This is good to know, thanks for the heads up! We don't have a Petco here (only a Petsmart) however we were out of town on Saturday and I went into a few different Petco's just to look around and I bought something (well, several things actually LOL) and need to take one thing back that was $20 (whenever we go back) - but thankfully it was NOT a clearance item, so I BETTER be in the clear as I do have my receipt!
That really is such a crock that they told you that no place excepts returns on clearance items. BULL.

I have returned clearance items before at more than one store with no problems what-so-ever
I will say that I do like alot of Petco's ITEMS better (they have the better dog food brands, better shampoo's and better treats in some cases) than Petsmart does....HOWEVER, Petsmart always seems soooo much cleaner and so much neater. Every single time I go into a Petco it is FILTHY and such a MESS! Whoever is supposed to straighten up those stores never does their job it seems

Geez. By the time I am done and ready to leave my hands just feel so disgusting and filthy and dirty (thank goodness I keep Purell in my purse and in my car!

It's better than nothing in a pinch, and it least it kills 99.9% of germs - LOL!)
Oh and not to mention - when I was in one of the Petco's on Saturday I went into the bathroom to wash my hands because when I picked up a bottle of shampoo it was all nasty and left shampoo all over my hands (just another example of how the stuff in the store is always so cruddy

) and anyway, when I walked into the bathroom I almost puked.

It was D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G!!! And...they didn't even have 2 separate bathrooms for men and women...and right before I walked in some guy walked out...and he left the toilet seat up - OMG!! SOOOO GROSS!!!!