Pet Expo Singapore. A disaster.

Pet Expo was a disaster. What seemed like a fun way to fundraise for the Golden cause, and luxuriate in sheer Golden love, culminated in an afternoon wasted queuing for parking and dealing with prissy volunteers.

And as a result of my having just ended a 70 hour, 5 day work week at 3AM the day before, I ended up being quite cranky at the event, and while I do feel bad for snapping at the volunteers now, it could’ve been better in so many ways! X says it was because the event is still young, and the negative experience was the result of teething problems. I say that my experience in Customer Service and (some) event planning has just made me more discerning.

But really, there were SO MANY WAYS the event could’ve been done better, and it just boils down to two words – sincerity, and empathy.

1.    Did the Pet Expo organizers think that by holding the event on the same day as NATAS, they would attract a larger number of impulse shoppers and raise awareness about animals?

Great thinking. The large crowds of people couldn’t have been very comfortable for some dogs, and I saw quite a few of them snapping or just being over-stimulated. Good thinking organizers, you’re supposed to understand pets.

Next time, if you must hold a pet expo next to an event full of excitable children and people whose religious beliefs mean they may not be comfortable being surrounded by dogs, do NOT collaborate to hold a “Most number of dogs” event. Better still, don’t encourage people to bring their dogs.

2.    The Largest Golden Retriever Gathering – A very honorable attempt at bringing the community together, but we missed it because we couldn’t find parking. And the volunteers weren’t very nice about it.

So I walked in, realized the event was over (and that we’d basically just spent 2.5 hours driving and parking the car, for naught). I was handed my two goodie bags at the entrance, and told that for third goodie bag, I would have to proceed to the GR counter.

To my supreme displeasure, the volunteer hemmed and hawed and told me that because we were late (and she said this quite condescendingly), we wouldn’t be able to have a cert with our dog’s name on it. Okay… whatever. I wasn’t asking for just the cert... Just give me the goodie bag! After all I’d PAID for it. And then she tried to explain that the goodie bags in my hand were all that I was entitled to.

And then I tried again to repeat the instructions that the ticketing counter had given me. And this went on for a few minutes with me getting increasingly exasperated to the point where I began demanding a refund (simply because I knew there was a third goodie bag involved. SOMETHING HAD TO JUSTIFY OUR PETROL). A second woman actually asked to see my goodie bags, and when I proffered them to her, she said “Yes I know you have the goodie bags, but I need to see what’s inside. Yes lady, you asked to see the goodie bags and I’m showing them to you. Perhaps a better question would’ve been “may I have a look inside the ones in your hand?”, I would've happily held them open...

Took a few minutes before the light bulb of understanding flickered on in someone’s head, and she finally handed me a substantially heavier goodie bag with the (in her words) “ho liao”, or good stuff.

After which, when I tried telling them that holding such an event (largest number of GRs in Singapore) at Pet Expo together with NATAS may not have been so wise because of the parking issues – because let’s face it, parking elsewhere in this heat wasn’t going to be comfortable for our canine friends whose delicate paw pads would’ve been more sensitive to the hot afternoon pavements than our slippered feet are. I ended off by saying I wouldn’t attend the event again, at which the prissy one who gave me a snarky goodie bag reply  gave a mock expression of shock, which quickly transitioned into a “if that’s what you think then we can’t help you there” look. Why, hello there, miss bitchy. That was uncalled for. Next time, try a stock "we'll forward your feedback on to the organizers" reply.

3.    Cashless Payment Not Accepted

Yes, MDR and interchange fees can eat into your bottom-line, but the worst transactions are those which yield the business (or ahem, non-profit) no revenue at all.

I tried (I really did) to contribute to the club’s fund, but they accepted only cash, for a minimum contribution of $36 in order to get little Goldieboy a scarf. Who carries that much cash around these days? Even after pooling cash from X, his brother and I, I managed only a paltry $27. I decided to try my luck with NETS, but the merchant obviously didn’t accept it. Well too bad. I really wanted to contribute. Just not badly enough to have to queue at the ATM.

4.    Half-hearted execution

It’s no secret that pet products are usually marked up products that may or may not be good enough for human consumption. For many unorthodox brands, the cost of production may even be much less.

With this in mind – I don’t understand why the Pet Expo looked less professionally put together than a Junior College funfair. SERIOUSLY.. MARKER DRAWN POSTERS? Razer utilizes sex appeal to drive sales. If you want to sell a pet vacuum, maybe have a topless guy model it, and I'll buy it. Businesses need to realize that when a pet is drawn to something, a dog owner is likely to correct it for obedience, and carry on on their way. If the dog/pet owner is tantalized, on the other hand....... nobody's going to correct him/her, or $top h€r from making the purcha$€.
And bring on the samples scrooges. I walked 2 rounds round the fair, and not once was I offered a sample. For anything at all.

True Story 1: I visit Sunpet and Upet, because the first time I was there, the jolly owner smiled down indulgently at our GR, then fed him a choice slab of chicken treat. In fact, she opened the pack, and fed everyone there a treat. Her team are also well-versed in the Art of Dog Food – they’re able to recommend foods to meet each dog’s specific need, and they’re much better than the people of PLC. In addition to shopping there, I recommend friends there. The ROI on that one chicken treat is so high, any marketer would be proud.

True story 2: We groom our boy at Little Black Paws. Our story with this groomer started when X and I wondered in after dinner one day, because we wanted air-con. And I struck up a conversation with the cashier.. a simple enquiry about grooming, that I didn’t expect to translate into anything. After all.. I just wanted aircon.

To our pleasure, the cashier (really the proprietress) came out, asked about our dog with genuine interest, then discussed kibbles, then pushed some treats into our hands. Only after that did she start talking about some kibbles that she sold. Enchanted by her sincerity, X and brother drove down soon after to purchase the kibbles.

When CNY came about, we ended up picking the place for grooming. And yesterday, in the hopes of seeing some cute dogs getting groomed, we walked past the place, where the proprietress waved to us, and.. before we knew it, I was walking away with a hypnotizing $25 cat toy in my hands. Our previous groomer was quite unfriendly, so we didn’t go back.

Moral of the story? It pays to be generous with your samples. Combining this with expert product knowledge is a formidable formula for your business.

In retrospect, of course, this negative experience could've been prevented. I could've researched concurrent events and chosen not to go. The onus was on us to have researched alternative parking  – in everyday life, a long parking queue simply means we change our plans/ hunt for alternative parking. But hey this event was my idea, and I was in the backseat yesterday, and we weren’t alone, so I just kept my trap shut (harmony is important, right?), and I ended up seething in there with two increasingly restless dogs, and trying to nap.