PetSmart reviews

3.1

37% would recommend to a friend

(10,801 total reviews)
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Ken Hicks

24% approve of CEO

29% positive business outlook

PetSmart has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 10,801 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The PetSmart employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

11K reviews
1.0
Jan 19, 2021

WOOOOOF

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Bring your pets to work, good discounts and sometimes free merchandise samples.

Cons

Woooof. Where do I start? This is the most toxic environment I have ever worked in. Rampant favoritism, sexism, and backstabbing. I have never been in so many meetings where someone was so quick to throw another person or team under the bus. Asking "why" and questioning someone of a higher 'status' than you is strongly discouraged. If you don't 'shut up and do the work,' you'll be accused of not being a 'team-player'. Speaking of teams, my team had a 75% turnover in just one year. If that doesn't speak to the wide-spread toxicity of this place I don't know what does. One of the most traumatic aspects of my tenure was how my department director *repeatedly* went behind my manager's back and threatened to fire me for things I didn't even know I was doing wrong. This is not a safe space for innovation, diversity, or challenging the status-quo. Leadership just wants you to keep pumping out work, but doesn't care if it's good or not. They care more about who gets the credit than the quality of the product. My team literally showed proven research as to why we should move in a certain direction but it was quickly shot down because it wasn't a certain Director's "idea." Unfortunately the C-Suite and VPs are woefully under-qualified for modernizing a retail business, and some of them even admitted to not being "tech people" even though they were overseeing the tech department. I'll never forget how at the beginning of the COVID lock-down we were supposed to have our regularly-scheduled company Town Hall, and leadership just cancelled it. A huge missed opportunity to reassure colleagues at such an uncertain time and answer questions. It honestly felt like they were hiding from their employees. I reported multiple things to HR on several different occasions, and at first they acted like they cared, but there was no change or follow-up. When I pushed for change, I was gaslit and told my perception of events was inaccurate. Leaving this company was the best decision I've ever made.

4.0
Sep 11, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Early Morning Stocker Specific: If you don't like people, there's only an hour or so period of time where you'd be interacting with customers. Getting to see and interact with animals is always nice and relaxing, and the job doesn't require much mental effort if any. You pick stuff up n' put it down, that's all there is to it; so assuming you can read and maybe occasionally count you're good to go. PetSmart in general: I've heard the usual cliche retail horror stories about bad managers and nasty customers and all that. Thankfully, I haven't seen it (yet) though obviously mileage varies from store to store. I can't speak to the experience at every PetSmart, but generally I believe the time spent will be more enjoyable than in a normal retail setting. I've found your average "pet parent" tends to be nicer than your standard Walmart-esque customer. This also applies to co-workers as you're working with somewhat like-minded people who (hopefully) also love animals. Conclusion (what is this an essay now?): Overall it's been a pretty friendly environment and I've honestly enjoyed it. If you like animals and need a high school/beginner level part-time job that requires minimal mental aptitude I imagine you'd be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable experience elsewhere as long as you're somewhat competent. Also, if you're a bit of an introvert like me, this is a nice way to ease yourself into being more social by interacting with people and their pets without immediately imploding. You aren't forced onto a cash register or anything like that. It's also really good exercise, so there's that if that's your thing.

Cons

- Low pay - Retail (Make of that what you will) - Back pain - People who don't clean up after their pets and think employees are poop-cleaning slaves. (Seriously, what do you think those cleanup stations are for?) - (Early morning job-specific) I wake up between 1am and 2am every day now (though the early-morning drive is always nice and relaxing)

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PetSmart Response
6y
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful review! We really appreciate your feedback and your commitment to helping pets enjoy happy and healthy lives. We are thrilled that you find your work at PetSmart fulfilling thus far. It's associates like you that make PetSmart such a special place. Thanks again for sharing your experience!
1.0
Jun 29, 2019

Store Leader

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay for a Store Leader is very good. Being able to work with pets makes the days fun and go by quick.

Cons

Work culture is toxic. My District Leader has terminated or forced 8 of 16 Store Leaders to leave and HR / Corporate does not see an issue with this. There is minimal training and little payroll to perform the essential job responsibilities.

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PetSmart Response
6y
I'm very sorry to hear that this has been your experience. I assure you that we do value our team and all that they bring to enrich the lives of pets and pet parents. We appreciate your feedback and would like to speak to you directly so we can understand a bit more. Please contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693. Thank you, again.
Viewing 79 - 81 of 10,801 Reviews

Glassdoor has 11,064 PetSmart reviews submitted anonymously by PetSmart employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if PetSmart is right for you.