I am beyond disappointed to be writing this. We shop at this Petco location constantly and have never had a single issue until tonight, but after this experience, I'm not sure we'll ever be back.
When we arrived, it was clear they were short-staffed with only two employees, Candance and Melo, in the entire store. We're understanding people--times are hard--so when we saw no one was working the fish area, we didn't complain. We figured we could just come back another day for the fish we wanted.
The main reason for our visit was to exchange a sand-cleaning kit we bought last week. The box had been sealed, but when we got it home, it was completely empty. We didn't go in yelling; we calmly explained the situation and showed our proof of purchase.
Candance was incredibly rude throughout the entire encounter. She kept questioning how we didn't notice the box was empty and treated us as if we were trying to steal the item, despite us having proof of purchase on our account and just wanting an even exchange. She eventually told us the decision was up to her manager.
The manager, Melo, begrudgingly allowed the exchange, but the situation actually got worse from there. As we were walking away, she made a comment to other customers while thinking we were out of earshot. She actually accused us of being "stupid" for not realizing the box was empty when we bought it, stating, "It's pretty f***ing obvious."
I have never been treated so poorly in a retail setting in my life. To have an associate treat us like criminals and then have a manager use that kind of language and attitude in front of other customers and my children is absolutely unacceptable. It's a shame that long-term, loyal customers are insulted and interrogated over a simple mistake with the store's own packaging.
Petco, you really need to do better. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior from staff or management. read more