REFUSE RETURN OF FAULTY PRODUCTS; LIE TO SELL PETS; POOR ANIMAL CARE!!

STAY AWAY FROM PETWORLD XXL CAPE GATE.

1) THEY LIE TO SELL PETS: I went to Petworld XXL Cape Gate in around April this year to buy a guinea ***. I phoned to ask whether they had guinea ***s before going there. I was informed they have had a guinea *** for quite some time, and that he was around 4 months of age. When I went there, the salesperson told me he is "so tame, he will follow me around at home". I picked him up and held him against my chest in the shop. He was still during this "cuddle", which had me believe he is indeed tame. Only after handling him some more at home, I realized he is not at all tame, but that he tolerates the holding as a freeze reaction out of fear. Since then I've spoken to exotic vets and ironically, to the salespeople at Perworld XXL Cape Gate. The vet said guinea ***s simply don't tend to get tame, and that she knew someone who bottle reared guinea ***s, but they nonetheless turned out not tame. Ironically, the salespeople at Perworld XXL Cape Gate itself said upon this later occasion that no, they don't get tame. They then specifically referred to guinea ***s in the store at that point, saying that they pick them up and hold them everyday, but that the nonetheless "scatter" whenever someone walks past them in the shop. My heart breaks every time I see Teddy. Him and his callosal cage literally live on the other side of my double bed. to try and ensure he is not lonely, but I am not able to give him any physical affection. I simply can't get him a friend because financially it is too big a risk. I am among those pet owners who go all the way with treatment if one of my pets get sick. My boy cat had kidney failure due to old age and for two rounds of hospitalization for him I paid R10 000 (R5000 per 3-day hospitalization). I paid R5000 for hospitalization of my ****atiel when she was egg-bound. At the same time, I'm not giving Teddy away because I love him, and I would never know what kind of care he ends up in.

2) REFUSE TO EXCHANGE FAULTY PRODUCT: I bought a new bird cage for my ****atiel a few weeks ago. The reason for this was that the original cage was dropped at some point and its bottom broke. I had not yet used the new cage, because my ****atiel would be highly disturbed by being moved to the new cage - people who know birds will understand what I'm saying - and I waited until I have leave from work to be able to spend time with my bird during the day to soothe it in case it is disturbed by the move to the new cage. So as I am on leave this week, I got the new cage out to start using it. Then I noted that the cage is missing its "slide out" bottom tray. I took the cage back to Petworld XXL Cape Gate, but the manager just wouldn't have any of it. She was extremely unpleasant and said they check every cage before putting it out to check for cracked bottoms, etc. That's not the point. Cages are out there for months on end and the condition in which it was first placed out on the floor is not at all the point. Any customer could cause damage to products that are out on the floor for months. May someone took the pull-out tray after breaking their own. Who knows? It is not my job to figure out why the bottom of my cage was missing. I didn't eat it; it doesn't fit on other cages because of differing sizes; just what on earth would I have done with it? It was NOT THERE. The manager said "what I should have done" was to phone them immediately after I got home and saw the tray was missing. Sorry, NO - this implies that customers should by default mistrust products and it puts the onus on the customer to ensure that YOU are not selling them junk.

3) ANIMAL CRUELTY: I have been disturbed by this store's animal management practices every single time I've been there. Yesterday I saw a tiny little mouse who was not able to reach the metal tip of the water bottle in its cage - it was too high to reach. On another day, I was disturbed by the hysteria of a ****atiel who was clasping on the front side of its cage in hysteria. This ****atiel was separated and kept alone in a cage. These cages are closed at the sides, but open at the front. This poor bird was in effect hearing its ****atiel friends that were housed in other cages close by, but could not see them. It was one of the cruelest things I'd ever seen. Imagine being separated from your same-specie friends, yet being taunted by hearing them nearby, at the same time not being able to see them.

4) SALE OF MICE. Most pet shops have stopped selling mice because snake owners tend to buy them to feed to their snakes. This place however is full of mice, everytime you go there. Do they not care imagining where these little creatures might end up when they callously sell them to strangers they know nothing about??

5) QUARANTINE PRACTICES = A SHAM. You would tend to be fooled at first by their "quarantine" signs put up on animal cages all over the place. However, THIS is how they do quarantine. When I went to buy my guinea ***, his own holding area as well as the adjacent holding area were full of new baby bunnies. The staff said the bunnies just came in, were under quarantine, and could not be sold for a couple of days. They did however sell me the guinea ***, which was NOT new, yet had a bunch of bunnies that are supposedly under quarantine, thrown into the same holding area. So what is the point of the bunny quarantine, if you sell an animal from the same holding area, before the bunny quarantine is over? Whatever ailments the bunnies might have would certainly transfer to the guinea ***, which they were happy to sell prior to the bunny quarantine being over??

DON'T GO TO THIS PLACE!!!! THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, AND THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THEIR ANIMALS.