Indonesian Garters and Petco

[Stefan-A]

If it was my company every outlet would have had a comprehensive e-mail/fax within 2 days considering the amount of complaints.

1 complaint could be a one off .... two or more requires immediate action in my book.

This whole issue won't reach the head of the company, it will be taken care of by people well below that person. There's also a chance that no changes will be made.

If it were my company, it wouldn't need to be corrected in the first place.

[guidofatherof5]

And you wouldn't what it corrected, because???? Just curious

[Stefan-A]

And you wouldn't what it corrected, because???? Just curious

Because it wouldn't be wrong in the first place, was my point.

[And_Lyn]

Technically, I think no one is right. I seriously doubt that anything will be done. I'm sure that this isn't the first time that these complaints have been made. It's awesome that so many people are trying, dont get me wrong. I know for a fact that MANY (about 150 people form another forum; me included) have complained about the little "care fact" cards on the front of the leopard gecko tanks. The ones that say "I like brightly colored calicum sand in my enclosure". They all got the standard issue responses. This was well over a year ago...and those placards are still there with the same information. Take from that what you will

-Lyndsey

[And_Lyn]

I might need to eat my words from my last post .

I just spoke with the store manager. I told him what a striped keelback is. I told him that they are wild caught (and parasite ridden most of the time), that they are mildly venomous and that they are rear fanged. I said that no, they can't do much damage...but there might be that one person that is allergic to them.

I also informed him about our experience returning the snake

He told me that he's been away and that he will talk to the associates involved and that he will be calling us on Saturday. I told him that it was a VERY unpleasant experience and that I want something done to rectify the situation and how we were treated


He also said that he will contact the vendors that they buy from and try to find out what is going on with the labeling of the snakes


So...fingers crossed!

-Lyndsey

[drache]

that sounds promising

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Is that just if you're collecting snakes Shannon? Presumably you wouldnt need one if you were just looking/taking pics?

If I pick up a snake, I had better have that liscence with me. If i was just taking pics.... I can't see why I would. But Some of the places I herp are public parks so in those cases I carry it. when I am on my grandparent's privately owned farm, in the absolute middle of nowhere, obviously, I do not worry about that or how many of what kinds of snakes I am carrying with me. I usually gather up the snakes I find on the farm, photograph them, and then take them back to their various locations and put them back.

[gregmonsta]

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO my entire dialogue >>>> so far

----------------------------------Original Message-----------------------------------

Message:I need to raise an issue - on our forum www.thamnophis.com/ we have noticed an increasing trend in new members showing us their new 'garter' snakes. These snakes have not been of the species thamnophis but of the species Xenochrophis vittatus, also known as Striped Keelback and should be sold as such or as an "Indonesian garter".
Alarmingly, these snakes seem to have been labeled in your stores as 'common, eastern or Canadian garters' which is definately NOT the case.
These snakes are in fact rear-fanged and therefore carry a potential allergy risk. They are always wild caught and burdened with parasites and yet none of these facts have been passed on to your customers which is terribly alarming to say the least showing inadequate staffing/staff training/supplier information on your part.
Please rectify this problem immediately. It's downright irresponsible and I hope this will be taken seriously.


______________1st reply________________________________________

Dear Greg, Thank you for contacting PETCO regarding the snakes that we currently sell in our stores. I am surprised to hear about the information contained in your correspondence. We have licensed exotic and general veterinarians that visit the stores on a daily basis and this is the first piece of information I have heard regarding the Garter snakes actually being Striped Keelbacks.
I will be referring this information to my manager to gather further information about this. I can assure you that we are taking this issue very seriously, and we truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to inform us of this so that we may do further research with our vendors as well.
Thank you again for contacting PETCO, Greg. If you have any questions or if we can be of assistance to you in the future, please feel free to contact us here at the Customer Relations Department at (888) 824-7257 or by responding to this message.
Sincerely,

Chris M.
Customer Relations Coordinator

_____________________my reply__________________________________

Hello,
we've had yet another incidence on our forum. I must say that with 7,000 members (the majority of which are American) you should really think about the reputation of your enterprise. Here is the latest quote -

"<sarcasm> Well, It seems that I don't know a "well bred ribbon snake" when I see one </sarcasm> A new petco just opened in town this week and I went in to check out their reptiles. They had the usual smattering of boas, ball pythons and corn snakes, but what really caught my eye was a very pretty "ribbon snake" aka Striped Keelback. Had a chat with the assistant manager and the conversation was more or less "I know everything and you know nothing." Like these ribbon snakes aren't like the ribbons you see in Washington and theres only 15 species of garter snake. Can anybody spot whats wrong with both statements? I'd love to pick up the keelback, but I've heard too many horror stories about keelbacks from petco on here."

I must stress I'm not doing this to cause any trouble but merely as an actively interested snake collector. I hope that bringing this to your attention will both allow you to improve your company's service to the hobby as well as keeping your customers satisfied and providing staff with correct information.

I hope this will yield a result sooner rather than later and I would prefer a more comprehensive reply, rather than a 'fill in the boxes' reply like the one below (which is identical to a reply received by one of our fellow enthusiasts)

Thankyou for your time,
Greg Mckenzie-Milne

___________________ today's offering _____________________________

Dear Greg,


I appreciate your patience while I researched your inquiry. We have consulted with our animal suppliers and PETCO’s chief veterinarian regarding your concern, and I am writing to confirm that the snakes you referred to in your correspondence, should indeed be referred to as “Striped Keelbacks” rather than “garter snakes”.
We will work as quickly as possible to properly label the Striped Keelbacks in our stores.
Thank you for calling this to our attention; we appreciate it.
Sincerely,

Chris M.
Customer Relations Coordinator

[guidofatherof5]

Very professional, Greg.

[gregmonsta]

As long as it brings change I'll use language as a weapon