Asked to leave Petsmart in West Lansing

[Greyh Seer]

I was open carrying at Petsmart on Labor Day (as I always have-go there to pick up dog food and to get my dog's nails trimmed once a month for over a year), and the manager, Marian? Maryanne? told me that I could not have the gun in the store and that I had to put it in my car.  This is not posted on their door.  When I got home I immediately researched the internet to discover that this sort of thing has happened at other Petsmarts and the end result was the company saying they would follow state laws and allow it.  I called the Petsmart corporate customer service line and spoke with John who told me that he was unaware of the policies surrounding the legal carry of a firearm in their stores (in fact, he had to ask me if there was a sign posted).  He then told me that my complaint would be forwarded up to management and I would get a call back in a few days.  It is now 4 days later and I have yet to receive a phone call.  I hope they come to their senses and correct this manager as otherwise they will be loosing my $1000+ I spend a year in that store to one of their competitors. Grrr

[smellslikemichigan]

that's a new one. i've carried in petsmart and know plenty of other people have too. probably just a rogue manager. hopefully they call back and sort this out.

[TheQ]

We shop there as well (same store). I will be highly interested in the result. Please keep me informed.

[jgillmanjr]

We shop there as well (same store). I will be highly interested in the result. Please keep me informed.

Same.

[gryphon]

Soldan's ftw.

[Greyh Seer]

So, it's been 24 days and no call back.  I called back Petsmart, spoke to a supervisory-Becky, who advised me she would send this up again.  This time I asked for both a call back and an email.  This is extremely frustrating.  My dog is almost out of food, and I'll go spend my $100 a month over a Pet Supplies Plus (which is frankly closer to me anyways) if they don't contact me back this week.  GRRRRR!!!

[detroit_fan]

So, it's been 24 days and no call back.  I called back Petsmart, spoke to a supervisory-Becky, who advised me she would send this up again.  This time I asked for both a call back and an email.  This is extremely frustrating.  My dog is almost out of food, and I'll go spend my $100 a month over a Pet Supplies Plus (which is frankly closer to me anyways) if they don't contact me back this week.  GRRRRR!!!

just an idea, but have you considered local feed stores instead of going to petsmart? i use a local fed and grain store for my dogs food, it's way cheaper than petsmart and he not only welcomes OC, he asked for info on how to get his cpl. it also helps support a local business instead of a giant corporation. just a thought.

[gryphon]

Greyh, I buy from Soldan's.  They've never said anything about my OCed gun.  There's one near you.  They're cheaper, too.



http://www.soldanspet.com/

[Jeff]

I'm too much of a wussie to go around OC'ing everywhere I go.  The hassle of loading and unloading my firearm and properly transporting every time I am going to go in and out of my vehicle.  When I get my CPL though and can carry it openly yet technically concealed in my vehicle I will be OC'ing while I am out but until then I only OC around my neighborhood where there isn't a vehicle involved.

I do go to a local pet store over here though just called K-9.  Good prices but I don't know how they will be while open carrying.  In case I never mentioned it before, I never see anyone open carrying in my area.  I had no idea it was even legal a year ago.  All of my life I have never seen anybody open carrying so when I start doing it in my area I'm sure it will be most peoples first time seeing it as well.  Fun times ahead

[ocdetroit]

Bro.In Arms, Jeff. I Open carry in K-9 Loc. On Mich. Ave. In Detroit 2 times a month. No problems.  Carry on.

[Jeff]

Oh, I didn't know there were more of them.  The one near me is on 13 1/2 mile and Mound road.

[Greyh Seer]

Well, today I called back...two weeks after they told me 3-5  days (again) with no answer.  This time I spoke to Jeannette who had no idea what was going on.  I was escalated to her supervisor (this again was Becky) who told me she would send it up to corporate a 3rd time and gave me the corporate phone number of 623-580-6100.  They are not yet open today (they are in Arizona) but as soon as they open I am calling them.  Once I make this final call I am done trying.  If they call me back, fine...and if they don't...then I will go to Pet Supplies Plus or Soldan's instead.  This is now becoming less about are they going to support my 2nd amendment rights and now more about the fact that promissing to call me back within a few days but not doing it for an entire month despite me calling 3 times....that's just bad customer service!

I figure I'll call the corporate office today and then give them a week...if I don't hear from them, I'll post on all the 2nd amendment sites my experiance, encourage others to not shop there and then take my business elsewhere. 

Edit: I called corporate and was referred to customer service manager Jessica Brenner at x2516.  I left a voice mail giving her a condensed version of the issue and asked for a call back today.  We'll see if they bother.

[Greyh Seer]

Victory!!

Jessica from Petsmart called me last night and informed me that she had her legal department research the Michigan laws and that Petsmart will follow the laws in Michigan and allow open carry in thier stores.  She advised me she would send an email out last night to the store and to the district manager to "remind" them of this fact.  In addition, she will be ensuring that the district management team trains/goes over this policy on the next conferance call and will make sure that all stores in our area recieve this additional "training". 

In addition, she said that this was the first she had heard of this issue and would be following up to find out how the disconect happened as I should have recieved resolution on this issue much earlier.  And to top things off, she said if I needed to go into the store last night, she would personally call the store right away to inform them I was welcome!

She then told me that if I was asked to leave in the future to inform the store management team they should have an email advising them they are to welcome legal open carry and to call her directly should I have continuing issues.

Well, it took a while to get that great resolution, but go Petsmart for doing the right thing!!!!

My wife was very happy.

[bigt8261]

Good job on the follow through.

[Pond Scum]

Wow!  Great job!   And good for Jessica for taking prompt action.    I haven't been to Petsmart for over a year but I see a visit in the near future.   

[gryphon]

Excellent!  Great job following up!

[Jeff]

HIZAH!

[WilDChilD]

Its a shame it took all that to get this...

*snip*   Petsmart will follow the laws in Michigan   *snip*

[part deux]

CONGRATS!

[TheQ]

Stories like this from individuals in/close to MOC is what makes MOC great -- not just our leadership team.  Real grass roots activism.  Well done.