I have been bringing my dog to be groomed here for years. She is now a senior dog. We last had her…read moregroomed in the spring and after a summer of swimming and frolicking at our cottage we knew it was time to have her groomed again.
We booked an appointment for last week. Twenty minutes before our appointment we received a call telling us the groomer had called in sick and that she would call us back the next day to re-book. (I see after reading reviews that this happens somewhat frequently and am now not surprised.). The groomer ended up calling us a few days later and we were given another appointment.
As I mentioned already, we have been to this groomer several times over the years. However, when we arrived this time on Sept 28, it just felt different. First, the groomer was late (I'm seeing a trend here) and I was told to wait until the groomer came to work to see if she could groom my dog. My dog has fat deposits that have never been an issue before. When the groomer arrived, she came and flippantly said the manager needed to look at her coat to see if she could be groomed. Thankfully, the manager was lovely and has actually worked on our dog before so she said it would be no problem. Yet, both my son and I had the distinct notion that the groomer did not want to work with our dog. It was obvious, but the manager assured us all would be well.
We always get the Top Dog Plus Package for her. This time we received a call 10 minutes after dropping her off suggesting that our dog needed to be bathed with Oatmeal shampoo and there would be an additional cost. No problem. We agreed.
Two hours later I got a call and, when I asked how my dog did, the groomer told me she was "going to call it" and that she had done her best but my dog was slipping on the table and Petsmart could only work on her if she was standing up. She said she had tried but couldn't do any better. She also told me to look for a private place in the future where they could work on her lying down. This came as a shock to me. This has never been an issue before and my dog is quite active still.
Needless to say, I was so worried picking her up, however the sight of my shoddily groomed dog was something I was not prepared for. Her nose had been nicked, her coat was uneven, her ears had been half done, her legs had been shaved but her paws resembled those of a Clydesdale. Even her body looked like the shaver had hacked her. I couldn't believe it. All I could think of was getting my dog out of there. But what was worse was the groomer's smirk as she was handing me the dog. She seemed to find it funny that my dog looked like a train wreck. Clearly, she and I have very different senses of humour. We also differ in our approach to work obviously. I would have been mortified to have had my work represented in such an abysmal, half-hearted at best, manner but this groomer found it funny.
Word of mouth is a funny thing and it's powerful. Upon leaving Petsmart with our half groomed dog, two women approached me and asked me if I had my dog groomed at Petsmart. They had seen me walking out but couldn't believe the condition my dog was in. They agreed with me to never bring a dog to that location for grooming. On our neighbourhood walks, people have similarly stopped me to ask what happened to our dog. It is quite obvious that our dog has become an unwitting advertisement for why one should never bring a beloved pet to be groomed at this location.
To be honest, I did not read the reviews before booking because, as I've mentioned repeatedly, I've brought my dog here for years and never faced this sort of an ordeal, but the recent negative reviews tell an accurate story. Please learn from what happened to our dog and to the other reviews that suggest that grooming at this Petsmart location is risky and not good. It turns out where there is smoke, there is definitely fire. If I could have left a 0 star review, I would have.
*The manager did re-groom her two days later after my husband called PetSmart. She made her look presentable and we are appreciative, but it still doesn't address the original groomer's unprofessionalism and poor effort or that she felt so little reservation at having her work displayed in so shoddy a manner. Future customers should be very wary about having their dog groomed at this location.