Petco
Reviews and Complaints

On 9/01/2009 I went to Petco in Sterling ( store number 1892). I purchased some bird treats for my birds. When I got it home and tried to feed to my flock, they all wouldn't touch it. I did have a strong odor about it. I looked on the back and it had expired about a week .

on 9/03/2009 I went to another store in Herndon Va to exchange my product. That ws fine. I went back to the area where they had the bird items and found my same product. I looked around a bit and noticed that there was a large container of Laubers that had expired 7/26/09. OMG. I looked around and found 5 more problems with expired stuff. I told the manager and she said that the stuff shouldn't be on there. I shared my concern that is that why those items are put on a managers special. She said no, the mangers specials are done well in advance and the date has nothing to do with that . If an item isn't moving then a sale would occure. She seemed a little bent out of shape.
I asked her was Petco wanting to make as much as they could no matter what quaility issues they were having . She told me she would personaly go back and take it off the shelves. Like a dummy, I believed them.

I called the survey line and didn't give them a glowing report card. I even had to state what the issue was ( I still have not heard back from that. I was so mad that I called the customer service line to voice my complaint. They did seem very concerned and wanted to get all the information and names and places and everything a good note taker should do. She called both stores and talked to them and about the food issue. She came back to say that both stores agreed with her to take everything off the floor that was not good. I got some excuses that if they took it off the shelf then there would be no product to put in it's place. I also got the answer that it may be a training issue as it might not be understood that birdfood does have expiration dates on foods and treats. The lady told both stores that I would be coming back to the stores to assure that my request was fulfilled. I ws told that with cats and dogs, they get e-mails and screen reminders to have certain foods rotated. I was told that since the bird food doesn't have a rep that goes to the store, the bird food it sent from the warehouse with a amount that is requested by( have no idea who). J ust because there are people out there that do not have a cat or dog.. why does it seem they are saying that population isn't as important to them as it doesn't bring in the revenue like the dogs do. Mind you the small animal area takes up about only a 1/4 to 1/8 of the store.

Yesterday I went back to the same place and this time I started in the Ferret isle. This is where my blood pressure started to rise and stayed that way for about 2 hrs. In those 2 hours I got a cart and pulled off the shelves 25 accounts of expired food or treats. There were ferret seed bars of some sort.. they had a manager special tag on it for .93 cents. Every one of them was expired with a date in July and Aug. It was like that in the rabbit section, the hamster area, mice food, pigg food.. etc... including some more items I found in the bird section( a new managers special) And sure enough there it was, the large conainer that had the july date on it still on the shelf.

I went up and very calmly explained what I was doing and that I took it upon myself to help them by taking it off the shelf. the guy was understanding, but he went off on a tangent that there were only two people in the store and that he had to stay in the front of the store of he would be fired. He also stated that Petco hired someone to go to several stores and do rotating and take product off the shelves if it was past date. He also said the best person to talk to was the GM for that store as he would be the only one who could do anything about my complaint. I got his name and number and called him today.

As soon as I got into my car last night I called the customer service line again and registered another complaint. Again, this woman seemed very good and concerned and she would get to the bottom of it. As I was talking to this lady she seemed to get a little terse with me and said it will be taken cared of. She did call the store and they told her the same thing about someone else who comes in to rotate the food. I was assured that this third party would be addressed as they were not doing there job. Is there anything else I can help you with tonight? ummm no... I thanked her for her time... knowing that it MIGHT be on deaf ears in the end

I called the GM today and explained the whole thing. He was not told by any of the employees about my complaint and I guess customer Service doesn't route calls to appropriate people. It ws the first time he had heard of it. He did tell me that they do get reminders about the cat food and dog food... and a rep from that brand would come in and rotate their product... hmmmmmm just a little different then what the guy told me.

I was understanding that Petco hired someone to do the checking of foods and taking expired stuff off of the shelves. If a rep is doing it, birds do not have reps nor do the small animals. The GM did say that he would go and make sure that there was nothing like that and it will not happen again. He did say that he probably shoud pay me for the two hours of work I did -- only in jest . He even said he would give me some free stuff gift card since I did take the time to take stuff off of the floor and bring it to his attention. I will go see him tomorrow so I can make a appearance.

I told him that the average consumer would think that if they are having trouble and do not check dates or the quality of the food... one might think that there are other parts of the small animal area might have issues-- like the live animals that are there. lizards, snakes, mice, parrots, ferrets and so forth that their care may not be as aggresive as it should be. The GM stated they are very wel ltaken cared of. Well I do know they have a bird that is for sale has gone to different stores because he is a bit aggressive.. I think she said 3-4 stores... no wonder they don't deal with change like that .. this is a baby too.

If a customer saw the same product that was expired and saw one of the small animals eating it... one might think they are eating outdated stuff.. they already have proven to me that they do not rotate items nor check so how could they say ..." oh now we don't do that "..;. how would you know people?
Their prices are rather high as compared to the other stores. So the best way to get toys or things like that is if it is in the clearance section. none food items. In a pinch I go there for my back up food when I am waiting for my oganic stuff I order off line to come in.

I'm not sure what I will say to the GM, but if I have his word and I go in there and find one more thing.. that would tell me ... it's really all about the cash and nothing else.

Anolther thing I told them is that the bags had a lot of dust on them and that was a sign that they don't move foods. The GM stated that most of this clietel are for smaller birds rather then big ones.

If grocery stores are suppose to take things off the shelf if they are outdated to protect humans, why is it such a hard concept to do the same for animals.. that is what they are to do... take care of animals.. that is what the business they are in right?

Not being accoutable for leaving old food and treats on the shelf, I call this a passive aggressive abuse to the small animal community. They will act all concerned and as soon as you are out of site.. they go right back to putting manager specials on expired food. Hey, if those stores need to pare down, then do so... be proactive to know your shopers and your client base...

I will be back to share any updates. Though I am wondering if I made this a more public argument ( like the press ) would they want to cover the A holes, because to get a paycheck one just needs to spit out what corporate says...
But I think corporate is the main problem... they rake in tons of cash.. act so concerned and then call you a bad word once they get off the phone with you...

Hello, thank for calling Petco.. were the pets go... how can I help you?
Ummmm sure you can help me... stop selling your products and acting ignorant to fact that you are in the business to feed and care for anmials.
But so far the only thing I see is a cash cow that really doesn't want to go the extra mile to protect their name and the lives in which we g o to them to help us nourish our family memeber who happen to be our beloved pets.

I can't turn my back on what I think is right. Petco... Please have your stores in perfect working order. cuz I will come to your store and if I find something out dated.. it will go way beyond a GM... I assure you.

I generally like Petco. I had to buy some styptic powder the other day because I was out of my bottle that I had for a few years. This is because I don't quick dogs nails very often but the bottle spilled. I like to have it "just in case". The only styptic powder they sell is in a tiny tiny vial, manufactured by Bamboo. It comes with a useless nail file on the side and the powder it self is in a little baggie inside the tube! The texture of the powder clings to the inside of the baggie and will NOT COME OUT! As a professional groomer I can assure you that it is frustrating trying to open this tiny baggie and pour the contents out when you have quicked a single nail. With the larger bottle, you can grab a "pinch" of styptic powder and press it to the nail easily. Thus less discomfort for the animal (and that's my goal). Bamboo makes this vial shaped mess with a toenail "cup" for the cap. Yeah that's really easy to press this tiny cap into a dog's quicked nail. The powder spills while the dog is jerking. (and jerking is how the dog got his nail quicked in the first place - so don't cry "animal abuse" because accidents happen, and are less likely with an experienced professional like me than you people who don't know what you're doing - no offense) Anyways this complaint is for Petco and Petco only, please bring back the tubs of styptic powder. It's way less ridiculous than that tiny baggied pointless nail file and nail cup on the end piece of crap you sell now ...oh and for ten bucks!? rip off. i used it one time for one nail. had i been using the old styptic powder I could have taken care of the quicked nail and caused the dog to be in discomfort for less time than to fiddle with bamboo's piece of crap. Again I generally like Petco over Pmart even though the neon tetras you sold me all died immediately when the other fish are fine. God Bless whomever reads this unorganized and pointless rant! ;P

Made an appointment to have my dog groomed at 10 AM. Was told I could drop him off at 7 AM. I arrived at 7:15 and waited until 7:30. No one ever came. When the store manager was contacted, he told me that they open at 8 AM on Tuesday morning even though the store hours are posted as being 7 AM to 9 PM. He offered no apology, just asked, "So what do you want ME to do about it?" I was late for work and still have a dog that needs to be groomed. If they treat humans this poorly, I would hate to think how they treat animals that can't speak up for themselves.

Petco offers salmon oil under its private label. The label declares the the product is made from wild icelandic salmon.

The problem is that there is no wild icelandic salmon harvests! The company has acknowleged that the product is not made from wild salmon but has not withdrawn the product for almost 1 year.

We took our 6 month old cockapoo in for his first grooming experience and we told the woman who checked us in specifically that we wanted him to remain shaggy, he had about 4"of hair and we wanted 1/2 of the length cut off.in the US, that means 2" should be cut and 2"should remain, right?

Nope... our dog was shaved! On the paperwork I signed, there were instructions for 1/2 of his hair length to be cut. We said that we did not want him to have the poodle cut (cockapoo is half poodle, half cocker spaniel) but they took him and just did what they wanted. He had"slippers" on his feet, they were shaved also.

He seems completely traumatized, hid behind our recliner chair all afternoon and now he won't stop dragging his butt across the carpet because it's completely exposed instead of having some of his hair covering it like he's been use to since being born.

The manager wasn't there so we're taking him back tomorrow with pictures of what he looked like before the massacre and pictures of what he was supposed to look like after the grooming. I'm really, really mad that they just did what they wanted after being instructed to not use clippers but use scissors instead to preserve the length of hair.

This is our first dog and our first grooming experience and will most likely be our last. I will cut his hair now if I have to but I will not have him go through this again. He seriously does not even look like the same dog, I had to check his tag to make sure he was ours!

I took my dog in for grooming and they cut him not once but twice, once on his testicals and then again on his penis this one needing a stitch. If that is not bad enough they tried to hide it from us and did not call us when it happened, saying they did not know he bad been cut. I find it very hard to believe that you could cut enough skin off the end of a dogs penis that it required a stitch and not notice.

They are paying my vets bills but I would strongly suggest you find another place to have your pet groomed as here they either do not pay any attention whilst grooming or they just don't care about injuring peoples pets.

I went to petco today wanting to buy a fish and picked out my fish and got someone to help me get it they then asked if I was 18 I said I was not and asked why, she then said because foreignors have been buying fish and throwing them on cars... And petco wanted to know their fish were going to a good home.. I got confused because I dont have dead fish floating in my tank at home and in almost every one of their tanks had at least one dead fish floating in the top of it so ask yourself if you were a fish which home would you choose? The home with dead fish floating in the top of your water poisoning you, or would you pick the one where the water is perfect and stress free? Petco clean your tanks!

Today I went to the grand opening of our new petco and after gather all the products and standing in the long line... One of their reps told me I need to become a member... If I did not then I would not get any discounts... What discounts the prices were high... I started to fill it out and omitted my address and she said they needed it or "no discounts"... I asked why do they need my address?... "so we can send you coupons and newsletters" was her response. Outraged I left without purchasing the items and headed to my local kmart and bought my supplies without the hassle of forms or them filling my mailbox with all their trash. Our world is filled with too much unnecessary trash and plastic cards. We don't need a petco in kona... Go back to the mainland! I know some people who are originally from the mainland may think otherwise... If they do they can go back with petco too! One less consumer.

Took our cocker spaniel to be groomed at petco in mid rivers, missouri. Ticket said 11 bucks for the shave and 40 for the cocker cut and brush. What brush. The dog was shaved down to the skin on her entire body. They obviously had no clue as to what a cocker cut was. Her legs were shaved down to the skin also. She resembled a hound dog not a cocker spaniel any more. They didn't even bother to call me to tell me. They first charge you the money. Then bring your dog out. I have cried all week end knowing I have to deal with this until the hair now grows out to some amount of normal. If you love your pet please stay clear of this place. They are non professional and I am wondering if they even had a license to do something this grotesque.