We entrusted PetSmart Pet Hotel at the PetSmart on Eldridge with the task of looking after our 4 cats and it was a decision that we BITTERLY REGRETTED.
DO NOT BOARD YOUR PETS WITH THEM!
We had a 10 day trip booked and we spent many days researching pet hotels and actually visiting them and talking to the employees in order to choose the best place for the cats. We visited PetSmart Pet Hotel quite a few times and ended up choosing it.
Each cat needed some medicine and we wanted to ensure that they would be given them on the dates specified by the vet. PetSmart Pet Hotel employees guaranteed to us that that would not be a problem. And since administering medicines to cats is not an easy task and PetSmat Pet Hotel employees told us that was something they hardly ever did, one of the employees called Banfield pet hospital (located in the same building) and asked them if they could do it. Banfield employees promptly agreed to assist.
We filled out all the forms they provided us (cats' behavior, feeding, any physical issue, purpose of medication, dates, etc) in detail. We went over everything with them when we dropped them off. Plus, I informed them that, if they were let out to play for a bit, the two kittens could play together, but the older ones should be done individually in order to avoid problems.
The employees, as well as the sub-manager were very nice, assuring us that they would be well looked after.
It wasn't even 24 hours later, once we had already dropped the cats and reached our destination, that our problems started.
We received a call from PetSmart Pet Hotel main manager informing us that Banfield was going to charge $20.00 per cat per medicine administered. Nobody had ever mentioned this charge. The only charge advised was a $2.00 charge pet cat per medicine that the Pet Hotel would bill. In the end, an additional charge of almost $250.00 was added to our bill.
A couple of days passed and another big surprise came when the sub-manager told me that the older one was being mean to the others. I asked her if she had let the 4 of them out at the same time and she said yes. We had stipulated - in writing and also verbally - that they should not be let out at the same time because there would be an issue. Apparently, they felt entitled to ignore it.
Unfortunately, the biggest shock was yet to come.
We called on different days to check if the cats were being given the medicines on the right dates - specified by the vet - and were given conflicting stories by various employees. In the end, some of them had NOT BEEN GIVEN THE MEDICINES.
We asked to talk to the main manager and even though she confirmed the problem, she acted nonchalantly. We were very disappointed and shocked. Even after going over the dates and everything with them and leaving everything written down, they let this happen. She did not try to justify, to explain, did not apologize or anything. She was cold and insensitive and did not give the issue the consideration it should have received.
Thankfully, the medicine they messed up was not something on which the cats' lives depended on. But what if it was?
A day later the sub-manager gave us a call promising me that the cats had been medicated on the right dates (!!!!) and that all that had happened was a big misunderstanding. However, when confronted with what we had already been told by the main manager, she decided to admit to it. Basically, she was lying and got caught. Plus, she asked me not to talk to any of the employees whenever we called again (!!!).
From that day onward, whenever we called, nobody else would answer but the main manager. We would ask about the cats and she was monosyllabic and cold, as if she was doing us a huge favor.
When we went to pick them up we noticed that a favorite cat toy was missing. When asked, we were informed that it had become dirty, they had washed it, and it had disintegrated in the washing machine (which was BS, as you don't put a toy with a plastic rod in a washing machine. Plus, the other toy, as well as their blankets had not been washed. I wonder why). After some resistance, we were allowed to select a replacement. No apologies, no sign of nothing.
But then, we consoled ourselves with the thought that the cats were at home and safe and that we would not have to deal with PetSmart Pet Hotel and their staff ever again. Or, at least, part of the staff. The part that LIES to you, DOESN'T LOOK AFTER YOUR PETS PROPERLY, SCREWS UP monumentally, and DOESN'T APOLOGIZE OR ADMIT TO THEIR MISTAKES.
It would be great to get contacted by someone from their "Management Team" (see website) to discuss how is their "PetSmart's Ethics & Integrity Program" (website) being implemented. read more