Handed pet back to client

[downtowndog]

For the first time I felt good about handing a client back to the owner. The situation. Lady shows up for appt. for the first time with 5 yr old, intact male Old english sheepdog. Approx 80 lbs., full coat, tangled all over, slight matting on rear. I asked her last time he was groomed & she said 2 weeks ago. I'm thinking this dog should be brushed daily. She is new to area & seemed very unsure, about home-based groomer even though I was recommended to her because she doesn't want him around other dogs and I have developed a good reputation with my quality of work. She explained last home-based groom exp. was bad due to groomer smoked while working & literally had her kitchen table as salon. She looked around & said she was pleasantly surprised to see how kewl and professional my salon is. I also pointed out to her the sheltie that was happily laying down on the doggie couch. I also pointed out that I attend seminars every year & showed her my certification framed on the wall. She seem to relax & left dog with me. As I am about to help him into tub, she comes back in & asks about how much this is going to cost her.....I told her "alot" and gave her option of brushing out herself & bringing back or clipping off. Which is what I went over with her when she first arrived.... She does not want to brush & doesn't want to pay me to brush out and not ready to have him clipped. So I handed him over and said " I am sorry, but I do not think this is going to work out." I hate this had to happen for a variety of reasons, however I got this uncomfortable vibe from her that made this decision easier.

[odette]

You just saved yourself one heckva headache! She wouldn't have paid or would have created such a fuss . People shouldn't be sold a dog with out a written list, and made to read it, You did the best thing under the circustances.

[olive]

Something similar happened to me with an old english sheep dog too.. I told her the dog may have to be shaved if she didn't come back in 6 weeks, she came back in 12 and we talked and talked and in the end she said okay, shave him them. So I did. She never came back, left the salon steaming mad, told me I made him look ridiculous and charged way too much. This customer and I had a pretty good relationship and I had groomed the dog at least 4 times before, helped her and discussed her dogs grooming needs thoroughly. Sometimes they just don't get it.

You made the right call for sure!

[Raffyroo]

It almost always seems like my OES customers are some of the hardest to please. I haven't had many but the dogs are always matted and the customer refuses to accept that their dogs will be shave or charged a lot for brushing. They remind me of my doodle customers.

[Crystal]

what is it about those OES owners????

they dont' want to brush, they don't want to pay someone to brush them, yet they don't want them clipped. Okayyyyy, seems like when he gets to the point that he is a walking matt on feet then when he does get clipped, he's going to be one NAKED dog.

Look at it like this: you have nipped this problem in the bud!

[charlieB]

For some reason, I keep running into big hairy dog owners who only look for cheap labor. They just don't get it that the bigger and the hairier the dogs are, the more work for the groomer. So we have to charge accordingly. I started to say I don't do big dogs anymore, even the short hair dogs. I'd rather wait for the good clients to come along.

[flyingduster]

I'm feeling lucky right now, my ONLY OES client also happens to be my single best client *ever*!
They have had a standing weekly appointment for the past 3 years. They 'hate' when I close for a week over christmas, or when there's a public holiday on 'their' monday meaning they have to go to 8 days rather than 7. On occasions they'll get him done on a friday as well as the mondays so he's nice for a weekend 'do', or if we're going to be closed the following week so he looks nice for as long as possible.

They also give us lovely gifts and refer heaps of people to me etc too. Yes, I do love these guys! lol

[Doubledogdare]

We had one OES client for years who always walked in ready for a fight over the condition of her dog. Always matted, always the argument over shaving her down instead of brushing her out, always the bellyaching over the final price of the grooming.

One day she brought the dog in and, after the usual preliminary hysterics were over, the groomer assigned to do the dog decided to take matters into her own hands. She just went and shaved the dog down.

We all held our breath when the owner came for her dog. The groomer marched the shorn OES out to the waiting room (complete with big bows on both ears...) and the owner's eyeballs just about fell out of her head when she saw the dog.

"My GAWD!.......She is SO CUTE like that!" she hollered out. "WHY have I been keeping her in that messy big coat all these years???"

The owner was absolutely thrilled with the new "do" on her dog and we never had a problem with her after that.

[fiveoclockdog]

You dodged a bullet!

[felzenhaus]

Had two OES. One came in every 6 weeks that I hand scissored all over to about 3 inches. Absolutely no tangles! The other one came in solid matts. Gave her a comb and told her to see if she could get the comb through. Of course she could not, so we sent the dog home for her to "try to dematt" or we would shave it. I saw the dog at the vet office two weeks later completely shaved. I had a good laugh.

[rapuzzled]

Wow, I feel very lucky. I do a few OES and they all get shaved!! Only one really comes in matted too, the rest are always in great shape and they still have us buzz them down!

[Alice]

This happened to me only once, with a soft-coated wheaten. The dog was 8 or 9 months old and never groomed before and a total mess, dirty and matted all over. The owners expected me to brush him out and "neaten him up". There was no way that was even happening! Dog was crazy wild, never even BRUSHED and I was supposed to demat and clean up this dog? I told them he had to be clipped short, explained my reasons very kindly, and they just argued with me, saying "well, we don't want him shaved" like they couldn't understand what I was telling them. I explained again and showed them with a comb how matted he was, as he jumped around and tried to bite at the comb. They just kind of looked at me waiting for me to change my mind. "But we don't want him shaved." I said, "I'm sorry, then I can't help you." They said, well, let us think about it and maybe we'll be back. Never saw them again. I can only assume someone else had the pleasure of shaving their dog.

They left and I had another client waiting with her miniature poodle and she said, "Boy, I bet you're glad those two left! They're crazy!" LOL, that totally made me feel better.