My shopping experience at my local Pets store...

Frida

Frida

Hamster Mum
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Last Friday I decided to upgrade Albert's cage to a Savic Hamster Heaven. I telephoned my local Pets at Home store to find out if they had one in stock. I spoke to a friendly member of staff who confirmed they had two in stock. I asked if he could put one aside for me. The member of staff said "he was very sorry but that's not a service they provide" and then went on to say "don't worry they will still be here when you come in to buy because we don't sell many". I thanked him for his time and told him I would be calling into the store later that day. His reply was "Thank you for buying the only decent dwarf hamster cage we sell". I'm not going to name the member of staff or the store because I don't want to get them in to trouble.

Later that day I went to my local Pets at Home to purchase the cage. There were still two in stock. Just like the member of staff said there would be.

While I was down the cage aisle I overheard a father and daughter (early teens) having a conversation that turned a bit heated. The daughter wanted to upgrade her cage from a Pets at Home Mouse and Dwarf Hamster Cage Medium to a Pets at Home Wire Hamster and Mouse Cage X Large. The daughter had done some online research and wanted a better sized cage. The father was having non of it. He said the "Pets at Home Wire Hamster and Mouse Cage X Large was too big" and then pointed to the same cage she already had on the shelf and procedure to read out the shelf label for that cage "Suitable for 1 Dwarf Hamster or 1 Mouse". "There was no need for a bigger cage".

My husband took the cage we were buying to the till while I had a quick look round. I went down the substrate and bedding aisle. I needed some Carefresh and this is where I bumped into the father and daughter again. This time the daughter wanted her father to buy some Carefresh. The father was having non of it again and said "it's too expensive".

My conclusion -

- It was nice to speak to a member of staff who knew about cage size.

- It was very upsetting to hear a heated conversation between a father and daughter. The daughter had done her research even though it was after the event of getting a hamster, cage, etc. But now wanted a better life for her hamster. The father wasn't willing to listen or do the research after all he is the adult of the relationship. The father wasn't willing or couldn't afford to upgrade which takes it back to research and information.

Thank you for taking the time to read.
 
Beryl said:
I feel really sorry for the daughter. It must be so upsetting for her to have a hamster and not be able to provide the hamster with what they need.
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Yes the daughter was getting very upset. I really wanted to say something to the father but it's not me who has to go home with him and I could of made things worse.
 
Such a shame, there are probably conversations like this held regularly down the small pet aisle. At least it sounds like the hamster will be well loved. As the daughter was early teens perhaps she’s been researching so she’ll no doubt arrange the set up as best she can.

I saw a Facebook post this week where someone had tried to buy a Syrian hamster from P@H and wanted a smaller cage than the one suggested by the pet store simply as they hadn’t researched and didn’t feel they had the space for anything bigger and the pet store would not sell the hamster to them, so that’s a refreshing plus.
 
Zara said:
Such a shame, there are probably conversations like this held regularly down the small pet aisle. At least it sounds like the hamster will be well loved. As the daughter was early teens perhaps she’s been researching so she’ll no doubt arrange the set up as best she can.

I saw a Facebook post this week where someone had tried to buy a Syrian hamster from P@H and wanted a smaller cage than the one suggested by the pet store simply as they hadn’t researched and didn’t feel they had the space for anything bigger and the pet store would not sell the hamster to them, so that’s a refreshing plus.
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I agree that is a refreshing plus.
 
It is hard - you sometimes get younger owners posting on forums saying - my parents won't let me upgrade my cage - how do I persuade them. If they really want to they could offer to do chores and save for it themselves. But it's not easy.
 
I think it would help if cages were not labled as xl as this makes people believe they are giving their hamster a huge cage.

The staff member sounds really caring.
 
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