Petco
Reviews and Complaints

I vaccinated my dog there less than a year ago, they vaccinated my dog but did not add lot number or badge number, making the vaccination record invalid. I called to try to solve the problem and first they answered and then decided to not answer the phone and hung up. Vaccines without a lot number are not acceptable as there is no way to prove that the lot was not expired and that it was actually given to the dog. Therefore, and incomplete vaccination record is like not giving the vaccine legal wise. OfCourse the dog's protection is there but legally that record is invalid and required by the USDA. Since I required a USDA endorsement, I had to pay again the amount of 70 dollars to get the Dog certified as vaccinated. They only needed to add the lot of the vaccines (DHPPI and lepto) offered that they. We had to pay additional 70 dollars elsewhere to receive another 3-year vaccine when the vetco one was only 10 months ago. Its frustrating how literally no one help me in this location nor in the "help office".

I have had a repeat delivery for at least a year now and in my latest shipment totaling $45, there was an item of cat grass that cost $6.64. This did not germinate and so I expected an easy experience getting that small amount back of all the hundreds of dollars I've spent on Petco's Repeat Delivery. WRONG!

First I was asked to submit a photo of the grass not growing. WITAF? Then when I refused this ridiculous request, Customer Service wanted to escalate my request for a refund to another team. Way WAY TOO MUCH WORK for a small amount requested.

I have never NEVER had this experience with Amazon the few times I have had to return something and Amazon's customer service went above and beyond at least once to help me out. With Petco, you are SOL, apparently.

I immediately canceled my repeat delivery and will not only NOT USE PETCO repeat delivery in the future but will NEVER SET FOOT IN THEIR STORE AGAIN.

Hi,

I visited store #02614 in Portage, IN on Sunday, March 19.

First I would like say aquatic specialist Sara was very nice and helpful assisting me with the purchase of 4 guppy fish. Sara was very professional and knowledgeable. She is a great asset to your store. It was a pleasure being helped by her.

One 3/19 I purchased 4 female guppies with the help from Sara. We both commented on how tiny the fish were. After selecting my fish Sara prepared the oxygen filled bagged fish and I purchased them at 2:17 PM.

I directly went home and placed the fish bag in my aquarium for approximately 20 minutes to get the new group acclimated to the water temperature. Before I did this I noticed one of the fish was vertical in the bag for a moment.

After 20 minutes I prepared to release the new fish by untying the bag. I then noticed all 4 fish were dead! They were floating upside down. I was so surprised. I’ve never had this happen in my years of the hobby. I figure the fish were not healthy or strong enough to withstand the transport. I don’t know.

I then took the dead fish back to the Portage store #02614. I went to the cashier named Julie per the return receipt. She immediately accused me of killing the fish. She said the 30 day guarantee doesn’t apply since I didn’t follow the 10 minute rule that’s posted all over the store. She said I suffocated the fish. The fish were in the bag too long! The fish can not be in a bag more than 10 minutes! It was my fault and initially wasn’t going to give me a refund. I was in utter shock that I was being talked to this way. Her tone was like she was yelling at me. It was embarrassing. It was in front of other customers. However, she reluctantly issued me a refund for $11.20 at 3:34 PM. (All this for $11!)

I found Sara and she apologized for Julie’s behavior. She said I didn’t do anything wrong and the store is in the process of finding another guppy vendor. This suggests to me there has been an issue with the guppies.

Again, I can not praise Sara enough for the work she does for the store. I would hire her. As far as Julie goes, she obviously needs customer service education. Education on fish. Education on many things. She should not treat anybody the way she treated me. She was accusatory, made assumptions and placed unnecessary blame on me. It was utterly ridiculous.

Fish are now shipped in bags. When fish are shipped they exceed a “10 minute rule”. And I did not see anything posted in the store about releasing fish within 10 minutes of placing them in a bag. I’ve never heard of such a thing. You can not just dump fish in a new environment, it will shock them. How does the store get fish? How do you get fish home and in a tank within 10 minutes?

I’m highly upset at how I was treated by Julie. Julie’s behavior was completely unacceptable and unwarranted. Is this how she treats her co-workers and all customers? It’s disgusting!

Thank you,

Jill Ziemer

I am very upset about how my dog was cut, I gave instructions written down for them to trim her face, ears and tail and short cut on feet and body, They shaved her! down to nothing, they shaved her face, cut her eye lashes off, she had really long side eyelashes, they cut her whiskers off so she has no sensors, they shaved her tail and left tip long, I was double charged on everything, I was quoted a price and they added fifty dollars more, very upset, hurt and disappointed, I live on a fixed income and cant afford this much.. I dont recommend them for grooming at all! Transision number of proof #73573 Allen park location

This past two weeks we ordered $114.00 on fish on line, with excellent survival. This morning , March 17th at store we spent $89.00 on a 150 gallon tank on sale, picked up at the store. While at the store I bought $250.94 in tropical fish. At the same time as I was gathering bags if fish I took a package of frozen blood worms and a package of frozen Brine shrimp. At the register my cashier asked if I wanted a bag for my wet, dripping from condensation, packages of frozen material. I said yes, but then I heard the most insulting sentence aimed at me in the past many years, " The bag will costs ten cents, ( $0.10 ) Having worked for Verizon Communication for 34 years, often with close encounters with our telephone customers, service to the extreme from our people in our offices, to our installers and repairmen, in your bedrooms , to customers talking to our guy in a bucket truck over your street, the customer is the most important issue in running a smart corporation. So after me spending $400 you have rewarded me with disrespect. Philip N. Mayo, Springhill, Fl. From Jersey. Store # 02768 Transaction 90188 BTW. I told your person what he could do with that plastic bag.

Please be advised that I will no longer use Petco for my dog needs. Today, I went to buy a 30# dog food and items that also will fit in a bag. I was told a bag would be an extra charge.

While I understand that your corporate offices are in California, I live in Wisconsin, This is ridiculous and due to this policy, you have lost my (and many others) business.

There are plenty of other places where I can order, ie: Pet Smart, Chewy, Pet Supplies Plus, Amazon - these places DO NOT charge for bags.

I am sharing this new policy in all social media and with other dog owners I interact with.

Good bye Petco.

Marisa Fiore

Kenosha, WI

I took my dog for a grooming appt I made and confirmed. The person checking my dog in suggested she be De-Furminated and showed me a "fur chart" of lengths her fur could be cut to. I chose one and left. I received a call when I got home from Mikhala the acting store manager telling me they could not cut my dogs fur because she is double coated; doing so would not allow the dog to heat or cool herself correctly. My dog is 7 years old and no groomer has ever said this, they always cut her or shave her to my specifications. I told Mikhala to just wash her, De-Furminate her and cut her nails. 15 minutes later I received another call from Mikhala telling me my dog was not a fit for their salon and to come get her!

She accused me of hanging up on her once, when she hung up on me 2 times! This is definitely a place where the customer is never right. Corporate should review the Yelp reviews on this store because others have had their grooming appointments cancelled (Wanda S. and Haley C.) for odd reasons,

The grooming salon is not busy, nothing going on when I went to get my ungroomed dog. If the Marsh Landing Petco doesn't want to groom pets or your pet perhaps they should close it.

I recently received a repeat delivery of Merrick Limited Ingredient Chicken wet cat food. Many of the cans were dented and labels were coming off the cans. The box they came in was in perfect condition. I opened a can with label coming off and severely dented tonight and the food had mold on it. This is totally unacceptable. I took a picture of the can and woud be happy to send it to you. I’ve tried to send it, but I keep getting an upload error message. I could send it in an email if I had your email address.

Feb. 23, 2023 1:30 PM CT

Shipping box and purchased items.

Products delivered today and the shipping box was torn up and tape was not even holding the merchandise. Some items dented and merchandise not wrapped or secured. Toys were not wrapped and were not in excellent condition.

Too many items in too small of a box, and no wrapping to protect or secure merchandise. The food was not protected, and the box was not strong enough to contain such heavy merchandise properly.

I've already filed but no response on 2 4 23 I purchased a fish a pleco 65 bucks. Was told 30 day return policy if fish was to die. Well he died few days after purchase took him back to store and was told no return they would have to check my water before return. Brought water said no return, I have had the same fish for years asked to check water in store and was ignored. This would not be an issue if was told before hand before selling fish. The lady working said I was burnt, I guess she was employing my skin color racist. I gave them their fish back I would like my money back, I will not quit filing complaints until this issue is resolved. I have receipt

Dissatisfied with the aggressive and abusive manner in which the trainer handled my dog. Training area was a wide aisle with multiple distractions of people with dogs walking in the area as well as staff stocking shelves. He was pulled quite hard on his leach and taken to a less traffic area where he was treated harshly, We only attended three classes at the end of which two different women in the class asked why was she so hard on the puppy. Before leaving two children approached the puppy. She anticipated he might jump and yanked him away very hard. This took place at rt 9 Poughkeepsie NY location, on 1/2,28 and 2/4. Therefor I am requesting a full refund. Robert Malkin [protected]. Email [protected]@aol.com

1/31/23 around 4:00pm CT. The Petco in Plover, WI refused to sell me and my 3 and 6 year old children 2 fish. The fish department lady drilled me with questions about my 55 gallon tank. I stopped her said I just want to buy 2 fish, one for each of my kids. She said she would t sell me any. I asked to speak to her manager. She went and got her assistant manager. At this point other patrons were involved and couldn't believe they wouldn't sell us 2 fish. The assistant manager sided asked me to leave the store simply because I wanted to buy 2 fish. Then we asked for the manager and he came out and said the employees spend weeks training on the computer and they know what they are talking about. He proceeded to tell me that the fish turnover rate at Petco is three days. I was told the overcrowding, half eaten and even already dead fish conditions in their tanks was better than my 55 gallon tank that I've been managing for 15 years successfully. I offered to set up a new 10 gallon tank and they still would not sell me the fish. Other patrons offered to buy the fish and the 3 employees refused all sales to them as well. My 3 year old left the store crying because he didn't get the fish he was promised. All 3 employees should be fired for their lack of customer service, professionalism, for just being rude. I will not be returning to Petco in Plover, WI.

I tried several times, unsuccessfully, to get a Vital Pet membership. Finally-[protected] is the number that I think I'm listed with. I had so so SO much trouble getting this resolved (supervisor never called me back) that now the store in Frisco tells me I have 3 accounts! Please cancel 2 and contact me when it's resolved.
I originally called on 1/23. After visiting the store, I was given customer service and case id number [protected] by Baulo. A supervisor was to call me back. No one did.
Robert, manager of Frisco store on El Dorado, was a huge help!

My name is Alex Pena, I worked at store 1422 here in Waco Texas my employee ID is 439155.

The general manager here should not be in charge of anything to do with animals or animal care just because of managerial experience in the past.

Rod Serrano lied to me during my interview by saying "animals come first here", as I was employed there I found that was most certainly not the case for him at all, I found that he was much more concerned about how much the store is making and how much product is on the shelves.

when animals get sick, he doesn't bat an eye, when customers have care questions, he doesn't have answers.

During my first week there I had a customer ask me for help in aquatics and that being something new to me I naturally went to a store leader (rod) and asked for help or at least for him to shadow me and tell me what to do however his response was "no go find someone else" as a new employee that made me feel horrible and scared as I had no previous experience with fish.

Please reach out to other employees at the Waco store about him, I am genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of the animals there especially the reptiles.

Rec'd an email (copy attached) on Jan. 15, 2023 stating I needed to claim my free bag of food. Tried to order online for pick up in the store, but never could find a way to redeem the free bag. Went into the store on Betteravia Rd. in Santa Maria, CA. Brought email to the counter and was told to use my app as it would let me just click a button for the free bag. After resetting my password, with the help of Vicente, I still could not receive my free bag. I have been a rewards member since June of 2020 and I have NEVER rec'd even one reward to this date. Petco is the ONLY location where I buy this particular product and I have two cats, so the food doesn't last long. I buy other products there as well, like cat treats, and today I bought two cat beds. After multiple tries, Vicente told me there was no way he could help me further. At the very least, I would like credit enough to bring home a free bag that I have expected after all this time!

I went into the Dedham, mass site to get a rabies vax and to make an appt. For grooming. My dog is in desperate need of a grooming and I realize that. What I didn’t appreciate was the attitude of the stylist that made me feel like a terrible pet owner because she needs to be groomed so badly. Telling me that if I didn’t take care of it asap that my dog would have circulation problems because of the fur on her feet which is long but not matted as she indicated. I am a single mother of two and it has been difficult to get appointments anywhere to get her groomed. This stylist was judgemental, rude and condescending. My pet is perfectly healthy thank you. I didn’t realize that a groomer was now a vet or tech giving me advice that my dog was going to be I’ll because I’m a bit behind. She is a havanese and is used to having hair. Awful customer service! I don’t believe I will use Petco for grooming ever again. I’ll find myself some real professionals. Get rid of that awful person in Dedham please!

01/12/23 @ 9:45 am it was about 10 minutes after dropping my dog off at Petco Stonecrest, GA location. The groomer contacted me saying my dog (Angel) would not come out of the holding cage and suggested I come back to pick her up since she growled and barked at her. Whatever happened to being patient with our dogs opposed to becoming frustrated with them. It's hard enough for me to take time off from work.

11/16/22 @ 10:00 am no groomers were at work for the dogs that were scheduled. This is two appointments cancelled and now Angel even more uncomfortable licking, shaking and scratching because she is used to a regular groom. I am seriously considering finding another company for grooming. It's discouraging because I have been a reliable customer since 2010.