Pets at Home

Gembo_2

has anyone had any problems with 'Pets at home', the pet superstores?
I bought a hamster on Sunday and fed, watered and cared for it lovingly. This morning he was dead.
I took him back and they seemed a little too used to such incidents for my liking. They were really insensitive, no apology and just plonked the box containing his body next to the till, I expect seconds after I left he was in the bin.
Anyway I went elsewhere to get a new one. I found a simular one that was much bigger, altho still clearly young. This new one is 6 weeks, the same age as the first.
I can only conclude that 'pets at home' sold me a hamster that was younger than the age they claimed, probably too young to be sold and this ultimately led to his distressing death.
As I had not had a hamster before I was not to know that the first was too small and I really feel that 'Pets at home' have been totally irresponsable and I urge everyone to be sure about the history, age and health of an animal before buying from them.

16011996

pets at home sold me a faulty fish tank, the heater bit was broke, and when i plugged it in it fused the electrics, and i got a shock. when i rang to complain, they said so long as i had the receipt i could have a replacement for the faulty bit!! never mind my bloody electrics then said i, well she said we have had a few that have done that, maybe we should take them off the shelf, if you bring your reciept, i'll give you a refund. after having a fit at there head office i got £100 compensation. but would never ever shop there again.

jaybee

Nor me. My (ex) neighbour had three rabbits (at different times) from them and they all died within days.

16011996

aw thats so sad. they should be investigated. >:(

bridiej

We bought our hamster (Basil) from Pets at Home and he lived for nearly two years, which is about average for hamsters.

I have had some fish from there also - have one left who's now almost 5 and the size of a hand!!!

Do feel for you though - they could have handled it a little more sensitively re: the box

tru

We've had 1 rabbit, 2 guinea pigs, 2 hamsters and some fish from Pets at Home, never had any probs. We had 2 rabbits (at different times) from other pet shops and they both died aged about 8 months

We always speak to the same assistant when we go there, she's great. She told us the animals are never under 8 weeks old and they're kept in quarantine for a week when they get them, so they're 9 weeks old by the time they're for sale. She wouldn't even let us look at the guinea pigs in quarantine when we wanted the second one even though I promised to look from a distance (I couldn't wait :-[).
Also I think she said the animals come from local breeders so maybe the breeders aren't looking after them properly before they sell them on :-/

Gembo_2

have written to head office and considering RSPCA. Is probably only a problem affecting certain branches, I'm sure some staff are very careful and knowledgeable. New hamster has sawdust in eye which seems to be distorting his vision. I wont risk anything this time, he'll be off to the vets if no improvement soon!

DJ1UK

A couple of years back they were investigated for Watchdog (or something similar). I remember hidden camera filming with some very distressing viewing - I would NEVER buy from them.

Have a look at

http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/household/story/0,1587,689221,00.html

(near the bottom)

DJ

tru

I would never have bought from PetSmart before they were taken over by Pets At Home, they were always in the local paper with a pic of a child and a story of how their pet died within a few days

Gembo, could you let us know how you get on?

WeirdoMagnet

Sorry to hear that your little fellow didn't make it Gembo.

I remember them being on Watchdog. Here is the link to the BBC News story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/547609.stm

If anyone else is after a pet, how about one from a rescue centre? Sadly, there's lots of 'unwanted' pets needing loving homes. Try this link to find your nearest animal home http://www.animalrescuers.co.uk/

Gembo_2

I will definately let you know what happens with my complaint.
I feel quite stupid having bought from them, these articles are shocking, I am usually quite wary of such things.
I can imagine this sort of event being much worse for a child, so I hope things change at Pets at Home, but I am afraid it will continue. Whilst looking for new hamster I tried many local independent pet stores and found that most had either closed or no longer sold animals. This effectively gives Pets at Home market monopoly in the area, which isn't a good sign for animal welfare.