Petco — Local services in Bellingham

I found this place to be good for supplies, but not particularly good for live animals.(more details on animals I knew enough about to assess their living situations below.) Please please do your research about whatever animal you want to purchase BEFORE coming here, and if that animal seems to be being treated poorly, look elsewhere. As for the supplies, they sold quite a few things that are insufficient and inappropriate for the animals they were advertising them for, but if you know what you're looking for, they probably carry that as well.

Fish: They were vibrant and colorful, they seem like they're housed fairly appropriately. There were a few dead fish, but they were in the back and they didn't look like they had been there long. One fish I could see had a float bladder problem and was struggling to stay up, however the employees were aware of the situation so I guess thats good? I was there while one of the employees was being trained and it seemed like they were fairly educated about fishkeeping. I would go here to buy fish, however I would probably go to the fish store in downtown Bellingham first, since they seem to be very knowledgeable and very good at keeping the fish in good environments.

Hermit Crabs: I hesitate to say that the conditions for these hermit crabs were outright horrible, because it at least seems like they're trying. They have a good substrate, fresh and saltwater pools, there are several of them, so they're not lonely, and they're kept in a tank rather than something open air, but that's where the good stuff ends. All their hermit crabs are being kept in painted shells, which are toxic and will lead to the hermit crabs dying sooner or later. Their humidity and tempeture were both too low. Their substrate was way too shallow, which could be to avoid molting, but that doesn't seem healthy either. Finally, their next door neighbor was a frog of some sort (I'm not sure what kind) and they were only seperate by a piece of plastic, which allowed the crickets they were feeding the frog to escape into the hermit crab enclosure. There were SO MANY crickets with the hermies. Far more than should have been fed to that frog at once, which means they haven't taken the crickets out in a long time. Hermit crabs don't eat crickets and I'm sure their presence is stressing the hermies out. I talked to the employee about it and he was incredibly non-chalant about it. He obviously didn't care that much. Do not buy hermit crabs from here.

Ferrets: As far as I know, ferrets need to run around and play in order to be healthy. The ferrets here we put in a cage with so many others that they could barely stretch out without touching another ferret. No place to run around, explore and play. Admittedly I know less about ferrets than hermit crabs and fish, but this seemed...

My latest subscription canned food repeat delivery arrived with 5 badly damaged cans. Online it says go to local store. Friday 22 august I go to cashier Eva and say I'd like to replace the 5 damaged cans. Ok she says. When she tries to sort it on the petco POS system, doesn't work. Manager (julie I think) said store has no access to my online purchases (what would walmart/walgreens/kroger etc etc say about that??) and that if I return without the receipt, after 3x I will be blocked from ever returning again (wow customer friendly?). Eva still could not process the return and replacement. 2nd manager chris tried to help. I brought up my online purchase on my phone - same account name and number for online and store by the by. Chris entered order number, then more problems, more of my time wasted. I'd been at the store for 30 minutes trying to do the return and replacement of damaged items sent to me by petco (of their petco brand whole hearted). I suggested that they give me the 5 replacement cans and do the fiddling with their system afterwards as I had to leave because I had another appointment. Chris said no - that would get him in trouble….that officially means that customers should be inconvenienced rather than an employee get into trouble (for helping a customer)???? Eventually chris and eva got it sorted but did not think I had a right to be upset about spending over 30 minutes at the store. Neither ever said 'sorry you were shipped damaged product', or 'sorry for taking up so much your time', or 'thank you for being a great customer with regular recurring subscriptions for petco branded canned dog food'. Eva then 'disdainfully 2 fingeredly' handed me the receipt as she was turning her back on me. Chris just stared at me. I told eva that was very disrespectful and upset that chris thought her disrespectful attitude was ok. I will email this to petco customer service, and maybe head of marketing, to find out if this is the way they want their regular customers treated. Make of this review as you will, the net is that they don't value customer loyalty, so customers should suit themselves at all times, because being disrespected is not the value that makes me want to spend more money. Many more pet supply stores online and in...

Me and my wife made an appointment for our dog Kuzco to be groomed. We went over what was needed to be done with the groomer because his coat needed work. We specifically said “DO NOT SHAVE HIM COMPLETELY” anyone with common sense knows not to shave a Siberian Husky completely bald. My wife was in tears in the car after seeing him completely shaven. We specifically asked if he were to be shaved (Not Completely or bald) to have a even trim… I was so furious I tried not to blow up at the groomer (Will not mention her name) to be professional and instead told the cashier about the issue which she was very polite and got the assistant manager for me. She completely apologized for the treatment my dog received and we did not have to pay for the grooming. However I am just still very upset and will now for months have to not take my dog outside because he was completely shaven and honestly makes horrified to take him in public due to us receiving backlash on shaving a husky. Extremely disappointed and very emotionally hurt. We will no longer be using petco’s grooming services any longer. The photo of him before not shaven was him just before his grooming. The groomer stated that I shaved him because he was matted but find that false and he only had compacted fur. We brushed him before he went to the groomer and was just fine. Sure there was knots but it is completely UNACCEPTABLE my dog and me had to go through the trauma of seeing him...