Can Pets at Home refuse me back my hamster?

Amethyst_ice

Hello,

I bought a hamster from Pets at home yesterday as all my encounters with them have been caring (despite what I have read) however when we got the little chappy home we noticed he had a bleeding paw. On closer inspection it looked like he was missing a toe!

We rang them this morning and they told us to bring him in and the vet would look at him and we could have a refund. We told them we wanted him and just for him to be treated.

When we got into the shop the woman just took the cage off us and disappeared into the back...like a mother seperated from her child I felt angry and worried.

Eventually the woman returned (who had sold us the hamster only yesterday) and asked what we had done to him!!! I was livid! I explained he was like that when we got him depsite them ticking the 'health check' box and they eventually concluded that he must have done it on the bars. we got changed to a more competant guy who said we would have to be reunded so they could treat him antibiotics and we would get a call in a few days to 're-buy' him..

Now..they gave us back our cage..kept OUR waterbottle and only asked us for a name and number on the back of a small piece of paper..

Do i have any rights to make sure they do sell him back to us?

I am so worried for his welfare and we want him back, just don't know if we have any rights as we got refunded but with the 'promise' he would be ours...any help?

xXx

LoveBunnyRabbits

aww bless the poor little thing!
hmm thats quite a hard one, i have never heard of anything like this before, maybe you could ring the manager of the store you got it from or the head of all pampurred pets stores and let them know what has happend, and see what they say? hope you do get to have him back, good luck.

mistrihelen

Hi there,

Am sorry to hear what happened to your hamster. It's lovely to hear how strongly you want him back. I know P@H can be quite eager to take back ill hamsters and many owners just get a replacement, but from my own experiences I know how quickly you can bond with them.

I don't really have any advice, I'm afraid, but it might be worth asking at a forum like: http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/

Hope you get him back

faded_flowers

The hamster is now store property, but it has to be that way in order to treat him. It is up to them if they re-sell him to you, but unless they really do think you injured him you will very likely get him back.

Why didn't you raise the bleeding paw during the sale since you noticed it? The poor hamster could have gone to be treated straight away and not had the added stress of two journeys in two days.

Amethyst_ice

faded_flowers wrote: »

Why didn't you raise the bleeding paw during the sale since you noticed it? The poor hamster could have gone to be treated straight away and not had the added stress of two journeys in two days.

We didn't notice the paw until we let him come out of his transit box and into his new cage, by then the store was closed and we rang as soon as it opened and were there within half an hour...little harsh..im a mega animal carer..if we had noticed it in store we would hav said asap!

Thaks everyone else , will keep you updated, just hope they stick to their word, i was very reluctant to sign him back..and the receipt says under reason "not wanted"... LIES!!!!!! x

Amethyst_ice

mistrihelen wrote: »

I don't really have any advice, I'm afraid, but it might be worth asking at a forum like: http://www.hamstercentral.com/community/

Hope you get him back

That forum is soooooo cute, thanks! x

McKneff

As for the receipt these are all phrases on the till.
There probably wasnt one that was appropriate and this
was the nearest one.

Let us know how you get on.

samboette

Hi there

We had the same experience with one of our hamsters.

Soppy as we are, we were in the our [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL] store at the time a couple bought 2 hamsters for their children and felt sorry for the one left on his own, so brought him home with us!!

Within 24hrs he developed wet tail and took him into the Companion Care (Vets inside [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL]), we explained to the vet the problem and she advised us that [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL] would cover the cost of treatment but because he had a disease that is potentially life threatening and contagious he would have to be kept in.

We had to go and get a refund from the store manager, she turned around and asked us if we wanted "it" back, which astounded me somewhat. I replied saying of course we do........he's not just an inanimate object that can be returned, she didn't like it much!!

He was due to be in quarantine for a week and then be allowed back home, provided he pulled through. We phoned the store every other day to see how he was, just so we reminded them that we did still want Gingey back.

Luckily he made a full recovery and is home with us now. Just keep in contact with the store and when he's ready to come home, go and pay for him again!!

beks

I would second above poster ^^^^^
Keep in close contact with P@H to see how your hammy is and make every member of staff you speak to aware that you want your hammy home when he is better (with his water bottle!).

Amethyst_ice

Would they not get annoyed us ringing every day? The woman who dealt with us seemed to be half dead herself!!!

I do hate these chain stores, last week at a diff P@H we alerted the staff to 2 hammies who were bleeding and fighting! Fairplay they removed them but like some looked like old injuries.

Ill try ring them every day, he looks like a little rat bless him, all black, we havn't named him yet, we thought maybe bear, taz (cos he has a white stripe on his belly) or jet..

xXx

samboette

Ring them every other day, I didn't care if they minded, I was more concerned about Gingey and so should they be but we all know what [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL] are like?!

Your hammy sounds lovely, we have one called Jet, she is a sable and was a very dark colour, almost black looking. However, she is just over a year old now and has started to lighten in colour as sables do!! Our other black hamster, who has sadly passed was called Coco!!