04/06/2024
*Warning....it's kind of long....*
Good day all,
I appreciate all of my customers and their pets. I love my work and my business and am very thankful that I work a job that I enjoy. I have a few points here that I'd like to address.
I get calls everyday for grooming more and more dogs. My schedule is currently maxed out in Custer City....until well into June and Smethport has a couple Mondays where I can fit like one or two dogs in mid May. I thought that with more groomers opening up in Bradford that my business would slow down and that isn't happening.
When you cancel or try to reschedule an appointment, I do the utmost best that I can to get your pet rescheduled but sometimes, I just can't until their next appointment(most customers are on my schedule a certain number of weeks apart forever so I can insure a spot for them).
If you've canceled and you're expecting me to return your call asap.....believe me...I am working on it....however, I sometimes have to wait days and days(sometimes over a week) for a spot to open up to facilitate rescheduling.
That being said, here's an example of how quickly things can change around here, I had 11 appointments scheduled one day...way more than I should have but I'm a sucker and packed the day. This was over to the kennel so not only these 11 dogs to groom but also whatever kennel dogs need done after my appointments. Two of the dogs ended up being at the kennel for a stay....brings me down to 9 appointments, another asked to reschedule....brings it down to 8....a much better number to work with and still not going to replace those spots because it was already overbooked. Get a message the evening before that two more dogs cancelled their appointments.....so now I'm down to six appointments from 11. I call one of my regulars to fill a spot with 2 small dogs(she missed her regular scheduled appointment) and that's it...back up to 8 appointments and now at least 2 kennel dogs so still 10 grooms in total but we can make it work because we can work on the kennel dogs after the appointments. This is just one day of my scheduling....every dog that canceled needs rescheduled on an already booked schedule.
Eleven dogs on any day whatever the location is never ideal but sometimes the scheduling ends up this way. I have a hard time saying no and I understand that people cannot afford some of the prices at the other places, or they are unhappy with the amount of time the dogs have to stay.....or the quality of the work or whatever their reasoning is for coming to me, I try to make it work for them as their pets need grooming on a regular basis.
Some people get upset thinking that I don't want to groom their dogs because I don't communicate fast enough for their liking, it's never that, it's always because I have no space and as soon as I have something, I will call. I will also call you and let you know if I just do not have an appointment available....especially if my cancelation list is a mile long already and there probably isn't any way I can get you in anytime soon. Texting or messaging here is always the fastest way to contact me and get a response.
I've also had a couple people in the past say I "act" like I don't want to groom their dogs, 99% of the time it's because I tell them about their dogs lack of any good behavior for grooming or I cannot do the clip they want because the dog hasn't ever seen a brush at home(or a groomer till they are over a year old or more) and is matted, and honestly, they don't want to hear that. I will not sugar coat a dogs behavior. When people do not do any training at home, these dogs come to me and I have to train them how to behave for a groom. Why should any dog who is allowed to rule the roost at home behave for a groomer? They don't and it makes grooming 10 times harder on the pet and the groomer. It's unfair to any dog to not teach them basics like leash behavior, crate training, how to sit quietly, how to have their entire body handled, brushed, ears cleaned out, nails trimmed...etc. This can all be achieved in the home environment so much easier than I can do it once every 6-8 weeks...I do succeed over time...but it's a long road.
I guess what I'm getting at is I'm doing my best, at all times, even if you don't hear from me, I've gotten your message and I'm doing all I can to get whatever you need sorted out. Hang in there and I'll get back to you.
Tiffany
