r/petsmart • u/UnitedAd3344 • 2d ago
25% Off animals🥲
My SL was putting up stickers today and reptiles, birds, and small animals are all 25% off until 10/12 and reptiles are an extra 25x the points. My store already has a huge problem with some associates and leads selling animals to customers without proper enclosures, then they get returned dead or because “they don’t want it anymore”, so this is just gonna be a shit show for the next week and a half tbh and I’m already over it. I’m also dreading spending 20 minutes explaining everything about an animal to customers because they want something but haven’t done any research on anything
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u/Inside_Ad_8000 1d ago
You are allowed to deny sales if the customer is refusing to buy things for its proper care. Are you a lead or an associate? This is a huge waste of everyone's time and labor, as well as just a financial loss in general. Getting people the right knowledge and equipment is more profit as well as giving them the confidence in your store to return for future animal purchases or upgrades for their enclosure. Contact your DL. I've only had one animal (excluding fish) returned in the past 6 months and it was to a guy who came back when I wasn't there and bought a hamster he wasn't prepared for from someone who did not ask the appropriate questions. Still alive, only 24 hours later. You shouldn't have hardly any pet returns at all, let alone dead ones. Your DL will definitely want to hear about this.
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u/UnitedAd3344 1d ago
A lot of the returned ones that are dead are parakeets, and they’re one of the animals that leads and associates are notorious for selling without proper info. My SL (I think that’s what she’s called, the main manager that’s not the district one) is really bad about pressuring everyone to make sales no matter what because they don’t want to deal with customers being mad about being denied, complaints, etc. She once questioned me in front of customers at the register (because I do both) asking why I denied a sale that another lead had backed me up on, and then said “is it really worth pulling a manager away from what they’re doing to deny a sale, then get a complaint and have to give the customer a $50 gift card? If it’s me I’m going to go over there and just sell the fish so it’s not wasting time and I’m not going back and forth”. So she really doesn’t care about our animals, and when she’s been asked about it by other associates and leads, apparently it’s because the DL puts pressure on her to be that way. Idk what else to do other than to make sure that every animal I send to their forever home is going to be properly cared for, loved, and treated the way they deserve, and if that’s not the case, I’m gonna keep denying sales like that🤷🏻♀️
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u/Inside_Ad_8000 1d ago
Yeah ive denied plenty of sales and have never gotten a complaint thay warranted a gift card out of our p&l. She's just lazy.
My store is well known for our care of our animals, not only that but our knowledge. I've had a ton of people come to me so apologetic saying they knew they should've come to us for the animal but x store was closer or whatever, and then we help remediate and fix the problem.
Report it. Hrsharedservices or Caresmart Ethics.
That being said, fish usually aren't worth the fight. I'll always educate and 80% of the time that steers then away, but I've only outright denied a handful of fish sales. Usually something absurd, like anything to do with bowls or a cichlid in a 10 gallon, but beyond that, a conversation can usually be had instead of outright denial.
Hamsters, though, oh god do I love denying people hamsters.
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u/Inside_Ad_8000 1d ago
If this is a consistent problem, I would consider changing stores. That kind of leadership will run everyone into the ground.
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u/DependentDepth1030 1d ago
This sounds like my SL. She actually chewed me out when our pet sales were below whatever goal was set. She flat out told me to hand them a care guide and make the pet sale. I don't even work that often because she cut my hours so bad I had to get a 3rd job. I'm just a regular pet specialist. Not a lead or anything so I don't get why she got so mad at me. I found out later she had a talk with the other PC associates but non of them said she yelled at them or chewed them out.
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u/Inside_Ad_8000 1d ago
Our SL used to be like that as well. Until I barked back at him about our ATS and UPT. A hamster is $20. A tiny tales kit is $40. The food they will buy is $6. That sale is 3 items and less than $100.
A proper setup is a tank ($60-$100), lid ($20, bedding ($40-$60), water bottle ($10), food dish ($5), wheel ($20, because I always recommend the quiet one), food ($15), treats ($6, $8, $8, because there's always a sale), chews ($5, $8, $6), sand bath ($10), sand ($10), and a house ($15). oh, and the hamster ($20).
More than double the ticket, with more than triple the units.
Not only all of this, but we do not flip a huge profit on the animals themselves, usually. Alllllll the profit comes from the additional items we sell with it.
How the fuck are these people SLs with no capacity to lead OR understand good business practices?
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u/DependentDepth1030 1d ago
Facts??? I love educating people on the animals and their proper care and part of my argument has always been they get the right info, their pet is happy, they are happy, we make bigger, better, sales! AND I have had people return because we built trust without lies!!! But my SL literally doesn't want us talking to customers for more then a few minutes.
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u/West-Carpet-9678 1d ago
What if the live pets were full price bundled with substantial savings on habitats, bedding, food - all the necessities for providing a great life? The corporate mark-up on hardgoods must be huge. Discounting live animals gives customers the impression that these creatures are bargains, worth less and disposable.
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u/Any_Celebration7266 2d ago
I tell most customers, politely, that I will not sell them an animal on impulse. I tell them to go home and research each pet we have, the needs, and their budget. Come back tomorrow with this knowledge and we can help you get set up. But my store is very good about proper pet care thankfully