Pet Scam-market 
March 31, 2008
Having recently become a dog owner, I have been venturing into the unknown worlds of online pet shopping. Most actual shops in central London are either in scary locations or simply cater mostly for the toy dog market (dog outfits, jewellery, little throne beds and other horrors). Being a little housebound at the moment with an unruly pup tearing about I was excited about prospect of shopping from the comfort of my kitchen table - no lugging of large bags of food or having to schlep out to an shopping estate on the fringes of London.
Ah, but how wrong I was - this "supermarket" is an absolute joke - having placed several orders now, it seems they have a bit of a scam in place. Each time I order something, my parcel arrives but one or two items are always "out of stock", however my credit card will have been charged the full amount. They send me an refund voucher to be used on my next purchase, thus ensuring that I order again. So I ordered again, and surprise surprise - several items out of stock, but again I was charged the full amount. My third (and last) order was placed on a Wednesday and I paid £7 for next day delivery. The order arrived the following week on Monday - 3 business days late. Again, an item was missing and out of stock, and one item was faulty. I immediately phoned customer services, who advise that they would again issue a credit for my next order and then asked me to send the faulty item back at my own expense where they would then issue another refund for my next purchase. Also, when questioned about the late delivery they said this was because an item was out of stock, but when they sent off the package on Saturday it was placed as a "next day delivery" - even though I had originally ordered it the previous Wednesday. Total value of money owed was now £20 - plus the inconvenience that I'm having to send items back at my own cost, not knowing if they will ever refund me.Several online forums indicate that I'm not the only one experiencing this. Am still battling it out with them, but in the meantime, if there are any pet owning tippers, beware...
Tags: online pet shop
