walmart employee doesn't know the difference between CT DT bettas

[irbyma7297]

okay, so i was at walmart the other day, looking for the stuff i need to get a ten gal. and gravel and fake plants. i was looking at their bettas, and all of them were double tails. they were all labeled at crown tails.
I told the guy that these weren't crown tails, and he said they were.
I told him that i was a member of a forum website about bettas,
that i knew a double tail when i saw one,
and that they were called that because the had two tails,
and that a crowntail had one tail that was spikey like a crown,
but he didn't believe me.
I dont think that guy's even ever seen a double tail and a crown tail before that.
He also said that plecos only grow a few inches and that they can like in one gal. tanks

[mjoy79]

I'm not surprised that a Walmart employee is clueless about fish. Its bad enough at the petstores, let alone a store like Walmart. I had a Petco employee tell me that bettas don't need heaters - my argument was that they are tropical fish so yes in fact they do (especially this time of year in this part of the world). The employees dont want to think they're wrong. Not sure how that walmart employee insisted he knew what he was talking about with betta fin types when he clearly didn't. You'd think he'd at least "google" it if he didn't know.

[irbyma7297]

i knew mare about bettas than him when i was 7! how can he know so little?

[Crayola]

There's quite the difference between a DT and a CT. I'm not sure how stores can allow their employees to be so uneducated.

[Lucille]

Originally Posted by Crayola

There's quite the difference between a DT and a CT. I'm not sure how stores can allow their employees to be so uneducated.

In places like Walmart, sometimes employees are circulated around. One day they might be setting out lettuce, another day they might be straightening linens, and maybe the third they might be helping out in the pet area.

Most of these people work for near minimum wage. It is not reasonable to expect they would know about all the departments they might be assigned to.

However, if a customer asks and they don't know, they really should find a more experienced employee to help.

[Crayola]

Originally Posted by Lucille

Most of these people work for near minimum wage. It is not reasonable to expect they would know about all the departments they might be assigned to.

I don't expect the employees to know the difference between the fish themselves, but wouldn't it be a lot better for the stores to at least teach their employees the basics of the different stations so that they know how to help the customers when they need assistance? I'm more specifically talking about the stores not taking another step to ensure that the employees know what their talking about. Does the reputation of that store go down when the employees don't know something? Tail types are easy to forgive, of course, but saying that a pleco is alright in a 1 gallon bowl isn't something that should be allowed to be circulated.

[angiessa]

^^ This.

Also, I can just about forgive not knowing tail types, since a lot of people still think a betta is a betta. But telling someone that a pleco is fine in a 1-gallon bowl?? Grr.

[Lucille]

Originally Posted by Crayola

but wouldn't it be a lot better for the stores to at least teach their employees the basics of the different stations so that they know how to help the customers when they need assistance?

Yes, much better. But that would require an employee take paid time to teach another employee something that really isn't going to impact Walmart's bottom line. They aren't going to do that.

[Comet1993]

Okay; I have to add my Walmart story... A girl and I were looking at bettas and commenting on how pretty they were.. She was trying to act like she knew what she was talking about. Then.. "Oh! This one's a girl! See the pink and bright colors on her?"... :/ And I was like, "Umm.. That's a male.. Coloring doesn't have anything to do with gender.....". "Oh...... Really....?"... xD You'd be surprised at how...dull..some people can be.. Yet, they still insist that they know what they're talking about.

[Crayola]

Originally Posted by Lucille

Yes, much better. But that would require an employee take paid time to teach another employee something that really isn't going to impact Walmart's bottom line. They aren't going to do that.

Well, my overall point is that stores are greedy and don't want to educate their employees because of that.