Had a dog today who came in today and mom didn’t want anything less than a half inch. Smallish shipoo who had matting all over his body. Didn’t need to shave it down with a 10 but also I wasn’t going to put that dog through dematting his entire body. So I told her what I thought I could do (I always under promise and over deliver) and what I knew I could do was a 5 or maybe a 4. Well that didn’t work for her. She literally told me no, that she didn’t want that. I went and grabbed a metal comb and told her to run in through her dogs coat. She aggressively tried to get it to run through the top part but of course couldn’t. She asked if I could just charge her more and I said no. I work for corporate and I groom in what’s essentially a glass box where people can watch us groom. Not to mention we’re right at the front of the store and by the registers, which means EVERYONE sees us. I will demat small sections here and there if a dog’s coat is in good shape, but if I have to spend a lot of extra time dematting, it throws off my day. Not to mention that it’s not pleasant for the dog. I told her it was a 5 blade or she could go home and demat him herself. Anyways long story short, she asked for my store manager and my store manager tried to tell me the matting wasn’t that bad and to just charge her for 45 min of brushing.
My GM is not a groomer and it actually kind of makes me mad that she tried to get me to do that dog. My co worker actually switched me dogs because this client always complains and is never happy. My GM told one of the leads (who then told us) that she didn’t understand why I didn’t take the dog and that I just didn’t want to deal with the client. Any Petco GSL’s here? Was I in the wrong? What would you guys have done?
@caferobusta I absolutely hate when someone without any grooming experience tries to butt in conversations they 100% don’t belong in. Matting can be deceiving. I’ve checked plenty of dogs in, felt their coats up n everything only to realize matting is present during the drying process.
YOU have the expertise, YOU know what condition the coat was in. Trust yourself, 100%. I hated the corporate environment so I moved to a private salon. I will say, I’ve heard not all private salons are great. At the very least, I would recommend looking for a new salon. This is a huge red flag for me and incredibly disrespectful for management to not stand by their employees. All for the sake of not upsetting clients who don’t give a shit about their dogs.
@caferobusta Not a GSL, but I work for Petco. Managers outside of the grooming salon just agree 100% to what we're saying. It is unacceptable that your GM tried to butt in. They have to stand behind you, the professional, not the uneducated customer.
@caferobusta I’m a PSL and my SL does this weird type of shit constantly. Overbooking, last minute booking, promising things we can’t do, offering free redo services. I do everything in my power to just ignore her/do the total opposite…with that being said if you’re at the large corporation that Brennan worked at in step brothers then you have 100% discretion with the dogs you take in and if your uncomfortable than here my suggestions as a Salon leader, Deny the dog outright because customers like her are bad for business. You could accurately charge her delaying fees I.e blade damage/replacement and time( I’ve had my groomers charge 1.5/2x the haircut if people insist on us doing their dogs). The last option and the one I’ve found myself doing more often is telling my store leader if you want me to do the dog you can dematt it. As a groomer your time is everything, I tell my team constantly it’s truly not worth it for you to sit there and groom a dog for 3-5 hrs struggle and stress for $30 of commission and a $10 tip.
@caferobusta Former gsl. Who's going to get the blame when that lady comes back in a week from now complaining that her dog is traumatized and miserable? Or if that dog bites you while your dematting it? Just send her home in the future and tell the gm over and over again that no amount of money is worth torturing the dog. How's your gm going to feel if a vet bill comes in?
