Petco — Local services in Mansfield

This past Monday 4/15 at about 4:30pm, I had an extremely disappointing experience at this location. As a 20-year-old college student living alone, I was excited to visit Petco in Willimantic to find a small companion—a hamster. I had my eye on a medium-sized one and found a cage that seemed perfect: it came with all the essentials (bedding, water bottle, food bowl), originally priced at $52 but marked down to $27 for Petco members. As someone on a student budget, this felt like a great deal.

Unfortunately, the experience quickly turned sour. After searching for an employee to assist me, I waited patiently while one staff member finished helping another customer. As soon as he was done, he looked directly at me and then turned and walked the other way without saying a word. I continued looking around for help and couldn’t find anyone so I eventually approached the cashier, who was sitting on her phone. She looked up at me, then immediately back down to her screen. When I politely said “Excuse me, I’m trying to buy a hamster,” she cut me off mid-sentence with an unnecessarily aggressive tone, saying that the cage I chose was “the worst possible one.”

Without letting me finish a word, she continued lecturing me about how I needed at least a 20-gallon tank for a dwarf sized hamster and would have to buy everything separately—as if I hadn’t already selected a cage that included all those things. For context, I’ve owned hamsters before and each one lived a long, healthy life beyond their average life expectancy, so I know how to care for them properly.

Her attitude was condescending, rude, and dismissive. If the cage is truly as bad as she claimed, why is it even on the shelf—especially on sale, marketed toward Petco members like me? It felt like she simply didn’t want to get up from her phone to help me.

I was so frustrated that I put everything back and walked out. Mind you, I was one of three people shopping in the entire store, and if it was busy and stressful for the employees, I would not have been as offended, but considering that there was essentially no one there, and she was on her phone, I was literally appalled by this experience. I’ll still shop at other Petco locations, but I will never return to the Willimantic store. The lack of customer service and disrespect I experienced today was completely unacceptable. That employee in particular should not be working in a customer-facing role—especially when her actions are driving...

Went in because I called ahead and I knew they had the pets I was looking for. Had to search for 15 minutes because I couldn’t find someone to help me and the only person I could find was the girl at the register (still not a big deal, I went in close to closing time). The girl that assisted in getting the ferrets out of the cage was not knowledgeable, but again close to closing so I didn’t think to much of it. All ferrets sold in petcos in the area are from Marshall breeders and they come with additional Marshall paperwork and guarantees. I was not given this paperwork when I purchased them. I called later and talked to a manager who also didn’t know anything about them and was told they never hand out this paperwork, so anyone who has purchased a ferret there has been scammed and has not received everything they paid for. I ended up having to call the breeder to get the guarantee that should of come with them originally and explain the situation which they now have to investigate further. It is important to receive the paperwork from the breeder because it has the birthdate as well as vaccination records for each animal, which we now do not have. I then took my ferrets for their first vet appointment and they both have issues likely stemming from the pet store. Glad we rescued them, and they are worth any money I need to spend for them to be healthy but I am very disappointed in this store. Previously I have only purchased animals from the Waterford location where there is always knowledgeable staff working and I have never had any issues, and unfortunately for the pets at the Mansfield location I will not be returning because I would need to bring them all home so they would not be in that...

I purchased two hamsters a few days ago and the girl who I originally worked with was great; very helpful. But, last night, when I got home from work, I was worried because my female teddy bear hamster seemed to not be feeling well. I have never had hamsters before so I immediately called Petco and asked what I should do. The woman on the phone told me to bring her in and they would take a look at her. Immediately, Shannon, the woman I spoke with on the phone, checked her out and said she probably didn't have wet tail but wanted to make sure so she grabbed the on-duty manager (I believe her name was Paige or something similar to that, I feel bad that I can't really remember her name) who apparently used to work at a vet. She was incredibly helpful from there giving me advice about how to boost her energy and informing me that the food I purchased was mostly treats (which I was never told by the girl who sold me the hamsters) and that if I gave my hamster a dust bath her fur would stop being matted. I woke up this morning and it was like I had a completely different hamster! She was eating, playing, energetic, and her fur has never looked better. I just wanted to make sure someone knew the girls that work in the Mansfield store all deserve praise and even a raise! They're fantastic! I will definitely be suggesting people go to the Mansfield store with...