Change of values - Bather PetSmart Employee Review

4.0
2 Aug 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Our store had incredible management: welcoming, helpful, and generally good, hard-working people who genuinely love animals and want to do good things. I worked in the grooming salon and although it's a very physically demanding job and customers can occasionally be an absolute nightmare, I actually really enjoyed it. It's hard to complain about working with dogs.

Cons

I worked here for about two and a half years. As time went on it felt like the company got more and more greedy and started putting more importance on money than the welfare/safety of the employees or the animals. In 2014 groomers we're doing more or less 4 dogs a day. 5 if they were small/easy. Today they are expect to do 7. Each dog takes about three hours. All employees in the salon regularly clocked out for lunches but worked through them. If you didn't take a lunch you were lectured because of the law, but if you Did take it you were lectured because you have dogs to do and you can't just be walking out for 30 minutes when it's so busy (no one took 15's... lol what a joke idea) There was more pressure to get dogs done quickly rather than safely and with a quality job done. Groomers/bathers were constantly at each other's throats because everyone was miserable. It went from a difficult but rewarding job to an outright nightmare. I go and visit occasionally now even though my dog passed and everyone from managers to bathers seems miserable and at wit's end. It is not the same environment that made me love the store when I was in my first year or so.

Explore other reviews about PetSmart

5.0
15 Mar 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love working here. Great coworkers

Cons

None that I can think of

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PetSmart Response
3mo
We're really happy to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time to share with us.
1.0
2 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

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PetSmart Response
1w
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
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