A disgruntled Employee

My daughter works at Petsmart in the North Point Alpharetta Georgia
store. She has worked for Petsmart for years. She transferred to the
Alpharetta Store last year, as a manager of the grooming dept., her
situation at work is a living nightmare. Her problem with a Manager
named "Pete" started when she became pregnant. She is 8 months pregant
and recently sprained her wrist at work grooming a large dog. She made
a claim and went to see the doctor. The doctor told her to take a week
off and then she could go back to work. The manager "PETE" is
contesting her claim and said that it did not happen at the store. He
is making her life at work very stressful, he yells, and humiliates
her in front of the customer. This behavior is very inappropriate for
a store manager and unacceptable. This manager "PETE" should be
reprimanded, but my daughter is afraid she will get fired if she says
anything to HR. He told her that she is done at Petsmart; he can't
wait till she goes on maternity leave so he doesn't have to see her.
Yesterday he called her into the office and told her that Petsmart was
contesting her claim of the sprained wrist, and she would have to
start her maternity leave now at 8 months pregnant.She needs her
income to live and if they force her to take her maternity leave, she
will not have any time left to stay home with her newborn baby. The
manager told her that Petsmart did not have any positions available
to accommadate her with a sprained wrist or her condition of being 8
months pregnant. This is totally wrong and I do not know where to turn
for help. She is a very sweet, sensitive lady and this stress is not
healthy for the baby. There most be some policies and laws for
employees who become a Managers victim of prey... Anyone Please write
to me at Jperfecttouch@comcast.net and let me know if you have any
suggestion. I was thinking about writing the Atlanta Journal a popular
newspaper in Atlanta, letting them know the situation and how Petsmart
treats is employees....

what is the number to call?

I also work at a petsmart but leaving soon the person that wrote this
is so right. Most of the managers is two face and will be rude to you
when there's a customer in the lobby. The pet care specialist work so
hard in the back and the manager never notice the great things they
do. Also the manager talks about you behind your back. I wonder is all
petsmart like this one is on capital Blvd. Iv'e notice it's all about
the money not the safety of the employees and other dog's. We have
tried to go to higher above in charge but they don't listen to us no
body does and that's why people are leaving so often. I have notice
that dog's that are in camp showing teeth and barking none stop and
goes right up to the window none stop and dogs go after them. We keep
taking dogs in to camp that doesn't belong there. Another thing
there's no opean door policies.

I TOO work & was shocked when I got talked too about not being
mybubbly self. I am older & thought it was because of that. I love
the pet parents as well as the animals that come in

Though I am sure the company cares nothing of this but I too, as well
have and am still being harassed, bullied and ostracized at work by
managers, leads, and fellow employees. I have been thrown under the
bus and blamed for things that I did not and would not ever do - but
of course, who are they going to believe, the manager or the
disgruntled employee?!
Now I am a firm believer of the saying, "I am not here to make
friends, only to make customers happy" and that is true, I am a hell
of an employee, I do many things not even required of me, and even do
my Petcare manager's job for her. I keep everything perfect and bust
my ass doing so. I am sick and tired of being treated like crap every
day at work - I even kiss-ass to get treated better but none of it
works, not even formal complaints to my supervisors and the Petsmart
company.
I propose that every employee of Petsmart, ESPECIALLY every manager
and lead should be required to take a ten week course on
communication, behavior, and respect. I even treat my enemies better
then I get treated at work.
Fellow employees, because they are best-buds with my managers, are
allowed to curse at me in front of customers without discipline. I
pick up their messes, and if I don't, I get blamed for the mess. I
spend my own money out of pocket in order to keep the ship running in
Petcare.
If I complain about treatment, or the way things are being run, I am
told to "shut-up and work" but that is funny, because I am the only
one who ever works. Those who are part of the manager's favorites and
the managers themselves can sit at the registers in a large group
huddled, gossiping, talking - and I am ALWAYS the one called on the
intercom to go help another customer. I then get written up for being
"insubordinate" a.k.a. not coming when I was called. I am NOT going to
leave a customer to go help another when I am already with one, that
is rude, "Oh excuse me, you're not important, I have to go help
someone else..." that is disrespectful and does not fly with me.
Because my Petcare manager sees me as a threat, she constantly makes
up stories to make the other managers hate me more, the most recent
was that I let a relative walk around the store with one of our snakes
unattended - that was a hoot, why would I do that? That's idiotic. But
of course, who do they believe? I bet you can guess..
I do my job, I do it better then anyone else at my location. I have a
degree in sales tactics and even sell more of my quota then anyone at
the store yet I am accused of "sitting around doing nothing".
This has to stop - I feel as if I am still in Highschool.
As for the treatment of animals, I have not ever seen any abuse in the
year I have been there - neglect, but not abuse, if I see a problem I
correct it by bending the rules and feed extra or write-off medicine.
There was actually a day in which I was taking a hamster back to
isolation because another had wounded it severly, and a manager told
me, "don't bother, it's going to die anyway." It did die, but that is
not the point. It seems as if my fellow employees don't care about the
animals - it's just money to them.
Speaking of money, I see other employees, even managers steal from my
location - because we don't have cameras there is no way to prove or
disprove this.
As for the breeders my store receives their animals from, do not know
how to care for their animals. Our beardies are all missing toes and
tips of their tails because of the malnutrition they were forced to
endure with their cage mates at the breeders. Guinea pigs come in
ringworm often, and hamsters come in dehydrated to the point of almost
death. Not only this, but most of our reptiles are emaciated when they
arrive. Vet assured my ass! Our birds are all mean and not only bite,
but will fly at you - which is a sign they were simply left in a large
cage with others with food and water and no attention from the
breeders. Most of our animals are intent on harming their care-givers
at our store. Our fish arrive constantly with ich, nutrition
deficiencies, color loss because of poor diet, torn fins from fights,
birth defects and many come dead on arrival. What kind of responsible
breeder does this to animals? Why does my store accept them when they
know there are repeated problems with them? Because this happens
often, the managers have learned to ignore this and simply place them
on the floor anyway - and of course, not many are bought because of
these problems. Mind you - this is not Petsmart's fault but the
breeders; but it is a responsibility of Petsmart to "VET ASSURE" the
breeders and animals before sale.
As for anyone reading this, and thinks that my complaints are faulty
and immature. I have taken my complaints higher up, I have gone
directly to the company, and no action was taken by either as they
said it was going to be - this forum seems to be the only way to be
heard - since there are Petsmart employees whose job is to search the
internet and network sites for forums and comments like these (don't
want to tarnish the name of Petsmart I suspect) There is no problem
with the store... just the employees/managers who walk around picking
on everyone without discipline.
I love my job, not the people... and I'd like to go to work happy
rather then fearful and aggravated about whether I'm going to be fired
on a false charge or written-up for doing my job the way the handbook
says it should be done. I don't want to feel like shit mentally and
physically because of the poor treatment I receive in the work-place
anymore by my superiors and co-workers. I am nothing but nice, and
sugar-coated sweet, I do everything I am told and then some.
I am not the problem.

Well here we are in 2011 and nothing has changed. I do want to make
clear that it is a 2 way street. I am a manager for Petsmart and have
been harassed by a group of employees that are social friends outside
of work. I walked in to a hornets nest and believe me it is not fun.
It sucks when you join a team because you truly believe in the company
vision and then are thwarted from maximum productivity by those
members of the team that are trying to get by pencil whipping and
cheating their employer . Oh well I guess no one is forcing me to
stay, but it is very disappointing when you really want to take care
of your employees but they do not want to do their jobs and are
willing to ruin someones career just to avoid accountability.

PetSmart are a very corrupt company, treat their employees like shit,
the managers are lazy and even at times deviant. Some have been known
to screw their way up command. Do not worry, PetSmart shall go under
like Circuit City and 1000 other chains, and those who put suffering
on others (aka, MANAGEMENT) will get theirs through karma!! And also,
isn't it fucked up that employees kill animals? DO NOT BUY FROM
PETSMART.

hey guys i have a question i work for petsmart for almost 2 years and
im only geting 2 8 hours shift a week while some new people who just
started are getting over 30 hours then me some time i get 2 10 hours
shift i say its bull crap dont u think its wroung for them giving the
new people more hours then me

I am currently a Pet Smart Employee and have been at odds with
management for some time now. I'm seeking legal council for my current
situation. Can anybody help me?

I'm also a Petsmart employee and a Pet Care Lead and feel the same way
you do. Our new store manager is the worst. She also calls employees
names and disrespects them. She never gives a compliment. She'll sit
in the back at the Cat Adoption area and play with the cats. Even the
other managers can't stand her. We all use to love coming to work and
we all REALLY care about the pets at our store. This lady just
doesn't seem to get it. God forbid you have a life outside Petsmart.
Corporate needs to do something to these managers!! She doesn't know
how to talk to customers, she complains if she has to come out of the
front office to talk to a customer. When we close at night and do our
facing she says she doesn't have time to check the isles. She wants
it done but doesn't check it. She'll even go around putting products
in several different places to see if we find them and put them back.
Now that is childish!!! Who has time for a savanger hunt?? I sure
don't. Then we're scheduled til 10PM and never get out on time
because she leaves a list of stuff that needs to get done. I've had it
with her. Something has to be done about people like her.

Hey, if you don't mind me asking...what store number do you work at?
It could be my old store, the situation you describe sounds just like
what is going on over there....if so, I work at a nearby location and
can perhaps do something about it :)

I also work at PetSmart. I agree that the managers need to be
disciplined. THEY are allowed to complain about us all they want (I
work my butt off for them but the second something isn't perfect, they
act like I'm a terrible worker) but we can't complain about the job
they are doing. 3 of my managers are AWESOME and all but 2 of the
leads are, too, but they are all such good friends with each other
that there is no way to complain about the not-so-friendly
managers/leads.
What bothers me the most is that we in the pet care area do all the
grunt work, get paid very low, and basically get stepped on 24/7. Not
to say that the other peoples' jobs aren't as important or hard, but
seriously we are expected to clean, help customers, know tons about
the animals, face, feed animals, etc. and we're the ones always
getting yelled at the second we take a 2 minute break to grab a drink
of water.

I just want to start off by saying that I currently work for PetSmart.
I've worked there for about 4 years. The first 3 years were great.
Management took care of problems as the came up and resolved them-not
just just pushing them aside. Over the past 6 months or so everything
has gone way down hill. Management has straight up told me that they
dont have time for my certain area (because we don't have a manager
specifically for my area right now). We have employees using cell
phones calling and texting people instead of doing the job they get
paid for. We have also had an associate display signs of drug use and
this has been brought to management's attention. She was actually sent
home once because it was suspected that she was high. After the second
time nothing was done. And in my dept. you have to be on your toes at
all times. Dogs' health and well being depend of us. She also has had
the greatest number of pet incidences and still this issue has not
been investigated further. I'm just tired of the morale being at its
lowest and no one caring. The job is already stressful enough without
adding to it. PetSmart is very good at hiring compassionate people. I
pray for everyone I work with that no one will have a nervous
breakdown from the enormous amount of pressure that comes from
management and the corporate level. It seems to me that all PetSmart
cares about it making money and risking their employees' safety and
sanity.

Wow. I was actually doing a Google search for the hotline for Petsmart
and your post came up in the search.

I also have a similar situation. I have one manager who just makes me
feel overall uncomfortable. His moods bounce all around, one minute he
is laughing with you, the next minute he calls you an "idiot". Every
day, he tells one of the female employees that "Today, I have an issue
with you" and when you ask him what it is, he just shakes his head and
walks away. He is quick to angrily say harsh words in front of other
employees (the other day, he told me that I was not allowed to have a
locker, I should leave my purse in the car) and other days he asks how
much you had to drink in front of customers. He says he is only
joking.
I'm not laughing.

Anyway, I did approach the store manager about this. I felt like I was
brushed off, was not allowed to tell any situations at all more or
less a "well, do you feel better now?" and brushed out of the office.
I know this management problem like the one I speak of is not how
Petsmart trains their managers, however, I would like to point out
that the employee hotline you speak of is not posted in the breakroom
in my store. I personally feel there is a strong sense of termination
if I dare ask of the number from any of my managers. The women in my
store feel extremely uncomfortable with this man and also feel that
talking to the store manager himself will fall upon deaf ears.
Everything turns around onto you as if you were at fault. Also, the
majority of the women who come out of the office after talking to the
store manager, come out in tears.

I for one, am a hardworking, dedicated employee. I smile at every
customer, help everyone in the store when I can and have never done
anything out of line. I am regarded highly by the management in the
store with the exception of the one man. When he speaks to me the way
that he does, I never respond. I simply walk away and I think that has
personally caused me to be the target of his jokes lately because
since then, he has steadily tried to hit me with them left & right.
The other day when I did not answer him after he said he wanted to
fire all the employees in the store, hire new ones and train them the
way he wants them trained so we are all on the same page and when I
did not respond or react to him, he said, "I just want to slap you
across the face".
He told another employee the other day he wanted to punch her.
Again, to him, he is just "joking".
Still not laughing.

Anyway, more or less, I just want to vent my frustration. I love my
job, love the people I work with but I also can sense no one is going
to stand up to him. So please. If anyone has this number, please post
it.

I personally hope that someone in corporate could at least speak to
him about acting in a more professional atmosphere. Our store now has
a high employee turnover. Every person he trains, does not return. We
had the last three trainees that he trained never return from lunch.
Hopefully this gets resolved.
Soon.

I have worked with the company for 9 years, yes I said 9, and have
worked for 3 different stores and 3 different sets of managers, I was
even a manager myself for 2 of those years. Every group of managers I
have worked for have all been the same. They all act the same, treat
the associates the same way and care for no one except themselves and
what they have to do for the day. One manager went as far as giving
herself a smoke break but was too busy to let the pregnant cashier go
to the ladies room! I really believe that they train them to be this
way. I resigned from my manager job because since I would not
"conform" so to speak I was outcast and treated like sh*t. They never
have enough day time people and then associates go all day without a
break and the pregnant woman feels bad because she has to pee. Its
ridiculous. I do agree thoughthat it is a good company overall to work
for and the benefits are good but yes management is absurd.

i feel your pain.. but honestly.. a lot of places you go are like
this. ive had quite a few jobs in the past and im finally blessed with
one wheer all my manager and my boss are suppeerrr nice. =\

This is absolutely not the forum for this kind of letter and, in fact,
could very likely come back to bite you in the ass. VERY, VERY, VERY
bad idea to write a letter like this, post it publically and expect to
keep your job.

Additionally, you are making blanket assumptions that all managers at
all locations are in need of discipline.

That being said, you already called the anonymous hotline - what did
you think you'd accomplish with this letter? You didn't even say
which store location has the problem.

This is not the way to handle this. YOu should approach the next
highest person in the chain of command who is not involved. I'm sure
there is a regional manager you can speak directly to.

And your little "WITHOUT PASSION LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING" is
completely uneccessary and just a little silly looking. If you're not
passionate about your job, your life is worthless? LOL. I've spent
MANY years working a job I hated just to pay the bills. You really
won't keel over dead, its ok.

Be an adult and speak to someone directly. This passive-agressive
complaining isn't going to get you anywhere. Discuss with someone face
to face.