A pet shop owner kicks out a shopper for comparing prices on Amazon versus the prices in the pet store. But does the shopper deserve to be kicked out?
Nowadays it’s become easy to do ample research on obscure products like cat shampoo. Consumers compare prices and read reviews before making a purchase. And they will often use their phones in stores to get educated on certain products they don’t know much about. And yes, often to make sure the price is right.
Then again, mom and pop businesses are still valued today and customers have mostly agreed to pay more for their convenience. Plus, customers love to support locally owned businesses even when prices are cheaper online.
But sometimes this fragile societal understanding goes off the rails and there is drama online in the aftermath. Like in this TikTok posted by @jannet.camacho, wherein she details her recent scolding at a mom and pop pet store for comparing prices on Amazon.
So what happened at the pet shop?
According to this content creator, she got kicked out of Tropical Pets located in the Bronx, New York, for using Amazon to compare prices in the store. She went to Tropical Pets to buy cat shampoo for a stray cat with fleas she found the night before.
Before going to the store, she researched cat shampoo on Amazon to know what to look for when she was there. She didn’t buy online since she didn’t have the time to wait for shipping because she needed to wash the cat with fleas.
She claims to have had her phone out to double-check to see if she had the right product that she previously researched. The pet shop owner noticed Amazon being pulled up on her phone and got offended.
The owner told the shopper that going on Amazon in his store is not allowed. He then proceeded to take the cat shampoo from the customer’s hand and place the item back on the shelf. The shopper thought the owner was joking around but he was dead serious.
The owner then allegedly proceeds to scold the customer for doing this and tells her to leave. The content creator left the pet shop without the cat shampoo to go immediately write a bad review.
Is the pet shop owner allowed to kick out a shopper for comparing prices on Amazon?
In New York, a business does have the right to refuse selling a product to a customer. However, businesses are not able to discriminate against customers for race, gender, religion, or disability.
Reasons for refusal of service typically include disruptive behavior, potential safety concerns, or violating store policies.
Question is, does this pet shop have an in-store policy that tells customers they are not allowed to use Amazon in the store? Or did the shop owner simply kick out the customer because he’s annoyed by Amazon potentially stealing customers?
Janet speaks out
In a statement to the Daily Dot, she told us: “I am in complete shock of what actually happened and even after I left the store I had no idea what just happened.
I genuinely thought that the pet store owner was joking with me, but he was being completely serious. After looking at his reviews, it seems as though I wasn’t the only person that he had done that too.
He’s really good at deleting any real authentic reviews that people have left which he has done. His rating was at a 3.8 a few days ago and he got it back up to a 4.0. I did leave a review with the interaction and what actually happened but it’s deleted.
Also, with the help of the Internet, I was able to get my rating back up to a 4.8. The pet shop owner decided to leave me a zero star review, even though he had never been to my business before. He also had his friends and family leave zero star reviews who had never been to my business. I opened my business up in May, I only had a few reviews. These false reviews affected my rating. I originally had a 4.9 and it went down to a 4.2 after this incident.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone to go into the pet store and I don’t think that someone with that kind of attitude should be working with animals.”
So what did the viewers think of browsing prices via Amazon live?
“What if you were just going on amazon to look at the review of the product??!! Why was he looking at your screen anyways?” one questioned.
“Go to Petco or Petsmart they’ll match online prices,” one suggested.
“I literally use Amazon to check for reviews sometimes. I would’ve also been kicked out,” one added.
“All I had to hear was the Bronx” one joked.
This TikTok has more than 320,900 views with more than 40,200 likes.
The Daily Dot has contacted Tropical Pets over email.
@jannet.camacho GURRLLLLL BFFR
♬ original sound – JANNET
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