores can run out of things. 

Like they expect us to have a constant supply of what they want in stock.
But like...we can run out of things.
Especially if supplies are limited.

And with the pandemic...it's hard to predict just when we'll get certain things in.

Like Betta Fish.

Because of the pandemic, social distancing and a lot more people staying home. 
Everyone is wanting a pet.

And the simple and least expensive pet to get....is a betta fish. 

However...last Friday we didn't get in our fish shipment.
And it's unknown if we'll get in our shipment tomorrow.

But because we didn't get a resupply....we ran out of bettas on Saturday.
So have spent the entire week with only our GloFish Bettas left. 
Which considering those are between $10-$30...
Not a lot of people are willing to buy one.

Though there have been customers who have been so convinced that they need a betta fish that they have bought the glo ones.

In any case.

I had a trio come into the store today. Looking to buy a betta fish.

"Where are all your betta fish?" They demanded.
"We're sold out" was my response.
"Sold out! Why did you sell them all?!" 

....Like...that's a stupid question to ask.
Why did we sell them all?
Because people bought them. 
Obviously if something is for sell people will buy them. If we run out...it's because people bought them before we could restock the shelves.

*shakes head*

It was like the customers were offended that we didn't save a betta fish specifically for them.
But like Dude.
We've been out of the bettas for practically a week.
Not our fault that you got the idea to get a pet fish after everyone else.

*exhales*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Not Koi

I had a customer come in looking for koi fish.
But not any koi fish.
They were specifically looking for a 50/50 orange koi.

Which I'm guessing is a koi that is 50% orange and 50% white.

I could have told the customer that we didn't have any with that particular combo of coloration.
Most of the koi we have are mostly white with spotting of various colors. 

So it's easy to see at first glance that we have nothing like the customer was describing.

But the customer was rather focused on the fish. 
More particularly....what they weren't.

Apparently the customer was convinced that some of the koi fish that we had in the koi tanks weren't actually koi. Because they didn't have the 'mouth flap' that the koi do.

*exhales* I tried to say that it was possibly breeding, or age of the fish...

But the customer was adamant that if it didn't have the 'mouth flap' it wasn't a koi fish.

And proceeded to point at basically every single koi in every single tank saying "This one has it, this one doesn't, this one has it, this one has it, this one doesn't, this one doesn't." 

Like...Dude. I have better things to do than to have to stand there listening to you mansplain to me exaclty why the fish I have aren't the fish we're supposed to have.

It's not like I can control what fish we get into the store. Nor is there a tank I can put the 'non koi' fish in and sell them as "Ooops not koi" fish. *rolls eyes* 

But the customer seemed to be quite captivated by talking. Even speaking about the koi that they already have at home and differing variations and colors and shapes and sizes and pointing to koi and being like "I have one like this but it's now this big!" 

Like...good and all....

And I'm glad that this person is so passionate about their koi fish and are wanting to get exactly what they want....

But that doesn't still mean that I get frustrated that I had to stand there, listening to you talk, only for you to not buy anything in the end. Like...sure on a normal day I wouldn't mind. But with the pandemic going on...it really isn't a good idea to just....linger.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Research

You know...I think it's laudable that parents want their kids to know what they're getting into. 
Having them do research on the pets they want. 
Like it's an excellent idea. 

Only....it's probably a good idea for parents to do their own research too. After all, kids don't always know what to look for. 

You know like. What the animal eats.
Or how much it costs.
Or how much the set up itself costs.

*exhales*

I had to deal with multiple parents today.
Who let their kids do the 'research' on the pet that they wanted. 

Only to come into the store...and actually be completely unprepared for the pet that their child said they wanted.

I had one such parent come into the store with their kid wanting a chameleon. 

Which chameleons are not good pets for beginning pet owners.
They need a higher humidity, aren't really good for holding, and of course...eat bugs.

Yah. The parent wasn't at all prepared for the fact that all the reptiles in the store ate live bugs. (except the tortoises/turtles & snakes) 

It's frustrating. I then had to spend a good twenty minutes if not longer, going through all the various other pets that we sold.
All the while knowing that the parent was not keen on getting another pet in the first place.
Like...if you don't want another pet...why are you getting your child's hopes up by letting them come to a pet store??

It like...became a mission to convince the children that none of the pets in the store were ones that they wanted.
They weren't convinced though the mother was. 

*exhales*

So frustrating. I had to repeat the scenario more than once today.
And all the while I'm just rooting for the people to go home because I don't want to be helping people when we should be social distancing. 

Note to self. Whenever I have kids...I need to make sure I research the pets they want too.
That way I know how much it's gonna cost and what is involved. 
After all..I'll probably end up taking care of the animal anyways.

-Sarnic Dirchi