Going Rogue

Apparently one of my coworkers has gone a bit rogue in the department or in the store in general. 

*exhales* Which is always a bit frustrating...on both the store's end and the customer's end of things.

And they've really only gone rogue....because they've gotten it into their head that they know better than the store and it's policies regarding how we feed and care for the animals, as well as that they know better than the vet (a person who's gone to school to learn how to treat animals and owns their own practice to do so.) 

So.
Apparently over the weekend -after I left work- 
We had a customer come in.

With a situation, in that they had bought an animal from us, had taken it to the vet, and it had later died. 

Which with our return policy...you have a couple of weeks to bring the animal back to us. (Even if it died.) and we'll give you your money back. It doesn't really matter the reason. It could be "I no longer like this pet." or "It's getting sick." Or "We found out so and so is allergic." Honestly. Any reason. You just have to have the animal and the paperwork/receipt proving that you purchased the animal from us. (Yes, we have to have you bring back the creature if it died, we need proof that it did die.) 

So I believe the animal in question was still within the guarantee range, though I don't know for sure...
But the customer came in....without the body....but did come in with a Vet Bill.
Expecting us to pay for it. 

Which. 
We couldn't do. 

We have it stated within the forms that the customer fills out upon purchase of the pet, that if the animal gets sick, the customer can bring the animal to us and we'll take it to the vet for you. 
Key words being "Bring the Animal to Us." 
Customers can't take animals to the vet and then bring us the bill. We have to take the animal to our specific vet, and then we'll treat it and IF it gets better the customer has the option of buying the animal back. If it doesn't and the customer wanted the animal back then we call them and let them know that their pet didn't make it. 

So how did my coworker go rogue?

First off. 
Apparently the animal they sold to the customer....wasn't healthy.
I'm not sure if it was injured or was sick in some way.
But the matter of the fact was that the animal wasn't healthy, and should have been taken off the floor instead of sold to the customer.
Because we don't sell sick animals. If the animal is sick we take them off the floor and isolate them in a separate room for treatment and observation.

However, this room....has been rather full recently because we've had a rash off issues popping up among the animals. (maybe its the weather change? Who knows. It goes in phases) 
And because my coworker was aware that the room was full or nearly full...
They decided that the animal would be better of being taken home by the customer...instead of putting it back in our sick room. 

The coworker proceeded to tell the customer that "If the animal gets worse." 
To which the customer was like "How could it get worse?"
That they can bring the animal back to us within the guarantee, and we'll take it to the vet for them. 

Which is where the coworker should have stopped talking.
But no the coworker was like "But basically if you return it to us, you're most likely not going to get the animal back. We often don't take them to the vet, but instead treat them here in the store." 

*exhales* *rubs eyes.*

Uggggghhhhh. 
Like NO. 
The only reason why a customer wouldn't get their animal back is if it DIES. 
Otherwise, if they customer wants the animal back we will keep their contact info to reach them and if their pet makes a recovery. We'll call the customer and let them know. 
It may take a month or two for the animal to get better. But as soon as we deem said animal healthy, we contact the customer asap so they can have their pet back. 

As to taking the animal to the vet.
It really depends on the situation as to why the animal was returned. 
We have a set of policies and guidelines based on various illness and injuries that animals could get. And depending on what the situation is...depends on if it's deemed necessary for a vet trip or if the animal can be treated just fine in the store. 
It's not like we go "Oh this animal needs to go to the vet, but we're not going to take it we'll just try and treat it here." That's not true! If it's deemed that the vet needs to be seen, then we take the animal to the vet. Simple as that. 

In any case.
Having been given this information by my coworker.
That the animal isn't totally healthy, that if it gets sick you can bring it back, but that if you do bring it back to us you most likely won't get it back because we probably won't take it to the vet.

It's no surprise that the customer decided to not bring the animal back to us.
Even though they knew they could.
They decided instead to take the animal to the vet themselves for treatment.

And for whatever reason....thought we would pay the vet bill.
Which we don't. We don't pay for people's vet bills, only the bills of creatures WE take OURSELVES to the Vet. 

And all this hassle....
because my coworker decided (whether intentionally or unintentionally is unknown) to paint the store in a negative light. >.< 
Like seriously....first you intentionally sold an animal that wasn't healthy....and then you made it so the customer wouldn't want to return the animal to us if things went wrong....
Like why?
Why?

I don't get it.
*exhales* 

My coworker should have known better.
They've worked here long enough. 
That they really should have known better.

-Sarnic Dirchi