AITA Grooming Edition?

[brileemoot]

I had a client call today and I just can’t tell if I handled it appropriately or not - so all opinions welcome

Client called and left a message saying the following:
“I brought (dogs name) in mid-April for a groom and he got pink eye shortly after, I guess the day after his groom. I got a huge vet bill today and we need to have a discussion”

This was the 3rd time I groomed her dog, I sanitize my tools between each groom, 1 dog in the salon at a time, used the same products as the past 2 times, and in my 8 years of grooming have never had a client report pink eye. I called her back, it went to voicemail so I said:

“Hi client, I’m sorry to hear that (dogs name) got pink eye. It’s been 3 weeks since his last groom, and pink eye can be caused by many different things like pollen, mold, dust, dander. Because you waited 3 weeks to see your vet and notify us, I’m not able to extend any help with the vet bill since there is no guarantee he received the infection here and not some time in the past 3 weeks. If you’d like to continue to book I can use hypoallergenic products on him going forward”

Maybe I just jumped to conclusions, but to wait almost a month and then ask me to cover vet bills for a problem I hadn’t heard of until today? Curious how others would’ve handled this

 

[heavenward7]

@brileemoot I mean, come on, that’s such an insane amount of time to wait to blame you.

 

[seeingbabylon]

@heavenward7 We had someone call today a week after the groom to complain and ask for a refund and a hypothetical vet bill to be paid (they haven't gone to the vet and are just thinking about it) and I thought a week was pushing it. 3 weeks is quite a time to wait to go to the vet and contact the place that supposedly caused the injury.

 

[bdaroowala]

@heavenward7 I had a lady try to get a vet bill paid because I apparently cut her dogs eyebrow open

But she complained 2 weeks after the appointment and said it was still bleeding? Yeah, okay.

 

[ulrichgood]

@brileemoot I dunno. I agree. Not that it’s impossible that the dog got it at your salon, but it makes more sense to contact you right away and give you the heads up that you may have a hefty bill on your hands. The fact that she waited seems kinda sus to me.

 

[rustedbeef]

@ulrichgood also wouldn't you want to tell them as soon as possible to prevent the spread? like i dont think i wouldve asked for them to help pay the bill, but i definitely wouldve contacted the groomer asap to let them know they just had a contagious dog come through and they might wanna be extra careful

 

[ulrichgood]

@rustedbeef True! Yeah, this lady was reaching…

 

[nina_m]

@rustedbeef Sounds like she got her vet bill and tried to think of who else she could pin it on.

 

[anton_james]

@brileemoot You handled it correctly. If the dog did get pink eye in the salon (which I’ve never heard of before in the 15 years I’ve been in this industry but I’m no medical professional so what do I know), the owner waited 3 weeks to get it taken care of. At this point it’s impossible to say what the vet bill would have been if she had taken the dog to see the doctor right away vs waiting this long. Presumably if she thinks she’s able to connect this issue back to you, the dog has been showing symptoms for a while.

If you had, just as an example, cut the dogs foot and it began showing signs of infection shortly after the appointment but the owner waited several weeks to have it looked at and now the dog needs surgery instead of just a round of antibiotics, you wouldn’t be responsible for that even if you did cause the initial injury.

For the record, it sounds like you maintain a clean and safe environment which leads me to believe you did not give this dog pink eye. Sadly though, I wouldn’t be surprised if the vet at the very least brought up the possibility that you did which has now turned into this.

 

[xcarlx]

@anton_james some dogs are allergic to certain products, but the groomer is not at fault. it’s allergy season, so eye/ear/skin infections are rampant. if i had one advice for this, it would be asking “does your dog have any known allergies or dermatological/skin/ear conditions?” to protect yourself

 

[sheiriam]

@brileemoot Nah you're fine. Also, fun fact! Did you know that pink eye can transfer from people to dogs?

 

[daniel2015]

@sheiriam Just curious, because fun facts are fun, is the reverse also true?

 

[sheiriam]

@daniel2015 Very rare, but it can happen. Human to dog transfer is more likely.

 

[daniel2015]

@sheiriam Absolutely makes sense given how much time we spend petting our dogs vs how much time they spend petting us

 

[jellyfishxxx]

@brileemoot Waiting 3 weeks to see the vet is bs lol. Shocking how many people out there will blame a groomer to see if they can get a bill paid for, not the first time I've heard of people trying this. You're fine!

If they push more I would be telling them that for insurance purposes you'll need to speak to the vet and the vet will need to confirm the issue was caused by grooming and that everything on the invoice provided is related to the (alleged) grooming-related injury. This makes the people just looking for a free vet bill back down, plus I've seen people in your situation say when they talked to the vet the vet told them it was definitely not related to the grooming and that was the end of it.

 

[p4m3l4]

@brileemoot You’re in the right. Plus the vet bill for conjunctivitis should not be high. It’s just an exam and antibiotics and a small charge to stain and look at the eye. I have never in my life encountered a vet clinic that bills clients by mail. They want the bill paid the day you bring the dog in. There is something fishy here.

 

[sunee1]

@p4m3l4 yeah i took my cat in for conjunctivitis after rescuing her and they gave me 3 weeks worth of the eye goop, she got some updated vaccines, and a full exam and I spent like $170 without pet insurance. I think i paid more for the felv vaccine than the conjunctivitis meds

 

[best99]

@p4m3l4 My dog had runny eyes and had junk in his eye he had cleared out after consulting with an eye dr. We spent like 3-4k on the first year we had him getting specialist visits and he had several rounds of eye cleaning done, so it was 750 each time. The one time the drops were like over 80, and this was pre inflation prices.

 

[p4m3l4]

@best99 That’s more than conjunctivitis.

 

[best99]

@p4m3l4 There’s a huge category of conjunctivitis and what it could be the cause if it. Conjunctivitis is a clinical term for swelling of the eye and discharge. It’s just a symptom.