First Trip to the Groomer!

First trip to the Groomer's... quite the adventure!

It was off to a rocky start right from the get go...

Call to the Groomer to talk about pricing, what I wanted etc... I didn't get good vibes on the phone. The woman was not friendly- never even told me her name. When I asked her how often she would need a full groom once she's ready for it she responded so RUDELY with "well that's up to you and how much maintenance you want to do" followed by a lecture on how important maintenance is.
Arrive at the Groomers and am taken back by DISGUST for the place. It smelled like urine and 100 wet dogs in there. It's a tiny shop and yes of course there are wet dogs in there all day but should it smell like that first thing in the morning? Light a candle... create a nice atmosphere, something! I fought my gut instinct which was to turn around and walk out and I went ahead and checked Goldie in
Go to pick Goldie up and I try to hand the woman my card. She says "Um, we don't take cards. Cash or check only". She said it in a tone like DUH you should have known this. Payment methods are not posted anywhere in the shop and she didn't mention this on the phone so I had to get back in my car and go to the nearest ATM- UGH...
Come back to pay. She takes the cash and instead of a 'thank you' or' sorry about the inconvenience' she says "Do you own a comb? I thought you said you comb her. Do you know what you're doing?" OMG OK LADY!!! Cue the lecture about how I'm not combing her properly
Resist the urge to jump over the counter in a fit of rage
Smile and nod while thinking bad thoughts
Finally, she brings Goldie out and alas, my blood boiling starts to calm when I see my sweet baby's face. She was so excited to see me and she looked so....so... DOODLY!

So this was not what I expected our first trip to the Groomer to be like. I still don't even know the woman's name. She is NOT friendly to humans but she talks to the animals in her shop in a super sweet voice. Goldie seemed to love her and she did a good job.

So my question, would you look past the look (and smell) of the shop and put your personal feelings for her aside and continue using her based on her skills or would you look elsewhere? Finding a reasonably priced decent Groomer in this area has proven to be a challenge.

Todays bill was $20. Petsmart quoted me $65 to have the same thing done.

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Permalink Reply by Star and Goldie on March 29, 2013 at 2:55pm

Good point about Goldie being the customer! I agree, I'd rather have someone great to Goldie and rude to me than someone incredibly nice to me and rude to Goldie since this really is about her.

And you're right about her liking to give advice. The only time I saw any warm look on her face was when she was showing me how to comb Goldie. It started out as a little bit of scolding but then as she showed me certain strokes and ways to hold her she seemed to be more relaxed, probably because she was doing something she likes. Maybe she really just has horrible people skills! I still wonder what her name is... HAHA ;)

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Permalink Reply by Caleb Chun on March 29, 2013 at 3:16pm

while i do agree that Goldie is the customer, my POV is that you and Goldie are one in the same customer... let me put it this way... you wouldn't take your child to a dentist who had a dirty/smelly office who was also rude to you, but was exceptional at his dentistry... you and your family are the customers, not just the one having the work done on them :)

also i'd say there's a difference in giving advice vs beating you down with the things you were doing wrong but that's just me :)

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Permalink Reply by Pat and Traveler on March 29, 2013 at 2:22pm

This IS a tough one! First, as Karen mentioned, if the groomer didn't ask for proof of up to date vaccinations, I'd move on, even if both my dog and I adored the groomer. The fact that Goldie loved her would weigh heavily with me. Because the woman is direct to the point of rudeness, maybe you could be direct with her too. "I love the way Goldie looks and she likes you, but lady--this place STINKS! That bothers me."

My first groomer sounds a lot like this lady, except she shaved Trav's nose when I emphasized that I didn't want his nose shaved. Said this several times, actually, and in addition to a shaved nose I got a diatribe about labradoodles--how could anybody think that the mating of a poodle and lab would result in any kind of decent dog--amazing, considering I was customer with a labradoodle! This crosses the line from rude to stupid. lol

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Permalink Reply by Star and Goldie on March 29, 2013 at 2:50pm

That is so funny you mentioning that... this lady said something similar to me. She said "you do realize that ALL DOGS shed don't you? I hope you didn't get this breed because it's supposed to be nonshed. She will shed and she will mat. that's what everyone signs up for when getting a goldendoodle. I'm still not sure I understand all the hype". HA! I was like "yep. I did my research. I understand both the shedding and matting factors"

I do like your idea of being direct with her too. Next time Goldie goes I will mention the smell! "LIGHT A CANDLE LADY GEEZ" ;)

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Permalink Reply by Kristin and Sophie on March 29, 2013 at 2:27pm

Your story is awful and I'm sorry that you had to go through that. HOWEVER, I must say that Goldie looks adorable.

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Bowles on March 29, 2013 at 2:44pm

I personally would never, ever go to that groomer again! I have learned to trust my instincts more after trying to ignore them and finding out the hard way that my insticts were right, I find when getting bad vibes from somewhere or someone then there usually is a good reason. You were treated very rudely and poorly and one only can imagine how she treats the dogs. That is just my opinion and what I would do, but that was just not right.

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Bowles on March 29, 2013 at 2:48pm

Just another note...Karen did make a good point about the vaccines...also I do not know how this lady dries the Dogs, but do not go to anyone who puts them in one of those enclosed dryers...very dangerous... Your baby is adorable!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Star and Goldie on March 29, 2013 at 2:51pm

What is an enclosed dryer?

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Bowles on March 29, 2013 at 4:14pm

It is an automatic dryer that they set the timer on, basically they put your dog in their close the door and set the timer, It looks like an oven...but there have been a lot of cases of dogs dying because the groomer left them in there to long or just forgot, really horrible, I am not sure if they are legal anymore or not..but the first thing I asked my groomer is how they dry the dogs...also just to let you know I pay $45 for my grooming....