I recently brought my Shih Tzu in to Petco to get groomed. I requested that they keep the fur semi-long, and said that I didn't want it to be shorter than a few inches. I came back a few hours later to find my dog COMPLETELY shaved. There were never any mats or knots that would force them to shave my dog, and when I complained that I specifically requested that they leave at LEAST a few inches, they checked with the groomer who claimed that I wanted the dog shaved. I had stood behind the counter, and watched the girl write on a piece of paper what I wanted. When I requested that they at least give me a refund for the horrible grooming job, they refused.
The groomers at Petco can do one thing right; shaving a dog, even when the owner specifically requests that they don't.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR PET HERE IF YOU LOVE YOUR PET! I recently took my 4yr old boxer to the Rapid City, SD Petco (BOYCOTT PLEASE!!) for a routine grooming, just a basic bath and nails. When I returned to get my dog, i watched in horror as the "well trained" employee began to put my dogs spike collar over his head by sliding it onto his head (not simply unclasping it!) I banged on the window and asked him what he was doing, and he told me he took it off the same way!!! R U serious u work at a pet store? a spike collar is meant to tighten as it moves UP a dogs neck toward their ears and this guy just forced it off my dogs head? if u work at a pet store and cant work a pet accessory maybe u should ask someone 4 help! 2 days later I noticed my dog acting weird and took him 2 the vet, he has a swollen ear canal and is in noticeable pain, still 2 weeks later, when i address petco they give me a huge run around, when i look at my receipt they also overcharged me (IMAGINE THAT) sold me 12 cans of food more than i bought. Petco doesnt want to pay the $200 in vet bills i got from taking my dog there for a $35 bath, ( where he didnt even come clean) they seem to enjoy spending money on lawsuits instead. Go Google petco lawsuits before you shop there again. BOYCOTT PETCO!

Well, I can see that Im not the only one in Mtn. Home who is fed up with our local Petco store and their horrible service. I went into the store again after several months of not visiting and had an even worse experience than last time.

I went in to the store in September 2010 to get assistance in the fish dept as I do a few times a month. I usually deal with Wesley, but he was not available so Laurie asked me if I needed help. When I told her yes, she was very rude like I was inconveniencing her and she told Barbara to help me. Barbara did not know anything that I was asking about, so I asked when Wesley was scheduled to be back in. Barbara left to check his schedule, and Laurie returned to me and yelled at me that I had no right to ask Wesley's schedule and she said that she wasn't even sure that he was coming back. I was very tired of Laurie's attitude by then so I asked to speak with the manager. She said that she was the only manager and if I needed to complain about her, she's the only one I can complain to so no one is going to do anything about it. I left the store then and I called back a few times during the weekend and the following week to speak with Wesley to get my questions answered, and no one will tell me when he may be available.

3 different associates avoided answering this simple question when I they have given me this info previously. I made my complaint on Petco.com and I received an automated response that it was being investigated, but I never heard anything more from them. If I had only looked on here sooner, I could have found out what happened to him since he has made complaints too along with another store worker! That is so pathetic that a current employee can't even be heard by their employer and has to sneak around anonymously reporting them to get anything done.

I had to suck it up and visit the store again recently because it's the only place that my son can buy a mouse for his snake now. Petco caused all of the mom and pop stores in our community to shut down.
I just wanted to get in and out with the mouse, and I had trouble finding an associate to help me. When I told my son that we may need to come back another time, a woman who did not appear to work there came up and asked if I needed help. I told her that I just need to buy a mouse for my son's snake, and she said "oh, you can't do that". I asked who she was and if she worked there, and she said "I'm the manager's mom, but I know that they won't sell mice for food". I told her rather sarcastically "Thanks for the info, but we have bought mice for food here before". She said, "Well, my daughter is working today, and I can tell you that she will NOT sell you a mouse." I asked who her daughter was, and guess what she said? Yep, her daughter is Laurie.

I walked around the store a few times looking for Laurie and found her huddled in a corner with stickers and making sure to avoid all customers. By the way, as I was looking for her, I looked around the fish dept. and it was in despicable conditions. I must have counted at least 60-70 dead fish floating in tanks. The tanks also all have this gross algae all over glass, and I saw several fish that were very sick with ick or other obvious diseases.

Anyways, I approached Laurie and told her that I need to buy a mouse for my son's snake and that her mom just told me that I can't buy one. I don't know if she recognized me from our issue in September, but I did not remind her. Laurie told me, "That's true. If you didn't say that it was for the snake, I could sell you one, but since I know that it will be food, I am not allowed to do that." I told her that was absolutely ridiculous, and that I want to buy a mouse as a pet instead then. She said that she can't since I already said that it was food and she knows that it won't really be a pet, and she suggested that I buy frozen mice. I told her that his snake will not eat the frozen mice that have been offered before, and it should not be any of her business what our intentions are for this mouse. She said "Sorry, but my hands are tied. I can only sell you frozen mice."

Well, that just did it for me. I had to walk out of the store before I kicked her teeth in. I am by-passing telling Petco anything more about this incident since they didn't help me before, and I am so angry that I want to take the to the Better Business Bureau.

What a horrible store with horrible employees. I beg everyone to stop shopping there so that they will shut down and move out of town. They don't do anything positive for our community or even offer any full time jobs for anyone in our town - only the managers who aren't from here, and the whole place just needs to disappear so that our well-loved mom and pop stores can reopen and stand a chance.

I normally make all of my purchases and grooming from the Altamonte Sps FL PETCO with the exception of a bag of nutro dog food that I purchased from the Orlando - Colonial Drive location. I purchased a bag of dog food that got my 2 dogs very ill. My vet stated that the food is contaminated (both dogs ate the food for 2 days before becoming ill).

I walked in to the Altamonte Petco location with the intent to exchange it, but was told that it could not be exchanged because it was not purchased there. I had my credit card statement and pals card with me, but this was not good enough. The store clerk redirected me to the Orlando - Colonial drive location.

I had to drive 30 minutes into downtown to make an exchange, unacceptable. The management there was exceptional and made the transaction happen without any hesitation. The staff at this location was professional, courteous and felt extremely bad that both of my dogs got ill from this product.

As a consumer I found this treatment unreasonable and unacceptable and will no longer be making any purchases from Petco.

I submitted an online complaint to Petco and received a canned email template response from Bles D. explaining their return policy. She clearly did not read or comprehend my complaint. Unacceptable customer service.

Recently, my mother went into this Petco to get me a set of grooming clippers for my birthday. She went over to the case and called over an employee. It took her several minutes of wondering around to find someone to help her. When she finally found someone, it was a groomer who helped her find a store associate. When she got the male employee over to the case, she started to ask him about which clippers to buy for me. She said he was very pleasant and knowledgeable. When she decided to buy a set, he had to find someone with the key. After waiting 20 minutes, he returned to say that the manager had gone home and that they did not have the key to open the case. He said that she would have to come back another time. She planned on giving it to me that night, so she settled for a gift card. She told the employee that she wanted to get a gift card for the amount of the clippers set that she wanted to get. He told her how much the particular set was and she got the gift card. She shared this story with me that night because it upset her and she thought it was inconvenient that she couldn’t get the item she wanted and had to leave with something else.
This is a continuation of a previous complaint. After my mother told us the story of how she ended up with a gift card instead, I was very hesitant to go to back to the store. My boyfriend and I went just a few nights later with a description of the clippers set that my mother got the gift card for. (Reminder: the employee got the gift card amount for how much the exact clipper set was) We walked over to the closed and locked case with the grooming clippers in it. There were only three boxes in there, but one matched the brand and description and was sitting under the price tag that matched what we were told. We walked around for several minutes trying to find a store associate to open the case but we could not find one. I had to walk to the front and wait in line to talk to the cashier to get him to come help us. Finally he came over and showed him which item I wanted. He went and got the keys pretty quickly and got the item for us. I am not sure of his name but he was blonde and very helpful and very nice. He took us to the register and rang up the set of clippers which my mother was told by the employee were around 78.00. (the amount she got the gift card for) The same clippers rang up for around 160.00. We explained the situation and so he agreed that it didn't sound right. He called over Jodi. She came over and confirmed that it was rung up as the correct price. At this point we started to get a bit annoyed at all the trouble we went through and it only got worse.

This is yet another continuation to a previous complaint. After we were told that it was the correct price, we explained the situation and nicely expressed how upsetting this was that we have put a lot of effort into just getting a single item. She understood and went to find the clipper set that matched the price we were given. When she came back she stated that they only had the around 160.00 ones or the around 20.00 ones. At this point my boyfriend was very aggravated with the whole situation and explained that we don’t want to settle for a cheaper one and that it was very irresponsible for the store to have a locked case that only employees can get into with products placed under the wrong price signs. At this point she said with an attitude "What do you want me to do? I can't discount a 160.00 item to 78.00" My boyfriend in reply said, "We should get something since it’s not our fault that your employees marked this the wrong price and told her mother the wrong price" he then asked to see a manager. Her response was "We don't have a store manager, you'll have to call corporate." At this point her attitude really got to me, who was quite this whole time. Finally I burst out, "Fine! We'll come back with my mom to return the card and we will go to Petsmart from now on!" as one last word, my boyfriend asked them to make sure nothing was charged to the gift card because it had been swiped. After all this, I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and tried using the gift card online. Low and behold there was no money on it! When my mother returned to the store, they gave her a hard time about returning the gift card saying that it showed it had already been used.