Petco — Local services in Houston

EDITED 1/2/25: I don't see the employee mentioned in my first review anymore, nor do I still receive that level of service. We adopted a dog in the fall and found ourselves coming to this store more often. It's become an uncomfortable experience, and I'd choose other stores over this one now. For what it's worth, I do like the groomers' work at this location.

The first instance was a recent groomer visit; the price quoted was much lower than what I was asked to pay at the counter. Upon questioning it, the person at the counter was rude about it, immediately jumping to "that's what you chose online." She looked into it and there were two dogs of the same name. But there's a significant visual difference between a Goldendoodle and a Chihuahua... I wouldn't have chosen that.. especially with the dog right in front of us..

The grooming opens earlier than retail, so we planned to be able to take him home and check out with some items at the same time. Someone got on the PA system and said "opening in 10 minutes..10 minutes" We weren't asking to be checked out, mind you. So we decided to stay put near the cats for adoption. Annie, (the manager maybe?) came up to us offering assistance, but it turned into us feeling like she wanted us out of the store.

"Do you need help with anything? We're not open yet, I have money out." No thank you, our dog is being groomed. "Are you here for a walk-in service?" No. "Your dog is getting washed and cut?" No, just washed. "Did you make an appointment?" Yes, we're just waiting. "Did they tell you it would take up to two hours? There's like 18 dogs on the list." Yes, he's the second one of the day. "So you're just here?" Yes. "..Okay then." My goodness, is that such an awful or strange thing? Again, our dog was ready after only 20-30 minutes, but we were prepared to wait.

Secondly, on another occasion we came to get a refill on dog food that we originally started after receiving a prescription from their Vetco visit. The cashiers would not allow my partner to check out due to not having the prescription on us. I have the prescription card at home; the woman who gave it to me at Vetco even said "I'll scan this to your account so you don't need to bring it in." Logged in and there is zero record of the prescription. Even if I log into the past appointments, it will not show records, just dates of the appointments and the reason.

-- 5 stars for Gwen helping me secure my baby hognose’s enclosure. I was losing my mind trying to get the pieces to work together. Gwen told me about different types of lids, advice on my current screen lid, and explained their return policy just in case things didn’t work out. Well it did work out with their advice, and now I have the peace of mind that my snake is safe 🥰 It’s great to find staff so knowledgeable on reptiles instead of just sticking to...

I used curbside pick up since that is what was offered online. When I got there, I called and was greeted on the phone by someone that said they were very busy, but would bring my purchase out. I had purchased an expensive $200 clipper set. The person working there put the set in through my back window to my back seat. Before I left, I decided I should check the clippers to make sure I received the correct item. The box was slightly torn on the bottom. There was no tape on them on the top. I opened them up and they were new, not used, but I noticed the comb attachment set was missing. So, I decided since this was an expensive set and I needed the combs, I would go see if they had an exchange set. I went to the front where I explained what happened. The cashier promptly said I could purchase a set of combs for a discount. This set of combs is more extensive than what I need. I told her I didn't want to purchase a set of combs when they come in the set and I wanted to see if they had another set to exchange. We went to look in the case and there were only two other clipper sets, one more expensive one and one less. I asked if she could just take out the combs from another set. She said No, but she would go talk to a manager. I saw her talking to a manager and then she came back over (not practicing any social distancing, no mask) and tells me that I could get a refund of the clipper set so I could purchase one of other sets or I could go to another store. I had already looked online and knew this was the only store that had what I needed. When I tell her I don't want one of the other sets, I just need the combs that were supposed to come with my set and obviously my box had been opened, she says they won't offer another solution. I can purchase combs at a discount. I felt like they were insinuating I had taken the combs out since I used the curbside pick up. Clearly, the staff as this store don't seem to care about procedures for a pandemic as I didn't see anyone with a mask on and they walk right up on you and act like the curbside pick up is an inconvenience to them when they are busy.. then insinuate you took something out of the box. Their customer service is pathetic. I took my $200 clippers without combs and left since I needed them, but I won't be back to this store. While I feel bad for all retail workers working in these conditions (which is why I used curbside when I didn't have to), they didn't seem to be affected or care about the public's health as they aren't practicing any social distancing....

I get my two dogs groomed at the Petco on Wesleyan all the time without issue. Once in a blue moon, I’ll take them to this River Oaks location when Wesleyan is fully booked. The first time I took them to River Oaks, they charged me an extra fee because one of them was aggressive even though no other grooming place has done this. Today, I scheduled two appointments online at 2:30PM. They called me noting that it’d be better to bring them in during a less busy time to help with his uneasiness, so we moved the appointment up to 1PM. I come in & they immediately tell me that there are a lot of “bad notes” for him and that they will “try” but as soon as he shows any sign of aggression, I will have to pick him up immediately… ???? why was this not relayed to me over the phone when they called to push the appointment? If this was the case, I would’ve just cancelled both appointments and waited until there was availability at Wesleyan as not to waste my time grooming just one. But because I had already driven there, I leave them both to be groomed. The “aggressive” one ended up not being bathed or groomed at all (again… wasted my time) and the other supposedly had fleas. In my 5 years with the older one and 2 years with the younger one, never once have I ever found fleas on either of them nor has any groomer ever mentioned any. But obviously, it’s not something I can prove or argue so I just have to accept the additional fee. As for the aggressive one, I can admit he is difficult with grooming but he has no issues being bathed… the fact the he was not bathed or groomed just tells me they’re lazy and did not even attempt to work with him so now I have to take him next week to the Wesleyan location (when I would’ve much rather just cancelled both & waited !). Also, my dogs have the longest most beautiful lashes and they cut them short every time (other places have the common sense to leave them)!! All that to say, I will not be taking them to this location again. I have strong suspicion they are dishonest to slap on extra fees & are unwilling to work with a bit of aggression that is definitely manageable (because other places manage...