I'll never groom at Petsmart again.
 

We've had our 14 mo. old Toby for a year now. Yesterday I took him to Petsmart for the 7th time to have him groomed and was informed someone new was grooming him because our usual person had quit. I hung around the store and watched from out of Toby's view as I always do.As usual he was very good until she started working aroud his paws.He does'nt paticularly like that and can get a bit uppity.It's no big deal he just squirms a little...OK he squirms a lot. Anyway he gets done and I walk in to get him and the girl has a frown on her face and says in a condescending tone," He's a real handful. There will be a $6 "Special Handling" fee now and every time you bring him from now on." To which I replied,"Well,I normally tip $20 but screw that and screw you."I just thought it bad buisness since we'd never been charged extra before, As I walked out the manager that knows me tried to rectify the situation but I told him to forget it.His employee handled the situation awfully and created a tension that I'm not putting up with and I would never have him groomed there again and would probablly not shop there again. Maybe I'm overreacting but all the groomer had to do was be a little nicer about it and maybe say we'd be charged next time if it happened again.

I think that would have upset me too. You were an established customer and the previous groomer didn't seem to have a problem, or at least you paid her well for it, now they get a new person and she cries foul the minute she gets a difficult dog in. If you tip that much, it would have been to her advantage to let it slide a time or two to get to know you, and the dog huh! I have never taken my dogs to a groomer, I do it myself. But now I have one with a coat I think is going to be a challenge for me. All these groomer horror stories scare me!

This reminds me of when we bought/rescued our first yorkie "Baby" at four years old and I took her to Petsmart to be groomed. Baby was very docile so my only concern was how she would look after the grooming. I took her into the glass windowed room and handed her over to the groomer. I waited outside the room browsing around the merchandise when I heard a panicky voice come over the store intercom "Code Red, Code Red". I immediately went to the grooming area to check on Baby. I learned Code Red was "code" for the manager to come when a groomer couldn't handle a dog. I grabbed Baby and went home and groomed her myself for the next twelve years. She was perfectly still for me and I never had a problem with her even wiggling. It makes you really wonder about the talent/ability of some of the groomers they hire.

You're not overreacting at all. PetSmart makes a killing!!! with everything from the classes, to the Banfield services, to the products and overpriced human products (ie-pop and candy bars). I am taking my 5mth old Kodi tonight to be groomed at our local PetSmart. We'll see how it goes. They will no longer groom my brother's yorkie because he acts out and they "can't handle him" so I'm a little nervous, but I have a coupon so I'll give it a try :confused:

I have to say that Trish the trainer at our PetSmart is WONDERFUL and the puppy classes were well worth it!!!!!! The Banfield vet Tracy Farone has been great too!!! Lets hope the streak continues!!!

Lisa
Kodi's new mom!

I dont think you were over reacting either, she was just impatient, seems to me and charging for that as well. I took my Paris to Petsmart a couple of times and was not happy at all so i decided to go to youtube and learn on my own how to groom her.

It is all about looking in the background of the groomer or trained etc. My Bailey is a handfull and I do groom her myself now but I dont think i would trust anyone from anywere unless I had seen their work before. :). it is diff everyone Some Petsmart will have EXCELLENT employees and others won't.

I had my baby groomed at PETsmart for awhile and the groomer was AMAZING, however, she told me the FIRST time before she ever touched my dog that "yorkies are very difficult and often need to be sedated when they are groomed"... I think this is something they are told in training and because of that yorkies freak them out.:confused: She ended up having no issues with my baby and did a wonderful job with him... however she ended up leaving. I used someone new once and she was very upset that I didnt want him shaved, obviously because it is easier, I sat outside the window like a hawk because I felt like I couldnt trust her and wanted to be ready to jump the second I saw the clipper go near his coat. That was no good for him, so I ended up just finding a new groomer. I find Petsmart to be very hit or miss.

i use petsmart just for gatsbys face i clip his body and legs myself i like my groomer at petsmart she gives gatsby special treatment just because hes cute she wont take him to the back because that scares him so he sits tied in her chair until i come and get him and she always uses chrismas cookie spray on him even in the summer and the manager always makes time for him. if i want his body groomed or a bath or his nails done however i go to a diffrent groomer petsmart makes him to short and they have filed done to his quick before so i have mixed feelings but i will take him thear if i need to

I will confess, she did a good job she was just hateful about it.

I have never had very good experiences with Petsmart. I have been told that most of the training that the groomers are given is done from watching videos and most have little to no experience with grooming before working there. Not to mention that I have found Petsmart to be WAY more expensive than other groomers.

I don't know about PetSmart, but my friend had her toy poodle groomed at PetCo and said she came home with gaps in her hair, she looked terrible. She said she would not go back there. I guess all the chain stores have trouble keeping good groomers.

I use the groomer at my vet's, she is good with Yorkies because she has two of her own.

The petsmart that I take Puff and Gypsy to are great. I have only had 1 prob and we had told them not to cut Puff's tail. It is long and hair falls in a wave from it (she's a long hair chi or chorkie, not sure). They cut it and when I complained they saw on the paperwork where they had written the instructions plainly. One spoke up and sd the manager was not there and she was the one who cut it, saying it must have been matted. I know it was not.
With Gypsy, they like her so much every groomer has told us they will groom her anytime she is so good. We really liked the last girl that did it so I will ask for her all the time.

I don't think you were overreacting at all. You have every right to expect exemplary service and service providers need to meet or exceed your expectations or I would take my discretionary cash elsewhere too.

Happy Holidays to you!

You don't need much training to be a petsmart groomer. I was offered a job from them when I was in my first few years of college. The training is only a few weeks. But they told me up front that they wanted to know if I was going to be with them for at least two years b/c since they pay for the training, they want it to be worth their money. I was going to be out of school in less than two years so that did not seem like a good choice for me.

I guess they are like hairdressers. After you get out of school you go work at Supercuts or Fantastic Sams, and once you have more experience you go to a better place. That's why it's always hard to get a good groom at petsmart, for the most part they are newbies, or if they're not, they're just not that good.

Really, people, it's not hard. Uni's never been to the groomers. i do her myself, everyone always comments on how good she looks. :D

I had just the opposite experience with my 11 month old Lexie. She was being groomed at the Vet's Office by contract person who grooms at the Vet's office. After about three times she asks me if I ever brush Lexie and tells me that she can't really groom Lexie very well because she is just all over the place, blah,blah, blah. I told her I do brush her every day and if she can't adequately groom this little puppy then I will find someone else. I was angry. Lexie had just finished a round of classes at Pet Smart so I tried their grooming and loved it. Maxine groomed her with no problems and her trainer is usually there also. I love Pet Smart enough that I drive 45 minutes one way monthly to have her groomed. Maxine does a great job and Lexie loves her.