MAJOR RANT - Groomer
At 3 I told my husband - lets run up there and see what's going on since no one has called yet and because she promised she would groom them first. Got there - nobody there. Placed locked up tight all lights out. I peeked in the grooming room window and could see Lucky, Sam, London & Rosie all still in the grooming crates. Nobody is there. I called the office number - they closed at Noon - and if you have an emergency call the LSU Vet Emergency Clinic. No alternate phone # to call. At this point I am totally freaking out because my babies are in the grooming room in crates with no water, no food and the place is locked up. My husband and I stood there and talked trying to determine what to do. One of the vet techs from one of their branch office showed up about 45 minutes later - she was only there to drop mail off. I made her give me my dogs and I refused to pay and told her I would talk to them on Monday, I was to upset to deal with anyone right now. They claimed they tried to call me. Between my husband and I we have 3 cell phones and a house phone - No missed calls. Nothing. If the lady hadn't showed up to drop off the mail - my dogs would have been left in the grooming crates with no water, no food until when Monday???? Ok - I am trying hard to be calm right now. What would you do if you were me? This is a groomer we go to every week but we normally go on Fridays - and she is in the office with the vet that we use. I really would hate to know what my blood pressure and heart rate is right now - I am so furious. |
|
|
| OMG!! I don't blame you in the LEAST!!! I would have been FURIOUS!!! To the point where I would have made the vet tech give me the home phone # of the groomer. How could she, in good conscience, let those babies there, thinking they might be there until MONDAY????????? At the very least, I would have a serious talk with the vet about his "tenant." I don't know what else I would do right now, because I'm so angry FOR you!!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!  |
| That is most insanely outrageous thing I can even imagine happening in a grooming context. Horrible! I am not sure but I feel like I would have busted in to get my dogs out. That is unconscionable. I would not pay. I would not go back, How could you possibly trust them again? If they would leave them locked in the store, how do you know that they wouldn't leave them hooked up on the grooming table and walk away?
However, I would talk to the groomer directly before you blast her. It is possible that she expected the store people to get in touch with you and did not realize they would lock up and leave the dogs in their crates. Whomever locked up and left them there should be fired. |
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would I have been MAD 
Would they REALLY have left them there til Monday?????????????????????????????????????????????? |
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME  I would have been in hysterics. Thank God you got them back, when I started reading your post I thought I was going to cry  What the heck were they thinking  I am so glad they are alright. |
| That is very bizarre, not to mention horrible. Your poor pups - I hope they weren't too upset. Thank goodness you were able to get them out. Keep us posted how this turns out! |
| Is there someplace you can make a formal complaint? Do groomers in the States have to have a license? I would be complaining to anyone and everyone I could to see if I could get it revoked...can you file a complaint with the police?
I am so glad you got the kids back..I would of wanted to kick in their dog...OMG.. that is inconceivable to me.... I cannot even imagine the panic you must of been going through. |
| Wynette, I am heartbroken for you. Beyond unprofessional,
it is an unsafe situation for your beautiful sheepies. Please find a new groomer/vet. Since this groomer works out of the vets office, you may be able to put a complaint in against the vets license as he is responsible for the office. I am so happy the vet tech came along and you were able to bring your sheepies home. We loved your card, your sheepies are beautiful. |
| OMG!! I would have called the police and had them break down the door. I would have caused a scene like you wouldn't believe.
I am so sorry you had to go through this.
I'm glad your dogs are ok. |
| There is absolutely no excuse in the world from the groomer to compensate what she put you, your husband and your babies through, NO EXCUSE AT ALL!!
I am so glad you got your babies out in the end, I would not pay her ANYTHING for grooming for what has happened. She should compensate you for what she did to your dogs & the distress she has caused. Be interesting to hear what her excuse was when you finally get in touch with her. |
| Deep breath. You have the babies and they are safe.
Plan out what you want to say and practice so you can deliver it in a calm manner. You don't want them to write you off as crazy or hysterical. Honestly, unless there was a medical emergency, there is no valid excuse for leaving the dogs like the groomer did. I don't see that reporting the vet as the thing to do though. I imagine that the vet will be hrrified too. Having said that, we live in area with iffy cell phone service. Some calls go straight to voice mail. Any chance of that? |
| I too am upset your furkids were left alone like that and I can only imagine the emotions you felt.
Even in the off chance that for some unknown reason the cell phone lines were down or whatever...she simply could have looked up your address and gone in person to your door. No excuse! I would have done that or sat tight until you arrived. Thank goodness you showed up, I'm mystified by it all. My mind too is now thinking of various scenerios..perhaps she was called away , family emergency? Still she would have thought to grab your number or had someone else in the office cover for her. I just don't get it. Marianne and the boys |
Anonymous wrote: I don't see that reporting the vet as the thing to do though. I imagine that the vet will be hrrified too. Sorry guest. I will stand by my suggestion. It is entirely up to the original poster how she proceeds to address the issue. If this is a vets office, and there are animals admitted there needs to be 24 hour care for medical cases. This requires around the clock care. If someone is onsite for medical, it is the duty of the groomer to report that animals left in her care are still in the building and why. The vet tech can then include them in the rounds. If there are no medical cases admitted, then on call vet tech would need to be advised and care for the animals over the time they are in the care of the office. Should not happen, but if it does the vet is responsible to have a policy, If the vet has no clear policy on this , he should have one. What the groomer did is abandoment of her clients (charges). She has a duty to the owner to make sure they are cared for in her absence. Like some medical offices , some veterinary offices have become fast drive thrus for profit. The original poster has a prior experience with this vet and his office. She is in the best position to determine how she would like to proceed. |
| I had to take a pill earlier to calm down due to my blood pressure but I am calm again. My husband and I are going to go talk to the owner (our personal vet) on Monday morning to get to the bottom of this. At that time we will decide whether we need to find another vet and groomer or what we need to do.
It really bothers me though that if I would have one of my dogs there over night for a medical reason - there is nobody there in case something happens???? I have a lot of questions that I need answers to and right now any trust I had in this vet's office and the groomer are completely nil. |
| That's insane! I'd be furious too... wow |
| I feel so bad for both you and Joe and the babies. But I definitely agree with the earlier post BE CALM when you talk with the vet so they don;t think you are crazy BECAUSE you are definitely RIGHT. Good luck and don't feel bad whatever your decision. Give the kids a hug from us. At least they are okay. |
| Something sounds so screwy about it. This is a place that you guys go to once a week and they reward your loyalty by taking off and leaving your dogs locked up? I know if your vet is anything like mine, they have every phone number I have, plus James's, work and then next of kin-- I can't believe that even if they couldn't get a hold of you, that they'd just leave. Even if it was an emergency, and they couldn't get a hold of you for some reason, they could've left a note on the door with some instructions!
I think you deserve an explanation and if you aren't satisfied, you should look for a new vet. I take it they didn't tell you what time they closed? Our old groomer (not the nasty one from last time, but before that) would always write up an "estimate" with the time that we were to pick them up right on it so there was no confusion. They closed at 5 and for every minute after 5 you were late, it was $1. Evidently, many people were taking advantage of them and they were getting stuck there for hours after close. But, at least they stayed! |
| I had no idea they closed at 12. Normally the dogs go on Friday and they are open until 6. She was closed this past Thurs & Fri which is why they went today instead.
I will be calm or rather Joe will be the calm one. I am naturally red headed and I have a temper to match. |
BatonRougeSheepies wrote: It really bothers me though that if I would have one of my dogs there over night for a medical reason - there is nobody there in case something happens???? I have a lot of questions that I need answers to and right now any trust I had in this vet's office and the groomer are completely nil.
I was suprised to learn that in MANY Vet offices sick animals are left overnight without anyone in the building. My own Vet, who I have used for 20 years leaves the animals without a VET tech. When Ty had his surgery one of the criteria for chosing a surgeon was that they have someone witht the animals 24/7. Much as I love my Vet, we will fo elsewhere for anything requiring an overnight stay. |
| Personally I think the 'tried to call you' excuse was a
CYA lie. I would expect any place I left my dogs to call every 5 minutes until I could be reached- assuming they ever tried to call you at all. I would certainly expect them to stay there with the dogs until they reached me and not just take off and leave them behind. Unbelievable! I am just hoping there is some sort of excuse other than that they just left - although I can't think of anything they could say that would get them off the hook. I am so curious what they will have to say to you on Monday! Shellie |
| When I was grooming dogs, my shop didn't close until the last dog went home. And only had one incidence of someone not picking up their dog and it had to stay the night.
I stayed until 9 PM, 4 hours after I normally closed the shop. I called and called, left message after message on the woman's answering machine. Left a message stating my home phone number and finally drove to the address in her dogs records hoping to find her at home. She wasn't there so I left her a note on her front door. My shop hours were plainly stated in the shop window and I had told her a specific time to pick the dog up and had been calling since that time. I was worried the woman may have been in an accident or some other emergency came up. But the next morning she comes waltzing in about an hour after I opened the shop, with the excuse time just got away from her. Needless to say she was charged the grooming fee and boarding for one night. I figured it was only fair because I had walked her dog several times, made a special trip to the store to buy some food for her, fed and watered her and made sure she had a comfortable place to spend the night and then came in early the next morning to walk the dog again. And believe it or not the woman was furious I charged her $6.00 extra.
Anyhow, about your situation. I would be FURIOUS too! I hope there is a VERY GOOD explanation of why this happened, but even at that, I would be VERY leary of taking my dogs back there for any reason. Sorry this happened to you and your doggie family. It makes me wonder how many other people it has happened to there. It's so totally irresponsible on the part of every employee there. |
| I'm horrified by this!!! Have you called the police? |
| This is just awful! I'm so sorry, Wynette. I would have been furious as well. t sounds a little strange to me that if you are regular clients they would close up shop without you. I hope that someone can explain what happened to you tomorrow. |
| I would have called the police, humane society and State attorney General reporting abuse of my dogs, endangerment of them and had my attorney send them a letter threatening a law suit. I would also look for another groomer. |
| Wynette,
I would speak to your vet, I am assuming that the groomer is renting space in your vets office. This is totally unacceptable. The things people do. Val, Quote: That is most insanely outrageous thing I can even imagine happening in a grooming context.
I have to disagree....the most insanely outrageous thing a groomer has done is to LOSE MY DOG. A few years ago Merlin went to the groomer. I said I dont care if he has to come here 10 times...do not shave him...she shaved him, put his collar on that fit a full coated dog, did not adjust the collar, took him out to potty and he got scared and bolted out of the collar....Merlin was lost for 4 days in february in canada. |
WizardMerlin wrote: Wynette,
II have to disagree....the most insanely outrageous thing a groomer has done is to LOSE MY DOG. A few years ago Merlin went to the groomer. I said I dont care if he has to come here 10 times...do not shave him...she shaved him, put his collar on that fit a full coated dog, did not adjust the collar, took him out to potty and he got scared and bolted out of the collar....Merlin was lost for 4 days in february in canada. OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I will keep clipping Tasker MYSELF, a bad haircut is certainly a better outcome than these stories!!!! |
Tasker's Mom wrote: I think I will keep clipping Tasker MYSELF, a bad haircut is certainly a better outcome than these stories!!!!
I'm with you on that Ginny!!! |
| We were chatting with a guy at the dog park yesterday. He left his 6 month old golden at a groomers. When he picked the dog up it was totally freaked out! The dog was a basket-case so he asked the groomer what happened. They just told him that the dog was not happy being left in the crate with the dryer on him, to dry, and did not react well during the drying.
Well, this fellow just hit the roof. He had no idea that they dried the dogs that way at this grooming shop, and he had to do a lot of work to get his golden back into using his crate. He thought that they would have used another way of drying him if the saw the dog was under so much stress. I agree with the others about doing my dogs myself, or "with" the groomer. That is the only way I can be sure of the treatment they get and how they react. |
| Your poor dogs!! I'm so glad you got them out!
Another groomer horror story you guys might remember: Last year I went to pick up Walter from the groomer, and while I was standing there the groomer hand scissored around his face while he was obviously stressed out (after seeing me he wanted out of there), she misseed, cut his tongue, and then just stood there. THEY DIDNT KNOW THE EMERGENCY VET NUMBER, and they all just stood around while my dog bled like crazy everywhere. If I didn't charge back there, take the phone, and let my dog down who knows what would have happened. |
| Wow! These are such awful stories. My groomer and the shop is now a saint! She is wonderful if anyone in the North/Northwest Chicago suburbs needs a referral. |
| Wynette, I am so sorry to hear that this happened & I probably would have gone ballistic myself. When in doubt, always call the police people before breaking in, etc., as they will usually have phone #'s to the business owner.
There are plenty of horror stories that seem to go on at grooming shops from dogs running away to pets dying in drying cages as I think happened at a PetSmart a few years ago. It's definitely more safe to do your own grooming, but it's also a lot of work plus money to get the proper tools. Really need to weigh your options. |
| That is just insane! It would make more sense if they left a note on the door or phone number. It just doesn't make any sense. Were they maybe going to come back in a few hours and "try" calling you again. Just trying to give the benefit of the doubt, which is very difficult to do.
It was truly a miracle that the vet tech showed up. I would NEVER go there again. I hope they have a good explanation, BUT, even if they do I would never ever trust them with your precious sheepies ever again. It's too big of a risk to take. What were they going to do? Leave them for three days with no food, water, medicine or bathroom? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Some dogs if they are trained to go outside won't go to the bathroom in a crate. When mine get groomed they hold it until I pick them up and take them outside. I guess it's too much to assume that someone in an animal profession would actually be an animal lover. I would have called the police if the tech hadn't shown and not taken no for an answer to get into that place. I think anyone with a dog that they love would have understood the severity of that situation. When you find a new groomer I would call and check on them every three hours. Do you have mobil groomers out there that come to your home? Maybe that's an idea. Hugs to your furballs and to you! |
| I did my own grooming (6-8 adults). Called a groomer once, then I paid a visit to her shop later. She was off in a room with a dog on the table, and I was browsing the store. She didn't know I was standing there and grabbed the dogs head and "chewed" him out for not standing still.
NOPE! She didn't get my business. Figured if anyone was going to act like that, they needed a different job! I think what they did to you was horrible! One thought that crossed my mind about the phone calls was wondering if maybe something was wrong with "her" phone??? Pam (mouthypf) |
| Just catching up -
Wynette - I am so very sorry this happened to you. You are certainly well within your rights to be beyond furious. Please let us know what explanation you get from them today. Like everyone else, I am sure I'd be finding a new place to take my dogs. But, not before they understood exactly how wrong they were. |
| It's Monday - have you talked to them yet? I am so
curious what they will say! |
| I am too!! Everytime I get notification of post to this thread I think OHHH, we are going to hear MORE!!!!! |
Shellie wrote: It's Monday - have you talked to them yet? I am so
curious what they will say! Me too. I keep checking back! |
| I just got back from the vets/groomer's office. I had to take Rosie to be seen as she has had the runs for 3 days now with a little bit of blood coming out in the stools due to the irritation of her colon. She has colitis.
Now about the groomer. Apparently Kristie the groomer we use had to leave early due to a family emergency (her 16 yr child is developmentally disabled) and left the dogs with her assistant, Jill (a 19 yr old) to finish up the dogs. Jill "did not have all of our cell numbers" to call us to come and pick up the dogs (and apparently isn't bright enough to ask the vet staff to give her our phone #s - so no she didn't bother to attempt to call us). They do have a vet student that comes in at 5 and would have checked on the dogs and noticed them (I don't believe that for a second - Do you?). However, Jill, has now been let go - the 2 vet techs that were on duty on the vet side of the shop have been reprimanded. I spoke to the owner, our personal vet, Dr. Bud and told him I had zero trust in their facility right now. He said he understood and it would not happen again (apparently there was another situation last month with another dog owner). I told Kristy that I paid her to groom my dogs - not a 19 yr old college student. If I dropped the dogs off with her I expected her to be responsible enough to take care of my babies and if she had an emergency she should have called me - and I would come and get them immediately and we would have rescheduled the grooming. Dr. Bud assured me that there would be some changes in their procedures to insure that this does not happen again. I told him that if there has been 2 incidents in the last 60 days he needs to rethink who he has there grooming the dogs. He said he would deal with it. (What that means I don't know.) Even though they said all the right things - I just have zero trust right now in them. This whole incident has shaken me up so much. I am going to shop around for a new facility. I spend entirely to much money there every month for this type of treatment and now I am sure that if I were to drop them off would worry from the time I dropped them off until I picked them up. And that is not the way I want to be nor am I comfortable with leaving my babies with them. |
| WOW! That really doesn't make it much better!!! I would expect a personal phone call from the groomer. Family emergencies are understanable but she had a responsibility to follow up to make sure all was the way it should be. She should also have called you immediately rather than let someone else groom your dogs. |
| Wow! I don't blame you about looking for a new groomer. I understand her needing to leave for a family emergency, but to not have enough presence of mind to make sure her grooming charges are taken care of it unforgivable. And to leave them with a 19 year old sub yet!! Did you know this Jill was working with Kristie? Did Kristie ever ask you if Jill could groom your dogs? Just WAY too many things out of sync here.
Are you thinking of changing vets too? My blood pressure would be through the roof too!! |
| Bull crap!
I think you should give us the phone number and we will tell them what we think of them!!
I'm still trying to process the fact that this Jill person just left them there without telling anyone. |
BatonRougeSheepies wrote: Even though they said all the right things - I just have zero trust right now in them. This whole incident has shaken me up so much. I am going to shop around for a new facility. Best of luck finding another vet and groomer. Your sense is right, this situation will not get better. The lack of responsibility and professionalism is consistantly apparent. The potential for an unsafe situation staggering... Our best to you and your sheepies  |
| I'm glad you said everything you did. I felt all the anger in your post, and it was good to hear the 19 yo was fired. That seems like a start, although sounds like they need more work! I wouldn't take my dogs there again no matter how many changes were made. Just because I don't know how they would treat my dogs now that this whole thing happened. |
BatonRougeSheepies wrote: I spoke to the owner, our personal vet, Dr. Bud and told him I had zero trust in their facility right now. He said he understood and it would not happen again (apparently there was another situation last month with another dog owner)
Hmm, I wonder if he told those owners that it "would never happen again" too? There were way too many people involved in that chain for it to be an isolated incident. If there were people on the vet side, they were equally responsible, too. It sounds like an air of apathy in the air over there that is apparently contagious. Even if I knew nothing like that would ever happen again, I'd never go back. |
| Good for you Wynette! I know that firing the 19 year old was not sufficient. But the groomer did leave your dogs with who she thought was a competent person. You can not really blame her if something happened with her kid. If I understand the situation correctly she did leave the dogs with someone there. However she could have called someone from the vets office if they are connected to make sure that things were ok.
Having said that, if I were you I wouldn't bother giving them a second chance. We did that with our groomer. After all she didn't mean to lose Merlin...she wasn't smart enough to put a collar on that fit....stupid yes...mean no. So we gave her another chance. We said again...no matter how many times we have to come back we will....DO NOT SHAVE HIM....about 3 hours later I phone her...how is Merlin....well I have to shave him...I said NO....she had already started...I told her to crate him immediately I will come get him. That was the last time my dogs went to a groomer. I would LOVE to trust again and have my dogs groomed....I get all allergic when I try to do them myself and its a lot of work for hubby on the weekends. |
| Trust your own instinct and feelings Wynette, there telling you to look elsewhere now with all that has happened.
If it was me that this happened too, that would be the first and last time ever there!!!.
I am so glad that I do my own grooming at home after reading these posts, very scary what can happen |
| Wynnette, that is still a very irresponsible thing to have happen. What if it had happened to be 4 dogs all from seperate owners? - you can bet they REALLY would have heard from all the owners.
It should have started with calling to get permission for an alternate person to do the grooming, all the way to the vet office calling you to help the 19 year old substitute groomer out. Sounds like she took the fall for the whole office's screwup. How are the dogs after all this?! |
| The dogs are fine - just me that is still upset. Dogs seem to have that 5 minute memory. If it happened over 5 minutes ago - they don't remember it. |
| I'm sorry you had to go through all of that upset. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|