# Pet shop fury!



## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

Sorry to rant to you about this but you seem to know your rats and i want to get other peoples opinions.

Well if you remembered i bought some rats last friday from a new pets shop just across the street for us and when i went in to get them with my boyfriend we did the usual pick out the rats and she was away to put them in a box untill her boyfreind (i assume)said "Oh god whats the metter with her ear?!" and then the lasy went "Oh she's just been chewing it" so me and my boyfriend just thought oh well thats cool we'll sill take them so we did. They lady also said she had been sniffing cause she thinks one of the rats is allergic to aspen.

So we took them home and later on i was playing with them till i found that they were scratching each other and i mean major scratching i also realised that what was happening to one of the rats was now happening to the other as i looked at the ear and could see it was coming up in lump and up the tail too. I told my boyfrind that this isn't right and there was something up and i also said that it could be some sort of parasite.

The next day i went to the pet shop after work and told them that the problem is getting worse with the rats and that its not her chewing her ear as the same symptoms is happening to the other now as the pet shop owner did tell me to come back if i had problems. I told her of my concerns about the rats having parasites as i'm studying animal care and did parasitology and these are clearly the signs of them. She then went on to tell me they didnt have as the breeder she got them from had vet checks and that the other rest were fine.

So i went over to look at one of her rats at looked at its ear and i could see exactly that the ear was turning out the same as mine was so i went " Its got lumps on its ears too." at this point they came over and was like oh god your right. I thought this was weird as being current owners of a pet shop they should be checking the mammals/any sort of animal that comes in also keeping in mind that the state of my rats ear was in that this would take a good fews weeks for this to happen.

So i went home and on Monday i phoned for a vet for professional help. So i got an appointment and went. The vet then examined them and said "Ok i'm going to treat them for mites." i then said "Is it definitely mites?" she said i cant say i'm a 100% but i think its being caused by them" so i was in fury as you can imagine. I also got some antibiotics for them to clear it up, the totally amount costing me Â£37.50! I couldn't believe it.

I took my rats back home and then thought as i passed the pet shop that this is not acceptable! I shouldn't have to pay for this bill as it came from their shop and clearly got whatever they caught when they were in the shop. So i went in and could see she had customers so i waited in respect for them to leave as i wasn't there to cause trouble. After the customer went i told her that my rats had mites and were getting treated for it and she was like oh god thats not good. Her boyfriend was then like there's obviously something not right with them. I showed her the treatment and the antibiotics and the bill. i said "I don't mean to be rude but i had to pay a vet bill of Â£37.50 and well since i got them from here...." basically i was getting to the point of a refund or her paying me back for the rats that i paid for. She then gave me Â£30 back as thats how much paid for them. so we spoke and they were really nice to me or at least i thought they were. She then phoned me asking for proof of the treatment that the had rats i said i would get it.

So today i have been through **** as i was working and my boyfriend had to deal with it for the simple fact of me working. so i come back to this being said...My boyfriend phoned the vet and she spoke to the girl from the pet shop and told her what was happening and just because there's not a 100% assurance that it might be mites they want us to either give the rats back or give them the refund they gave us! I was angry! i said no we're not giving them back as even though you gave us a refund of Â£30 there's still the vet bills and if we do that then what have we got to show for it? We have lost out on Â£37! And that would mean we've treated the rats for them!

The vet said "But you should have not taken them like that" that being said we explained to her how the pet shop lady said it was just cause by her chewing her ear she then said "Ah i see. Then you didn't know any different. And anyway she shoudn't be selling any animal in that condition!" which i was explaining to me boyfriend that even if it isn't mites they should not be selling rats that are not 100% healthy! And the fact she shouldn't be giving out advise like saying it was caused by chewing the ear unless she was 100%! Thats just wrong! And we only bought them cause she said that! Later on she started saying how we bought them like that and we knew the condition but all we knew was she said that is was caused by being chewed! As this is what my boyfriend said. She later on goes on to say to him that i was being nice about the whole mite thing to her then changes her mind as says "I'm not happy with your girlfriend, you've been nice about it but she hasn't as she was saying in front of customers that the rats had mites and saying they weren't eating and they were sneezing." also she said "They weren't sneezing when we had them in the pet shop" but as i told you when we first purchased them she said she thinks they were sneezing cause they were allergic to aspen so she is completely lying!

She also said that she phoned all the people that had bought the other rats and there's nothing wrong with them which she is lying about too! As she doesn't even have numbers for them as she didn't take any numbers from me! I think in the end since the vet has said she cant be 100% sure about the mites the pet shop owners have just thought HA! we can get our refund back. But she forgets what she was saying before and she said there was clearly something wrong with them! She even offered me another rat as the one that was in the pet shop that i had spotted had the same problem she said she would get it treated and give it to me free.

Now she is harassing me to get them back. And i'm not doing it as i see me being ripped off! I was ripped off in the first place! She should have got her rats vet checked! As the breeder she gets her rats from said that some of his rats has ear "problems" and is being treated and cause of what has happened he needs to put all of his rats to the vet for check ups. She also had the cheek to say to my boyfriend that she would NEVER sell me any animals again! I was so pissed off! I mean wouldn't you? She then told me to bring them back as i got a refund and that they shouldn't be kept as pets and she wouldn't be selling them if she got them back and that she then went on to say they'd get the proper professional help! I was like they are getting proper professional help as we are currently getting them seen to at the vet and have the treatment! i was so offended! Like i would give them back to her when it happened there in the first place! And is she wasn't going to sell them then what was she going to do with them? I thought no you're going to put them back on sale and get your refund money back.

Anyway i'll stop there! So what do you think? Sorry to bother you but i'm so pissed off! I'm just going to ignore them from now on as there is nothing they can do about it now. We have the rats and thats that! My mum has left a message on their answering machine to let them know to leave me alone and they wont be getting the rats back and if they keep on bothering me it's classed as harassment and that if they carry on with it she will be personally going to deal with it herself meaning take it further.

I thought i was doing good to them as if someone went to the press about this them their business would be buggered. Sorry again! I don't mean to bore ya's with this!


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

From the pics you showed me, there was definately SOMETHING wrong with those rats, more than likely mites. Sounds like she's just feeling bad about giveing you the money back. She needs to though and it sounds like those rats that are in the petshop need treatment.

I would explain to her that you could take this matter to a lawyer, I don't know any other laws other than American but if a place of business gives you a refund they can't ask for it back. It's her fault she gave you the refund and in my opinion you deserved it. There is no legal standing for her to have the money or the rats, you payed for them she chose to gave you the money for their vet bills. No legal standing on her part to get that back.

But you seem to have harrassment happening, a lady with sick animals owning a pet shop and lots of stuff happening. I would call whoever deals with animal cruelty over there and get them on top of things with that lady. She really needs to get those rats to the vet and get their mite treatment, or even just look up the proper doseage for revolution and write off a few containers of that D: That's just really crappy treating those poor animals like that.


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

1. please consider multiple paragraphs so that i can focus on the words on the screen, lol.  make a new paragraph when your story moves from one point to another. just a pet peeve.

2. i think it was right for them to give you a refund on the rats, that was very nice of them.

3. although it's neat that they took an interest in going to lengths to call the vet, the info they got from the vet is, in my opinion, not enough to warrant asking for the refund back.

4. from your story, you seem to be in the right and the pet store employee seems to be crazy, so i wouldn't worry about giving her money or the rats back. if she threatens to press charges or sees to it that you are no longer served in the store as a customer, take it up with someone higher up than her (i.e. call the home office if you can, etc, as a formal complaint) or take this story to whatever court she meets you in.

5. because she acknowledged that the rats were sneezing and had ear issues before she sold them, then a) she knew they were not technically in any selling condition, and b) technically you also knew that they were unhealthy, even though you thought the cause of their ear problems was something entirely less costly and dangerous - you can use this as misdirection or misinformation on her part.

oh geez, i dunno, i think i'd just ignore her and not go to the store for a few months. afterwards, just tell her the rats died and you're buying stuff for two other ones you bought elsewhere, so she can't ask you for them back anymore, lol. i'd give up on the vet bill thing, and take it as your loving intro into healthcare for an "inexpensive" pet.


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## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

I know! The cheek of it is she didnt even offer to pay the vet bill and wouldnt have offered me anything if i didnt ask! Which i think to be so wrong! I mean i even took the rats in to show her that i wasnt lying about this and she was like no there is definetly something not rite there. I know if she carries on harassing me that i can take this further as i know i have done nothing wrond. Thankyou for your opinon, means alot! I hope the other rat is okay! God i'm so offended that she said she wouldnt sell me any animals ever! Cheek!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Check this pic and case history on the ratguide.com
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/ectoparasites_figure_2.php

This is sarcoptic mites on a rat. It seems to becoming less rare since I just recently saw pics of the same thing on another ratforum (or maybe it was here?).. Definitely mites. You can never be 100% sure of mites since they are microscopic and even skin scrapes come back with false negatives. They obviously were not well and those "people" shouldn't be asking for their money back once they had given it to you. They are attempting to bully you, ignore them, and obviously the "breeder" can't be an accredited, resposible, ethical breeder otherwise her rats wouldn't be going to a petshop.
They won't sell you their ill animals any longer? Oh thats just terrible. :roll:


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## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

I wasnt asking for the vet bill back, was was really happy with getting the money back for the rats! Truley was happy with that! But you see before any of this happened i was aplplying for a job there so she has my details and she has now been phoning me and leaving voice messages and its getting harassing now, if ya know what i mean? I'm truley happy to spend money to get my rats better! Cause they are improving as it is clearing up!

I wont be going back there anymore, to save me the hassel, nyway she wont serve me in there. Yeha i just didnt get the whole we want them back and cause there ill they wont be selling them...what were they giong to do with them? Poor critters!

I know they have nothing on me but i want the whole calling me to stop!

Has anyone experinced this before or know someone?


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## 2manyrats (Apr 10, 2007)

It sounds like the manager's a few bottles short of a six-pack to me... I mean, harassing a customer about *returning* money that they were given in refund for a valid reason is a great way to drive customers away. You should tell *everyone* you know to avoid that place.

Oh, and will your phone company block people for calling when they're repeatedly harassing you?


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## ratvocate (May 15, 2007)

I had a bad experience with a pet store once. Very long story .. but my vet ended up writing the pet store a long letter saying she was going to report the store etc.. They gave me all my money back on my purchase. I would not even attempt to go back there as they were very very shady to say t he least!


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## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

Oh i never thought about asking my phone company to block the number! I might just ask and see if they do it. Would be really handy! I'm expecting a phone call today from her no doubt!

And if she does carry on do it it then i will be taking it further up!

You got all your refund back, thats great! What was the matter with your rats? Sucks when this happens! You think someone is giving you a refund back for the kindness of their hearts as they buggered up then it just turns on you! I think these people aare shady and i dont think that girl knows what shes talking about either.

I'll keep you up to date if anything else happens! Thanks sooo much!


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Hey, y'know, you don't have to tell the truth...you don't have to even answer: you've moved since then! Or, as someone suggested, you can say that the ratties died. DO NOT let those people get ahold of your rats again!

Two male hoodies at the PetSmart were really suffering with lice everywhere. I alerted the people, who said that they were already being "treated," whatever that entails...

I didn't get anywhere close to the "lice mice," not because I didn't love them and want to pet them, but rather, because I don't want to bring my precious Gus a gift of lice!

I wish that there was some legislation in progress that would force pet stores to take adequate care of the pets they sell!


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

Don't be a coward and pretend you've moved or anything like that... write an article and put it in your local paper so that other people will be aware that the animals that these people are selling are not healthy, and they're pretty much running a legal scam. That or call the authorities who look after the issues of cruelty to animals, its one thing for one person to stand up and say no to them, but for every one person who does theres going to be 10 who don't know about it. Don't let them have the glory of conning anyone else into buying a sick animal, because if their rats are sick, most of the other animals probably aren't in the greatest of health, it appears that these people don't know the first thing about taking care of pets, and its people like this that disgust me.


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## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

Ohi'm not going to run and hide. Don't worry! Ave had no bother with phone calls or anything so far and i walked passed the shop today and they said nothing to me, i think they realise they have nothing over me and that i'm not backing down!

Aww poor mice! It is really disgusting how they can even treat the pets like this i mean common sense is to check your pets even if the breeder did say they were vet checked cause clearly they havent been! Oh i know what ya mean ya don't wanna risk giving watever the animal has to yur pet!

Actually they had sugar gliders in the back of there shop and that too was sick by the sound of what she was saying. Not good at all! Just giving peopple sick animals is not right!


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## lizzydeztic (Mar 15, 2007)

renay said:


> write an article and put it in your local paper so that other people will be aware that the animals that these people are selling are not healthy, and they're pretty much running a legal scam.


i TOTALLY agree. hurry up and take pictures of your rats ears and over all appearance with a good disposable camera. if a newspaper doesn't accept them, make fliers or something. people need to know about this, especially since i'm sure there are kids adopting rats from there with no clue there is anything wrong. and sugar gliders? thats so sad. i really don't believe in keeping them as pets anyway but there isn't a law against it so there's nothing i can do.

perhaps send someone in there to take pictures of the sickly little things as well, and provide information and a bibliography for the information on health issues with rats. 

that lady should be ashamed of herself.


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## thegrotto (May 11, 2007)

I'm sorry but I can't read it. When its all one massive paragraph, I can't read it very well. Slight dyslexia, especially when there's a lot of typos.


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## IlikePizza (May 26, 2007)

Yeha they had sugar gliders adn hedgehogs. I felt it was cruel too. They should be out in the wild, having the time of their lifes with nature...sad sad day!

There getting so much better now. The treatment is showing major effect! So i'm well chuffed! As the "chewed" ear is hardly chewed at all now! 

I think the lady at the petshop has given up now. She got the hint that she cant do anything except pray to god her buissness doesnt go down hill. I feel sorry for people who have bought rats and they have the same problem and have no clue that there pet is ill...sad day! To think i wanted to work there when it first opened not realising what was in store.

Sorry about the spelling, i was typing fast and i know i should of put it in paragraphs but i was full of rage. Again very sorry.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

OK, I've edited this a little bit to add some paragraphs and correct some of the typos.


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