1 STAR -- $32 GROOMING, $17.32 MANDATORY "TIP"
I brought my dog here because Jenny S. had what appeared to be a long list of glowing reviews. Unfortunately, after actually reading through them more carefully, I realized there was an important piece of context missing: many of the reviews are from people who describe themselves as longtime clients who had their dogs groomed by Jenny before she opened this shop.
That suddenly made a lot more sense.
Because apparently the glowing reviews predate the part of the experience I found most outrageous: checkout.
My dog's grooming service was $32. When I went to pay, the credit card machine forced me to select from three tip options. There was NO option to enter my own tip, NO "no tip" option, and they do not accept cash.
And here's another particularly deceptive part: the credit card machine displayed the tip choices ONLY as dollar amounts. It did not show the corresponding percentages, as most modern checkout systems do. So instead of seeing something like 15%, 20%, or 25%, you're simply presented with dollar amounts and expected to choose one.
The LOWEST tip the machine would allow me to select was $17.32.
That is a 54% tip on a $32 grooming service.
So my choices were apparently: pay an enormous, predetermined tip, or... what exactly? There was no reasonable way to simply pay the advertised $32 and leave.
Had I accepted the lowest tip option, my $32 grooming appointment would have become $49.32.
A tip is supposed to be voluntary. If you want to suggest 15%, 20%, or 25%, fine. If you want customers to enter whatever amount they feel is appropriate, even better. But forcing customers to choose from preset tip amounts where the LOWEST option is more than half the cost of the service is an absolutely bizarre and deeply unpleasant checkout experience.
And the fact that they don't accept cash makes the lack of a reasonable "custom tip" or "no tip" option even more ridiculous. You can't simply say, "I'll pay the $32 and leave whatever cash tip I choose."
I specifically chose this business because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews. But after reading them more closely, I noticed that many are essentially testimonials from friends and previous clients describing experiences with Jenny before she even had this storefront and checkout system.
Which explains why those reviews don't mention the thing I actually experienced as a paying customer.
They couldn't. The checkout didn't exist yet.
But what made this experience even worse is what happened afterward.
I called. Several times. I also texted several times to try to address the issue directly.
No response.
Not a call back. Not a text. Nothing.
So now I'm left with a $32 grooming service that I was pressured into paying $49.32 for, a checkout system that wouldn't allow me to choose a reasonable tip or decline one, a machine that conveniently displayed the tip amounts without showing the percentages, and a business that wouldn't respond when I tried to discuss it afterward.
I genuinely feel robbed.
I'm not questioning whether Jenny is capable of grooming dogs. I'm questioning a business practice that puts a customer in the position of having to choose a 54% tip as the least expensive option after the service has already been performed--and then ignores the customer when she tries to address it.
If you want to charge $49.32 for a grooming service, charge $49.32.
But advertise the actual price.
Don't advertise $32, put a tip screen in front of the customer, refuse cash, hide the percentages, make $17.32 the cheapest possible tip, and then ignore the customer when she calls and texts afterward.
That is not hospitality. That's tip gouging dressed up as a checkout screen.
UPDATE: Owner reached out to me JUST 2 mins after my post! Crazy that she didn't have time to answer my phone call or text message to her business phone... read more