PetCo's fake "sales"

plan

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Is anyone else on their mailing list?

They added me when a cashier convinced me to sign up for their rewards/discount card, and I get sometimes up to 3 emails a day from them hawking their "sales."

There's just one problem: The sales don't exist

In December they supposedly had some big holiday blowout and made a big deal about how food was on sale too, so I clicked on it. The Blue Buffalo dry food was the same price it always is, as was the Nutro Perfect Portions wet food.

Today I got another email that specifically said Blue was on sale for 20% off, so I clicked and -- surprise, surprise! -- the Blue products are the same price they've always been.

It's like the boy who cried wolf...always emails about sales, never any actual price changes.

My local PetCo is clean, but it rarely seems as if there's more than one or two people working, and if you buy stuff that's marked clearance (like toys) you'd better make sure they actually ring up as clearance, because if you don't they'll just ring you up at full price.

I know, I know -- buy online. I have been ordering cases of food from Amazon, but I occasionally make short trips to my local PetCo if I'm low on cat food or need something ASAP. Gonna make PetSmart my default brick and mortar place from now on.
 

Kieka

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That sales thing is pretty annoying. Especially since the sale price is usually what it is everywhere else. I know where I am (California) there are laws about listing something as a sale price unless it was sold at the higher price at some point in the last 6 months. It is kinda like don't go shopping at Kohls unless you see it on sale or have Khols cash because the regular price is high. 

I am still on any mailing lists for the occasional coupon for $ of purchases. I do most of my shopping online.  
 
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plan

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That sales thing is pretty annoying. Especially since the sale price is usually what it is everywhere else. I know where I am (California) there are laws about listing something as a sale price unless it was sold at the higher price at some point in the last 6 months. It is kinda like don't go shopping at Kohls unless you see it on sale or have Khols cash because the regular price is high. 

I am still on any mailing lists for the occasional coupon for $ of purchases. I do most of my shopping online.  
You're right, occasionally they will have something like 20% off your purchase of X amount or more, and those are legit.

Kohls though...they let you use multiple coupons so you can get some insane deals if you wait for a sale and have coupons.
 

Kieka

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You're right, occasionally they will have something like 20% off your purchase of X amount or more, and those are legit.

Kohls though...they let you use multiple coupons so you can get some insane deals if you wait for a sale and have coupons.
But if you buy at Kohls at full price? You're wasting money. 

I usually stock up on food with the nice coupons from the pet places. Sometimes a toy spree but the toys you can usually find up to 50% lower online. 
 

destinyz12

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I'm on Petco's mailing list, and while I ignore the "sales", they sometimes send good coupons out, especially around the holidays- they had $10 off coupons for several different brands of dry food, 2 of which happen to be brands I use so i ended up buying the smaller bag of each brand and paid almost nothing for them! and they often have the $5 off if you spend $25 or more deals.  They also recently had $15 off of $49 or more from their website with free shipping so i took advantage of that too, and they always have for every $100 that you spend, you get $5 reward dollars, which you can use on top of coupons
 

utsarah

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I am an Amazon Prime member and I have found that I can order my cat's canned food cheaper through Amazon than other sites.  It depends on what they eat though.
 

Kat0121

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Is anyone else on their mailing list?

They added me when a cashier convinced me to sign up for their rewards/discount card, and I get sometimes up to 3 emails a day from them hawking their "sales."

There's just one problem: The sales don't exist

In December they supposedly had some big holiday blowout and made a big deal about how food was on sale too, so I clicked on it. The Blue Buffalo dry food was the same price it always is, as was the Nutro Perfect Portions wet food.

Today I got another email that specifically said Blue was on sale for 20% off, so I clicked and -- surprise, surprise! -- the Blue products are the same price they've always been.

It's like the boy who cried wolf...always emails about sales, never any actual price changes.

My local PetCo is clean, but it rarely seems as if there's more than one or two people working, and if you buy stuff that's marked clearance (like toys) you'd better make sure they actually ring up as clearance, because if you don't they'll just ring you up at full price.

I know, I know -- buy online. I have been ordering cases of food from Amazon, but I occasionally make short trips to my local PetCo if I'm low on cat food or need something ASAP. Gonna make PetSmart my default brick and mortar place from now on.
Yes I am on their mailing list and get all the ones you mentioned. 

My biggest beef with them is that the prices in store is often significantly higher than online. Not food but other things. They WILL NOT match their online price in store. My second biggest beef with them is that you need to keep a sharp eye on the expiration dates on the canned foods. I rarely shop in store anymore but during one shopping trip not long ago, I found over two dozen cans of outdated food- some were WAY outdated- and they were full price to boot. I brought them to the cashier so no one else would buy them. 

I prefer Petsmart. I often will buy what I need online and pick it up in store. Petco does not offer that option. Petsmart will also take competitor's coupons. Petco will not. 

I order a lot of food this way and online through Amazon. Chewy is very good too but I really don't use them very often. 

Yeah- I love Kohl's. You really can get great deals with them when you pair the sales with Kohl's cash. 
 

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I have no problems.  Gotta read the fine print as many of the their sales have exclusions (i.e. certain brands of cat food or litter, or whatever).

FWIW I never order from Amazon.  Their canned product would arrive with a ton of dents and would contain more fluid compared to the same brand from Petco (online or in store).
 
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neely

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One thing I don't like about Petco is that they won't price match.  I frequently shop at Pet Supplies Plus and they will not only match prices of their competitors but on-line prices too.
 

Kat0121

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One thing I don't like about Petco is that they won't price match.  I frequently shop at Pet Supplies Plus and they will not only match prices of their competitors but on-line prices too.
They won't even match their OWN online prices in store. 
 

neely

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They won't even match their OWN online prices in store. 
Yes, you're right, I found that out too. One more reason I don't shop there too often.  We are fortunate to have all the major pet food chains plus many local franchise and privately owned stores.
 

Kat0121

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Yes, you're right, I found that out too. One more reason I don't shop there too often.  We are fortunate to have all the major pet food chains plus many local franchise and privately owned stores.
Petco and Petsmart are less than a mile apart here. I prefer Petsmart but I do shop Petco when they have REAL sales. The kids like the Soulistic Good Karma. 
 

Boris Diamond

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I used to mail order from Petco.  I had difficulty when they made mistakes.  They made several.  They double shipped one order and charged me for both.  The person I got on the phone spent most of the phone call trying to convince me it was an honest mistake.   ???  If I had thought it was a crooked mistake, I would not be talking to them about it!
 

msserena

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I'm on their mailing list, I get rewards coupons in the US mail. I think I used to get email notifications, but I unsubscribed. They send them out way too often & I felt like I was buying something every time they sent me an email. Petco is good because of their reward program. I've got a lot of coupons plus every $100 you get $5. That comes in handy when you're feeding three.

I'm finding they're also becoming more competitive with their pricing. I have bought from chewy for the last few years because they have the best prices, well I just checked Petco two days ago & they were pretty much the same or even lower for what I was shopping for. I also use ebates & chewy isn't on there. I'm earning rewards with Petco, getting the food I need & earning a rebate through ebates. It's a triple win!
 
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