PetSmart
Reviews and Complaints

Our family has rescued and cared for abandoned and injured animals for at least 38 years now. Our youngest daughter Karina grew up helping us with these unfortunate creatures and as the years went by she grew to love them and our mission.

Karina has owned many diverse types of creatures including a red tail boa, she has cared for a baby dear in Georgia, and she has cared for horses and has owned dogs, cats and other furry creatures all her life. Therefore working at the local PetSmart in Medford at first seemed like the perfect fit for Karina.

Currently, Karina has adopted two dogs that have been abandoned and in the past two years has spent well over $2, 000.00 on them for medical care which she really can’t afford working at PetSmart for $8.70 per hour.
A person can see she loves the animals she bathes in the bathing room and the animals and their owners waiting in line to purchase pet friendly supplies. Karina knew what was best to feed your animals and which items you would need for pet problems such as dander or skin problems just to name a few.

However, in May of 2008 Karina injured her back while caring for animals as she always has. She saw the doctor and he provided her with a light duty work note. Karina provided this note to Manager Connie Hooper Leggett who told her there was no such thing as light duty work at PetSmart.

Karina not wanting to lose her job kept working even though her back was still injured even after resting and treating it for about a week. Manager Connie Hooper Leggett then told Karina she would cut her hours unless she sold more of their care products to customers.

At this point as her father and at her request I was now involved. I own and operate Martinez & Associates Investigations and after goggling http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/PetSmart/s-company-culture-at-PetSmart/t3889 and many other links regarding the PetSmart culture I knew my daughter Karina needed someone in her corner.

The Manger did in fact make good on cutting Karina’s hours down to between 13 and 18 hours per week. Karina told her Manager’s she needed at least 30 hours a week to pay her rent, care for her animal friends and buy food, gas and so forth. However the punishment continued in cut hours even though Karina has been with PetSmart at least 3 years and was selling as much as other employees.

I did in fact step in to investigate and bring my daughter her lunch. I never disturbed the customers but while I was trying to investigate the PetSmart in Medford, their corporate office sent me a letter stating I would be trespassing if I entered the store again.

On August 15, 2009 Karina was bitten by a large Akita dog while bathing the dog. During bathing the dog got its rear foot caught in the grate at the bottom of the bathing tub. Karina and three other employees tried to hold the Akita while they attempted to free the foot. The dog tried to attack one of the employees who let go, then the second employee let go leaving Karina to wrestle this large dog alone and try to free the foot. The Akita bit Karina ripping open her left arm and an employee from the Banfield Hospital next door came in to assist.
Karina has been treated unfairly, she asked the management if she could seek employment with the nearby Wal-Mart to compensate for her lost hours and she was told they would not adjust her hours or work schedule for another employer to allow her to work at another place.

Karina Martinez loves animals and animal owners as anyone can investigate and find out. However, Manager Connie Hooper Leggett has to face the District Manager about sales and she has continued to punish Karina with reduced hours.

As part of my investigation into this matter I found numerous disgruntled employees many for the same reason who have quit. I asked Karina about the sales and she explained that in this economy pet owners don’t always have the extra money. Upon further investigation I found that Star with PetSmart stated Karina’s sales were up with other employees.

It appears to me that the Manager Connie Hooper Leggett can continue to cut Karina’s hours, she can bring in new employees and give those 30 hours a week and this does not violate any labor laws because I have checked. However, I find it distasteful and unethical at best just another blog on the wall in goggle land for PetSmart.

I purchased a $14 pair of dog nail trimmers with my debit card. I went back four days later to return the unopened item. According to the terms and conditions regarding their return policy printed on the back of the receipt, I should have been given cash for my return. I was told by the manager that they could not put the refund back on my card because their registers were not encrypted and anyone could hack in and get my account information. If this is so, then why is it safe to make a purchase with your debit/credit card but not a return? He told me my options were for them to slide my card through the manual card reader and they would send off a copy of my return receipt with my card slip to Arizona and it would take 14 to 21 days to refund my money OR they could very conveniently put the refund amount on a gift card. Convenient for THEM! Here we are in the year 2010 and they don't have the technology to refund a purchase back on the card? On the back of the receipt it stated if the purchase was made with a credit card, they would put the money back on the card. If it's going to take 14 to 21 days to do this, they should mention that. But, I used a debit card and according to their terms they should have given me cash back.

So, I called the customer service line when I got home and told the woman what happened and that I felt I had been scammed to keep the money in their store instead of getting a refund. She told me some story about how they are having trouble with their machines and are trying not to give cash back for a debit purchase because what is happening is people are making returns, get cash back and then Petsmart tries to get the amount of the original purchase from the bank and people don't have the money in their accounts. Whatever.

She offered me a $10 gift card for my trouble which I accepted. Apologized for the inconvenience and promised that "upper management" would be in contact with me to resolve the issue and better explain their policy. It's been almost a week and no call from upper management. Surprise, surprise...

I'll spend my free $10 in their store, along with the $15 of my refund money they put on a different gift card and then I'm not shopping there anymore. I'm telling as many people as I can about this so it doesn't happen to them. Petco is getting my business from now on.

I brought my two happy and spunky Bichon Frises to PetSmart's grooming salon. Checked both in with a young and tired lady named Viviana. Explained my preferences so my dogs would not be cut too short and left them.

Upon my return 3 1/2 hours later, I was greeted by one of my dogs, Wilbur, with a happy demeanor. His cut was short and I was pleased. His groomer happened to be at the front, Jenna. I gave her a 20% tip.

When I saw Charlotte, she did not greet me with her usual happy tail wag. She was hunched over, with her tail between her legs. She was cut very, very short. I could see the freckles in her skin (YES, THAT SHORT) and viviana was no where to be found. She had left for the night.

All night, Charlotte was anti-social. She wanted to be left alone and even crawled under our bed covers and slept there all night. She would shake her head very often, as if something was in her ears. In addition to these signs & symptoms, she was constantly trembling/shaking.

She continued these behaviors all day the next day. Unfortunately I had been preoccupied with garage clean-up and did not really pay much attention to the shaking of her head and trembling... as I should have.

Sunday morning, early, I took both dogs out to 'relieve' themselves. Charlotte again, was trembling and shaking her head often. I looked down at her to pet her and noticed there was blood on her snout. I noticed blood around her right ear. When I lifted up her ear, it was red, inflamed and bloody.

I immeidately called PetSmart and asked to speak to the Grooming Salon. I spoke with JEnna, the groomer who took care of Wilbur. She stated that Viviana had mentionded that Charlotte had a lot of fur in her ear and she was unable to complete Charlotte's left ear b/c Charlotte could not take it anymore. (I guess they practice is pulling out ear hair with tweezers).

I asked to speak to the manager and they were just not that open to resolving my complaint.

Poor customer service with no regard for the pain my pet endured and continues to endure b/c of an incompetent groomer who just got "tweezer happy" on my dog's ear.

Poor Charlotte!

I will NEVER, EVER take my precious pets to PetSmart again.

I had my puppy a yorkie groom in Petsmart Sunday 2 Aug. I asked to leave the hair on top but to trim the bottom and her feet. The groomer butcher the poor puppy.

When I went to get her. Her hair was on top of her head the little bit that she did have. She wasn't brushed at all. I was so upset that I just said this is unacceptable. They brought in a manager and all she said that she was sorry and the groomer only been grooming for two years. I didn't want to hear that... I won't be taking my dog there again. This isn't the first time this has happen. It happen to another customer the last time I was there. But maybe I should had pull my dog out then. I just gave them the benefit of the doubt. Now look where that gotten me. Something need to be done. Oh! by the way I was charged $40 for poor service.

Keeps Conures in very small and inappropriate cages. When the worker clipped my birds wings he clipped them too far and they bled. They do not sell large enough cages for Conures and the worker claimed that the cage would be big enough. I think they know better and they need to take care of their animals.

Went to Petsmart to pick up some more canned food for my pooch (Petco does not carry this brand) and some Frontline flea product with the arrival of Spring in mind. Our Petsmart has a Banfield Vet in the back of the store, this is where I found the Frontline hanging on a tabletop circular rack marked "Display Only". My thought, "ugh! making this more difficult for me to buy product", told the girl behind the counter what I needed and this Ordeal Began;

Asked to pay for it there, not at the front of the store with the rest of my purchases, give my personal info (name, add, phone...) when I responded I did not want to be on any more lists, was told it was to print an invoice... (grumble grumble) I pulled out my debit/credit card when she told me the price (knew it was higher by about $5, than my own vets, but I was already there), ran my card as debit, then her phone rang and she was otherwise occupied for the next several minutes occasionally using a condescending tone to the caller, as I stood there waiting for my receipt and product. Yep, this annoyed me - she hung up and announced that my debit card didn't go through and it was because I chose debit and not the credit option. "HUH?!"

I was told I needed to swipe it again and use credit option.

I just wanted to run in to the store and quickly pick up these two things, (fast paced, here in California). Now I am encountering nonsense (in my opinion) and inconvenient delays. Yes, I told her this and left the Banfield counter without flea product hearing her echo "have a nice day' in a sarcastic tone.

At the front of the store, as I paid for the dog food debit card worked fine! I did tell the employee. May be last visit to Petsmart and definitely to a Bandfield.

took my dog for a teeth cleaning, she has a history of siezures of wicth they are aware and treating her for, got a phone call early afternoon that she was dead

My daughter who has been a faithful employee for Pet Smart, Manager of Pet Care, for over two years was terminated Jan.12, 2010. The way she found this out was going through the morning emails at the beginning of her shift. This is totally unacceptable. The store manager was not even going to be in the store until 10 am that morning. She had an incident a few months back in which she was harassed by one of her subordinates at which time I pressed her to file harrassment charges against this fellow employee. Her manager felt that this was not necassary and that it would be handled at store level. It was not. From that time on they have been setting her up to finally find a wat to get rid of her. I have advised her to take her complaint to the Human Rights Commission in hopes that they can help her. Not to get her job back, but to expose Pet Smart for what they did.

What's up with Petsmart not processing refunds online in their stores anymore? I had an unpleasant time at the Petsmart Pasadena CA store today when I made a return and found they have gone backwards in time and no longer process refunds online. They are now doing it manually so customers are burdened with having to audit their credit card statements to make sure their credit was indeed posted by a Petsmart's night clerk. There are other less expensive stores like Petco, Walmart and Target that sell pet products and treat customers better - so why go through refund inconvenience? I will never shop at Petsmart again.

What's up with Petsmart not processing refunds online in their stores anymore? I had an unpleasant time at the Petsmart Pasadena CA store today when I made a return and found they have gone backwards in time and no longer process refunds online. They are now doing it manually so customers are burdened with having to audit their credit card statements to make sure their credit was indeed posted by a Petsmart's night clerk. There are other less expensive stores like Petco, Walmart and Target that sell pet products and treat customers better - so why go through Petsmart's refund inconvenience? I WILL NEVER SHOP AT PETSMART AGAIN.

I am disgusted and appalled that Dr. Lennard Candela and his staff have intentionally, deliberately, in a reckless and careless fashion returned to his former business partner medical records and x-rays in petsmart shopping carts pushed out to the storefront curb in the blowing wind unsecured. It tells me that peoples pets really are not important to him and that all the money that he made off the backs of caring pet owners was not for the good of the owners and their pets but for selfishness and greed... My pets x-rays and records were included in that display of gross misconduct of a Veterinary Professional... I wonder then what he is doing when no one is watching?

I took my dog in to get groomed and saw petsmart offered nail painting. I knew it was a dumb idea but I was doing it to make a point to my B/F to get the dogs nails clipped on a regular basis. My dog went in at 5:30 & I got a call at 8:30 saying shes ready to be picked up but her nails are bad. I asked what they meant and they said I should just come in and look. I picked up non-acetone nail polish remover on the way just in case. I got there and saw her nails were a disaster. Polish on her fur, the nails weren't fully covered. I asked them why they kept going if the first nail was not working out. They didn't have an answer. I said FIX MY DOGS NAILS. They said they didn't know if they had the remover they needed and they weren't sure if regular non-acetone remover was toxic to the dog. I told them to figure something out that my dogs nails can't stay this way. After 45 min they had sort of removed polish from one foot. I found out they were basically scrubbing her feet with a brush for 45 minutes, I told them to stop torturing my dog and bring her to me. She was so stressed and scared and cold from being in water for so long. I said they had to call their general manager and the head groomer and figure out the safest way to fix my dogs nails and I would be back the next day. I noticed my dog was having a hard time standing up straight and she was limping on her front left foot. I took her to the emergency vet where they said she needed pain meds for overly worked and sore feet. I returned to petsmart where another groomer with better customer service helped me carefully remove the rest of the polish. I left a receipt for the vet to be paid by the store and I asked them to remove the nail polish from their shelves and list of services as they are not properly trained. I have not received reimbursement and the product is still on their list of services. DO NOT GET YOUR PET GROOMED AT PETSMART WOODLAND HILLS. THEY ARE POORLY TRAINED AND EXERCISE POOR JUDGEMENT WITH ANIMAL SAFETY.

I made an appointment for my dog for grooming. They told me none off the people that have groomed her previously are working there anymore. I explained I wanted the most experienced person to take care of her, she has been hurt be a previous groomer. They set it up with the grooming manager. While I was talking to them I heard a dog yelping several times but didn. t think anything of it at the time. Later, when I went back to complain about my dog's injury and told him of the yelping I heard when I was setting up the appointment, the store manger stated that happens all the time. I have been using the grooming dept. for about 2 years and except for the cut was a little short or she still looked and smelled dirty after her grooming I never complained. The girl that took her in looked her over then proceeded to try and up sale me with a different kind of shampoo. I said no. About 20 minutes later the manager called me stated she would be working on Mitzi and again try to up sell me. again I said no, I told them I could bring her shampoo in that I had purchased at their store she said that was not allowed (I was able to do this before). Four hours later she was done. When I picked Mitzi up there was no one working in the dept. except for guy that carried her to me. I carried her out. I went next door to visit my daughter I put Mitzi down to walk we noticed she was limping. My daughter said maybe they clipped her toe nails too short. I chalked it up to that. I had errands to do so I just carried her everywhere with me. We got home several hours later I noticed sje was limping very badly. I called the groomer told them she was limpimg and asked if anything had happened during the groom. They said no the manager had done the grooming but wasn't there right now, and if it persisted bring her back in and they would have the Banfield Vet look at her. I bought her in 2 hours later she seemed to be getting worse. I told the grooming manager she jumped down my throat "We didn't do anything wrong she was fine when they had her and she wasn't the one grooming her anyway" she said she would talk with the store manger. First she spoke with him out in the parking lot and he came in looked at Mitzi said he would have Banfield check her out I explained I could go to my vet it would probably be cheaper. he explained Petsmart would be responsible for the bill and he gave his signature as authorization. While I was waiting for the vet the store manager went into speak with the grooming manager. I could hear her shouting obscenities and looking in my direction. She denied even grooming Mitzi. While I was waiting I start feeling Mitzi's paw I had looked all over the bottom of her paw, nothing. Then I felt a big red inflamed bump on the top of her paw (it turned out to be a cyst0. I later found out it can happen genetically or through an extreme injury. They had used a razor on her paw to cut the hair. They never use scissors always a razor for everything. I called the manager back out and explained there is no way they would have missed this big bump during washing her or especially during shaving the hair down on her paw. They are very careful with checking dogs in, that there is nothing wrong that they could be responsible for. Mitzi wasn't limping when she went in. The manager asked didn't I notice when they walked her out to me? I said they carried her out to me. he said they never do that for this such reason. He went back and spoke with the guy who check her out. He said, she had been sleeping and he didn't want to disturb her and with the other grooming going on he didn't want her to get dirty again walking through the hair on the floor. There was no grooming going on and the floor had just been swept completely when I was there. The vet said she had a cyst and an infection she geve me medicine to give to Mitzi for the next two weeks she asked if I wanted a Rx for her constant itching I said no, that I thought Petmart would only pay for current paw problem she said it's ok they have signed and agreed to pay for this visit I said ok and got the medicine. I must have asked the vet 2-3 times if Petsmart was going to be responsible for this bill, each time the vet said yes. Later I received a call from the Vet stating I owed $150 for the visit. I said Petsmart promised to pay for it.
They are denying their at fault. We went back and forth I explained I never signed anything saying I was responsible. I went in to talk to the store manager and I explained I am sure there are people out there that would take advantage and knowing that their dog was hurt try and blame it on the groomer, but I was not one of those people. I told him they have safe guards in place when they check the dog in they examined her thoroughly, while washing her or shaving the fur there is no way they would have missed that big cyst on her paw. They know they are at fault they just don't want to step up and take responsibility for it. She had to have made an awful yelp when it happened. and they tried to cover it up and make me responsible for it. That is what makes me the maddest, first they injure my dog and then they try and blame me for it. I should have asked for my grooming fee back, but I didn't. When I asked to get the regional manager, the store manager called and said they were willing to split the bill with me and give me their discount so I would only owe $50. I told them no. I have not heard from Petsmart or Banfield since then. Hopefully it has been taken care of.
I would warn anyone that wants to take their dog to Petsmart in Ventura not to do it if you love your dog. Petsmart grooming has a big turn over when it comes to their employees. They have had at least 3-4 managers and I don't recognize any of the groomers there are different faces every few months. That's got to say something about the work place. I wish I will never take her back to the groomers at Petsmart now she is afraid to go to any groomer I have to try and do it myself. I had gone to Petsmart almost monthly for the past 2 years now I won't even go in there to buy a dog bone.

I've bought 4 guinea pigs at this store. The first one dropped dead at a 1 and a half year old. One morning we went to feed her and she was already gone! The next one I got was fine at first then I noticed she was urinating a lot and drinking a lot of water. I took her to the vets and it turned out she has diabetes, she was 9 months old. At this point she seems to be doing fine with her medicine and special diet. The 3rd one I got wasn't eating properly, she kept her head tilted while eating and she lost weight. I took her to the vet and she had malocclusions of the teeth they told me the best thing to do would be to put her to sleep. I only had her for 2 months. She was 4 months old. The 4th one I got, soon after I got her had a cold I didn't think she was going to make it. After several weeks of worrying she finally got better and I still have her. I also got a hamster from this store that only lived to be 4 months old because she had a cold and didn't recover.

We are a family who care very much about our pets and treat them like a member of the family. There have been pets purchased from local non chain pet stores that have lived normal lives, and given us years of enjoyment. As a matter of fact the first pair of guinea pigs we’ve purchased was from one of these non chain stores, and we kept one of the babies from the litter and he lived to be 6 years old. I find it interesting that none of my other guinea pigs have lived passed 3 years of age that have been purchased at chain pet stores.