Petland Orlando South Greedy Petland Orlando, Florida

As a PetLand employee I know for a fact that in our contract, especially in the state of Florida, that we go over with a fine tooth comb on your "Know Your Rights" page that it firmly states in bold letters the following;

"Buyer may return the puppy within 48 hours of purchase for any reason for an administrative fee of 50% of the purchase price or a minimum of $250."

This is because of the following;

By taking the puppy out of the closed environment of PetLand you are actively introducing your puppy to foreign bacterias and/or viruses that can EASILY contaminate the full "kennel" of other young susceptible puppies. This means that the puppy you're returning must immediately go to the vet and have a new health certificate issued and then be placed under isolated quarantine for 14 days and carefully monitored to be sure that they do not develop symptoms of a potentially life threatening disease such as parvo etc. Because of that the puppy spends an unnecessary 14 days in quarantine away from potential buyers and loving homes and greatly reduces his chance of finding a new home quickly. So this PetLand was well within it's rights to charge you the administrative fee of 50% of $750 which is indeed $400.00 USD.

Please re-read your contract that you definitely signed. It should be labeled "know your rights" and will detail the Florida State "Lemon-Law" as it were. It was something you were well aware of when you purchased the puppy since corporate drills this into our employees for this very reason.

It;s definitely you who are in the wrong for purchasing a puppy as a gift without doing research first and foremost. PetLand encourages people NOT to impulse buy or purchase puppies as gifts for this very reason. It's not fair to the puppy.

Again please reread your contract before posting a complaint. It's not our fault you didn't do your due diligence.

If you were able to read my initial complaint it does state that the $400 dollars were in the initial contract I signed.  It was never explained to me though at the time a bought the dog by the sales representative or any one in the store.  I can assure you that anybody that is buying a puppy in the story will not read the almost 15 pages you put before them to sign.  There is such a thing as courtesy and being an understanding person that you, working at Petland, may have forgotten what that means.  There is no way that you or any intelligent person might think that $400 is needed for vet fees after just being 12 hours with the dog.  I fully understood that a fee was needed and I have read that $200 is usually what they charge but $400 is I repeat both excessive and greedy. 

First off it's not "15 pages" it's exactly as follows;

Pg 1.) outlines the puppy purchased including it's breed, gender, DOB, microchip number, registry/stud book affiliation, date purchased, purchase price, pet counselor and the not one but two guarantees/warranties that go along with the puppy.
** On that page you need to fill out customer name, address, phone number

Pg 2.) ***NOTE! if the puppy has been in a shop for more then 30 days there can be multiple health certificates inside the puppy's file as they are only good for 30 days and need to be renewed*** Health Certificate from the state of purchase (in your chase Florida) which will include an UTD immunization record as well as worming record, any known issues such as patella luxation (and what grade) or if only one testicle was palpated, hernia surgeries, neutering/spaying, open fontanel or any number of other noteworthy things.
** On that page you need to fill out customer name, address, phone number, date of purchase

Pg 3.) "Know Your Rights" which outlines the Florida State Lemon Law. This is the page that IN BOLD/UNDERLINED font about two paragraphs down states the 48 hour return policy for 50% administrative fee or minimum of $250. It is STATE LAW that this part of the contract be outlines and read to you. You may have heard it paraphrased as:

"The state of Florida says that you have 4 business days to take the puppy to the vet for his/her first check up. At that time if the vet says the puppy was unfit for purchase you need to call us immediately and we'll refund you your money or replace your puppy, whichever you prefer. On top of that you have 48 hours to return the puppy for whatever reason for an administrative fee of 50% to cover the cost of quarantine, vet visit, and new health certificate that will need to happen if the puppy is returned. Because this quarantine greatly reduces the chance of this puppy finding a great home right away we charge 50% of the puppy's original purchase price."

** on this page you'd need to signature and date

Pg 4.) Covers hypoglycemia and what to watch for and how to treat cases of hypoglycemia
** You'd need to sign and date this page even though there's no place for signature aside from at the bottom

Pg 5.) Four Basic Needs page which outlines Behavioral, Environmental, Nutritional, & Maintenance needs of your new puppy. This covers books, leashes, collars, food, toys, crates, shampoos, brushes etc etc etc. Everything you purchase for your puppy at the time you purchase the puppy is checked off by your pet counselor.
** You need to put customer name, address, phone number, pet counselor signature, store name etc on this page.


Page SIX is only in existence if you're registering your puppy with the AKC at time of purchase. Henceforth there are no "nearly 15 pages" and your exaggerations are unfounded and downright ludicrous as are your insults to my intelligence/qualifications for a job.  The reason these administrative fees are in order is to discourage people from making impulse buys and simply returning puppies because they develop buyers remorse or something similar. It's NOT Petland's fault you purchased a puppy without doing your research first or made the number one mistake of purchasing a puppy as a gift without consulting and planning with the receiving party. The one who paid bitterly for this was the poor puppy you returned who had to stay in isolation for 14 days before being able to go back out and find owners who truly cared about his well being. It's blatantly obvious that we at Petland DO care for the pets we sell and take great measures to make it incredibly uncomfortable and unattractive for people like you to impulse buy. Even the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) has a page devoted against purchasing live animals (especially puppies) as gifts. This is how more dogs wind up in Animal Shelters every day then you can imagine.

Before you get insulting I challenge you, and anyone else reading, to think. It's obvious that this is an extremely over exaggerated one sided story where someone things they were wronged because a corporation was following the law.

I'm sorry you feel you were duped or ripped off. Next time read everything that's put in front of you. No one's going to be upset if you deceive to read a contract through rather then having it paraphrased. I'm sure you also had the option of replacing the puppy with a hypo-allergenic breed such as a poodle, labradoodle, goldendoodle, havanese, coton de tulear, malti-poo, teddy bear (shih-tzu/bichon), bichon, yorkipoo, maltipoo etc etc without losing your money... However that still doesn't cover the concern surrounding that poor little pug you returned. With luck he's found a fantastic home.

Moral of the story? Read and think before you sign and gift someone with a life that is NOT expendable. A puppy is a living breathing and highly sensitive and emotional being, they can't just be pawned off just because you're unhappy. My turn to be insulting? It only seems like you care because of the $400 you lost. There's little to no concern for the puppy here. So much for being concerned "for the well being of the pets".

Just to set things straight if I didn't on my initial complain.  I did do my research before I bought the Pug at Petland.  I had a pug before and l knew their character and also knew that they will be great with kids; my 6 y/o niece.  I apologize for not being psychic and not knowing that she will have an allergic reaction that will send us to the ER at 2:00 am.  I work in the hospital as a physician and I could recognize a full blown asthma attack.  My niece never had respiratory problems in the past so I knew it was the puppy i had just taken home.  It was hard on both me and her to take the puppy back.

As for the isolation the puppy I took back had to go through...I would review your policy if I were you before you write a rebutal.  I took the pug back on sunday left it and then returned on monday to talk to the owner.  By that time the pug was allready there with one other dog in the cage dysplay and was been shown to customers that requested to play with him.  He was just like any other dog that was in the store for sale.  So much for isolation!!! please!!! I bet they had allready done the $400 dollars of tests they needed in that 20 hour period right??

As for the $400, of course I care as any person that works for their money would.  But more than the money what frustated me was being taken advantage off.  You seem very nice but a little naive.  Word of advice stop working at Petland.

 

First off; I DOUBT the dog was immediately out and available to be handled. It is beyond illegal not only through corporate policy but through Animal Care and Control guidelines to immediately set that puppy back into an environment where s/he could immediately potentially leave infectious matter should they be carrying a new virus or bacteria. Being sat alone in one of the completely closed in and environmentally controlled "kennels" is acceptable but the dog ultimately wound up in the ISO or HOLDING room set aside for dogs needing to be carefully monitored for symptoms of infections such as parvo, influenza, kennel cough, mange, etc etc all of which can come from outside interactions away from the stores. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is sterile in a PetLand kennel. the trays are changed and soaked in bleach, the bottom grates, the kennels themselves are sprayed with a liquid called "trifectant", toys are washed in hot water on two cycles same with all towels and bedding etc after soaking in the trifectant. It's just how it works so him being in the glass front kennels isn't necessarily a bad thing since he's more likely to be watched like a hawk by every member of the staff in all reality.

Second of all; The VERY REASON you shouldn't have gifted your niece is because you didn't know her history of being allergic to dogs. You should have brought her to PetLand or another pet shop of your choice an allowed her to pick out her own dog if any dog at all. Like I said, the HSUS has a full portion of it's website devoted to reasons why you shouldn't purchasea puppy as a gift. This is one of those reasons and ultimately Petland is NOT responsible for your niece or anyone else having an allergic reaction to pet dander. As a nurse you should be well aware of how critical that potential really is.

I chose to work at Petland as an animal advocate and yes I am extremely nice, no I'm not naive for defending my corporation or the contract that was created with our puppies' welfare in mind. I'm here filing rebuttal after rebuttal to your "case" because you're speaking only one language; dollars and cents rather then being concerned for the welfare of the animal you abandoned. It's blatantly obvious that you couldn't care less about that Pug and wouldn't have given him another thought in life if you'd been able to hand him back for a full refund. I'm trying to impress upon you that we have these policies on hand to protect the animals in our care and quite frankly they come first, customers second. And that's how it should be. I'm sorry I can't seem to explain or make you understand that. It truly isn't our fault that you felt you should be exempt from the 5-6 contract you signed and legally had to have explained to you in simple English. There's no hidden clauses. It's all right there in bold faced and underlined font to make sure you have no way of missing it. Even the receipt you signed states "I understand there are no refunds on puppies". We give you that 48 hours for 50% back not as a way to punish you but as a way to dissuade people from impulse purchases. It's supposed to be uncomfortable to you to want to return the puppy because it's unfair to the puppy to have to be returned. Bottom line.

You as the buyer should have read that contract before you signed and initialed it. By putting your signature on that contract you were legally bound by it and the store had every right to charge you 50% for returning the puppy.

You also claim you were holding the dog as you were signing the contract and couldn’t read it. That’s still a lame excuse and you should have had the dog put back in the kennel or have an employee hold it until you were done signing the contract and under stood what you were signing.

Your claim about the store owner being as you put it “unreasonable, condescending and rude”, I would bet you were the one who was rude after you found out you had to forfeit $400 to return the dog and the store owner was tired of being nice about it.

Here is my two cent to you as the buyer, “Read the contract before you sign it.” If you don’t understand something in the contract, have the employee explain it to you. Ignorance on your part does not mean the store is at fault. I know I have signed a few contracts over the years, 3 mortgages, 6 car loans, 6 student loans, 3 personal loans and the biggest contract of all to join the Army.

I see no ripoff here, just someone who is mad that they had to lose $400 for not reading a contract they signed and didn’t read.

I'm filling a double rebutall; the last one; I know you'll miss me:)

You said it perfectly on your last report; you make it a point to make it "uncomfortable" for the customer to return the puppy because of the 50% "administration fee"; that is to avoid impulse buys?? right?? This behavior shows exactly what I've been trying to state about Petland.  They do not care what happens to the puppy after you purchase it.   You might as well not have a return policy. Would you rather me stay with the puppy eventhough it pose a threat to the health of my niece?? Or maybe you rather I abandoned it in the street?? or as the owner said, you can sell it??  This behavior does show exactly that you do not really care what I did with the puppy just as long as I did not return it or payed $400 dollars for 12 hours.  The only reason I did not keep it is because of my niece and because I had nowhere to take care of him while I looked for a good home for him. Trust me I would have rather done anything than return the pug to Petland.

As for the "do not give puppies as gifts", you are definetly not a business or marketing major right??? Me neither but I think common sense would show that Petland would decrease their sales by; im being genorous here, 25% if they took part of this policy.  I bet you and alll the other employees are saying "do not buy puppies as gifts"!!!!  I dare you to put that in Petland's web page:) Of course like everything in Petland you don't hear about this " policy" until you return the dog.

I'll finish by saying that this the last report I will write.  I wrote the initial one to inform the customers out there about this specific Petland in Orlando; and to tell my experience with unfairness and being taken advantage off.  I by no means wrote it to be having petty rebuttals by a Petland employee.  There is no way to show you the errors of your ways because you choose not to see them....as for me and to whoever I tell this story to,  Petland will always be "Greedy Petland".  Bye bye...xoxoxox

It's pretty clear that Petland is a caring and ethical business and it's just as clear that this post was made by an unreasonable customer.

Unable to understand what signing a contract means, unable to read the contract and unable to understand the reason for the contract and policies.

The person has utterly failed in their effort to harm you so I would just ignore them and move on to other customers.  Your reputation is intact.

Of course, I will now be accused of working for Petland.  I actually live in Michigan and never heard of the place but I would not hesitate a second to deal with Petland based on their well reasoned responses.

Some customers are just impossible. 

If you're set on a purebred please check out the professional breeders in your area. Depending on the popularity of the breed you may need to travel a few hours to find the right one. I think you'll find the breeders a much more caring lot when it comes to their animals. I know many will gladly take an animal back, with a refund, if there's a problem like an allergy or problem behavior. Their AKC papers will actually mean something and you'll actually pay a fair price for the animal.  

If you're looking for a lovable mutt please check out the local Humane Society or local rescue shelters. These are run by people who also truly love animals, many of them unpaid volunteers. The fees they usually charge barely cover their costs including vet checkups and spaying/neutering. I've always believed these animals are very appreciative when adopted. You get a lifelong friend......... in both cases

My son who lives at home, purchased a puppy at Petland, he called me from the mall where he purchased it. Our village only allows 2 dogs per residence and we already had 2. My son was not aware of this, but as he had not even left the mall, I told him to bring it back and surely they would return his money. Well, no such luck. Even though it was minutes after purchase, they still insisted that an administration fee of half the $1500 he paid for the dog or $750. I spoke to the manager and their was no negotiating. I mentioned to her that in Illinois, state law allows a consumer to rescind any contract within 72 hours. My son expressed his desire to rescind the contract, but again, the manager was not interested in what Illinois law had to say, only what their policy was. I'd be interested in joining a class action suit against Petland to recoup my son's losses.

Recently, I too had to return a puppy to PetLand. This was one of the most aweful experiences of my life.  My husband and I had come a across an adorable Shiba Inu puppy at Pet Land late on a Friday evening.  We had been considering a dog of this breed to add to our family, but we were very concerned how our older dog at home would respond to a new dog in his home.  We expressed our concerns to the sales person at PetLand and the first thing she said to us was they had just dropped the price of that dog today from $1600 to $1100 and that they have a 3 day return policy and worse case scenairo if the dogs did not get along we could bring him back. 
The associate made no mention of and Administrative Fee.  After debating back and forth, my husband and I decided we should probably not get the dog with out first introducing our dog to it. Our dog has been around other dogs successfully, but is also very territorial.   The sales person then went on to tell us to make her an offer on the dog and that we would probably get a good deal since that puppy had been there for two months, and the manager wanted to sale it.  Immediatley we felt horrible that the puppy had lived it's whole life in the tiny cage it and our emotion got the best of us thinking we need to "save" the poor little guy.  Again the sales person said make me an offer,  remember you can always bring him back if things don't work out.  We both had a moment of weekness and decided to make an offer of $650 for the dog. They came back at $700 and we agreed.
Big mistake!  When we brought the puppy home it was immediately tense between our older dog and the puppy.  We figured that was normal and things would get better.  Over the weekend, things got progessivly worse. They would start out as play fighting then it would turn very aggressive.  Both of the dogs suffered bite wounds.  The fighting was constant and we knew that we were not prepared to deal with this.  On Monday morning we called the store and explained the situation. They said we could bring the dog back for 1/2 the price of what we paid in total which ended up being around $400. 
We became extremely attached to this dog the few days that we had him and were very tore up over having to return him, but we also knew if we didn't somone was going to get hurt bad.  Not only did we lose $400, but it was so emotionally devistating because in that short period my whole family became so attached to the puppy. 
My husband did all of the paperwork when the puppy was purchased, and he said they never once mentioned an admin fee if the dog was returned. 
To make the matter worse.  After we returned the dog, I ended up doing a search on the "breeder" of the dog, whom PetLand assured us came from a reputable breeder.  Ended up this breeder is a the owner of a known puppy mill in IA.  Turns out PetLand gets most of their dogs from Commercial Breeders (aka Puppy Mills).  If I would have known this I never would have been in that store in the first place.  The puppy actually had a limp and a strange gait, but at the time we chalked it up to he had spent his whole life in a cramped enclosure and probably wasn't used to walking and exercise.
The whole experience was a nightmare.  I still think about the poor little puppy and hope he ended up being sold to a good family. I feel so guilty about the whole situtation.
As for PetLand, beware they can have some pretty slick tatics and their puppies do come form puppy mills!