PET SHOP STAFF SH@! ME TO TEARS

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WasasMum
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Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:21 am

PET SHOP STAFF SH@! ME TO TEARS

Post by WasasMum »

Ok people, sorry for such a horrible subject, but I am a little bit annoyed.
My partner and I like to go to the petshop every couple of weekends to see the other indian ringnecks that are available as we are searching for the perfect partner for Wasa.
We went out into the aviary section coz we like looking at all the other birds that they have, and a pet shop assistant approached us we were oooiiinnngggg and aahhhhiiinnnnggg over the ringnecks in their cage.
She proceeded to tell us that we should not be looking at an IRN as they are the most "EVIL" birds that she has ever seen. MEANWHILE the girl would have been all of 16 MAX. I then proceeded to tell her how Wasa started off agro however with some love and attention he is now a beautiful loving fid.
She THEN went on to tell me that after 3-4 years, when they reach their full maturity, he will hate my partner and just bond to me or visa versa, AND THEN went on to tell us how we can visually sex the parrots including that if we got another bird of ANY species Wasa would turn on us and would become EVIL.
This went on for ohhhh geee a good 15 minutes of this GIRL telling me complete bullshit about IRN and Alexandrines, and also going on about a Sparrow that was killing other sparrows and finches. In the end we walked away after having a quick smooch with what she called THE KILLER COCKATEIL who is actually just the most gorgeous little fid out there.... yes moody, but very beautiful.

Has anyone else experienced other pet shop assistants like this?
pinkdevil
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Post by pinkdevil »

Hmmm....what a great ambassador for petshops this young girls is!!! :evil: :evil: I wonder what the shop owner would think of her telling potential customers this?! Beside the fact that she is spreading the WRONG information to pet owners.
It seems to me that she does not like birds so I do not understand why she would be working in a pet shop to begin with. :?
If I was the shop owner I would "relieve" her of her shop duties and find someone else who loves animals and has the right knowledge to give potential pet owners. JMO



:)
bec
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Post by bec »

i agree with pink devil she shouldnt be working with animals
i am so lucky with the pet shop i go to in ferntree gully
yes i travel from healesville to ftg to do most of my petshop stuff purely because where i go thhy take the time to go over thingsd with you & i know the avairy manager breeds irns herself in fact riku is one of her babies & both the owner & the avairy manager are always asking me about her & delighting in the new pics i have of her on my moblie also even before i actually bought a bird they spent about 20 minutes going over what animals we had & which bird was suitable for my daughter somme petshop workers are only in it for the money but if your lucky you can find good ones

but then again maybe the ringnecks in this store picked up her attitude to them & decided they dont like her either :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Lauren
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Post by Lauren »

Some people should not work with animals. Yes, they might love animals, but working with them is a different story. Ive heard this all too much. Young people thinking they want to work with animals, then quickly realize its alot harder than just playing and talking to them. This girl obviously is looking at the wrong type of work.
And yes I hope the IRNs there picked on her, because shes not doing them any favours. :lol:

Bec, I think I may know that pet shop in ferntree gully, I didnt know he was a breeder. What a small world! I might take a trip over there soon. Havnt been there in a while. Oh and I dont know if its the same one or not, but 7 years ago I bought Jibby from a shop in ferntree gully, but they moved shortly after so I dont know where they went. :(
"Jibby aka Gilbert" Indian Ringneck 13 years "Charlie" Rex Rabbit 1 year
bec
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Post by bec »

we should organise shopping days & meet up theres a really nice coffee shop right near there!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
inept
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Location: Richmond, BC

Post by inept »

I've got a pet shop nearby with a pretty impressive selection of exotic birds for the region. Ultimately, it's a pet shop and you have to expect that it will be non-ideal conditions for the birds, but the most common trait I find among the people who work there is fear. There are some who really love birds and some who handle the birds with their faces turned away out of fear. They may do excellent jobs of cleaning and changing water but they are scared of the birds.

They assign attributes to the birds based on their own experiences and that's only human. To be fair, birds can do a heck of a lot of damage with their beaks and for someone who might not be a bird lover to get a serious bite, well that really creates a fundamental negative impression. Very few people have the guts to stick their hands into a cage with a macaw. They're HUGE and they could probably crack coconuts with those beaks. I'm that way with some animals too. We all are. I think it's only fair to give the people who service us in retail outlets the benefit of the doubt and understand that people have varying preferences to and thoughts on the same things. She might be a bad saleswoman but it's nothing to lose sleep over.

Honestly, it's probably better for the bird that she make an effort to inform potential owners that birds can be difficult to own sometimes. Even though you explained to her that you have an IRN... Well maybe she isn't too clever...

My local shop's got a very temperamental grey. It likes things done its own way or not at all and people who disobey the grey's rules get bitten hard. Sometimes he'll be courteous enough to tell you, "Stop it!" before he bites but usually it's just the beak. He seems to love me, though! They've also got an amazon who's very aggressive towards females but very friendly with males and a macaw that loves beak play and is clingy to the point that he grabs with his talons and does not let go.

It's easy to understand why a kid who's supposed to be changing the paper in the cages might not want to get too close and might recommend the same to others.
Poochletty
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Post by Poochletty »

The pet shop where I purchased Blue from in December also thought he was a "nasty" guy with a bad attitude. They wewren't mean to him. They just avoided him. And were a bit afraid of him after a few nips from his beak. All except the one worker who actually put him in the box when my husband bought him. That young man liked him and after he caught him and had a bit of blood drawn, he let Blue climb his arm and he apologized to Blue for scaring him. They warned us that he might be difficult but that he also has a sweet side. It was to our benefit. Since he was a "biter"... they discounted his cost by 40% for us. YAY! I think all people who work in a pet shop should at least like and be comfortable around animals. And if they are not 100% sure of the imformation they give, they should just stay quiet. What is the old saying? "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt". :D
giantfoot_truck
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Post by giantfoot_truck »

Lol, If we get another bird of same species they would turn on us and would become EVIL??? Ahahahaha, maybe she was drunk when she say all this piece of crap, or had a horrible day. :lol: :lol:
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my_monkey
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Post by my_monkey »

lol i work in a petshop and no we dont tell people that lol and why people want to hire or work in a pet shop when they dont like animals is beyond me ... im a dog and cat groomer and i love animals people shouldnt work in a pet shop unless they are animal lovers
bec
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Post by bec »

the petshop i got general from, most of the staff were great although they didnt know much about irns after i told them all the fruits & veggies my guys eat & they saw the delight with wich he dug in to the spinach & brocoli tha t i bought in for him
but the guy that was there when i picked him up!
as i was about to walk out the door with him he said i hope you know what youve got yourself into because they are vishous (is that how you spell it it just doesnt look right to me) nasty birds who will attck anything that comes near them & dont ever try to handle them without gloves!!!! :shock:
well everyone else in the shop absolutly loved general and almost cried with joy when i came in with pics of the birdy jungle gym he will sahre with riku & kieron after the quarantine is over they were so happy that he was going to a home that (as they put it he would be so loved &spoilt coz hed been by himself there for far too long)
but this guy was realy nasty about it so i pointed out that i have 2 at home one of which is nervous about hands but not nasty he will only bite as a last defence
and my other one is so gentle even through her bluffing stage that her "bites" dont even mark you & most of the time she just nuzzles you with her beak
and that i have a huge amount of friends that have irns & they all have lovely natures too

he replied i just wanted to be sure you could handle it if it turns into a nasty one
by this time general was starting to stress a little so i just slowly lifted the cage so he could see my face & said its alright general lets get you home he came to my side of the cage and looked at me with his head tilted & chirped very quietly i looked at the guy & said "not going to happen this darlin has got a mean bone in his body & left
celtic_aura
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Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:51 pm

Post by celtic_aura »

It's weird how people think that a certain type of bird will be nasty because of the breed. Kinda how some people thing ALL pitbulls are nasty dogs and ALL Siamese cats are the devil. I think very little has to do with the breed of bird/dog/cat and more with how they are raised and how people handle it if they do start to show some nastiness. Treat an animal like they are mean and vicious and your scared of them and they probably will become mean, nasty and vicious.
I know where I live working at a pet shop is minimun wage, so there isn't a whole lot put into educating and training staff. Quite often when we go pet shop browsing, my husband ends up pointing out something that an employee or the shop could do better. Quite often he ends up getting into an argument about staff, especially how they keep their fish or wrong information given out about fish.
bec
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Post by bec »

i know what you mean celtic aura i was always told with siamese cats dont get a male if you want to let your kids near it but i had a male siamese when matty my son was 3 years oldmy male siamese disowned me because matt had chicken pox & needed to be looked after if matty wasnt in bed by the allotted time simon would sit in his bedroom doorway and scream his matt scream (it actualy sounded like the word matt!) until he went to bed & if he had a nap on the couch simon was on the back of the couch if i hugged matt and did the nom nom nom thing on his neck simon attacked me and if matt was at his dads place for the weekend i had to ring and put simon on the phone to matt otherwise he wouldnt eat the whole time matt was away :roll:
we also grew up with german shepards the things people say about them is horrendous but ours were such sooks if my brothers fought heidi would hide behind me for protection i mantain that its the handling of an animal that decides the quality!
celtic_aura
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Post by celtic_aura »

My husband's uncle has Siamese that he traid to fetch his smokes! He'd just say "Elmo, smokes!" and the darn cat would go to the pack, open it and pull out a cigarette. It's the weirdest thing.
We have German Shephard Husky mix that is the bigest baby in the world even though she's a fairly big looking dogs. It's funny, when we talk our puppers out for a stroll, everyone is scared of Cassie Bear(the shephard mix) and just thinks our Spaniel is the sweetest thing. Truth be told, our Spaniel is very protective and hates most people and all other dogs, where as I think you could stick your hand down Cassie's throat before she'd bit! LOL
We were lucky that we had gotten our Gigi bird from a rehabber who told us he was the sweetest bird. We didn't know a lot about IRNs until we had him. (Although we still would have gotten him. We don't listen a whole lot about bad breeds of anything.) Kinda makes me wonder how maybe IRNs out there could have gone to a wonderful house if the pet shop workers were a bit better informed. :(
bec
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Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:51 pm
Location: boronia

Post by bec »

hmmmmm............maybe i should start applying for jobs in a pet shop
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
at least the irns would get a fair chance
hey maybe i can find one who will let me work for store credit!!!
id save a fortune on toys & pet food alone!!!!!!
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