Petco

This PetCo needs a complete renovation. My friend Katarina wrote a review 4 years ago saying similar things, so you can only imagine how it is now. They need to go in, gut the place and completely renovate it.
It’s a sad situation because most of the employees are very friendly. The young lady working the cash register was super nice and others around the store were quick to say hello.
This location has it’s own parking lot which makes things nice & easy in the city.
I went here for their Black Friday promo of getting a Dr. Seuss head costume with purchase and they only had size XL for dogs! My poor cat looks even more pathetic than the reindeer dog from How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

We took our puppy here to be groomed yesterday, and it was the absolute worst experience. Not only did they cut our dogs hair too short but they cut our puppy’s leg! We receive a call from the groomer and all she said was, «don’t worry, it’s scabbed over already.» They offered no apology, no discount or anything. Our puppy came out frightened and cried the entire way home. They did not even bandage up her leg, so we had to stop by a store to buy bandages. Terrible grooming and terrible customer service has completely changed our perspective on this petco. We will not be going back to this location for any of our pets’ needs and I suggest you do the same.

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR DOG TRAINING CLASSES HERE!!! Apparently, I am not the only who’s had a bad experience here recently as Kylianne F. left a similar review. I also was signed up for the classes by Chris and this happened on a Sunday. He seemed nice enough and like he had previous training experience and the price of classes were half off so it was a great deal. He wrote his cell phone # on the sign-​up sheet receipt to call him later and confirm when he’d schedule my dog. I began calling him on that # by the next day and he didn’t answer so I left a message. Days go by without a response so I try call repeatedly to get him to answer & also text him on Wednesday of the same week, again with no response. By Thursday, I call the store # and am able to get a hold of him there. He asks what my cell phone # is and I confirm it and he says that this is embarrassing but he accidentally blocked my # and can’t figure out how to unblock it! I’m thinking to myself that’s very unusual but I suppose is possible. What I don’t understand though is that if you know you accidentally blocked my number and I am calling repeatedly to schedule with you, does it not occur to you to call me from a different phone? He said his wife was trying to help him figure out how to unblock my # so he could have had used her phone to call me or at least from the store! Anyway, he said he would call me back later that day because he would still need to check his file or something about when was a good day to schedule the first class for my dog. Surprise, surprise, he never calls me back. I go into the store the next day really annoyed and ready for a refund. Chris isn’t there but I explain to the cashier what is going on and a female manager comes out to apologize & says there have been a lot of issues with Chris lately & she doesn’t know why. She offers to get in touch with him again for me or have me sign up with the other trainer Shayna. By this point I don’t want to deal with Chris so I agree to work with Shayna and give out my number for me to be reached. I am relieved when Shayna calls me that same day to schedule my dog’s training. In the week or so before my class is to start I realize I will be going out of town on vacation for a couple of weeks in the very near future and rather than break up the training by a few weeks to instead wait until I get back to start. I didn’t realize Shayna never gave me her cell phone # and had called me from the store to schedule so I go into the store to get in touch with her. The cashier informs me that Shayna will no longer work at the store at the end of the month and therefore I decide it doesn’t really make sense to start training with her when she can’t finish the course with my dog. The cashier gives me her cell phone # and I call her. Shayna confirms the info and says I can schedule with Chris, which I don’t want to do, or sign up with her trainee Ellie that’s taking over for her and which she recommends I do instead of going with Chris. I agree to that. She says she will see Ellie later that same day and have her contact me. Cut to 9 days later and I haven’t been contacted by Shayna or Ellie. Shayna responds and says she will talk to Ellie this time (3^rd attempt after her forgetting two previous times) and have her call me back directly. Well guess what? I never get the call. So I go into the store the next day go get a refund because I’ve really had it at this point. I meet with the manager on duty, Don, and he says he has to confirm with Shayna that I never started the classes in order for me to get the refund and he takes down my info to contact me when he gets in touch with her. That makes sense but why not call Shayna from the store? Even I have her cell # to do that. Anyway, the whole day goes by and Don never calls me. I call in the next day and Don isn’t there but a different manager, James. He basically says to just come in to get the refund. I come in and immediately speak to the cashier who happens to be training someone new to work the register. To my surprise, she begins to work on giving me the refund which is surprising to me because when I came in the day before the cashier I dealt with said only a manager could authorize a refund. I just want my money back as fast as possible so I don’t point that out. Almost immediately the cashier gets locked out of proceeding on her register to do the refund & can’t figure out how to exit out of the program. She is the only cashier working and there are already several customers in line behind me. The cashier calls for someone else to come out on the floor to assist & help her with her register. Several awkward minutes go by with everyone impatient and the line growing before another cashier comes to help. The cashier I’m dealing with then takes me over to another register to assist me and finally I get the refund but she does it for over 3x what I paid! I’ll just leave it at that!

They did an amazing job grooming my dog! i would not expect it for such a little place, but he looks fabulous!

I have never felt the need to write a Unilocal review on anyone until this experience. I signed my dog up for private training classes at this location with Chris on June 25^th. I had to pay for the classes ($ 220) upfront and was told that I would hear from Chris within the week about when classes would begin. An entire month went by and I still hadn’t heard from anyone so I called the store and at this point was still somewhat understanding as they apologized. I explained to them that I was never contacted and was then told that they would pass the message on to Chris and he would call me within the week. ANOTHER month passed and I still hadn’t heard back from anyone. At that point I was beyond irritated and went to the store and explained to them what had happened and simply told them that I no longer wanted to take the class and that I just wanted a refund. I brought my receipt and original contract and the manager explained to me that «Chris had already gone home for the day» and that they needed to «verify with him that he in fact did not teach the class.» They then told me that I would have to come back to the store another day after they have verified this and they could refund my card then… I guess they couldn’t just call him? I was told by the manager that he would call me the next day to let me know when it was verified. A week passed and I still did not hear back. I returned to the store and found Chris. He was rather unapologetic and didn’t even remember me. He told me that no one ever gave him a single message and rifled through his binder of contracts where mine was no where to be found. He called upon another manager to do a search in the system while Chris walked around the store on his cell phone. I was eventually refunded and was more polite about the situation than was deserved. No one at the store seemed to care about the lack of customer service I had experienced with MULTIPLE employees over the past few months. My family and I have been loyal pet pals members for years and spend hundreds of dollars at pet co each week and I can guarantee that is about to change.

This pet supplies store is absolutely indifferent and cruel to pets. It is too bad that they make money selling pets, even worse that they keep living breathing social creatures in such deplorable conditions. We approached the store staff about this issue, they only cared about selling animals quickly, no interest in their condition. Very ignorant. I will not be shopping at this or any other PETCO until they stop being cruel. Please consider supporting more responsible businesses with your dollars.

This is a large, full-​service petco. They have a large fish section, reptiles, hamsters, a huge selection of cat and dog food, and toys and accessories for all of the above. Staff is rarely wandering the store searching for customers to help, but I usually don’t need help here anyway
We have been here multiple times to stock up on pet food and litter, as well as some toys and treats. We have also taken our cat here to gets its required vaccines (petco holds an affordable price clinic every month or so)

Shout out to the grooming team at this location!
My boyfriend & I occasionally take our dog to daycare & when she goes, she definitely needs a bath. We used to give her baths in our home, but her hair started clogging our drain lol So, we gave Petco a try! Since I’m not there when the whole ordeal goes down, I don’t really know how my dog behaves or what happens. But what I do know is that my girl smells great & her coat feels amazing after a visit.
Both my boyfriend & I have late schedules, but Kelsey has made accommodations for us time & time again! She truly knows us & our dog, Victoria. We have recently moved to Dallas from Chicago & we will miss Kelsey a lot! She gave Victoria some treats as a going away gift, which was so sweet & completely unexpected! I hope some other amazing pup finds his/​her way to Kelsey b/​c she has been such a blessing to us!

My dog knows the way to Petco and loves stopping by when we go on walks. I, however, do not like going there. I’ve been going to Petco stores for years and have never encountered a staff as rude as the one at this store. I always leave feeling badly that I spent money at a business that treats me poorly.

Simply put, if you have a dog that’s getting on in years, do NOT take them to the Petco grooming department in Lakeview. They can’t handle spending extra time with a dog and get flustered. That’s why I’m updating my review to take the grooming department at Petco from two stars to one star. I thought I’d give them one more chance to be fair and it is convenient enough for where I live, so yesterday I took my 14-​year-​old Fox Terrier there. It was taking them a while to do the cut, so I called over there after 4 hours — mind you, I know it’s getting harder for her to stand for long periods of time due to her hip — and THEY knew too. I have been totally upfront with them about this and they have not expressed any kind of problem.
Well, until now. I picked up my dog from grooming and was rudely told, «I’m sorry, but this will have to be the last time we take your dog.» I asked why and she said, «We had to take extra long with her because she had to take breaks, plus we had to have two people helping.» I said, «Yes. I know. I told you that would happen and that hasn’t been a problem before.» Regardless, the attendant said they were done with her and couldn’t take her ever again. I can understand if my dog bit her but let me get this straight — it’s OK for you to take my money for dog food, treats and accessories but you can’t accept a sweet dog that just needs a little more time anymore. I was genuinely pissed. Petco has officially lost my business entirely here and everywhere. Big mistake for what I spend. Nobody deserves to be treated like their dog is not good enough once that dog has reached a certain age.
Incidentally, I called over to Kriser’s, a nearby pet food and grooming store, where a nice girl over the phone said they would be more than happy to take my dog and that they know with older dogs they have to take breaks for hip issues and other matters. I’m looking forward to taking my business to their store rather than Petco and I encourage you to do the same.

I can’t express enough how thankful we are that we met Aubrey in the grooming salon two years ago.
After looking all over for a groomer for our miniature golden doodle we finally took to Unilocal… and found a review of her.
Nervous new puppy parents, we brought our little guy in. And we couldn’t be happier.
She is kind, courteous, gentle and loving. Oh. And extraordinarily talented.
People (often other doodle owners) literally stop us on the street to ask where we get out little guy groomed… and now she cuts for three of our other doodle-​owning friends.
I don’t know what we will do if she ever leaves.
(Also, the staff there is totally wonderful. I was super snobby at first-​feeling like a big, corporate pet store was all bad. Not the case. Don’t get me wrong-​we still love Wigglyville-​but this shop is run like a neighborhood store; it totally has a soul)

This Petco is okay. It is convenient for me since there is a parking so I usually go to thus location. When I go there, I am not greeted or asked if I need help. I don’t usually need help but when I am at a store, I liked to be asked. Don’t you? Anyway, they carry my dog’s special food. Last time I was there, one worker helped me carry it to my car which I really appreciated.

PetCo, it’s where the fish go… to die. Seriously, why do they even bother carrying saltwater fish? You will never walk in here without seeing every tank filled with diseased and dying fish.
The only thing worse than their aquarium husbandry is the advice they dole out. Please, do not ever get your advice from a PetCo employee. The limited aquarium knowledge these employees have is nearly always wrong. Having been an aquarist at one of the better aquarium shops in the city, I speak from experience on this. I have helped countless aquarium owners who have been given sinisterly bad advice from this store. The only accurate advice you’ll ever get from a PetCo employee is «I don’t know»… because they never know how to give good advice.
Don’t buy your fish here. Don’t get any advice from here. Don’t bother going here at all. There are so many decent aquarium specialty stores in the city. Shop at one of those!

Wow guys. With the exception of very few friendly and professional staff, the service here SUCKS. Still. I remembered my two-​star impression from 3 years ago but recently went back and it looks like nothing has changed. I don’t even know where to begin. There’s dog pee on the floor when I walk in and when I bring it up to the staff, they look at each other unsure of who is to clean it up. Another staff member gets indignant and makes a sassy remark when I decline her help (…are you really that bored?). The cashier is zoned out and doesn’t know what to do when an item’s barcode won’t scan. Meanwhile two customers drop their things and leave because they’ve been waiting in line for nearly ten minutes.
Get it together. Sorry to call you out. I don’t like writing bad reviews. I get the service industry. I do. Really. But a lot of you who work here and rude and incompetent. Why?

This review is for the grooming. I anxiously walked from the lakefront to PetCo. I was walking on the lake and my dog got covered in burrs. After I tried a small groomer who wouldn’t help me PetCo did. Aubrey not only took care of my dog, she did so will care and ease. He was in pain & she comforted him as well. I am so grateful they helped me out on the spot. Aubrey is great at working with dogs & their stressed out owners!

Review is for the grooming department. Girls who work here are unhelpful and dismissive. Only go here if you want to know what it feels like to shop in the Soviet Union.

This review is for the salt water fish section — which is small. I live down the street and have a salt water reef aquarium and have bought most of my fish and corals from Old Town, the Petco on Clyborn, and just other hobbyists. I’ve checked out this location in the past and was never impressed –well, it had some depressing looking tanks.
However, it appears that Petco has decided to spend some money on their aquarium section and now the tanks look great. The selection is still tiny, but at least there is no hair algae and at least on my recent visit no dead fish in the tanks. They also had a surprisingly diverse selection for so few tanks — including an adorable tiny horseshoe crab which I’m sure will rapidly grow into a massive sized monster.
I hope they are successful and able to expand their salt water section, but its tough to compete against nearby specialist places like Old Town and New Fish and their nearby Clyborn location.

I brought my dog to the grooming salon and had them give her an oatmeal bath at the recommendation of my vet (she was scratching a lot and my vet said it may be due to dry skin from the winter). She looked and smelled great, however, I started to notice red spots all over her body as though she was having some sort of reaction. I can’t say for sure whether or not it’s attributed to the wash, but I can only assume so as the red spots appeared shortly after. I plan on taking her to the vet to confirm.
While she was in the grooming salon, I asked one of the sales associates (I forgot his name unfortunately) some 55 questions about products and recommendations and so on. He was very patient and informative and made me feel like a valued customer.
Although I have second thoughts about the grooming salon, if I am in the area, I would return to the store in general based on the service I received.

This is a five star for the groomer Aubry. I have taking my dog for over a year to her. She is consistent and friendly. My dog likes her more then any other groomer. If she isn’t with another dog when I come in, she is hold my dog in her lap instead of putting her in a kennel.
I have only had positive experiences with her and wouldn’t bring my dog to anyone else. I have «cheated» on her at other groomers (not petco) and find she is still my fave. The only reason I go to petco is to go to her!
As far the store, I would give it 3. It’s dirty and overpriced.

It’s sad that I should have to point out that NOT ONE of the interior photos in this listing are actually of the store this listing is for.
I want to like this store. It’s easy to get to compared to some other locations and most of the employees are well intentioned. If you’re lucky to find someone who has somewhat of a clue, there’s usually another issue lurking nearby that you will have to deal with.
Before I get into the big issue, I will say that the staff are good about refunds. Unfortunately, this becomes a necessary practice (virtually no questions asked refunds) due to the kind of stock this store sells. I have been fully reimbursed for all the fish that have died on me, however, the time and effort put into caring for and treating what you could purchase here would be better spent researching better options to purchase from. I say this because I speak from experience.
The issue is thus: Most of the pets they sell are sick. If you’re lucky to get a pet that isn’t full of diseases or parasites, you just won the PetCo lottery.
I went here to see if they had female cherry barbs because my males had reached maturity, outnumbered the females in my tank and were going to start becoming more aggressive. I was unable to find female cherry barbs in stock at a PetSmart location I frequent and came in here to see what they had. Having bought many fish from here before, I tend to know what to expect… but this was a bit of a shock.
When I walked in, I saw streaks on the glass of the aquariums that looked as if they wiped it down with a dirty, oily rag. Then when I checked the fish themselves, I saw several cherry barbs with ich (a parasite) covering their entire bodies. In other words, a very, very severe outbreak. Typically drastic measures are taken when visible signs of ich appear (one or two dots) on just the fins or tails of affected fish.
I tried to flag down an employee to report this issue. Their «aquatics specialist» was not in and their staff vet was out for lunch, they said. In trying to explain to me what was done for the fish when they came in… they said they had that ONE that was closest to the front in a hospital tank in the back and put her back on display because she was «on the mend.» Only there were multiple barbs that were severely infected.
Slight problem with the «on the mend» statement as well. Ich is contagious and spreads by having affected fish contaminate the tank (and water) while visible signs are present. If the fish seemed to be «on the mend,» the fish would have absolutely no signs of ich whatsoever. Each dot of ich is actually a cyst and the beginning of the life cycle of the parasite. It drops off, multiplies and becomes free floating theronts that attack fish. In other words, when you see white dots on a fish, the tank is already contaminated.
I was told the fish also had «arrived that way.» Which means they put infected fish directly into the display tanks to infect their existing stock. Knowing how the tank columns are set up, every pair of tanks from top to bottom is one water pool. 6 tanks now are full of ich because they couldn’t be bothered to quarantine their incoming stock for sickness before putting them up on display.
It’s hard for me to figure out if this was incompetence or carelessness. I’d hate for it to be the latter because that’s not how I’d like for anything that could be my pet to be treated beforehand.
I have uploaded the photos I took of the fish that I saw that prompted me to write this review.