r/petsmart

Is this normal at PetSmart? Should I contact HR or stay out of it?
I was recently hired part-time at PetSmart, and during training, I’ve noticed something that’s been bothering me. Several people scheduled to close pet care seem to clock out at the end of their shifts and then continue working unpaid almost every day.
A few days ago, I was working register until 8:30, and my pet care lead’s shift ended at 7:30. They clocked out but stayed until closing with me and the manager because they hadn’t finished pet care. From what I’ve seen, this seems to be a regular occurrence.
When I last trained in pet care, it took us 2–3 hours to finish closing with two people. I understand that I’m a trainee and probably slow things down, but it still seems like a lot of work for two people. From what I can tell, the closers aren’t being given enough time to finish everything they’re responsible for, and they aren’t getting much help.
When it’s slow, I’ve even been sneaking away from my assigned duties to help because I feel bad watching them struggle to get everything done. What bothers me most is that, instead of helping, the manager seems to get angry with the closers and tells them to leave, despite seemingly knowing they’ve been working off the clock trying to finish everything.
I’m still new, so I know I might not have the full picture, but I’m uncomfortable with what I’m seeing. The reason I’m hesitant to report it is that I’ve been told working off the clock is a fireable offense. I’m worried that bringing this to HR could get my coworkers in trouble, even though it seems like they’re doing it because there genuinely isn’t enough time to finish everything during their scheduled shifts.
Is this standard practice at PetSmart? Would contacting HR be the right move, and is there a way to raise the concern without putting my coworkers at risk? I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has worked at PetSmart or dealt with something similar.

TL;DR: I’m new at PetSmart and have noticed pet care closers regularly working off the clock because they don’t seem to have enough time to finish closing tasks. Management gets upset with them but doesn’t seem to help. I’m worried because I’ve been told working off the clock is a fireable offense, and I don’t want my coworkers to get in trouble for what seems like a staffing or time-management issue. Is this normal, and should I contact HR?

Im so tired of them expecting me to get the entire thing done dishes and all in 2 hours when I'm just 1 person, how long does this take you guys? What do you do to make it go faster?

we got the email today that 3 more scam calls were successful last week, another in toronto last night, why are people genuinely… so, incompetent? when someone calls from IT, they would never need us to run something through the register for any reason, like why are the red flags not blaring every step of the way. the scammers call pretending to be tech support, fire/osha, whoever. apparently another employee DOWNLOADED THE CHIME CARD? to refund the scammers something over the phone??? is it natural selection at this point? maybe this is too mean, at the same time some people are like whatever it’s a corporation they can take the loss, but how does this effect daily life for people when they’re this incompetent? there’s no way you’re not gonna get scammed yourself personally one day, and that’s gonna be a painful experience.

How does everyone’s managers deal with call outs? Ours is way too lenient, we have people call out constantly an hour or two before their shift. We have employees that do it literally on a weekly basis and there’s never no discussion or anything. It’s starting to get really infuriating. Does petsmart have no attendance policy?

Pleeeaaasseee help i dont know how to ask!!

My store is doing really really bad and they're relying on me to ask 😅 but I really can't figure out an appropriate time or phrase that isn't just awkward for everyone involved

Any tips?? Demo convos?? Plz

The issue with chance & friends donations in general is: the actual original intent has been watered down by regional vice presidents, district leaders and some store leaders, chasing sales and penetration rates rather than keeping the focus on the good it does for the local community and whoever PetSmart decides to donate the dollar match to. It’s just a classic example of taking something good and meaningful and turning it into a sales grab.

So I purchased a couple of items for my cat... a harness and a toy. I used my points to purchase and paid like 3.00 cash.

The harness didnt fit so I had to take it back and when I did I got 1.90 refund which went to my next purchase but didnt get my points back. The employee said she didnt think I was supposed to get them back. She didnt know for sure but pointed out I got a lot of points and I mentioned that was from what I just purchased.

You are supposed to get the points back right?

Just as the title says, I just got hired and I'm waiting for my first day on the job as I just got surgery. They are giving me time to let them know when I am ready to start so that I can heal and the store seems to be maintained very smoothly. The managers I spoke with made me feel confident that it would be a much better situation than my previous job - a manager at a VERY toxic Domino's. I swear, I legit have trauma from that place. Never again.

Now, I'm wondering, what are some things I should prepare myself for with this job? I have plenty of experience with animals of all kinds. I know I will likely see injured or dead animals, and I know some people's pets may be aggressive or skittish, but what are some things that are pet smart specific I should be aware of?

Each week my physical time off request isn't being implemented. I've done written requests and UKG requests off. Nothing is working. It's really bad right now because two employees are*leaving* I summit requests ahead of time and I'm very thorough with the time needed off for my doctor appointments. Then I get in trouble for asking to be off the days I submitted. It's not my fault that management is shit at completing the store schedule right. This is the fourth week of not having the correct schedule!! Any advice is welcome. I hope someone knows how to resolve this.

I was told by someone in store that grooming was going up $6 Monday. I just logged online and noticed, its not reflecting on the site. My midweek fee is the same as a weekend, I remember weekends used to cost more, than weekdays. Have I been grandfathered in, or did they get rid of the weekend surcharge? I called 1800 and they have no idea about charges, so they say.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like there isn’t much variety or differentiation in pet products available in Australia right now.

Most of the products I buy are perfectly functional, but they often seem to lack novelty, interesting design, or just something a bit different.

So I’m curious — are there any pet products you’ve seen overseas, on TikTok, Amazon, Chewy, etc. that you wish were easier to find in Australia?

It could be anything, toys, foods, grooming products, pet furniture, clothing, travel products, health/cleaning products.

I’d especially love to hear about products that made you think, “Why can’t I get this easily in Australia?”

If you have any examples, links, or pictures, please share them!

Would really appreciate hearing everyone’s thoughts. Thanks!

I got put on a values in action plan today for the first time of me being with the company for almost five years.

Long story short, two leads pulled me into the office today and quizzed me about PC standards and I got all of the questions correct. They pretty much said that I need to be more detailed about the little things in petcare like making sure everyone has chew sticks, making sure all dead fish/ crickets are pulled, making sure iso/nar tanks have thermometers and hygrometers. They also told me that I cannot handle animals while customers are in the store unless it’s with deep cleaning or transporting animals or animal sales. This I know comes from me dropping an ivory centipede about a month ago (with a manager and associate present when it happened).

I can confidently say that I’m a good associate, a detailed petcare associate, so this plan feels like it came out of the blue for me personally.

To me, aside from the handling of pets, feels like tiny misses compared to what other associates have done in the past. I don’t feel like I should have been given this action plan if it’s a warning for a potential firing. Any advice?

Came in for a 5-930pm shift one hour in noticed the sink in the break room wasn’t working went the bathroom sink wasn’t working.

Didn’t think anything of it as I was helping a customer get a frog then next then I know lights are being shut off while I’m at the podium (my ass thinking the lights blew out) SL came out the back and told me to wrap it since we are shutting down the store.

I just wanted to vent a little. Sometimes I feel like a scam when a reactive dog stays the same. This dog went up to advanced class and I had planned on having him repeat the class. He did fairly well the first two classes, but since by advanced class he needs to completely ignore dogs, I wanted to give more help.
They stopped coming to class and I didn’t get a chance to speak with them. I’ll call them soon to make up the missing classes and suggest retaking it.
I’ve tried every suggestion I know, but I also feel like they’re not practicing with him enough.
Usually I don’t take it personal, but I can’t stop feeling crappy.