Petco — Local services in Boston

This petco is now the site of an event that will go down in history as one of the wildest customer service interactions I've ever had. I stopped in this afternoon to grab a few cat toys and treats. The store itself was a little disorganized which isn't a big deal, but it did make checkout a little confusing. We waited for quite a while for the sales associate to finish a conversion with the person in front of us, but again, not a big deal. They seemed a little understaffed, so it happens. But the interaction took a turn for the bizarre when we finally got up to the sales associate, an older woman with pinkish-purple hair and, at first glance, a fun, whimsical vibe. Sadly, the interaction that would follow was anything but. While I unloaded my basket, she asked if I had a phone number with petco. I only stop in once every blue moon, so I don't. She then asked for my name and number to sign me up for a membership. I politely declined, which wound up being entirely the wrong answer. This associate acted like I'd called her mother a slur. Her tone became outright aggressive as she insisted that I was making a mistake, as I was losing the chance to save money AND I would have to bring a receipt if I wanted to make a return (you know, how returns usually work). I again politely declined, which seemed roughly equivalent to backhand slapping this woman in the face based on her reaction. She repeated the same spiel about saving money and receipts again, and when I again declined, she became extremely agitated. She snapped at me for setting my basket in the wrong spot, saying I was going to trip someone. When I apologized and moved it, she scoffed at me like I was the world's biggest idiot. All the while, as she scanned items, she slammed them down on the counter without asking if I needed a bag. A friend I was with then nicely asked if we could get a bag, to which the sales associate wheeled on her and snapped, "You can have a bag if you request one." We then requested a bag. Wrong move. She all but threw it at me, and I had to try and scramble to pack up my items just to get the hell out there before she elected to behead me and leave my skull on a spike as a warning to others about the consequences of refusing to join the petco rewards program. The whole time, I was feeling my fight or flight response bubbling up, which is a deeply weird sensation to experience at a Boston Petco on a Saturday afternoon. Ultimately, after frantically packing the bag with my items, my friends and I left in a state of shock. It was genuinely one of the most bizarrely rude and aggressive interactions I've had in my entire life. Don't get me wrong, I worked retail for years and know customers can be a lot, but literally all I did was not want to sign up for a membership. It seems there's less customer service and more customer hostility to be found at this petco. 0/5 do...

This Petco used to be wonderful until these past few months. I used to get everything thing here, but it seems with the new Pet Supplies Plus, Petco is now slowly being run into the ground. I called about a tank I wanted at Petco and they transfered me to the fish section. After being told how they are waiting for the tanks and me calling the next few days to see if they had them, which every single time I called they said they didn't have them, I went in to get grab an item only to find that they had the tanks in stock and that the past 2 days I had been told they didn't have them they did. I also had a friend go to Petco for a starter kit which was $120. He went to Pet Supplies Plus where the same kit was $89. They have been very helpful in the past and maybe after they get used to the pet store around the corner they will be back on their feet.

Review from 3 months ago: This has been my Petco for the past 5 years. Any problems I have had they have very willingly fixed. I have gotten stuff for my dog, cats, bought fish and fish supplies, and stuff for my frogs. I have bought all my fish here. There is one reason I have continued to buy fish from them. If the fish have a problem I can bring them back and if they get sick or infect my whole tank they are very helpful. I only had one issue with getting fish from them. They had a white spot and did not catch it till a few days after my brother had gotten more fish for me. This can be prevented if you keep new fish in a separate tank and treat it with fish meds. The aquatics guy with the orange hair and glasses can fix any fish problem. The pet stuff is pretty well priced. The crickets I get for my frogs are healthy and my frogs love them. I have seen the reviews for the groomers and thought I would remind people that grooming places are the same as salons. The cheaper the less likely you are going to get a good cut. Most chains ( salon and groomers ) that are cheap teach their employees a basic cookie cutter cut, not a tailored to the person...

My worst customer service experience ever. We went to Petco yesterday, hoping to get a fish for our neighbor since one of her fish just died and wanted a new friend to swim amongst her other ones. She said that we can get any community fish that lives in fresh water. They have one unhappy looking guy working at the fish area, who disappeared as soon as we showed up. We waited over 15 minutes for him to come back and when we approached him for his help to pick out a fish, he told us "You can't buy fish as gifts, go buy a gift card". I then mentioned that we are actually also looking to have a small fish tank at our home since my daughter loves the neighbor's fish tank and we often go to the fish area to look at them after shopping there. This person pretty much assumed that I was lying and started to interrogate me "now you want to buy fish for yourself? Do you even have a fish tank? If you do, what are the dimensions of your fish tank? If you want to buy a fish, go get a tank first and plug it in for a week, before you come back and to buy a fish..." His tone of voice was very rude and offensive, as I was not familiar with any laws or practices regarding ownership nor were there any signs or information about it. I am not sure if he treats all customers like this or just me because I didn't know much about fish. Afterwards, I went to talk to the store manager about my experience and the way we were treated and suggested they should have a sign up for all customers to know that they can NOT buy fish or any animals as gifts. The manager seemed nice and she apologized about our treatment but then told me that "we have the right to refuse any sale." This made me a bit confused as to why she would say that to me. I understand that they want to protect all those animals and find them good homes, but to try to justify the behavior as part of their policy , really left a bad impression overall. I will not shop here again and be warned about their...