We purchased our first cockatiel from this PetSmart one year ago, and she is still healthy and doing very well in our care. We currently have two healthy cockatiels at home and take caring for our birds very seriously.
Recently, we purchased a budgie from this location. Sadly, the bird became sick and died only 13 days after we brought it home. This was heartbreaking, especially for my wife, who had already become attached to the bird. We informed PetSmart about what happened and received a replacement budgie according to the store's policy.
Unfortunately, we soon became concerned that the replacement bird was not healthy either. After losing the first bird, we did not want to wait until something worse happened, so we responsibly returned the second budgie while it was still alive.
When we later tried to purchase another budgie, the store manager refused to sell one to us.
What bothered us most wasn't simply the refusal. It was the way the situation was handled and the implication that we were somehow not responsible bird owners because we had reported the first bird's illness and returned the replacement bird.
I repeatedly asked the manager to explain the specific reason for refusing the sale, but she would not give us a clear reason or put the reason in writing. I directly asked whether we were banned from purchasing birds from PetSmart. She said no and instead told us, "We just don't want to sell the bird to you today."
We even offered not to return the new bird because we wanted to make clear that we were not trying to abuse the return policy. The answer was still no.
I absolutely support PetSmart refusing an animal sale when there is a legitimate concern about an animal's welfare. But if management believes a customer is incapable of properly caring for an animal, they should be willing to explain what that concern is.
Instead, we walked away feeling as though we had been blamed for what happened without anyone explaining what we supposedly did wrong.
That was particularly hurtful because our first cockatiel came from this exact same store one year ago and remains healthy in our care, along with our second cockatiel. My wife was already extremely upset after losing the first budgie. Having our ability to care for birds implicitly questioned afterward made the experience considerably worse.
I hope PetSmart management reviews not only how this situation was handled, but also the health history of the birds being sold at this location.
We are not claiming to know what caused either bird's health problems. We simply expected our concerns to be taken seriously and to be treated respectfully rather than made to feel like irresponsible pet owners without being given a clear explanation. read more