PriceSmart reviews

4.0

72% would recommend to a friend

(110 total reviews)
avatar

Jose Luis Laparte

75% approve of CEO

77% positive business outlook

PriceSmart has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 110 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The PriceSmart employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

110 reviews
2.0
Aug 30, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots to learn. Interesting projects in retail and international business. Nice coworkers. Good medical benefits. Rarely have to stay late. Somewhat flexible hours.

Cons

All the little things every day that show PriceSmart doesn't care about you: Upper management avoids eye contact and won't even say good morning. Pay is low and no merit raises or bonuses. Free food is rare. The building is worn out and falling apart. You will be moved around without notice. Not much room to grow-you will be told 'no growth in your first five years'. Serious lack of communication from the higher ups. There is no team feeling-everything is department vs. department. Too many burned out long term employees. Management is old fashioned. Heavy traffic.

1.0
Nov 14, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Occasional samples sales, which are nice since their pay structure won't allow you to afford things at full price in stores.

Cons

Negative working environment, supervisors are either taking credit for your work or blaming you for their incompetence. No upward mobility unless you stay there for at least 5 years doing grunt work. Those who have been there for 5 years or longer really dislike each other and are constantly trying to make each others work more difficult out of spite. It was normal for employees to be crying or cursing at each other in meetings or in private. If you find a problem or a mistake they will tell you to ignore the error so other teams will get in trouble. There is no common goal or team for the company, just a bunch of people with very few life options coming in for a paycheck and hoping to brown nose their way upward. No say in the directionality of your career, more of a dictatorship style. Horribly pathetic and old school benefits, regarding sick time and vacation time. Supervisors will harass you if you take sick time, and will repeatedly ask for doctors notes regardless of how oftem HR tells them it is illegal. It doesn't matter how much effort you put into your work or how late you stay, those efforts won't be taken into account and you will be written up for being late or taking longer lunches even just once. Middle and lower management are pretty bottom of the barrel folk. Only there because they don't have any skills to go elsewhere. Equipment/system/process is extremely old, so not only will you never be able to use these "skills" for any future jobs but you'll will be doing repetitive, tedious work that could be managed by a central system.

3.0
Nov 25, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It’s a great company for the career long haul, turn-over is very little (see CONS below), small company mentality (e.g. Company picnics, Holiday Parties, Auctions, Food Catering, etc…) MUCH better then most corporate retail places.

Cons

Lack of Growth, Competitive Compensation, Bonuses

Viewing 1 - 3 of 110 Reviews

Glassdoor has 159 PriceSmart reviews submitted anonymously by PriceSmart employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if PriceSmart is right for you.