cubes in BB&B in PR

[fashion victim]

Just thought that I'd inform any people from Puerto Rico not to waste their time looking for cubes in Bed Bath and Beyond because I went there today and after about 2 hours waiting I was informed that the 3 stores located in here (Los Colobos in Carolina, Plaza del Sol and San Patricio in San Juan) have discontinued buying them. They also tried checking to see if they sold all the other brands listed in this website and even called the U.S. to no avail. They just don't sell them here anymore.

I've also looked in Kmart and Office Max and haven't found them yet, but tomorrow I'll go to customer service and ask by name for the product. Hopefully I'll find them soon. I'll keep you posted if I get to find them somewhere.

[fashion victim]

I went to 2 different Kmarts (San Patricio and Plaza las Americas) and they said that the product had been discontinued here in Puerto Rico, too.

[spoonyspork]

Do you happen to have Wal-Mart there? It's not a place I like to support, but they often carry cubes... in like every color of the rainbow, though they're smaller packs than the ones in, say, Target.

[fashion victim]

Originally Posted by spoonyspork

Do you happen to have Wal-Mart there? It's not a place I like to support, but they often carry cubes... in like every color of the rainbow, though they're smaller packs than the ones in, say, Target.

How come you don't like to support them?

I haven't tried Wal-Mart but I'll ask my mom to check when she goes because it's more than 2 hours from here but only about 20 minutes from her place. My other option is that my aunt lives in the U.S. in Washington D.C. and she has a target right next to her house, and we're enquiring as to how much they weight so she can bring them on an extra suitcase even if we have to pay the extra weight. I think that would be cheaper than shipping from a store there because when I checked the shipping price from Kleenmama's for 2 items it was over 70 dollars!! The shipping was like twice the amount of the total cost of the products!

[cacosta]

I live in Ohio and can usually only find them in Target stores. I've looked in the Wal-Marts around here and can't find them. I do find them online at walmart though. My MIL lives in PR and said they don't have Target stores around her (San German, southwest corner of the island). You may have to order online and pay the massive shipping charges for grids or go to Home Depot type store and get the closet shelving and cut it to size.

[fashion victim]

I checked, there's no Targets anywhere in Puerto Rico. I've gone since then to 2 more Kmarts and they have cubes but they're made entirely of wood. No metal grid ones. I don't want the wire shelving but I'll use it as a last resort. I still have plenty of time before I get a piggie, I figure the people will start finding new homes for them after Christmas after the kids start toget bored from the novelty. There's sales in petshops here, they've brought in a bunch of hamsters, GPs and even colored bunnies (of which I fell in love) - it's a dirty technique to attract more people into buying them because of the pretty colors.

I'll be checking in different office supply places around here, so I'll be adding updates soon.

[fashion victim]

It turns out walmart.com is useless for Puertoricans, look what their website says.

The Walmart.com Web site only ships orders within the 50 states, APO/FPO military addresses as well as major offshore territories and protectorates of the United States. All prices are in U.S. dollars, and we do not accept checks, money orders or credit cards issued by foreign (non-U.S.) banks.
At this time, we do not ship to Canada, Puerto Rico or other destinations outside the U.S.

Within the U.S. and major U.S. protectorates: We ship most items to all states, including Alaska and Hawaii, plus the following major protectorates and territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and U.S. Virgin Islands.

I honestly do not understand WHY they don't ship here. I mean, this island is about 100 miles long, which is very small, I understand, but we have, according to this article right in the same Wal-Mart page(Wal-Mart Stores—Our Suppliers), 8 or 9 different Walmart stores (which I DID NOT know about, except the one in Fajardo, from which I've eaten those donuts and have to say are really yummy). Well, at least now I know I can look in some of these places, provided mom or my brother are cooperative enough and drive me there. The ones in Carolina and Caguas are the nearest ones, but it's about a 30 - 60 minute drive from where I live because of being unfamiliar with the places. When I get there, though, I'll make them call the other Walmarts and ask for the product. I'm sure they'll ship the cubes to the store if they don't have them. They do have a pretty helpful customer service.

Edit-The store in Fajardo which I visited does not sell any live animals, which I believe isn't the case for some stores in the United States. Is this why some people do not like to support Walmart?

[spoonyspork]

If you can't find cubes at your wal-marts, then I'd be willing to get a larger pack from Target and ship them to you, if you don't mind paying the shipping costs. Luckly, it's not INSANE for shipping, since PR is considered domestic (which is why I don't understand why wal-mart wouldn't ship there), but it's probably about the cost of a pack of cubes, so you'd end up paying double (about $30US) for one pack of cubes.

As for not liking wal-mart - none of the wal-marts I've been to have sold any live animals except fish (and only one or two that I know of even do that) since I was like, 8 or 9 (shortly after I got my first guinea pig from them), but for me it's the way they treat their people, not animals. Long hours, lack of a living wage, exploiting cheap foreign labor, etc. Even the McD's around me have started paying their employees living wages, while wal-mart is still stuck to min wage and firing employees that try to contest this. The fact that they only sell crap pet food and horrid cages ensured that the only thing I went to them for was the cheap care fresh, and I don't even use that any more, so I very rarely find a reason for being there.

The sittuation might be different in PR though. Is the living wage there lower than here? If so, I'd be curious to see if the wal-marts there pay their employees 'better' compared to here.

[fashion victim]

You know, that's really nice of you to offer to do that. I don't mind paying the shipping costs if you'd accept a money order. My problem was not having a credit card with more than 300 dollars of credit. In fact, mine's maxed out, but I have lots of cash readily available. My problem is that I'm a compulsive buyer and I spend a lot of money... up to 1000+ in less than 2 weeks. So the minute a got a credit card I went to the mall and bought about 15 different squeaky toys for my dog and some clothes for me. I've payed it off a bunch of times over, but everytime I do so then I feel the need to go spend it all again. I'm waiting for the statement from the bank to come so I can pay it off and use it for shopping online only.

I'll try out the stores available here this week. If neither auntie or I can find cubes before the first week of December then I'll gladly take up on your offer. Remember there's no hurry because I don't know of ANY adoptable Guinea Pigs and I'd only really need the cubes for their cage, since bunny is free-range and pup knows not to go into bunny's little area.

About the Walmart thing - They do pay the minumum wage, but then again almost EVERYONE in here starts out with the minimum federal wage. Most of my friends work in clothing stores or in sales positions and they get the minimum wage and commisions but only if applicable. You'll get more if you go to a classy job, like I did, working for a boutique, and got 7.75 per hour with no previous job experience at all. A few years back Walmart was closing all its stores here because it was going bankrupt or something, but I guess they fixed the problem because none of the stores have closed.
The minimum federal wage is 5.15, but they were going to raise it to 5.25, but I'm not sure if that was approved. I never saw cages in the one I visited, only dog travel carriers. However, tha may be because the stores in here aren't as huge as the ones in the U.S., and it may be the ones in here aren't as fully stocked as the ones in there.

[spoonyspork]

No problem accepting a money order. I STILL haven't gotten around to a paypal account anyway. Just let me know and we'll go from there! I think you'd end up paying about the same per number of cubes in any case ($25 without shipping for a 4 pack at wal-mart, or $30 shipped for a 6-pack from target).

It's too bad I'm not still in contact with the friend I had in PR. She had guinea pigs, and only got her first from a pet store. I've not heard from her in YEARS though.

And yah, min wage is still $5.15, I think. Even if raised to $5.25, it's not even close to enough for someone trying to make it on their own here.

[fashion victim]

Originally Posted by spoonyspork

I STILL haven't gotten around to a paypal account anyway.

It's too bad I'm not still in contact with the friend I had in PR. She had guinea pigs, and only got her first from a pet store. I've not heard from her in YEARS though.

And yah, min wage is still $5.15, I think. Even if raised to $5.25, it's not even close to enough for someone trying to make it on their own here.

Me neither! I REALLY need a paypal.

Gosh I'm looking for people around here who own GPs but I don't know absolutely ANYONE who does.

Really, minimum wage is bad there? Because I always thought you had it easier. Cars sell for thousands of dollars cheaper in there than here. We have to pay about more than 4,000 dollars than the minimum price in the U.S. commercials for the same car. Plus you have a huge selection of stores that sell things cheap, like target, and you have lots of stores that we don't even have. And you have all these animal shelters and rescues and everyone is more highly trained.