Company won’t match its own online price unless I bend over backwards

I’m done with Petco and I feel and sound like a boomer, but hear me out.

I went into the Poughkeepsie location today to pick up more filters for my cat fountain. In store the product is $14.99 and online it is $4.92 (same product, same sku/upc). When I went to the counter I asked if they will match their own online price. I was told “yes, unless it’s more than 50%.” I said this was definitely more than 50% off. The cashier said she’d need to contact a manager. No problem, I work retail and I get that there are only so many things that can be done without managerial override. An older employee stated “if it’s more than 50% what she needs to do is go online and order it for in-store pickup.”

Utterly ridiculous! I understand why online prices are different than in store (overhead costs, etc), and I take no issue with that reality. But in order to match YOUR OWN COMPANY’S online price I need to step away from the register, bend over backwards, place an order online (which usually means account setup if there’s no guest checkout option), wait for the order to process, then go back to the same register to grab it?

Screw that, I’m in your store already and you’d rather get no sale than match your own website without making a customer jump through hoops? Petco deserves to get no sale with policies like that.

Edit: Some of you are positively awful. Suggesting I either found a price on google and bullied for a match, abused the employees or made a scene, etc. You guys are sick. Since you seem to need a blow by blow because surely I must just be some awful abusive Karen who “doesn’t get it”

When the cashier did as they did with their misinformation or flat out dishonesty I simply took back my phone, left the product, bid them good day and left. I know they can’t do shit and there’s no sense berating anyone for what they can’t do (or berating them at all for that matter).

I called the corporate line and filed a formal complaint (even made it plain to the woman on the line I take no issue with her and my complaint is with the handling of the situation at a brick and mortar location, I know complaint lines deal with massive abuse for being the ones to take the message from an unhappy customer), then called and asked to speak to the GM.

I got the assistant manager who was an utter ass and dug in his heels. But, surely I must have “dragged it on and on” for all of the two minutes and 45 seconds it took to explain what happened, hear his side (which he himself couldn’t be bothered to even let me finish before giving), tell him I was dissatisfied with the situation and his handling of (or failure to handle) it, and hung up.

Sometimes employees are just wrong and it isn’t the customer’s fault. Shocking, I know. But as someone who works retail I do encounter it on a very very rare occasion and when I do I feel badly and try to fix it. My own manager is an ass to customers at time, giving wrong information or just flat out being rude and unhelpful, and I often run damage control. I don’t assume the customer must have done something to deserve it because I witness the boss’s assholery and misinformation for myself.