The Animal Company — Local services in San Francisco

A man with longer hair was extremely rude. I’ll follow up with an update and details.

If someone would have asked me until yesterday, what do I think of The Animal Company, the answer would have been equivalent to 5 stars. Moreover, the employees mostly females with whom I was in contact while visiting the store were always very nice and helpful.

However, after yesterday's event, my foot will not cross over at this store any more. A year ago I purchased a bird at this store. Ever since then, I have been going back to buy food, toys, and other necessary products for my Blue Front Amazon. Recently I started traveling for work, and naturally I started taking my bird to this place for boarding while I was on work trips (3 times total I have left my bird there in the past several weeks). Yesterday when I went to pick up the bird, 3 employees who were there were busy with other customers or other things, and I was waiting for someone to help me. A male employee with longer hair, at some point offered help and I asked if I can pick up the bird. Nevertheless, phone rang and he started talking on the phone, so I waited again. When I saw that other employee, who is a husband of the lady who is an owner of the store, was free I asked him if he can help me. At that moment, a male employee who initially offered help, abruptly said, "I will help. You already asked me." I did not respond anything to that. Then the husband of the owner asked me something, which I did not hear, until the man with a longer hair answered saying: "Everyone is always in hurry." After that comment, he just went and unlocked my bird's cage and that was all his whole help. When I picked up a bird, I went to him and told him that he was very rude, after which he went off on me with insults one after the other. Even when I tried to tell the owner what just happened, he continued with his tired. I have never experienced customer service like this. For things to get even worse, after I left the place I called the store and wanted to talk with the lady who is the owner of the store but her husband answered the phone and then he told me how I always come to the store in hurry and I pressure the employees to hurry up, how because of that pressure they can make mistakes, maybe overcharge me, etc. None of these is in fact true. Although I was in hurry couple of times when I was dropping off the bird: once I asked if I can come back later when I have more time to fill out the paperwork, which they said was OK, and second time, I dropped off the bird and I called the store while on my way to the airport to confirm the details and info - all of which they already had. In other words, no one was pressured anyone. Regardless mistakes and overcharging - as far as I am concerned, I never had any of those problems, although once one of the employees did give me wrong information and only -- information -- on pricing and that was over the phone so no one was charged more or less because of that.

I know that every story has two sides, nevertheless this was my experience, and as far as I know, this is how it happened. As I said at the beginning, until yesterday's event I could say only nice things about this place. Even if I pressured anyone there, there is a proper way that to be brought to my attention. Insults, rudeness, or misrepresentation and twisting the facts, whether that be by a long hair man or husband of the owner, are definitely not the way, and because of that this is still not over. I did not go to the store to be yelled at or anyone to be rude to me because of his twisted perception of things. I've said here enough. Sapienti sat.

Another update: speaking of professionalism, first time when I left the bird in the store, I asked if her nails could be fixed. After 4 days, when I came back to pick up the bird, they did not do her nails, but they said, we can do it now if you can wait, which I declined saying, "we can do that some other time when I bring her again." I did not make a big deal, did not say...

I can’t say enough wonderful things about The Animal Company. My family and I purchased a baby African Grey parrot from them, and from day one, Ellen, Rick, and Lyz were outstanding. They guided us through every detail of caring for our first “big bird”—from feeding tips, safety advice, and living setup to helping us bond properly with our new companion, Moon.

Eight months later, Moon escaped her cage and flew out an open door. We were absolutely devastated, but The Animal Company stepped in and gave us the hope, support, and guidance we needed. They helped us call other stores and vets, reviewed and improved the lost-bird posters we made, and did everything in their power to help us find her. Thanks to their quick responses and caring approach, we were reunited with Moon within just one day!

We also board our birds here whenever we travel—our parakeets included—and we’re always confident they’re in great hands. It’s never about money for this family-run business, either. When we first got Moon, they allowed us to put down a deposit and pay over time. They even had us come in regularly to bond with her, feed her, and play before taking her home. These folks truly treat you like family.

The food they provide is top-notch and all-natural, not the usual big-box chain variety. Moon and our other birds thrive on it, which shows how passionate The Animal Company is about the well-being of animals. We’re beyond grateful for their expert knowledge, sincere kindness, and the loving environment they create. It’s wonderful to have such a dedicated, family-run store in our community, and we couldn’t imagine going anywhere else for our...

Ellen deserves more than a 5 star review for being an incredibly kind and generous person while also being an awesome business owner with a ton of knowledge on pet parrots.

I came to the animal company because I was interested in purchasing a hand fed English budgie. Ellen was still hand feeding the baby bird I picked out, so I came by every weekend to visit my bird while she was still being hand fed. Ellen and the whole team were so nice during these visits! I also asked for update videos and pictures as my baby bird’s feathers came in, and Ellen was more than happy to text them to me.

I ended up taking my bird home, and she is an absolute sweetheart! No taming was needed and she loved humans from the beginning.

My parakeet started showing symptoms of being a little sick about a month after I took her home, and long story short I got taken advantage of by several avian vets in the Bay Area with vet bills almost totaling $1,000. I thankfully called Ellen while I was at my second vet appointment, and she personally went out of her way to help me. She had her personal vet look over the test results, and ended up saving me hundreds of dollars in extra tests that the vet wanted to perform. Turns out my bird was healthy, just a little dehydrated.

It’s safe to say that the Animal Company has a new customer for life and I will be recommending all of my fellow bird lovers to...