Pet Store around 7th Ave 5th St

Been going there for years since he was on 4th Street next to the dry cleaners, never had a problem. Actually always found the owner very helpful. Don't really know his son. Oh, and, yes, I am a woman.

What was he yelling at you about?

Subject: Re: Pet Store around 7th Ave & 5th St

Slope4-35Yrs wrote: I get the feeling that they think I should shut up and put on a burqua.

Would you have said that if you thought the men were born and raised in Bay Ridge?

My wife and I have been going there for over 7 years and the owner, though very quiet, is also very polite. His younger family member is even more quiet.

Quiet should never be interpreted as rude. But your statement will always, at the very best, be interpreted as rude.

BTW the correct spelling is either burka, burkha, bourkha, or burqa!

yeah, i am getting the feeling that this has more to do with the owner's heritage than how this person has ever been treated in that store. the burka comment was very out of line.

Hey caseopele.. I so understand your post. And that is why I mourn the pasing of VC Pet on 9th street.. Mike knew me, knew my dogs by name... Like in so many other areas of consumer life.. that personal atention seems to be fallen off the radar.

At this point I am looking for the best price on the dog food I use and have no hope that any store in the Slope will give me personal attention or express a real interest in getting to know me or my pets. Makes me sad even saying that.

Yeah, I've given up on finding a pet store with the kind of personal attention VC Pet gave you, veets and peanuts. Basically, now I just want a place where the prices are right and the people are friendly. I know NYC Pet is becoming a chain of sorts but I've been getting my stuff from the 5th Ave one for a few years. The staff there has always been friendly and helpful. When I first got Ripley I called them to get a delivery of food and new toys for her. The girl working that day actually got a bunch of plush squeaky toys, held each one up to the phone and squeezed them so I could pick the perfect one. (I couldn't leave the house that day for some now forgotten reason. I'm not that spoiled, I swear!) I was excited about having a puppy in the house again and the girl helping me got into it too. She helped me pick the perfect toy, a stuffed lion with squeakers in the body and one in each paw!

They don't remember me every time I call but they're consistently friendly and helpful. Meanwhile that lion toy is long gone, chewed up in a matter of hours but I still have that nice memory.

Subject: 7th Ave pet shop

My husband and I were having this very conversation this weekend. I felt that I always got a bad "vibe" when I was in there but he said that he always found them friendly and nice. I buy canned food by the case and always had to beg them to get one from the basement so that I didn't have to take individual cans from the shelf.
It is a convenient location but that is about it. Now we go to NYC Pet because they have a good selection, always friendly and helpful and offer to carry the 40 lb. bags of food to my car without me asking.
In defense of the original post I do think that the reason for my husband and my difference of opinion suggests a possible difference in service for men and women.

I go into this store all the time as it is so convient to my apartment. That said, I can see both sides of the arguement. They are never overly friendly, but only once did I really feel someone was rude. It was a younger man and he was openly annoyed when I had to ask him to take a dog treat off my final bill b/c it cost more then I thought and I was a little short on cash.

Last time I went in though two of the guys saw me struggling to reach the special food I need for my cat and quickly came to help.

Oh well, I guess that mediocore is the best its going to be at this point. I would like to know what the OP meant about them yelling at her...

Garfunky wrote: [quote=littlegal]
Oh well, I guess that mediocore is the best its going to be at this point. I would like to know what the OP meant about them yelling at her...

Someone i know works at a pet place. here are some of the nuttier things customers do,

"i bought this collar here a week ago, my dog decided to use it as a chew toy, why wont you give me a new one ??"

"these bull sticks look great . do they taste good ?"

"Ok so you havent personally tasted them but will my dog like them ?"

"i bought this 20 lb bag of pet food a month ago. My dog seemed to like it and ate it for about a week, but now he turns his nose up. i want a refund"

"how dare you tell me how to raise my child. the fact that he just peed on your floor after knocking over 3 of your displays because i was too busy yapping on my cell phone is NONE of YOUR concern"



i know nothing about the OP.
but it is possible op is similiarly disposed.

Im sure anyone working in retail can confirm they have REGULARS like those i describe.



Nope, not my customers. They are perfect and their children can do no wrong.

LOL! For a few years, i worked part time at a local Park Slope card store that is now gone, and, yes, the things customers come up with sometimes can be outrageous.

That is why I was asking what he was yelling at her, but, she hasn't come back. Interesting.

Garfunky
What a truly funny description of what idiots people can be I particularly like the dog chewed on collar and want a refund scenario...is it real? So glad I don't work in retail.
Also why I was wondering what OP's argurment was about...but as last poster not she hasn't been back. Hmmm, interesting.

I have to admit my story as the strange customer at a pet store, from a few years ago.

My beta, trained to jump for food, died so I headed to the local store I frequented for all pet supplies. I bought a new one. The next day, I came home from work and it wasn't in the bowl. I was sad that it had managed to jump from the bowl and looked for the body. Nothing. Then I noticed a bit of red in the marbles at the bottom of the bowl. My fish was buried under the marbles. I carefully moved the marbles assuming some bizarre accident landed him there and he would be dead. But no. He swam up and acted normal, and looked healthy.

This kept happening. The fish would either bury itself under the rocks or just lie on its side on the bottom despite seemingly good health and home (I'd kept previous betas the same way for years of life).

It frustrated me as I wanted to have an active fish to watch and possibly teach tricks to (I promise I'm not totally crazy, we just had fun with our pets. We taught one foster dog to wave "hi" and "bye" to people--adorable.) So, with a fish that was inactive except for dinner time, I decided to take advantage of the store's return policy and return the fish. I put it in dixie cup and headed over. First, they were surprised I was returning a live fish and second my specific reason seemed absurd to them, but I got my credit and those clerks probably tell the story of the lady who returned a fish b/c it buried itself under rocks all the time.

Not related to the op, but the silly customer stories reminded me of this one. My bf will never let it die.

Could this be or my imagination? I used to be a regular at 4 tails and they were always friendly. Not my best friends but friendly enough that I felt myself to be their loyal customer. After 9/11, they were cooler. I was just in there last week and I found myself thinking either they were nicer to me when I was a regular, or they are just not as nice as they once were. But I would definitely go back there--since the service is totally fine and I would never call it rude.

Except (I know I have been plugging this pet food store but it is so great....Hamilton Dog House in Windsor Terrace). The prices aren't the best, but the owner and his girlfriend LOVE animals and have a really big rescue operation in the store. I just got some dog food and today I saw a big cage of beautiful rescued kittens, two snakes, lizards, a rabbit and a couple dogs. This is a great place to frequent if you are an animal lover. AND....he needs help walking the dogs and is looking for volunteers. So if you want to bring another dog along on one of your park walks, he could use some help getting some of the bigger dogs out for exercise while they look for homes. (I have no business connection to this place even though I have been plugging them today because it is such a great local business run by real animal lovers!)

I agree with caseopele. They don't appear to care about animals at all. Never friendly yet never rude to me. I just buy some indestructible toys for our dog so don't ship there often. I would never peg them for animals lovers though, looks like it's another business to them.

"Would you have said that if you thought the men were born and raised in Bay Ridge? "

No, a reference would have probably been made about Tony Soprano and nobody would have given a cr*p. But say something about a burka and the usual PC crowd get their panties in a twist.

I think the 15th st pet store is a front of some kind- there's always 4 or 5 guys milling around outside of it, and its ALWAYS open when I find odd for a petstore.

Yeah, I wouldn't descibe 4 and a Tail as "personality plus" or anything, but it's businesslike enough.

Now you want to talk about a place that seemed weird, who remembers that toy shop that used to be about where the fish market is now? With the Mutant Ninja Turtle on the gate? I went in there once for some reason or other and it felt like I walked into a different dimension.