I usually can't wait to get back to grooming after a vacation, and I felt that way after I got back from vacation a couple of weeks ago.
The first week back was very busy, but went fairly smooth.
This week....I have had it already, and it has nothing to do with the dogs or grooming them.
It is the pet owners.
They make me want to rip my hair out.
I am always telling my daughter and my husband to not let the two legged customers get to them.
To try to just ignore stupid ignorant comments.
To try to just ignore the rudeness and whining when a customer can't get the appointment times they want.
To try to ignore the complaining about the cost of grooming their dogs.
To try not to let the customers get under their skin.
But, how can I expect my husband and my daughter to do that when I find it hard to practice what I preach myself.
We go out of our way to give excellent customer service.
We try very hard to work with our customer schedules to give them appointment times that they want.
We always shift things around to help out a customer that must have their dog back by a certain time.
We almost always have dogs finished when we say we are going to have them finished, and if we are running behind, we call the owner to let them know.
We wait on our customers right away, as soon as they walk in the door.
My husband usually answers the phone by the second ring.
We take the time to listen to our customers.
We do our best to give their dogs the exact cut they want.
We don't talk down to our customers, or give them a hard time for the bad condition of their dogs coat.
We educate our customers on how to take care of their pets coat.
We also take the time to answer any other questions that they may have about their pets, or steer them towards someone who can answer their questions.
We take care of every dog as if they were our own.
Does it sound like I am tooting my own horn?
Well, I guess maybe I am, but I believe in good customer service, because I'll tell you one thing, I don't see much good customer service anymore these days.
No matter how bad a day I might be having, I always greet every customer with a smile.
Is it wrong of me to expect some of the same respect that I give my customers given back to us?
I don't think so.
I am getting tiered of dealing with all of the disrespect.
~Customers showing up anywhere from half and hour to and hour late for appointments with not even so much as a "I am so sorry I am late, can you still groom my dog."
Nothing!
Just drop the dog off and want to know when it will be done.
~Customers showing up with a pre-written check for the groom....and the amount being wrong. (short)
~Customers that ask you to move their appointment time, because it is too early for them.
You move the appointment back by two hours, even though you don't have an opening, THEN that same customer shows up half an hour late for the new appointment time.
~Customers waiting to call and cancel an appointment for two dogs half an hour before they were supposed to be there.
~Customers that do not bother to return your call when you left them a message to see if they want to fill an appointment in a couple of days.
It leaves you hanging because you are not sure if they are planning on taking it, meanwhile you could be calling someone else on your waiting list.
~Customers who you call at 9:15 because they haven't shown yet, only to have them say; "I thought my appointment was for 9:30." No, our appointments have always been booked on the hour, and it is now 9:20 and you haven't even left your house yet to get here for the supposed 9:30 appointment!! AND we told you 9 when we gave you the reminder call yesterday.
(No, we didn't say that to the customer...that is what we wanted to say. We just told her, 'no, your appointment was for 9)
~Customers that come in with a new dog, wanting a simple short cut on their dogs, and telling you all of the wrong things that the last groomer did.
That same customer telling you that you will be their regular groomer if you do a good enough job.
Then when they pick the dog up, they grab the dog and go....you have no idea whether they liked the groom or not.
(I know after grooming for so many years, this should not bother me anymore, but it does. I would just like to know one way or another whether the groom was okay.)
~Customers that you tell them about something that you found on their dog, that you think should be seen by the Vet right away, and they just brush off your concerns.
~Customers that you do them a favor....and the check has still not shown up in the mail.....AND they will not answer their phone.
Everyone of the things that I listed above happened today!
Well, I guess that I should at least be grateful that all of the dogs were good today.
Sorry about the rants two days in a row.
I love my job.
I love grooming.
I love the dogs.
I resent pet owners making me feel burnt out.
I try really hard not to let some of the pet owners ruin it for me.
It is when the pet owners all seem to be at their worst at the same time that I have a hard time dealing with it.
I think that the grooming industry loses good groomers every year, not because of the dogs, but because of having to deal with pet owners who don't respect our profession, or how hard we work everyday to make their pets feel good.
So to every pet groomer out there that reads my blog, you are doing a great job!
Hang in there and concentrate on your furry customers.
Try hard not to let disrespectful people bring you down.
Even when they all seem to come in on the same day or week. :/
I am trying....
I think that I will go read some happy grooming stories now. ;)
✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂
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