Question for groomers & lawyers!

hyperloz

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#1
Umm..here's my situation. We groomed a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as the owner said she wanted it. Clipped as short as possible, leaving the ears and tail, with a bath, dry and nails trimmed. We did this as she said. When she returned for the dog, my boss asked her if he looked ok, and asked if there was anything else she wanted trimming, etc, like we do every dog. The owner said no, the dog was 'perfect'. We charged her £20, like every Cavalier costs.

An hour and a half she left, the lady rings up and asked what we had done to her little Cavalier! She claimed, he had bald patches (which he didn't, we used a #9 blade all over.), his ears were uneven, had muddy feet and still poo on his bum, and accused us of not bathing him at all, and said we were a rip off.

I bathed that dog, and know for a fact I washed every single part of him, like I do with every dog. And my boss asked her if the ears were the correct length. I handed her over to my boss, and she said she was going to take pictures and send them to our local paper, and sue us.

Exuse me, but even if the dog does have bald patches, and uneven ears etc, won't it grow back? It's hair. It grows. And after an hour and a half does she really not expect her dog to go the bathroom, hence the 'muddy' feet and dirty bum.

So, what I want to know is, if she really is telling the truth about the paper, and suing us, can she successfully do this even though all the 'damage' done is not permanent? We have her on CCTV saying the dog was perfect, and her saying she wanted the dog short.

My boss isn't worried so much, but I'm not sure. Surely if the dog wasn't actually harmed, there's nothing the law can do.

Sorry this is so long, lol.

Oh, and does anyone else have any unpleasant customer stories to share? I'm wondering if it's just my area that attracts the unpleasant-ness, lol.

XXxxLOZxxXX
 

Beanie

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#2
It doesn't matter if the "damage" isn't permanent. The problem is, in her eyes, she paid you for a service and that service was not delivered - or you delivered the service poorly.

Suing over £20 is pretty much ridiculous though, and I highly doubt the newspaper is going to be very interested in her "story."
 

lizzybeth727

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#3
It doesn't matter if the "damage" isn't permanent. The problem is, in her eyes, she paid you for a service and that service was not delivered - or you delivered the service poorly.

Suing over £20 is pretty much ridiculous though, and I highly doubt the newspaper is going to be very interested in her "story."
^^Ditto.

Can't you just give her the money back and be done with her?
 
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#4
What parts were bald? Could it be cow licks?

We had the same issue last week with a shihtzu, owner was pissed becase the backs of legs and cheat were "very very short compared tot he rest of the body" We used the same blaze (#5) all over. after 20 mins on the phone I finally conviced her that they were cowlicks, which they were.

Ask her to bring the dog back in and go over it. with her
 

Kat09Tails

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#5
it's not worth getting in a pissing match about. Have her bring the dog back and explain her complaint. If she's completely unreasonable give her her money back and make a note to never work on her dogs again.
 

hyperloz

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#6
We did deliver the service as she wanted. She refused to bring the dog back in when we offered to rebath it, or give her a refund, so surely that's her problem. And I'm not famliar with the term 'cow licks', lol. Can someone explain?

We wanted nothing more than to have a calm, reasonable conversation with her, but she seemed determined to just yell at us, and call us a rip off.

XXxxLOZxxXX
 

AGonzalez

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#7
I don't know because I have a breed that isn't clipped at all, but I know what cow licks are.
You know the swirls and stuff in your hair, or somewhere that the hair grows in a weird direction as opposed to the rest? Those are cow licks.
 
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#8
And I'm not famliar with the term 'cow licks', lol. Can someone explain?

XXxxLOZxxXX
A cowlick is where hair grows in the opposite direction. its very common on the chest and backs of legs of dogs. it kinda looks like "swirly" hair. and when clipped looks much shorter then the rest, only becuase it grows the opposite direction, so t will always look shorter.
 

hyperloz

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#9
Oh, of course, I know what they are lol. I've never heard them been referred to as cow licks before. I'm not sure if that's what they were, and I don't supposed we'll ever know. Unfortunately, the lady still hasn't been in touch, so we are unable to refund her, or have a close look to see if they were cow licks. Thanks, everybody, for your help anyway! It's appreciated.

XXxxLOZxxXX
 

~Tucker&Me~

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#10
We did deliver the service as she wanted. She refused to bring the dog back in when we offered to rebath it, or give her a refund, so surely that's her problem. And I'm not famliar with the term 'cow licks', lol. Can someone explain?

We wanted nothing more than to have a calm, reasonable conversation with her, but she seemed determined to just yell at us, and call us a rip off.

XXxxLOZxxXX
I think that is important. If she was concerned and you guys were calm and reasonable, I don't understand why she would have refused to bring the dog back in. That would give her a chance to point out the percieved problems and you guys could talk it over. It sounds as though she is refusing to see any middle ground and will not even sit down with you guys to talk about it.

It is very possible that she has a mental illness, atleast from the sounds of it...

If I were you guys, I would make a note of who she is and never groom her dogs again.
 

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