Retail Sales Associate | Bradford, PA | Aug 29, 2014
Bullying of staff, bad management, very bad company!
I have worked for the company for about 14 months now. The first couple of months were fine, I really enjoyed it mainly because we was at another store doing our training while the new store was being built in our town. After 3 months at this other store, we moved in to our brand new store where everything changed. The managers attitude changed entirely and started to treat people like slaves. They handed out counsellings (written version of a telling off) like sweets for the smallest reasons. Expected staff members to work constantly extra shifts without getting paid for it, then made out "that was your duty as part of the team"
Favouritism existed on a daily bases, in total including myself we had 10 staff members, of those, 2 of them were constantly chosen to go on all the training courses that became available, got first choice of any over time that became available and always were allowed to do what they want, or didn't want to do. The rest of us didn't even get a look in.
I have recently just received my second investigation and also had lots of written and verbal warnings in the past for bogus allegations. Two of which the area manager got removed off my file because he agreed they were laughable.
The way they carry out their investigations are a shambles, they bring up incidents that happened 14 months ago, get dates wrong, venues where the incident allegedly took place wrong, the incident itself wrong, and convince themselves that is a case to answer. The w
ProsLovely animals
ConsBullying, harassment, bad management, bad head office, victimisation
I worked for the company for 3 years. I tried my hardest to make a difference, but in a big company it was impossible.
The animals are kept in tiny, cramped conditions on the shop floor but out back it’s 10 times worse and I dread to think where they are bred. Management and higher up DO NOT care about the welfare of the animals, you are forced to sell animals to live in tiny cages because they say they’re suitable. The animals are often sick and have life long conditions which are not treated. Rabbits are the worst... kept in tiny cages with a litter of 6 or more! A lot of the time they would fight and cause serious injuries to one another. You was not allowed to refuse a rabbit to live on its own and even if it was going to be used for breeding! I took rabbits home to syringe feed them to keep them alive as they came in so skinny and lifeless, I even had them die in my arms. I could write forever about how awful the place is. Animals are treated as items and so easily accessible. Awful company!
Different stores are very different environments to work for, in general the company try's to do well for the employee but individual management and area managers make a huge impact on store culture.
Also location and store management teams hugely impact access to training and advancement.
ProsGood training available although hard to access in some regions.
ConsWorking hours - constantly needing to work overtime.
Really supportive and encouraging manager and team. The company has clear values and I feel my work is recognised by management and those within my team. I really appreciate the companies emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, you really feel like they care about their employees.
No support off management, H&S a joke only reactive after accidents, pay poor even though the company is making a lot of money and only hope of progression is if your face fits. Working hard and good attendance record means nothing to management, its all about favoritism.
ProsColleagues.
ConsTerrible management all the way up, nobody cares.
They sell dreams when you first start , the rare training is good . The management is awful ! If your face doesn't fit you will be victimised. Pets before profit is often compromised due to the conditions you are forced to work in. Only thing good about working here is the training but again that is rare
Loads of fun working with the animals , very hard physical workload, advancement easily achieved, fun staff and great management in store, not. Enough staff though, so working more hours than I wanted most of the time,
A good company with nice amount of benefits, management is okay, pay is okay, a good job for in between if at college or university. Nice amount of holiday pay which increases over time within the company
This was a great job to have when I was enrolled full time in school. I was able to apply my knowledge of biology in the animal field. I provided personalized pet care to clients in and around the Columbus area.
I am responsible for the day to day running of my store.
I have an in-depth knowledge of health & Safety, Pet welfare.
I have been in a store manager role for 5 years.
Avoid if you love Animals, job progression and fair treatment. It will change you as a person over the years, not in a good way.
I worked for PAH for almost 4 years. I loved it for the first couple years and dreamt of it as a kid. Until I realised the lies we were being told to excuse bad practice, how the animals welfare is always second best and when head office started getting ridiculous with targets and procedures etc. Here are just a few examples;
1.You are given 12 work books for training, that contain info thats very outdated. You have to read through them yourself and learn from them. But a lot of the information is too basic, incorrect or the managers dont even know the answers, if you need help!
2.The animal welfare is lacking!
Animals come from bad breeders. Most Rabbits and Guinea pigs would come in from the delivery smelly, with dirty, urine/poo matted bottoms, genitals and feet. A lot of the animals are sent in with Mites which the breeders deem acceptable. It's not uncommon for poorly, underage, neuroligically deformed animals to come in from the breeder. You can tell the animals are not bred for temperament or health but for quantity and frequency. The animals are terrified of humans when they come in and clearly aren't well cared for at all by the breeders. Yes the breeders and PAH have regular inspections, but they ARE announced! Giving the breeders chances to clean up their act.
A lot of the animals PAH sell are classed as 'exotic' animals by vets. Yet PAH head office dont allocate each store an exotic vet, they get normal dog/cat vets which often misdiagnose animals, ge
ProsShort hours availble if you have kids.
ConsJust about everything. Lack of Animal welfare, lack job progression, low pay
They pretend to care about the pets because they give adequate care while they’re at the store but what really matters is the homes the pets go to and often we send them off to rubbish lives! We can refuse sales based on obvious no-nos (eg if a customer comes in asking about birds but then they want a hamster and then a rabbit and then a Guinea pig and then actually no a hamster, you can say sorry you need to think about it more), but most of our cages in store are WELL below requirements- in our store only one hamster cage that we stock is above the minimum recommended and we only ever have 1 of it in stock at a time so it’s not like we can even sell many of them. The guinea pig 80 cage is absolutely ridiculous, claims it can have 2 young Guinea Pigs in it. It’s barely big enough for a hamster! Rabbits being sold to the rabbit 100 when really not even the 120 is big enough! We don’t sell any of the larger hamster/rabbit/rat cages in store so it’s not even like people have the option if they want to buy the pets and the cage on the same day- they must buy the smaller ones. People can buy rabbits in hutches and cages without buying any runs or play pens to go with. You can’t refuse single rabbit/guinea/rat/gerbil sales even though these are SOCIAL animals. As colleagues you have to find loopholes in order to keep social animals in pairs rather than letting them be sold separately (eg telling people the remaining pair have bonded now). Rabbits in adoption being split if they st
ProsI like(d) all my colleagues. Nice seeing and cuddling dogs. Some really nice regular customers.
ConsPuts profit above pets. No structure to shifts. Bit boring.
As with every job, there are ups and downs. I'd like to start with the positives. I'd say that pets at home have a pretty good pay, better than previous jobs that i've had. I enjoy working in an environment with animals, and I care about their welfare. However that is where the problems start. I do care.
I've gotten the impression that the people working there do not care about the animals. Those in higher positions are there just for the money, especially the managers who just sit in the staff room most of the day. The animals aren't taken care of properly. They aren't exercised, there's no daily health check ups and the only time the staff try hard to clean out the animal cages properly is when there is an inspection due. Other than that, almost no effort is put in. All they care about is getting it done at an unrealistically fast pace. It doesn't matter about doing the job properly, making sure all of the animals are checked. It's just ridiculous. Especially with the poor animals in the quiet room. There are far more hamsters than there should be shoved into relatively small cages. It shouldn't be that way. These animals barely get interacted with. I don't think they live happy lives in the store at all, no matter what the requirements say. It is very easy for them to bluff on about how animals come first but reality is that no, they don't.
Another point that I have which has been a huge negative for me is that the staff already there are VERY unfriendly and unhelpfu
I'm going to preface this by saying this is actually, bar the company, the best job I've ever had. There is a rather high level of responsibility and a wide variety of tasks to overcome within any given day. The other staff are fantastic on the store level and the company quite successfully cultivate a good team atmosphere. The pets are lovely and the customers tend to be to. Once the initial training is done there are some fantastic opportunities within the business including grooming and the company are particularly good at upward mobility, and would make a fantastic foot into the management door for anybody. They're fair on disciplinary actions also.
However, Pets at Home certainly like to talk up their employee benefits, training and wellbeing schemes but rarely do they ever succeed in their objectives on these fronts. As a current employee I can say that we don't need cakes and wellbeing Facebook groups etc. We need more hours given to stores so they can have enough colleagues in at any given time, rather than stretching us paper thin with three people on. More hours for training are a must too, as though in my store, which is rather quiet, we have enough time, colleagues from multiple other stores have said their stores don't have the time to train and it leaves people feeling like they're underachieving and can have an effect on mental health.
Speaking of mental health, an issue that has affected every single retail sales assistant I've spoken to in my time with t
ProsDecent breaks although you don't get one until you've worked 6 hours and 1 minute, great staff, decent training if the store has hours
ConsPay, pressure on KPIs, not enough people on at one time
What they tell you:
Pets are put before profit
That you matter
They work like a family/as a team
They work with integrity
They make work fun (RIP old values)
In 2018, they were voted the 5th best company to work for
The reality:
The benefits of working for the company increase with how much you kiss management's butt;
-You can get away with turning up to your shifts late
-You can go for frequent cig breaks on shift
-The hours you work suit your lifestyle
-Get first pick of the easy tasks
-You can chill around in the office doing nothing
-You can stand on the till or at the back of the store playing on your phone in blatant view of the cctv cameras
-You can get an extra 15-20 minutes added onto your break for getting your manager a burger
-You can get a half an hour break even though you're working a 4 hour shift
-And more. If you aren't part of the Bum Kissing Brigade, good luck to you.
Pets are not put before profit;
-Fast cleaners are chosen over thorough, considerate ones because staff are needed to hound the customers for VIPS.
-Checks are not done properly, as long as it 'looks okay' it's deemed done. Despite the strong smell of urine or piles of faeces.
-Struggle to meet the five welfare needs. For example, a full dish of food for one hamster and then 10 nuggets of food for 6 rats. Overcrowding the animals in the cages. Water bottles being propped between the cage and a wall, allowing them to be knocked off and left without water over nig
ProsAbsolutely nothing.
ConsThe entire company is a 'Con'
2.0
Retail Sales Associate | West Midlands | Jan 12, 2019
Bad experience working for this company
The companies “pets before profit” slogan should be reversed, as it is definitely “profit before pets”: Colleagues were made by managers to sell single animals that should be in pairs if that’s what the customer wanted. Guinea pigs and rats should always be kept in pairs, but if the customer still only wanted one, we had to sell just the one.
Training for new colleagues was bad, colleagues were made to sell animals before they had finished their training, this resulted in wrong information being given to the customers. Pets at homes teachings about fish was wrong, the company doesn’t even know what size the fish they sell can grow to. Tanks they sell are awful sizes and colleagues would be told it’s fine to sell goldfish into small tanks.
There is a lot of animals to clean out and give treatment to but we would be rushed to do this and got in trouble if we took to long, surely if animals came first it wouldn’t matter how long it took as long as they were cleaned and cared for properly. Only one colleague would be in charge of cleaning all the animals and treating them on the day, if a customer wanted help you were expected to go straight away and help instead of asking another colleague who was free. This resulted in animals waiting for their breakfast or their treatment.
Majority of the cages they sell for the hamsters are disgusting, way too small, some of the cages they sell are not suitable at all for any living creature.
The targets are most the time out
Pros
Colleague Discount - Helpful especially with larger shops.
Adoption for Pets - When it works it gives animals a second chance, although many of the gripes in terms of small cage size still persist, as with the shop floor animals.
Some genuinely nice colleagues - Many of the colleagues I worked with were a pleasure to work with. It made shifts more enjoyable and definitely made the time pass …
Cons
Poor management - High turnover of managers, let alone colleagues and managerial methods were poor, i.e apply sufficient pressure to get results. There was no care for colleagues as individuals and management had a very rigid mindset in terms of the swipe rate expected. They wouldn't accept that some customers simply didn't want a VIP card and would still patronise you at every opportunity. The whole culture of the company has deteriorated, along with its values.
Poor atmosphere and work environment - Being talked down to, certain people throwing their weight around and management would rarely if ever back you up, even if you had been verbally abused by a customer for refusing a pet sale on the grounds that the cage/tank was too small. Threats of disciplinary action to some, but not others, as some colleagues were shielded. The same colleagues forced to do workshops all the time. Poor tank sizes for hamsters and fish and too often colleagues would recommend the smallest cage size, instead of selling the benefits of a larger space.
No progression opportun
disappointment, embarrasment and an unmanagable company
I really enjoyed working here...for a few months, then I began to dread going in.
There is so much backstabbing and favouritism between colleagues and management. I felt so unappreciated-no matter what you do, it’s never good enough. The management is abysmal and might as well not exist. E.g: one ‘manager’ would rather sit in the colleague room ALL DAY and not come out when asked or needed. Instead, they ignored everyone, on a busy Sunday, where there were only 3 people working that day.
THERE IS NO WORK/LIFE BALANCE. since working here I've had to book holiday just to spend a day with family it’s that bad. I am ALWAYS denied holiday. I don't work the days I was promised (Monday-Friday) when I applied and was interviewed. I often cover other colleagues when they need a day off. In 9 months I’ve had 3 Saturdays off as I've had to book them as holidays. 2 of which were weddings. There's no agreements with the management over shifts or holidays. you don't get set days off you get as and what they feel like. This means you can’t plan to do anything outside of work. the company says you will be able to see the rota for 4 weeks in advance. The amount of times we've had one weeks rota up is ridiculous. There is such a lack of organisation its unbearable
There is so much more hassle that comes with this job than I thought there would be when I started.
People seem to get 'dibs' on not doing jobs. And no one ever seems to want to do a pet sale, or a till shift. Most people jus
Proslunch break. getting to pet a dog or two. going home
Consincredibly poor managent. terrible atmosphere to work in. unenjoyable
Working at pets at home has advantages and disadvantages. The training and opportunities are good, even if you know stuff already they will make you train and this makes the selling of pets even more worthwhile as all welfare is covered. The job itself I actually enjoy. I love advising customers! Nutritional training was also really insightful. The systems are also useful!
I would enjoy the job so much more if there wasn't these major things making it a not so great place to work:
- I am on a part time contract, however, the rota organisation and work life balance is horrendous. I am doing full time hours and 9/10 you're lucky if you get two days off a week. The hours are so random with no structure at all, you could start 7am until afternoon or be working till half 8. The rota changes last minute with overtime (most of the time without asking) to make up for people leaving. You may as well be on a 0 hour contract. THERE IS NO STRUCTURE
-Swipe rate. Please read this! I enjoy chasing KPIs and getting the store puppy books, apps, subs as I understand they help the business. But the swipe rate.. its disgusting (bare in mind this is coming from someone who achieves it which should spark concern). Why when people want to pay and go do I have to stand there and practically BEG them for their postcode?! I get the Kpis and I enjoy them but the swipe rate is genuinely PUSHING YOUR CUSTOMERS AWAY AND YOUR STAFF. Its like cold calling. You have to stand there begging them for their d
Worked for 3 years - wanted to leave after a few months. Staff turnover was super high. Animal welfare was the least of the managers worries. Get given 5 jobs to do at once and get moaned at until they’re done even though you’re running backwards and forwards from the tills to serve customers, you’re forced to hard sell loyalty cards, flea subscriptions, ordering products into store for customers, signing the customer up to the vet and/or asking for donations at charity events - you’re tracked on your performance and lectured and given written notices when they want to scare you. The animal welfare is poor. They (PAH) do the bare minimum to ensure the animals have suitable housing. Animals regularly are delivered they have severe health defects. Animals are kept in tiny cages until they go onto the shop floor. In my store if an animal could become a ‘burden’ (I.e. if the medication was tricky/too frequent) we were sometimes asked if we thought it should just be put to sleep. The fish are so overstocked. The new points system is severely flawed. You’re ‘trained’ to sell fish using this then you’re left to deal with irate customers who lose fish/research and find out they’re overstocked etc. If you don’t do your own research then you miss-sell animals and fish. Many colleagues are ‘trained’ by managers who don’t care and don’t want to know and so the colleagues then pass on poor info.
The managers have favourites and they make sure everyone knows it. They give out the ‘good’
ProsYou get to meet dogs.
ConsToxic, nasty working environment.
Questions And Answers about Pets at Home
What is the interview process like at Pets at Home?
Asked May 15, 2020
Okay, a over the phone interview followed by in person
Answered May 15, 2020
Okay, a over the phone interview followed by in person
Answered May 15, 2020
What benefits does Pets at Home offer?
Asked May 15, 2020
20% staff discount
Answered May 15, 2020
20% staff discount
Answered May 15, 2020
How often do you get a raise at Pets at Home?
Asked Jan 28, 2021
Annually but always come up with excuses to give as low as possible despite profits booming or to delay pay rises.
Answered Jan 28, 2021
What is the vacation policy like at Pets at Home? How many vacation days do you get per year?
Asked Jan 28, 2021
33 days holiday but dont expect to get them when you want them.
Answered Jan 28, 2021
What is Pets at Home sick leave policy? How many sick days do you get per year?
