What's the general warranty on pet store reptiles in your town?

Question

Bought a baby python and 4 days later its dead by no fault of mine. I've raised them for years and never had a problem. Pet store now tells me, By the way theres only a 24hr warranty. WTF, you'd think you could tell if something was going to die in 24 hrs and not purchase it.

My wife works at petsmart and they offer 30 day warranty on anything they sell. Other local pet store ,independently owned, offers 7 day warranty.

Store in question never stated warranty, not on receipt nor has any posted signs. Salesman verbally said 14 days and yes I will get my money back somehow

I sic'd my wife on the shop owner, after great length of details he agreed to give us another one.

Answer 1

Petland (blegh) when I worked there had a seven day warranty on the purchased reptile. Regretably, I was the only person who worked there that knew anything about the reptiles and many went home with WAY too many lights for the tanks and fried. Nobody else could figure out why the 8 inch corn snake in the twenty gallon tank was dying when it had one 100W infrared bulb and one 150W tight beam....both on all the time...I hate stupid people.

Answer 2

Our local reptile shop has a 3 day warranty period, and you are informed of such by a sign on the wall by the cash register. It is a very conditional warranty, however, and assumes you notify them ASAP of any concerns anong other conditions.

Our big chain operations have 30 days on products, but not on live animals. I've gotten a few different answers about that, and I suspect they will fudge given the chance.

My favorite local independent shop has no written policy. They try to work with you to figure out the most fair solution. (If a fish, for example, you've got to bring it in with some of the water so it can be tested.)

Buying babies, however... In all honestly and fairness (I AM NOT a shop owner, but have raised a buncha herps), when you buy a baby, that is part of the risk. You get a cheaper price, but you also do not know a lot of things about it you learn when they are juvies. Will they eat? Will they thrive?

If it was a fancy cross-bred species, you always have the risk of bad reinforced genes. If wild caught (or raised with wild-caught) then parasites are a big possibility.

Babies are also less likely to adjust to different conditions. A few degrees difference in temps or humidity, a subtle difference in diet, etc. can play a role in success in some individuals.

You said 'by no fault of mine'- but can you prove it? We all know there are a lot of keepers out there who claim a lot of expertise, but are absolutely clueless about the realities of their animals.


Good luck with your efforts, but know that if I were the shop keeper, the more you yelled and ticked me off, the less satisfaction you would get.

You might try a totally different approach (if you have not already burned that bridge) and gone the "I'm surprised that this happened- your shop has such a great reputation and I usually feel perfectly comfortable buying here" bit. Most shops are willing to work with you if you are a decent person- maybe not a full refund, but surely some other options are available- discounted replacement, perhaps?

I usually find that written warranties are absolutely inflexible when you are a jerk, and very flexible if you are a nice guy.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Well first of all when i buy my green tree pythons i make sure to by them out of country. It seems that these pet shop snakes are just not worthy of buying anymore. Honestly my best advice for you would be to look into the stores company number and give them a call. If your as big of a bi**h as me then you would have no problem getting that money back.

Answer 4

the petsmart i go to has a 14 day warranty.