19/04/2024
We got a bad review last week after a customer had tried to book in 3 different times but the appointment that she wanted wasn’t available. This might be a lengthy post but in order to give a balanced view of the matter I have decided the best way is to be as transparent as possible and respond on here.
A bit of background I have groomed this dog twice before, the customer had been happy with the previous grooms and exchanges up until this point.
This customer messaged trying to make an appointment on 29/12/23. We were closed for Christmas and back open on the 3/01/24. Therefore, all messages will be replied to when back open on the 3/01/23. This customer sent another message on the 2/01/23 saying “any news???”
Those of you that know us, will know that we are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. This is why we were back open on the 3rd. But as this customer may not have known this, I did reply saying that we were closed for Christmas and will reopen on the 3rd which she was fine with.
I let her know that the appointment she wanted on the 4th Jan wasn’t available but I told her my next available appointment. She wasn’t overly happy about this and said that it would be helpful if your online booking (she meant FB) showed the dates that were available and she will be back if she couldn’t find anywhere else. Please bear in mind FB isn’t our booking in system which I did explain at the time.
Fast forward to 5th March and the customer uses Instagram to message me. And as the 5th March is on a Tuesday, I replied swiftly on the Wednesday morning telling her my next available appointment. She did not reply.
She texts me on the 7th March asking for an appointment. As we were extremely busy that day, I didn’t have a chance to respond as yet and just as I was looking for another appointment for her when another message comes through “What do I have to do to get a reply???”
I had replied to all of this customers messages previously took the time out to look up appointments for her, for her either not to book in or not respond. I don’t have the time to keep doing these back and fourths in between grooming and for the customer not to book in. So needless to say, at this point when I replied I was angry.
My replies were lengthy and truthful. I told her that I wasn’t going to be grooming her dog anymore and to find somewhere else to go.
My mistake here was not taking the time to cool off before replying. We are all human and we all make mistakes. I am far from perfect and there have been times I have been that tired at the end of the day that the thought of having to pick up the phone and spend an hour or two replying to everyone that have rang and messaged that day and book them in made me want to cry. So yes, there have been times I have put off messaging back to the next day to save my sanity. Or there have been times when I’m half way through replying to someone and the next customer will turn up 20 minutes early. And instead of being rude, I just take the dog in. When I should in fact ask them to wait until their appointment time so I would have a chance to reply to that customer and instead end up writing half a reply and not send it because I put the phone down for the early customer.
Since all of this I decided to hire a part time receptionist to help respond to people faster and answer phone calls. This has been one of the best decisions I have made as a business owner and I can’t thank this customer enough to push me to do so.
From now on you will be dealing with Bev our fabulous new receptionist. She will be working Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from 9:30-12:30. These will be the best times to ring, text, WhatsApp, fb, Instagram or email. If you message or call on a Monday or Tuesday this will NOT be responded to until Wednesday. We are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please be respectful of our time off. We work incredibly hard and deserve some time to rest.
Please also be organised. We are booking up incredibly fast, if you want an appointment, please pre-book that appointment ahead of time especially if you can only do a certain day and time. By doing this it will help us not get into situations like this in the first place. Where possible, if you are a regular customer, please book your next appointment in when you pick your dog up that way you are pretty much guaranteed to get the spot you want when you want it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I told you it was long ! but it is important to understand, learn and help each other to look after ourselves, our pets and our customers.
