Petco sick pets, employee retaliation for disiplinary action San Bruno California
Few months ago my wife bought a 5 gallon fish tank from Petco with a few guppies. When we returned a few days lator this salesperson named Linda informs us she cant sell us any fish, the tank is too small and the fish sold us dont belong together and could eat the guppies. Turns out the salesperson didnt know what type of tank or fish went with one another. End result was I was told to bring everything back and buy the correct tank.
I ended up getting a 20 gallon tank, a few days lator a 10 gallon tank for the guppies and mollies that were pregnant. The sales girl who helped us was good, knew her stuff.
At home a week lator the tank went cloudy and my wife called San Bruno Petco who put her though to Colma Petco because there was no aquatics specialiest in at the time. Unfortunately the person at Colma had no experience and talked my wife through a half water change incorrectly that immidiately killed all the fish. The manager confirmed this and replaced the fish. Up to here, things we soso, but now things take a turn for the worse.
When we went to get the replacement fish, the salesperson who helped us told the manager what to get. Unfortunately, the manager Esmeralda got the wrong alage eaters. Unfortunately, this wasnt discovered for a few weeks.
Fish started dying every day, first in the 10 gallon, then the 20 gallon once I transfered the reamining guppie and alage eater they call a platco. Half the dead fish I returned, rest flushed as I got tired of returning to the store. After buying all sorts of chemicals Petco suggested, I talked with their fish specialist who was finally in and when I showed her the tank the alage eater came from, it was discovered the manager took out the wrong fish and that the platco's were eating the coating off the other fish causing them to die. Since then I brought the 4 platco's back (ALIVE) and the fish stopped dying. We were told we should wait a month before adding any fish. We did so.
In the mean time, we ended up buying 2 rats, 3 cages that stack on one another. When we went back to look at the fish my wife found another small rat and decided to buy the rat instead. Esmeralda whos one of the managers who is also the one who messed up the alage eating fish tells my wife and I that she will sell us the rat, but it will not come with any waranty which corporate tells me is against their policy to do. She picked the rat up by its tail, drops it into the box without even letting us inspect it. When we are outside I open the box and see that the rats sick and I contact corporate imidiately who inform me that Esmeralda was in fact not allowed to do what she did, and to bring the rat back to be seen by a vet.
This wasnt needed as the rat was suffering from being fed the wrong food, and perked up fine by the next day. Now, let me say that other then this I have not returned any of the rats, have bought fish with no problems from this store.
This complaint made it back to Esmeralda who retaliated by telling everyone at the store to not sell anything to us. I called corporate who said despite the manager being wrong, its their decision and have to wait for a general manager to get back as Corporate has no say in telling anyone they have to sell anything? The other associates know Esmeralda is wrong, and that she retaliated, but since she in their boss must listen. If Petco is for the animals, why are they letting someone like this who treats pets badly work for them, but heck, if they can treat customers like this, guess pets come last too.
Scott
Sanbruno, California
U.S.A.
7 Updates & Rebuttals
Blacklab28
Hilliard,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Petco doesn't sell dogs
#8UPDATE Employee
Sun, June 28, 2009
I have worked at Petco for the last 3 years. I am one of the managers. First off, Petco doesn't sell dogs. Therefore, they could not possibly be buying their dogs from puppy mills. Secondly, EVERYTIME an animal is returned in my store during the 15 days guarantee, they are taken to the vet. They are then treated for whatever they are diagnosed with. Once their treatment is finished and the vet releases them for sale, the person who originally purchased the animal is contacted to see if they are still interested in the animal. Only if the original purchaser is not interested is the animal sold to someone else.
Ravenslvr
Grand Prairie,Texas,
U.S.A.
so what you saying is
#8Consumer Comment
Fri, June 05, 2009
so what anon is trying to say in a professional way, it might go to the vet eventually, especially if its dieing, but you aint getting it back. Petco is a sham. all their pets are wick. why don't you just go to walmart and buy a fish there. their fish are just as healthy. if your gonna buy a fish or any other animal go to petsmart where they don't obtain their pets from mills and mass breeders.
Ravenslvr
Grand Prairie,Texas,
U.S.A.
puppy mills
#8Consumer Comment
Fri, June 05, 2009
petco buys all of their dogs from puppy mills. it has been in news papers and on the news. never buy an animal from them because you are just funding puppy mills
Anon.
Leominster,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Re: Taking sick animals to vets
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, June 05, 2009
"If you send your pet in to Petco while its under your 15 day waranty, it will never make it to the vet. It will vanish with corporate telling you (It was sold to another customer)"
I have worked at a Petco in Massachusetts for 7 years and I have personally made vet visits routinely over that time period. It is Petco policy that a vet must be contacted regarding ANY sort of illness or injury an animal sustains, whether is originates in our store or is a customer returned animal. In the case of customer returns, the animal is refunded (so Petco legally owns the animal they are treating), it is promptly brought to the vet (within a day or two, depending on severity of illness) and it is kept in an isolated room with STRINGENT guidelines for cleanliness and record keeping of medication schedules. Attached with the animal's vet paperwork is the original sales slip filled out by the customer so that any associate can identify it as a customer return, and the customer is notified as soon as the animal is well and has finished any prescribed course of medication.
While I suppose it is technically possible that an occasional animal could lose the customer paperwork and accidentally be sold to someone else, you can be sure that before that happened it would have received all reasonable measures of veterinary attention.
Pearlheartgtr
Holbrook,New York,
U.S.A.
Right there with ya, customers need to do their research.
#8UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, May 11, 2009
Okay, first off, you NEVER ADD MORE THAN 1 INCH OF FISH PER 5 GALLONS OF WATER TO A NEW TANK!!!
Adding too many in the beginning or will result in death. You need to wait up to 2 months before adding more fish to the tank after it has been cycled. And once again, 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons of water.
The cloudiness is called New Tank Syndrome. The tank is going through the Nitrogen Cycle.
Not all Plecos are algae eaters. The common Plecos sold by Petco eat 'some' algae but also require other foods. Sometimes (usually with fancy goldfish because they move slow), they will suck the slime coating off of them. I doubt your Plecos were doing that though. If you bought Siamese Algae Eaters (what most people think is an algae eater--they'll even go as far as calling them Plecos), they do not eat algae! Just because it sticks to the glass doesn't mean it eats algae. They tend to become aggressive and knock around other fish.
As for the rat, You can't blame Petco for the bite marks on it. Petco (and every other pet store) buys from wholesalers who keep all of their animals in deplorable and cramped conditions. They will fight, they will get bitten.
It has been about 2 years since I worked for Petco and more than a year before that, as per corporate, all small animals (except guinea pigs and ferrets) were to be fed Lab Blocks. I don't totally agree with the lab blocks but most rat keepers and vets recommend feeding them. Your rat might not have liked eating them or was stressed in his cage and that is why he looked not up to snuff and perked right up the next day. He could also have been intimidated by other, more dominant, males in the cage too.
Petco employees have the right to refuse an animal sale if they feel the animal will not be properly cared for (or if they are just sick and tired of the customer buying things only to complain again). I turned down many sales at my own discretion.
Jcrown
Winchester,New Hampshire,
U.S.A.
Pleco...the word is pleco, short for plecostomus.
#8UPDATE Employee
Sun, October 19, 2008
The algae eater is called a Pleco, not a Platco, and it eats ALGAE (being an algae eater) NOT FISH "Coatings"
I am constantly amazed by customers who do ZERO research before purchasing a fish tank. If you had done ANY research at all before setting up your tank you would have known
1. that cloudy water is a natural part of the nitrogen cycle and is a healthy step in aquarium setup.
2. that fish should not be moved from one tank to another because its stressful and can make them sick
3. that algae eaters eat algae
and
4. that fish are PETS and YOU are responsible for making sure they have all of the things they need. Blaming the employee because you were too lazy to do a little reading before you bought your tank is irresponsible and disrespectful.
Scott
Sanbruno,California,
U.S.A.
Colma Petco and Corporate update.
#8Author of original report
Mon, July 21, 2008
Beware of pets you buy from Petco. Here is a paste of a letter Petco corporate sent me, and believe me, they do not follow it. If you send your pet in to Petco while its under your 15 day waranty, it will never make it to the vet. It will vanish with corporate telling you (It was sold to another customer) When in fact it was either sold as pet food for a snake or put down to save money. This letter I'm pasting is a responce from corporate.
Dear Scott,
Thank you for contacting PETCO regarding your store inquiry.
I appreciate you taking the time to write regarding your experience at the store. I apologize for any confusion you may have regarding the PETCO companion animal 15 day guarantee. PETCO guarantees the health of all companion animals for 15 days of the initial purchase. A verbal agreement to take the animal as is, is unacceptable. If the animal is sick and you are still within the 15 day policy, PETCO will take the animal to the vet and once the vet gives the animal a clean bill of health you should be able to take your animal home.
If you believe your rat is sick please take the animal back to the store. The Manager on duty will be able to assist with getting him/her to the vet for possible treatment of the illness. If you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us 888-824-7257 and we will be happy to assist you.
Thank you for your continued patronage. Please contact us again if you need any further assistance.
Sincerely,
April H.
Customer Relations Coordinator
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Another baby rat was bought from a different Petco store. The rat had what looked like freckles on its tail, and a cute spot under its neck. Turns out, the freckles we not freckles at all but lots of scabs as if it was bitten over 100 times. The spot under its neck was a huge chunk of fur and skin missing from what looks like a bite from a large rat. The baby rat was also least 3 weeks old and should not have been taken from its mother as it could barely even walk well. I'm adding pictures of the baby and I really home some good animal rights people see this.
When I called corporate about the baby rat, I was told to rbing it to the store I bought it from for a refund. I reminded them of the letter they sent me and was told "We dont know where that letter came from, in order for your pet rat under the 15 day waranty to get help, you must return it for a refund where it will be sent to the vet, and if the vet clears it with a bill of good health, it will be sent to a store for sale with no guaranty you can buy it back as it could end up going to any petco store"
I talked with a store associate and found out the truth. Most sick animal returns, expecially rats and mice are not sent ot the vet like they state. They are either put down or resold as food for snakes.
Right now My wife and I are caring for the rat, giving it medacine and trying to keep the wounds clean on the baby. Its gotten better these past 2 days, but only time will tell if the baby rat (TWIX) will make it.