Misscommunication among couples.RRRR!

[misscatahoula]

I had a new dog come in today. The wife had made the appointment, said the last place they went to did terrible job, dog now has mats,etc. The husband arrives with the dog. The dog had some matted areas, but not too bad, so I asked him about length, because a longer blade trim was actually attainable. He said he didn't care; dog was always a mess, do whatever, short's fine. I used a 4 so it would be short but velvety. When he comes to pick up he's happy, great job,etc. Wife calls me 1hr later. Mad. It wasn't what she wanted. Wants to know if she gets some kind of discount next time because she isn't happy this time. I told her the only instructions I'd received for the grooming had come from her husband; I had asked him if he was happy with the length & trim at p/u, and he was happy with it. She told me it's not HIS dog. I told her I would not refund the money for the groom .It's a case of misscommunication between spouses, and how can I be held responsible for that? Rotten woman. I hope they NEVER call me again!

[pamperedpups]

That's crazy. I would have reacted the same as you did...

[sheilabgroomer]

I have had that happen several times and it is maddening!!! I actually had one woman yell at me to "never listen to her husband, he is an idiot". What a sweet lady he sure married a winner...lol...poor man! You did the right thing IMO, it would be crazy to expect a discount for something like that. That would be like if my hubby ordered food for me and I didn't like what he ordered and expected the restaurant to give me a free meal. Some People have no common sense!

[furrybestjob]

Don't you just hate that? How about when a child drops off the dog. They sometimes can't even communicate anything about what's wanted. Seems to me like she could be a groomer "jumper". A compainer who wants something for nothing. Sometimes people want you to be a mind reader of what they want. Wish I had that talent, but I don't. You did the right thing by refusing a discount.

[astrordog]

You said it "rotten woman, hope she never calls again". Either she will come again or she won't. The last groomer more than likely wasn't sad to see her go. I run into this quite a bit, I work for a vet. Sometimes the light comes on to call the wife and sometimes it doesn't. The men usually are in a hurry and don't care, "just shave it". (Shave, that's another topic where people need to look the word up in the dic.).
You did a nice job you were proud of, and bascially that's all you can do. If you weren't a concerned groomer, you would just have nodded and used a #7. Life goes on, don't stress. Basically on something like this I tell myself, " I did my best, the dog wasn't injured or mistreated. It's just a haircut".

astrordog
Working with the public can be a trip

[diamienono]

good for you. I would say ask you husband to give you some money cauze it was his fault.

[Helly]

I hate those situations. But if I'm not getting clear instructions, I try to err on the long side. You can always make it shorter if they aren't happy. I'm not about to sit there with a tweezer, magnifying glass, and try to glue the hair back on, lol.

[rainingcats&dogs]

that is one of the worst parts about being a groomer,dealing with some of the parents,i did a chow mix on sat.done dog about 2 times before woman drops off dog says just clean her up good,so i spent a long time combing and dematting dog out,i call her to tell her dpgs almost done she can head on over,i said its taking me longer to groom this time because of her massive undercoat,she says i wanted her shaved,my old groomer did her with a number 5 forward and than reverse,i said thats really short it still cold out,i asked her twice so you want an all over shave,she said yes,so i shaved dog with a 4,she walks in and says omg,shes never been this short shes ugly,i said well thats what you asked for,she really ticked me off,when i worked for a petsomething,i used to groom a little pom,very tiny dog,dad would drop off dog,and be really nice,just bathe and comb out,wife would pick up dog and say i wanted a haircut,i want his haircut next time,so i refused to do dog after that,other groomer got stuck with the dog,well she asked me is the dad always smell of alcohol when he drops the dog off,i said yup,you will know why when the wife comes and picks up dog shes nasty,i always felt so bad for the dad

[amysue2638]

I once had a mother and daughter (older) in dropping off their dogs. When I asked them how short they wanted them, they spent the next 10 minutes furiously arguing with each other about the length. Neither dog was matted and they were malteses with nice coats -- they brushed them all the time at home. Finally when they couldn't agree they turned to me and asked me how short I thought they should go. There was no way I was getting in the middle of that one -- I wasn't going to win either way! I just told them since they were committed to brushing at home then they could go shorter or longer and it was more personal preference.

[stacie-gotg]

Next time she should drag her lazy azz into the grooming shop. I feel sorry for her husband. Like the dog doent know who the husband is cause it isnt his anyway.

[pugmug]

I would have said the same thing as you! Some people have no sense at all! Like someone else mentioned,shes probably a "hopper"

[Pixie]

I'm not about to sit there with a tweezer, magnifying glass, and try to glue the hair back on, lol.

Why not Helly, you're the one who cut it too short, shouldn't you be the one to glue it back on!!!! lol

Thank goodness I haven't had many (any) clients like that! I guess it is really a good thing the my clients spouses all think along the same lines (or they just never complain to me if I've messed up). The only one that I can remember is when I first started grooming there was a miscommunicaton about the ears on a poodle. I thought she wanted the "bell" ear and she really didn't. I even showed her the bell ear and she said "yes that's what I want". Maybe she would have been happy if her dogs ears laid down like a normal poodle but this little poodle had the "Flying Nuns" ears. LOL

[Bearmtn]

Once many years ago, I had a a very matted, with stickers, cocker come in. The husband told me to take it short, as it was in such mad shape. Well, I did just that, as that is all I could really do. He picked up the dog and was quite pleased with it, and the next morning I got a call from his wife wanting to know why I stripped their dog. I told her that her husband told me to, because it was in such bad shape. She told me that her husband would never have told me to do that. I told her, but he did. Well, she stopped payment on the check. At that time I was new to the whole thing and let it go.

[misscatahoula]

I'm so glad for your replies on this. I feel validated! Much better than the icky, pissed off way I felt on Sat. Thanks!

[sheilabgroomer]

You don't have to helly, they have hair weaves now a days.....haha