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Bloomin Petshop

H

honeybunny

Wise Old Thumper
A large pet store opened near us last Christmas and we are having calls to hand in rabbits that have been purchased there
Today a man rang wanting to hand in a 5 month old bun bought there only a few weeks ago
he said " the problem is when we bought her she was small and easy to handle..we were told they act like cats and are easy to pick up and would be ideal for my children..well she is now boxing, scratching and biting us "

I said " yep they can behave that way, she has hit puberty and needs speying " I went on to explain rabbit behaviour, etc and he said he wasn't told any of this just bought her " on one of those offers with a plastic indoor cage" :roll::(

We are full so cannot take her but I have offered to go round to show them how to handle her correctly and things to do to make her less defensive..they are thinking about whether to take my offer up:?

We have had many young buns bought from this store that people have handed, or wanted to hand, in ( Tony the nethie was one)
So I am now working out what to say when I pay the store a visit
 
Crikey. Whilst it wasn't done on purpose, it does feel like a slap in your face, I'll bet? As if you don't have enough on your plate. The people who purchase animals without researching first are annoying, but the pet shops who lie to them are much much worse.
I hope you get to go round and assist them, though it sounds to me like they want rid and are not interested because like the majority of people 'it's too much like hard work'. :( :(
 
A new branch of Pets at Home by any chance?

I had a similar experience with someone at the vets the other day. They'd bought two male dwarf lops from Pets at Home. They were told 1) There wouldn't be a problem with 2 males living together, and 2) They wouldn't grow any bigger because they were 'dwarf' lops. They had been sold a woefully inadequate plastic indoor cage.

I pointed to the dwarf lops I'd brought with me to the vets and told them that they ought to start looking for housing for a medium sized rabbit. Luckily they seemed quite receptive and were a bit annoyed with the pet shop for telling them they were dwarf sized rabbits.

IMO Standards at the Pets at Home branches in my area have gone downhill badly in recent months :(
 
Very annoying for you ... and so sad for the poor buns. :( Some pet shops are better than others. I noticed our local Pets at Home are doing a rabbit care workshop this weekend.
 
:(

Hope you can speak to the manager of the store. Might be worth drafting a letter to the manager and sending a copy to head office as well.

Wish there was something more you could do. It makes me so angry, so goodness knows what you feel like. :(
 
I would not be able to hold my nerve on that one and would probably tear the shop manager a new one, plus a bill for all the repair work you've done with the rabbits been handed in and originally came from there.

I wonder how many complaint letters P@H get? Must be sackfuls, and yet they carry on being imbeciles!
 
Going to play devils advocate here; but I don't think 100% of the blame should be focussed on the Pet store, In my opinion if you are going to buy a pet of ANY type you need to be responsible enough to actually research what you are getting yourself into and not just walk into a store see an offer and a fluffy bun and think that it will always stay that way. The person who purchased it is as much to blame as the retailer.;)
 
sidney &lola said:
Going to play devils advocate here; but I don't think 100% of the blame should be focussed on the Pet store, In my opinion if you are going to buy a pet of ANY type you need to be responsible enough to actually research what you are getting yourself into and not just walk into a store see an offer and a fluffy bun and think that it will always stay that way. The person who purchased it is as much to blame as the retailer.;)
Click to expand...

A good salesman is just that, a good salesman.

Part of the blame lies with retailer, but if they're going to be fed a bunch of lies more blame lies with the pet shop.
 
sidney &lola said:
Going to play devils advocate here; but I don't think 100% of the blame should be focussed on the Pet store, In my opinion if you are going to buy a pet of ANY type you need to be responsible enough to actually research what you are getting yourself into and not just walk into a store see an offer and a fluffy bun and think that it will always stay that way. The person who purchased it is as much to blame as the retailer.;)
Click to expand...

yes in an ideal world everyone would research a pet before buying one

but they were sold a young doe, not told about hormones and neutering, although there are signs up in the shop..and told she would be great for the children..also sold with a cage that is not up to the Welfare bill advice on size by any means

A large and profitable company who puts forward an image of helping rescues and the rescue situation..can help today in a huge way by one simple step
STOP SELLING ANIMALS
and get rid of the "adoption " centres and just support and advertise local rescues who do the job properly
 
honeybunny said:
A large and profitable company who puts forward an image of helping rescues and the rescue situation..can help today in a huge way by one simple step
STOP SELLING ANIMALS
and get rid of the "adoption " centres and just support and advertise local rescues who do the job properly
Click to expand...

Hear Hear!!
 
and to add

we were partnered up with a store, despite me getting quite a bit of criticism about sleeping with the enemy..but the reason I made that decision was the manager of that store was very sympathetic to the rescue situation and did all they could, within their job restrictions, to promote rescue animals
However they have since left that job and so we let our partnership fade..I did consider joining up with this new store but having had so many calls to take animals they are selling without the correct advice..and no you cannot rely on people to read store banners...I have hesitated
The stores do vary depending on the staff..and hopefully if I can get the manager of this store to listen things there may improve:?
 
honeybunny said:
and to add

we were partnered up with a store, despite me getting quite a bit of criticism about sleeping with the enemy..but the reason I made that decision was the manager of that store was very sympathetic to the rescue situation and did all they could, within their job restrictions, to promote rescue animals
However they have since left that job and so we let our partnership fade..I did consider joining up with this new store but having had so many calls to take animals they are selling without the correct advice..and no you cannot rely on people to read store banners...I have hesitated
The stores do vary depending on the staff..and hopefully if I can get the manager of this store to listen things there may improve:?
Click to expand...

We did the same thing. The manager who was excellent at the time has now left and now the store don't listen to anything we have to say really. The new manager doesn't seem to care and the relationship has broken down. He used to phone me and was very promoting of our rescue and rescues in general and very positive to listening to advice and promoting change. I do feel it's taken a step backwards now which is very sad. They also keep passing my number on to people who want "rid" of their gerbils, even though i have told them several times we are totally full and cannot take on any more.
 
This is awful but I think the carrot not the stick option would be best. Maybe speak to the manager and tactfully let them know of their apparent shortcomings. Tell them what you have been told by their customers and offer to do some training with their staff so they pass on the info required. Pitch it in such a way that if their customers are keeping their rabbits and not handing them to you then they will continue to buy supplies from there.
 
Rhian33 said:
This is awful but I think the carrot not the stick option would be best. Maybe speak to the manager and tactfully let them know of their apparent shortcomings. Tell them what you have been told by their customers and offer to do some training with their staff so they pass on the info required. Pitch it in such a way that if their customers are keeping their rabbits and not handing them to you then they will continue to buy supplies from there.
Click to expand...
I never said I would use a stick approach
but I doubt they would allow or see the need for me to train their staff..their training is quite good apparently..but what gets put into practice in the stores can be quite different:(
 
Plus times are hard, many people are short of cash...but these stores are still expected to make year on year improvements in profits. An easy way to do this is to sell more animals...although they don't make a profit from the animals themselves, they lead to lots of 'add on' sales...i.e. hutch/cage, food, toys, treats...plus the prospect of repeat business.
 
Sorry, I didn't mean you were going to be horrible, just meant that maybe a quiet chat with the offer of help may be an option before complaining to Head Office etc. as you can always go higher if that doesn't work. They may take it well if they are shown your rescue along with examples of hormonal rabbits that you have. The staff may only have had contact with babies so may be unaware of how bad it can get. No excuse for ignorance but education is always the good
 
honeybunny said:
yes in an ideal world everyone would research a pet before buying one

but they were sold a young doe, not told about hormones and neutering, although there are signs up in the shop..and told she would be great for the children..also sold with a cage that is not up to the Welfare bill advice on size by any means

A large and profitable company who puts forward an image of helping rescues and the rescue situation..can help today in a huge way by one simple step
STOP SELLING ANIMALS
and get rid of the "adoption " centres and just support and advertise local rescues who do the job properly
Click to expand...

Absolutely.
 
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