PetSmart Employer Reviews

I first applied to Petsmart back in 2005, but wasn't hired because even though they liked me they hadn't made enough sales so that store couldn't hire me. A couple years later I worked at PetCo until I moved and had to quit. In 2008 I applied to Petsmart again as an experienced bather/brusher for their grooming salon. I told them upon hiring that I – more...  did not want to go through their grooming program. I knew other people who had worked in grooming at Petsmart and I had no interest in becoming a groomer for them.
I had to repeatedly call back to find out when I started work after I was already told I had been hired. When I finally got to go to work, I was in "training" for a week before I ever went into the grooming salon. During this time I was even put on the cash register when they were short-handed. During the time I worked there, I was full-time and would work up to twelve days straight.
At PetCo I was paid minimum wage, but made commission if it was over what I made hourly. At Petsmart I only got paid hourly, no commission. I did not get my own clients, did not get to choose how my dogs were scheduled and was required to drop everything to help the groomers. Many dogs I was perfectly capable of doing were taken by the groomers because they cost more so the groomer wanted the commission.
The products in the salon were low grade. They didn't even have any sensitive, non-scented shampoos and were missing many other standard products I used at Petco. I had to bring all my own supplies from my old job. There were no actual tubs to wash the dogs in. The shampoos were put into a sprayer system which was very wasteful and did not clean the dogs well.
The bathers were forced into the grooming program whether they wanted to or not. The groomers were miserable and not well trained. I felt more knowledgeable and capable than my "seniors" coworkers.
While I worked at PetCo, we would often get customers from Petsmart who needed us to redo their groom or were turned away for some reason. Many of the horror stories I heard from customers about the grooming at Petsmart were proven true. They did not know how to handle dogs. Many times I had to take over someone else's dog because they could not handle it.
One time there was a pembroke welsh corgi, apparently notorious for not liking his nails done said my coworker. This dog was so fearful of these people it fled it's cage when my coworker took it out to get it's bath and ran away from everyone, biting at anyone who came near. They were about to use a dog catcher's pole and bite gloves to get the corgi. I simply sat on the floor and let the dog come to me, then put it in the bath for the girl who was suppose to be washing him. Not two minutes later, the girl called me back because the corgi wouldn't let her touch him. I ended up doing the entire bath myself and got his nails done without a problem.
After three weeks I was fired without warning. Of course they waited until I got to work then immediately sent me home. When I applied for unemployment, it took two months for them to reject it citing I was fired for insubordination. – less

Great place to work. Training at my store was slim to none but i beleive that is the managers fault. My co workers all are great and we all love pets so it makes it fun. My job is not hard at all. Majority of it is motivating my employees and resolving pet parent issues with small animals, reptiles and aquatics.

A typical day includes phones ringing, barking, howling, and biting. You can expect about 6-8 dogs a day, and you get paid commission, so it good money. However, even if you dont make commission, you still make a hourly wage. Bathing, brushing, trimming hair to the customers likes is your main job. The second thing your responsible for is customers, – more...  and phone calls. We make appointments, and answer the questions customers have. Third, we are sales associate, and cashiers. You learn to be patient, because not all dogs are well behaved, and not all customers are too friendly. The management of Petsmart is confused. Everyone has different "rules" to follow, and no one is on the same page about anything. One of the hardest part of the job was knowing what the REAL rules were. Balacing working on dogs and answering phones at the same time was also very challenging, but you get use to it. Working in such a close environment with all women can be hard at times but you develop close friendships and you work as a team. The best part of the job is working with the dogs! They all have thier own personalities and remember you once they become regulars. – less

If you love animals, Petsmart will be wonderful for you. You get to interact with all kinds of different animals and pets on a daily basis.

I enjoy working at Petsmart. I love all the team members that I work with! The hardest part about the job is the drive - 40 minutes. I also do not enjoy the inconsistent hours. I work 4 am Monday, Wednesday, Friday then the next week I will be working way 5 pm on those days.

alot of heavy lifting and long distance traveling, 12 hours shift, very good job

Primarily responsible for training pet parents to achieve wanted behaviors from their pets. I also assisted customers throughout the store with questions about food, brands, potty training, ect.

i dont want to talk about it....
i wa slet go because i was pregnant and my doctor requested that i go on bed rest for for the last 2 months and the company let me go

I absolutely love my job at petsmart. My typical workday can vary to running the cash register, working the petcare department, and even stocking. I do almost everything in the store because I am so well rounded. Not only have I learned a lot about animals but I have also learned how to deal with customers and their pets. When customers come into the – more...  store they expect the best and that is what I give them. Even though the job does get stressful I always excel with shining colors at the end of the day to make for happy customers. – less

It is difficult to describe a typical work day because the store didn't follow a set schedule; the work schedule changed every week and the hours of work were very unpredictable. If you were scheduled to work in the mornings, you would come in to work at 6 am and change the bedding of certain animals, feed them, and check on them. If there were sick – more...  or injured animals, you were responsible to take them a manager so they could accept to have them go to the vet. If you closed, you were responsible for closing the Pet Care department and make sure all of the animals had food and water for the night. As a Pet Care Specialist, you also had to help customers and assist them with their needs. You needed to have basic knowledge of small pets, reptiles, fish, birds, cats and dogs. I learned about animals through this job and I also learned about customer service.

The management was not great while I worked there. To me, most of the managers were very unprofessional. They would gossip about employees and pick favorites. The co-workers all loved animals, but some were lazy and wouldn't do their job correctly or fully. The hardest part of the job was doing so much work and being the only one in the department for several hours. – less

I really enjoy working at PetSmart. The management team is very supportive of the people. The associates are friendly to one another and are always willing to help. The job itself is great because I enjoy the challenge that each new customer brings and I need to use my problem solving skills to find the best solutions.

management does not care about the employees here. the most enjoyable part of working here was the pets i got to deal with regularly. all they care about here is money money money. it was very comon for them to expect us to take on more than the required amount of grooming apointments, even though they "promote" safety first. they will throw you under – more...  the bus to save themselves. – less

Great Day to day however some bad apple employees made things rough. Great coworkers and was a very enjoyable job.

Loved working here because of the change in environments such as working with pets and their owners.

This company is a hot mess, they hire new managers every 6 months and it's a revolving door!

Unloading the truck and working the pallets to the floor. I learned how to operate a forklift as well as a scissor lift. Management is very helpful and friendly. Work together very well with co-workers. Hardest part of the job was learning where all of the products are located to be able to assist the customers needs. The most enjoyable part of my job – more...  is working with my co-workers as well as management and the learning experience I gained. – less

Liked the job. Enjoyed working with the associates and customers.

The most enjoyable part was when we done stock take. I learned how to work as a cashier and dealing with returns and all of the staff where really friendly

Typical work day would be first printing off sales reports and comparing them with the district. Predict sales for the day and how much buisness we need in order to make plan for the day then the week. Make weekly schedule, write reviews, call customers and weeky sales / business meetings. Peer evaluations and grooming.

Typical weekday included answering the phone more than anything, usually making appointments for Friday or the weekend. The evenings were slightly busier, after people got off work. You check in the dog, make sure you know what they want done and which number to call them at when their dog is finished, and then you take the dog to the back and get started – more...  on the bath. The valuable skill that I learned from this job was customer service. This was my very first job ever, and so I learned how much customer service is about patience, lots of patience. My co-workers for the most part were agreeable, a couple of them were bossier than necessary, but we got along okay. The hardest part of the job was bringing in business on the slower days. The most enjoyable part of the job for me was working with the dogs, even if they were a little snappy. – less