Things I've been blamed for in 2 yrs of grooming

[mcmuhammed]

1. Cowlicks leaving bald spots on legs and chests. This was my first negative complaint and it was when I was going through petsmart academy and it crushed me even though the trainer so there was nothing I could and people were just stupid sometimes.
2. Irrations and bruises, or as one owner put it "cuts", I had 10 stripped a matted doodle and it had bruises and irrations all over the body, but no Knicks or cuts, and the owner called saying I had cut her dog all over, keep in mind this lady also wanted a 3 inch scissor hair cut and despite me saying I was going to shave it down she thought that if i just bathed the dog the mats would come out? She also wrote a review saying I was rude and when the manager called to ask about it she said I was rude and didn't have this problem with the girl who did it last time, plot twist? I was the girl who did it last time
3. Taking the fur too short. This comes from mainly mixed breeds owners, especially doodles but not always. I once did a 1in cc on a "mini husky" (owner was strong in saying it wasn't a pomsky but a mini husky), and during check in I trippled check that she wanted fur off the back, going as far as to touch the fur on the back and say "so you want this to be an inch long correct?" And she said yes and then a 5 days later deciding it was too short and called to complain.
4. A dog injuring the owners kid with its a nail. A week after her appt owner called to get a refund bc one of the dogs nail had split her toddlers lip after she jumped on him claiming it was bc I didn't buff the nail good enough.
5. And this is the most recent one. Saying I gave her dog an eye infection bc I "cut" it and was going to "blast us on social media if we didn't pay the bill". For context this dog had recently been shaved down by a different salon and the dog was matted again by the time it came in but I told her I could do a schnauzer cut as long as the dog let me brush him out. Upon wetting the dog in the bath and separating the fur I saw what appeared to be an eye infection, I showed my salon lead and she said it was ok to continue as long as I felt comfortable, which I did bc the dog wasn't showing any signs of pain. So after brushing out this dog and being very gentle around the eye it got a schnauzer pattern, including beard and eye brows, I showed the owner at check out and recommended a vet and we were joking around so I thought everything was chill with us until two days later she stormed in and said I cut her dog and gave it an infection and her vet even said so and gave us the bill. To which we were like how did a, we cut your dogs eye with my clippers if it has eyebrows, b, there no way we created an full blow obvious eye infection within the 3 hrs we had the dog. We contacted the vet and they were like "um, no we didnt say you guys cut this dog and gave it the infection." And then when we told this lady that she threatened to tell everyone she knows we cut her dog if we didn't pay her bills.
   Suffice to say I'm over this holiday season already.

 

[fishermandoug]

@mcmuhammed You ever been blamed for a fight between husband and wife? Doodle couples are WILD

 

[slappy1402]

@fishermandoug Too many times

Husband dropping off: Shave him.

Wife picking up: WHY DID YOU SHAVE HIM

 

[timothyalex]

@slappy1402 LOL they are weird asf always want different things

 

[seeingbabylon]

@fishermandoug My first complaint as a new groomer was because the wife told me to shave the dog and the husband called to complain because I did what I was told and caused a huge argument between the two.

 

[stanley_4]

@fishermandoug This. There's so much miscommunication between owners. Now if someone else brings a dog, I make them call or text to confirm what the main owner wants.

 

[knr80]

@fishermandoug Usually that’s my Yorkie couples. LOL I’ve told people too many times “whoever drops off, if not previously discussed, is the one who dictates the length of the haircut and services (like add teeth for example)”.

They still don’t get it, so I charge them extra for causing me stress, wasting my time and being giant pains. If they want me to act like their marriage counselor… well they’re going to pay more.

 

[rockroller]

@knr80 Ha! I had a husband bring his 3 pound Yorkie in for a teddy bear clip and dog was matted to skin. Told him I needed to shave dog down. He proceeded to call his wife from the car and they were on the phone together, in an argument for 5 minutes at which time, I told him they were welcome to take dog elsewhere for another opinion only to be told that they trusted my opinion…whatever! Took them 5 minutes of debate lol

 

[knr80]

@rockroller I loveeee telling them that too!

I have one doodle that comes in, her mom is awesome and super understanding, her dad is a sexist jerk who thinks everything is his wife’s fault and problem.

So she’s cool with short because it’s easier on her, but he wants her “full coat because short is for men”. But he won’t brush her because “that’s a woman’s job!”.

So I had to tell her, that I’m not dealing with her husband anymore because of how he treats me (my partner is a man, and he will only talk to him even though he’s not a groomer, he’s there for moral support and safety, washes and dries if I need him to), and it doesn’t matter how many times my partner tells him “you have to talk to her, she’s the groomer”, he flat refuses, then starts arguments, and goes full sexist.

I haven’t seen the dog since I told her I’m not dealing with him anymore (but that she’s still welcome and so is the dog), and my fingers have been crossed that they divorced because I’ve seen and heard how he treats her and their daughter too. Dude’s a real POS.

 

[jembang]

@fishermandoug omg this reminded me of when a client was talking to my coworker, and a karen pretty much barged in, plopped her dog behind the gate without permission and cut into their conversation, and the other client got pissed on our behalf and they started arguing.
when they left, the karen called the shop and got mad at us for not defending her LOL

 

[nihal]

@fishermandoug My comanager and I used to joke we’d add a husband clause in the liability waiver. Just something along the lines of “If my husband drops off I can not get mad at the groomer for doing what he says.”

 

[devincamary]

@nihal that’s hilarious and genius

 

[natalia2019]

@fishermandoug We had that. We assumed they were divorced because Dad dropped off and said one thing. Then Mom called and told us something else. Dad called back to argue that, and this happened a few more times. Finally my manager answered and was like "Okay. This is the 6th call. Who is picking up and paying? Dad? Okay. We're doing what Dad says."

 

[patrick_andrei]

@fishermandoug Yes, dog was matted and the husband wanted me to shave it and the wife wanted to cancel the appointment. They literally had an argument in front of me and decided to have me shave it then the wife left a bad review. Should have left the review for your husband.

 

[andrewm12]

@fishermandoug One of my groomers when I was a manager was blamed for causing a divorce

All because the dogs anal glands needed to be done at the vet, my groomer didn’t touch them at all. In fact, she told the owners he needs to see a vet. Dog ended up rupturing its anal glands a few days later, she called & said that my groomer was the reason her and her husband were getting a divorce. Husband was in-store talking to me & said “I’m so sorry.. she’s really crazy.”

 

[wanderedhome]

@mcmuhammed the best one was when a client accused us of neutering their dog ( we aren't connected to a vet)

 

[loveinvasion]

@wanderedhome Huh?? Did they forget that their dog was already neutered or what?? lol that's wild

 

[wanderedhome]

@loveinvasion Dad said not to trim the ball hair. I brought the dog to the groomer. The groomer during the bath starts laughing. I get called back and informed there are no balls. I then had to break it to the dad at pick up that his dog has no balls to have ball hair. And he starts yelling that we "cut his nuts off". He got a free groom and a month of free doggie daycare to shut him up.

 

[preciousklay]

@wanderedhome I had a client come in and complain that we shaved off the flap of skin left from being neutered everytime. She insisted that the flap grew back and then we cut it off. Even after explaining that he would need stitches and there would be lots of blood she wouldn't believe and just said he was a rare type of dog with special skin. The vet told her same as us and she still complained

 

[someguy1234]

@mcmuhammed Don't forget leaving dirt on the dog because that American Eskimo has age spots, or causing the fleas which are actually freckles.