If You're Going to Accuse the Groomer, Make Sure They Don't Keep Logs! (long)

[Saydrah]

I was chillin' in the grooming salon at Bouncing Ball Mart because I had nothing to do- no customers browsing the pet food sections, so nobody for me to sell my brand to. A manager was also in the salon raiding a cookie basket they'd been kindly given by volunteers at the local shelter as a thank you for helping to fundraise and adopt out shelter pets. I was telling a rather hilarious story about the time my best friend and I made superhero costumes and strutted around a mall in them screaming random phrases when we were 16, and the sole groomer in the shop and the manager were both giggling, when in walked Trouble.

Trouble was brunette, middle aged, and wearing a shirt with pictures of her two Labrador retrievers on it. Now, working in pet retail, you grow to learn some red flags. Someone wearing pictures of their dogs but without the dogs with them is always Trouble. This means they are intentionally or unintentionally trying to convey the message, "I am a CARING pet owner who CAN DO NO WRONG. As a caring pet owner, I would not expose MY dogs to the likes of YOU." People wearing pictures of their dogs with the dogs with them are usually fine and just crazy about their dogs- usually childless or empty nesters who dote on their four legged babies. Anyway, Trouble had a rather interesting convo with the groomer lady and the manager.

GL: Groomer Lady
MG: Management Guy
SC: Trouble

SC: Excuse me, I just had a question. (all smiles)
GL: (expecting a question about booking a grooming appointment) Sure, how can I help you?
SC: I brought my dogs in here and it was horrible. Just an awful experience, just absolutely horrible. I was credited for it, and I want to know if I can spend it in the store, not in the salon. I don't want to bring my dogs back here again.
GL: I'm really sorry you had a bad experience. I don't think credits from the salon work in the retail store, though- the salon is managed separately and their sales are tracked separately. (looks at Manager Guy for confirmation)
MG: Yes, sorry, that's the case. You can only use a grooming credit for grooming.
SC: What? But I just told you, I don't want to bring them back here.
GL: Who groomed them before? We could have our manager groom them for you. She has been grooming for over ten years and is wonderful.
SC: (like typical SC, ignores question asked and answers question she wishes was asked) I already talked to her. She said I can't spend the credit in the store, that's why I came to talk to you.
GL: Ma'am, she's my manager. What she says, goes in the salon.
MG: It's corporate policy to manage the salon separately, anyway- even the salon manager could not make a grooming credit apply to merchandise.
SC: Well, I'm willing to spend my dollars here, but not for grooming. If you'll just give me a gift card, I'll spend it here. They credited me for one dog because of the horrible experience- I had both of them groomed, but they credited me for one.

PAUSE: Why exactly would this be advantageous to the company? She's asking for permission to get free merchandise, and acting as if this would be a BOON to the store. She already paid for grooming, but apparently was credited back a certain amount after complaining, to be used for future grooming. If she doesn't use the credit, the store keeps the profit- if she uses it, the store loses profit. Yet she feels she's doing them a FAVOR by getting free stuff?

MG: I'm sorry, I can't change it. I can offer you a different groomer, someone to supervise the entire appointment, I can even let you supervise all but the bathing yourself- we don't allow pet parents in the back for safety reasons, but I can't put it on a store gift card.
SC: Oh, so then you can give me my money back, right?
MG: I didn't say that. I said I can offer you a variety of options to make you more comfortable giving the salon another chance. I'm not authorized to give cash back for grooming.
GL: Would you like maybe to take them to another Petsmart? There are stores in the area with even more experienced groomers.
SC: No, I don't ever want to take them back to Petsmart again.
GL: Sorry to hear that.
SC: It was awful. They HURT my dog, like, so bad that I had to take him to the vet. He was bleeding! It was just horrible, and I can't take him here ever again.
GL: Well, let me just look up our record of what happened. What's your last name?
SC: Trouble. My name is Troublesome Trouble.
GL: Okay, there you are, and which dog is it?
SC: Fido.

At this point, GL clicks Fido's name in the computer and a record of all his grooming appointments comes up. There is a note that says that the owner wants Fido's anal glands expressed every time he is groomed, and then there is the note about The Horrible Incident, along these lines- this is as close as I remember, which is pretty darn close.

"Customer said Fido had a quicked nail that bled when he got home. Also said anal glands were not expressed as requested. I offered half-off her next groom and to supervise the entire appointment. She also said we missed the dew claws on Fifi."

MG: It says in here that it was just a quicked nail back in September, right?
SC: Yes, it was a nail. It bled and I had to take him to the vet for it.
MG: And it says in here that you called to let us know, and that the salon manager offered half off your next groom and to supervise the entire appointment next time.
SC: No! She credited me for one dog!
MG: That's not what it says here, and the manager of this salon entered that note.
SC: It was horrible! He bled all over, and I had a $100 vet bill to pay!
GL: Ma'am, if there were vet bills and you told us that, we would have covered them. This salon has always paid any vet bills incurred from a dog hurt by grooming equipment, even just a nail.
SC: WELL YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT!
GL: If you called and told us he went to the vet, we would have. It looks like you just said his nail bled when he got home, and the manager offered half off the next groom.
SC: NO! She credited me!
MG: That's not what it says on your account- you'll have to call her on Monday.
GL: I'm really sorry that happened to your dog.

SC stomps out, buys a rawhide bone, and leaves.

The moral of the story: If you're going to lie in order to get free stuff, make sure the person you're lying to doesn't keep WRITTEN, DATED records of your every visit!

[Lady Heather]

Even Better..

The bane of all SC's: Written Records, Recorded Calls, and Video. Bonus points if you have witnesses.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

hahahahaha when i first read that i thought someone was going to get hit with a piece of wood

[chainedbarista]

$100 for an application of a styptic stick? i smell the stench of freshly laid bs; no way in hell something so easy and quick costs that much, unless the dog was bleedind super heavy (from a quick, not damn likely).

if it was such problem, why wasn't it addressed sooner; she could have brought the dog back in for a quick styptic treatment at the groomer's, i'm guessing.

sounds more like this mountain was created from a mole hill via a huge rush of HOT AIR.

it's painful, yes, traumatising? only if 'mommy' throws a huge fit, causing anxiety on the part of the pet. otherwise, they yipe, look at you with a pained expression, then get over it with an apology and a rubbing. dogs are far more forgiving than humans, which is why i absolutely <3 them.

[Banrion]

$100 for an application of a styptic stick? i smell the stench of freshly laid bs; no way in hell something so easy and quick costs that much, unless the dog was bleedind super heavy (from a quick, not damn likely).

IF she really did take the dog to the vet, and took one of their "Emergency" slots for it, I will buy the $100.00 bill.

However, anyone who doesn't know what to do with a bleeding claw should not be allowed to own any animals with claws. Even if you don't have styptic laying around the house, corn starch works just as well.

[JustaCashier]

Heh, I'll bet she bought the rawhide bone for herself, to chew on on the way home, to calm herself down!


Mike

[XCashier]

I was chillin' in the grooming salon at Bouncing Ball Mart .... when in walked Trouble.

What the heck was my cat doing in Colorado?! (Yes, his name is Trouble.)

Back OT, if he was bleeding from the claw at the groomers, don't they have styptic pencils or other treatments they can apply then and there? (Claw clipping errors are common with wiggly, panicky animals; I'd think they would have something like this on hand.) Why would she have to take him to the vet for that?

Something's not right here.

[Saydrah]

Apparently it didn't even bleed at the salon- she said it bled AFTER he got home- sounds more like 'snagged it on the rug' than groomer error to me.

[flybye023]

What a load of bull!

I just took my kitty to the vet a couple months ago for an ingrown claw. They removed the ingrown claw, clipped the rest of his claws, and cauterized the wound (silver nitrate) for a grand total of $54.

[GolfCart34]

I took my mom's dog to the "bouncing red ball" groomers one time to have his nails clipped. He's a miniature dachshund and he has severe anxiety so naturally he hated to have his nails clipped . The groomer we got there was really nice and let me help hold the dog still while she clipped his nails. She was also really careful to not clip the quick so he bled. Dachshund nails are difficult to clip since they are black and you can't really tell how far back to clip. Better safe than sorry we say.

Growing up we had a golden retriever/gordon setter mix names Spooky. My dad used to clip his nails at home. You could tell on Spooky's nails how far back to clip. Sometimes my dad would clip a bit too far because the dog moved and would draw blood. The dog would track blood on the tile floor (we kept him far away from the carpet) but we'd just catch up to him with a paper towel and hold his paw until he stopped bleeding. Fortunately the bleeding was never bad enough to warrant a vet visit.

That woman needs to stop lying and realize that a clipped quick isn't the end of the world. Not only that, but if it was an issue she should have dealt with the problem immediately.