Petco
reviews and complaints

I am writing to you to express my deepest concern about an extremely disappointing situation I was involved in at one of your stores with your staff member. On 06 September 2015 I utilized your dog grooming services at the store located in Pearl City, Hawaii. I had a scheduled appointment at 10:00am and checked her in at 9:50am. I met the groomer whose name is Lauren, who would be providing services for my dog. I told her how I wanted her to be groomed and specifically told her “DO NOT SHAVE HER HEAD” and shared a photograph of a desired look and even texted it to her at 10:00 as requested. Three and half hours went by and I never received a phone call saying my dog was ready to be picked up. I stopped by the store at 1:43pm, as it does not usually take this long and was informed they needed another hour. I was initially confused by this, as she was not even being groomed at that time and said alright hesitantly. I came back at 2:50pm and saw her on the table being groomed. At this point, the damage was done. I saw Lauren shaving her ears with clippers and requested to speak with her. She began to deny shaving her, even though I saw her with my own eyes as I was standing there in shock for about 5 minutes below I spoke with her. (see below photograph). Your company has ruined my dog and my faith in your grooming staff. Her haircut was clearly not produced by a professional. She placed all the blame on my dog stating “I had to shave her because she kept moving” and “it was adoption day so it’s been really busy”. Neither of those responses were legitimate for the atrocious job she created. She took no responsibility and her excuses were inadequate. My dog has been to your facilities specifically this one and in Kaneohe many times for grooming and we have never had this problem. It is clear your staff member showed no attention or respect for my pet while she was in your care. I believe your groomer ran out of time and chose on her own accord to go against my wishes and shave her because it would take less time than her performing her actual job duties. This groomer has ruined all of my faith and confidence in your grooming staff and company. They are untrustworthy, ignorant, and appear to not operate using ethical standards of practice. I am not seeking compensation as the damage has been done and I will not be returning. Anyone with minimal knowledge of dog grooming will be able to tell by the attached photographs this was a job half done. Please re-educate your staff on how to provide proper dog grooming services. These are not just pets to us, they are our family members and when we see them being treated poorly it is our duty to speak for them.

*First photograph is my dog the morning before at 9:48 am.
*Second photograph is my dog during at 2:55 pm.
*Third photograph is my dog after at 4:09 pm.

First time visitor to the petco online site. First of all I had a lot of difficulty completing my order online. So I called the number listed on the website. It took 45 minutes (Approximately) to place my order due to some "computer glitch". I will never order again from this site, nor will I visit one of their stores. They gained and lost a customer, all in the same day! It would take a whole lot of freebies to win back my business!

My rant is over!

Groomers were not releasing anal glands when groomed. My Dog Freedom end up at the animal hospital, The vet said the anal gland needed surgery, abscess of the anal gland. infected or impacted, and rupture outwards through the skin. This was not released at grooming. Cost 371.30 I have vet papers. This would not cost a penny if this was done . Called Petco they will not do a thing.

I've never seen such an arrogant unprofessional guy in all my years of visiting Petco. I frequently visit The Petco on 92nd street to buy my dogs and cats treats or get my dogs groomed, etc. Most recently a new worker had entered the store and I've been noticing his foul immature behavior not only amongst his staff, but amongst his customers. When I tried to confront him about it once, he freaked out on me calling me all sorts of names and cursing me out. When I asked to speak to a manager he goes and tell me that he is the general manager in the store and that there was quote on quote "nothing I can do about it so f*k off b*h". I completely lost it, but like a gentlemen I left the store. I found out his name is Douglas and let me tell you that I do have friends in high places in Petco. If Tom does not step up and talk to him like he should, I will be paying corporate a visit and let them take matters into their own hands. I'm tired of seeing foul play like this all the time. Douglas is very disgusting, lazy, and does not deserve to be general manager of the store.

I purchased a French Bulldog via Pinterest site which took me to Montybulldogs.com. I wired the money Western Union. The day of the flight from MD to GA, I was told by the Petco shippers that a new law went into affect 2 days ago and that now I had to pay insurance on my pet to be shipped of $1050. I would get the $1000 back as cash when he was delivered to my door. When I asked the breeder he told me he was leaving the hospital, where his wife was, and going to speak with the delivery people in person. He assured me all was on the up and up but a gut feeling told me this didn't sound right. I googled and couldnt find any information about a new law and then I called another pet transporting company and they told me no such law was on the books, and that it was a scam. When I reached back out to the breeder, telling him "we had been duped" no reply came forth. I did a reverse of both his number and the shipping numbers and both came back as land lines. Breeder and I were texting so I know he has a cell, but the shipping company shows it's located near Los Angeles and the breeder lives in Maryland. I am devastated that I wont be receiving my puppy. I'm out some money but at least not $1000. I asked the breeder if I could come and retrieve my puppy and I haven't heard any word back. :(

On Saturday November 1, 2014 I brought my miniature dachshund Dax to be groomed. I dropped of an energetic happy full of life dog to be groomed. When I pick him up he appeared to be a bit timid which was very unlike him. When he sees us he is normally very excited and jumping. I thought maybe he was just tired. All the groomers said was how well behaved and cute he was. Well when I got him home my dog wasn't going up the stairs like normal he went up one stair the a 5-7 second pause before attempting another. I pick my little guy up brought him into the apartment and decided to see if he would do his tricks for treats. Well, he would do nothing. He just sat there, and I gave him the treat and he barely ate it. I then called Petco and asked them what happened to my dog. they stated nothing he was fine the whole visit. I asked if maybe he jumped off the table or anything giving them every opportunity to let me know what happened. They insisted nothing happened. I then waited about an hour to see if he improved and he didn't. So, I called Petco again spoke to the manager and he spoke to grooming and all stated they were unaware on anything. I then called the vet they stated it didn't sound life threatening at the moment and to watch him over night and bring him in today. My dog slept burrowed in the closet and has never done this. He wouldn't eat or drink anything. when I took him to go potty he was clearly in pain. So, I took him to the vet today to discover my dog has sustained a trauma injury to his back. My dog is spoiled and has gotten nothing but the best of care since we have had him at 8 weeks old. he has always been active and has never sustained any injuries and our vet records prove it. I know that the breed is prone to back issues and we are very aware of his back. His back has never been injured and there was no excuse for the way he is acting since we picked him up from being groomed. My biggest complaint is that no one will tell me what happened to our dog! I went as far as suggesting that he was hyper and could have jumped when they weren't paying attention anything to try to find out what happened to my baby boy! he is now on steroids and pain killers in hopes to avoid spinal surgery. When we called Petco back and advised them of the confirmed injury they refunded the grooming fee, but still no one is talking about what happened. I am hurt and angry! My baby boy is suffering and I deserve to know what happened. His groomer was Gavin the store manager is Taylor, and the general manager is Sarah I haven't talked to her as of yet. the head of grooming is Niki. the incident has cost me over 250.00 today and who know what the future holds at this point. Money is NOT the issue. I will spare no expense when it comes to my dog and loved ones, and his vet records indicate just that! He get regular grooming, vet visits, shots, and teeth cleanings. Never has any of his vets stated possible injury to my dogs back. They only tell us what wonderful pet owners we are. So, again my complaint is the lack of respect, care, and concern Petco has shown me and my dog. I will pursue this until I get the answers I desire no matter the cost. My partner and I do very well financially and have no need to gain anything but the truth. Trust me I WILL GET THE TRUTH! PLEASE BEWARE OF THE GROOMING DEPARTMENTS AT PETCO! I WENT TO THE ONE LOCATED IN PHOENIX 4535 E THOMAS ROAD, [protected]!

I was warned not to buy Saltwater Fish from Petco because of their terrible reputation. I found out the hard way, over the past several months I have lost around $150.00 worth of fish. Most recently I lost an Koran Angel that was diseased when I bought him, they would not take him back. All the others did not last more than a few days, Customer service is a joke, you get people who can barely speak English in the Philippines. No wonder they have no guarantee on Saltwater Fish, I was in their store today watching fish scratch themselves on rocks with torn fins. They share the water with other diseased and dying fish using the same sump. Folks in my local Saltwater Fish club call them DEATHCO, now I know why. I am DONE with this Rip-Off.

On Sept, . 9, I wrote a check to my neighborhood Petco that subsequently bounced (one of my automatic utilitiy payments was submitted twice, making several checks I wrote that week bounce). These checks were written against a checking account that I had planned on closing at the end of September, due to my divorce. To make a long and ridiculous story short...Petco sent my check to a collections agency after only two weeks. As soon as I received the first letter from the collection agency in the mail, I purchased a money order to cover both the bounced check and the fee they charged me, and mailed it the agency. Since that time (2 weeks ago), their collection agency, TRS, has tried to redeposit my original check twice to the account I was trying to close.

My complaint is in two parts: 1) That Petco would send a bounced check to a collection agency after only two weeks, and didn't even try to contact me first; and 2) The collection agency they choose to use, TRS, is incredibly aggressive, and has cost me a lot of money in the process, even after I sent a money order to them. I opened up a new checking account a couple weeks ago and was finally able to close the old one yesterday, after paying another $60 in fees that had accrued due to TRS. After dealing with this mess for the past month, I won't be shopping at Petco in the future.

I took my dog Lexi in to have just a bath and a brushing. After having her at the groomers for 4 hours they called for me to come get my dog. I went straight over and could hear my dog barking continuously. My dog is normally very quiet so I asked them to go check on her. They said they would but that I needed to go pay first. I went to go pay and the whole time I could hear my dog continue to bark, yelp and cry. When I returned to the grooming room both the girls working were gone. I waiting for a few minutes and then finally a girl came out and said my dog would be right up. After a few more minutes of waiting she said that she would go in the back and check to see what was going on. 5 minutes later my dog came out bolting for the door. I took her home and once I got there I saw that my dog had a gash next to her eye. Perhaps 2 cm away from hitting her eyeball. Why clippers of any kind were anywhere near my dog is beyond me! I went to speak to Petco and before I could finish explaining my story I was informed that Petco is not liable for any injuries sustained during grooming. All I wanted was my money back - since that is what it states on their website. "Head to tail guarantee or it's free!" Again I was turned down. I will be taking my dog to the vet tomorrow to look at the eye- possibly have one or two stitched put in. Thanks Petco for the souvenir!

I had a 150 gallon saltwater tank that had 5 fish in it and 95lbs of live rock in it. It had been setup for two years and I had no fish death in the two years. I had received two fish five weeks ago from mid cities fish. they were doing great. The I was at petco with my family 1 week ago and my kids wanted a cow fish at which point I thought was ugly but they wanted it so I got the fish for them. I took the fish home and dripped him and then put him into the tank. The next morning he was dead. So my wife took the fish back to petco to see if we could get our money back or exchange the fish. The manager looked at the fish and told the wife it was my water it was bad and that is what killed the fish and she would prove it to her by testing my water and then she would go from there. So I laugh at that but took a sample of my water up there and she looked at the water and tested it and came back and told me my water was perfect as far as their test goes, But something was wrong with it that she could not detect. So I said I want to get a sample of the water the fish came out of and she said no. I told her she better or I would contact her manager and if they didn't do anything i would see her in court. She then said fine and got a sample of the water then I told her to test the water and when she did the nitrates were over we120 ppm which is to be zero and the nitrite was over 5.0 ppm and again was to be at zero. So at that time I told her to give me my money back and she did. I also noticed the tank was being treated and asked what it was being treated for and she told my it was none of my business so I asked for a D.M number and she refused to give me one. The next day I lost a clown fish and a loin fish, two days later my dog face puffer eyes got cloudy and he got spots over night so I took him out of the tank and put him into a med tank and was treating him for ich for a week and tonight he died meanwhile The other clown fish died along with my yellow back so now all my fish have died. I talked to petco again tonight the one I got the cow fish from on denton highway and they swear that it was not them and they will do nothing but it is funny that all the fish in the tank the cow fish came out of all died! that was out of the manager mouth.but they will not do nothing and again tried to say it must have been my water which i had taken up a sample of and when tested it was perfect. The funnier part about it was there were two other people in the store when I was in there that had the same problem after getting saltwater fish a week ago from that same store I got their name and numbers and we are going to take legal action against that store. I have had saltwater tanks for over 25 years and have never had this happen and then again I never got fish from petco either.

I went to purchase a carrier for my 15 pound cat. Mostly there were carriers for chihuahua sized animals and elephant sized animals, but I found three ridculously overpriced carriers the right size. 2 were set up and one was still in its packaging. I took the packaged one to the counter. The girl at the register looked at me, pointed to the package and said, "was it on the shelf like that?" I said yes. "Well, they're not supposed to be on the shelf still in the package, " she said, and proceeded to tear open my purchase. She pulled out the carrier, the strap, the tag and the instruction booklet, rang me up, took my money, then laid my receipt down upon all the loose items and turned and walked away. She unpacked my purchase for me, and then never even gave me a bag to carry all the loose pieces away in. I was so stunned by the stupidity that I just left without saying a word. I will NEVER go back.

Woman sitting on the floor with 2 small dogs blocking the aisle. The dogs tried biting and the woman would not restrain them. She felt it was funny and said yes they will bite you they are not good. What the heck are they doing in the store? After we complained to the cashier she said ok and did nothing. Another customer said stop complaining they are small, we said then go over there. He said no way if they bite. He was told to mind his own business to which he replied I will see you outside hahaha. He ran out and was gone in 20 seconds when told ok wait. I will not buy anything at this store again. I am a petsmart customer now.

I took my maltese /pekingese to be groomed. I wanted him trimmed to the length on his head, about 1 inch long. When I picked him up he was shaved to about i/4 inch and in places all the way down to the skin. He scratched all the time and the nails were very chipped. I went back to talk to the groomer (Ashley) and she said bring him in to get the nails filed down and get the gaps in the head fixed. All she done was start to shave the head. Ashley is the supervisor. I will never take my dog there again.

Terrible experience. Tried to shop Black Friday sales on petco.com, and site was slow. Could not check out. Finally was able to check out and my item was out of stock. Selected to be emailed when item available. Received email on my phone that the item was back in stock and immediately ordered, within 30 minutes of the email arrival. Paid using PayPal for the item, funds were withdrawn, and yet item back ordered again, spoke with a rep, who said it should be in soon, and arrive before Christmas. Writing this review 2 days before Christmas. Don't have the item and Paypal funds are gone to petco, have cancelled & requested refund. Very disappointed all around and will not use petco in the future. The phone representatives were pleasant and professional but the bottom line is I never got my order, which I paid for.

Every time I go into any petco in the Houston area they have little staff working. There is no one working on the floor to assist anyone because the two employees in the store are both working registers. If you need assistance in the aquariums or small Anika forget it. I am done dealing with petco and if this is their method of doing buisness now then they should close their stores and just be an online/ mail order buisness since it offers the same amount of assistance as they currently offer in store.

i tried to apply to petco and they denied me eligability to apply because there are no positions available. And im pretty sure that if a company is not currently hiring they still have to take applications i am irratated and pissed off due to the fact the from someone who works at the store near me said that they would soon be hiring due to a new store opening up and he suggested i apply... now my complaint/question is isnt it illegal to deny a submission of an application?...

I called Petco this morning at 9:30 am and spoke with a store Manager named Bill? he was the store Manager working at the store this morning 08/23/2012. i asked for his Manager number or someone hire then his position that i can talk to and he denied giving me the information to contact someone so i can make a complaint about his service. i bought a hamster at Petco and there life span is suppose to be 2 to 3 yrs? and my daughter has had it for 1 month and it died. i called to ask if maybe i can get a discount on anthor one but instead i got a really bad response i didn’t want a free one and i wasn’t asking the man for anything free just a simple discount to replace what i had already bought.

I bought a Guinea Pig from Pet Co. I have two others at home. When I brought the new one home I kept him separate from the others because he was much smaller. I went outside to do something and when I came back, my dog had got ahold of him. He did not make it. My dog had never bothered them before, I had no idea this would happen. I felt terrible about it and so I called the store, told them what happened and now they are refusing to sell me anymore pets. I am a very good person with a huge heart, and never meant for this to happen. They were very rude to me, and I will never do business there again! They don't know me and have no right to treat me that way. Accidents happen, I already feel bad enough as it is.

On June 2, 2012, My husband and I scheduled our puppy for grooming at 7:00 a.m. purposely to take photos scheduled for 10:00 a.m. The photos were taken and paid for through the PETCO store. On the receipt it is written that it will take 21 days for delivery and if there is a problem to call 855-Pets-111. Well, there is a problem that is not being resolved. We have not received the photographs and when I call the Roseville store I have directed to various store managers. All managers state that the photography company was overwhelmed with client turnout. I was given a direct number. I have phoned and left unresponsive messages. This has been the continuous behavior from this store. I a refund, yet being told that the store received the money for the pictures as a "Third Party" vendor. This is not good customer relations, possibly borderline fraud. I am going to take legal action and report this complaint to the BBB and Attorney General.