ComplaintsforBark Avenue Grooming Company

• Initial Complaint

  06/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our dog grooming appt. was scheduled for 6/22/24. They said they relocated and gave me their new address because they had changed location. When we pulled up with our dog, we were surprised at the "location" and at first thought we might have the address wrong. There was a man shirtless, smoking on the porch and he waved us into the driveway. A lady walked out of the side yard and we realized there was a brown trailer parked there where we figured they must be doing the grooming. We ended up leaving him against our better judgment since we'd used them before for grooming (when they were in a storefront) and we'd had no issues. When we returned to pick our dog up, we could hear him barking as soon as we opened our car doors. He was alone in the trailer in a crate. As soon as we arrived home (we only live 8 min away), my daughter went to pet him and noticed "bugs" on his head. She picked off 5 fleas and then my husband had to take him into our tub and bathe him with flea shampoo. It took about 45 min. of multiple bathings until the water ran clear and we knew they were all off of him. Our dog has been on a monthly flea medication his whole life and has NEVER had fleas before. He was only at Bark Avenue for 1 hr and 45 min and had so many fleas when we got him home, that they must have a huge infestation of them. I immediately tried to call many times on Saturday and left messages and also texted. I got no response at all. I tried again on Monday morning and someone actually answered and when I asked if it was Bark Avenue, they said "Yes". All I said was that I'd been trying to reach them and had had our dog there on Saturday and she immediately hung up. I even went on their website and tried to email to cover all of the bases. We've tried to give them an opportunity to make things right and they have chosen to ghost and ignore us, so I now feel this is our only option.

  Business response

  07/02/2024

  We did not receive a phone call from this customer on our business phone. This would have been handled correctly if we had received the complaint. We do not refund after 24 hrs of notification from customer. There is not an infestation of bugs. It is summer time and fleas are bad this time of year. That is why it is recommended to have your dog on flea treatments. We are not veterinarians so we cannot give advice on how to treat your animals for fleas. This could have been before or after the appointment and we do not know if the animal is for sure on flea treatments. As for the location, this is a temporary location due to the construction going on downtown at the original location. This is similar to a mobile grooming. It is not a trailer, it is a camper that has been fully remodeled to ensure cleanliness and safety for clients. It has AC, water and electric just like any other grooming salon. The dog was in a kennel and in the AC when the groomer had left to take a break when the owners arrived. We implement safety procedures to ensure that no animals are harmed. 

  Customer response

  07/02/2024

  
  Complaint: 21899987
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I had a feeling they'd just claim I was lying and there's no way to prove I'm not. I called every number I could find online so if one of those isn't the business line, that's not my fault. The voicemail said it was full and I couldn't leave a message.on their main business number.  

  As I mentioned in my complaint, my dog is on monthly flea meds and has never before had fleas and definitely didn't have them going into the grooming appt.  

  As to their statement that a complaint had to be made within 24 hrs., I stated that I started calling and texting within 30 minutes of picking our dog up because we saw the fleas immediately. We couldn't leave any messages due to their voice mailbox being fully and no one ever answered or responded to our texts.

  Sincerely,
  
  *** *****

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  It is flee season. There is nothing to be done. As long as the pet is on flee preventative, they should be fine. This is the only complaint for flees. We have multiple clients coming through on the daily and no other complaints about this issue.  

• Initial Complaint

  04/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On April 4, we brought our certified service animal, a golden doodle / poodle mix to the Establishment for his routine hair trim and bath. We have routinely paid $85 for this same service in the past. We were unexpectedly charged $125 without reason. Second, we provided pictures and written instructions for the style of haircut we wanted and without calling or asking if a different cut would be okay, they gave him a half-finished, choppy and ugly haircut. Gouged hair. They claimed he was heavily matted so they had to cut more hair but that’s not true. He had minor mats on his flanks but nowhere else. Even so, the chop job that was done on this dog has no excuse. They should have called and said (1) we need to do more work for extra money and (2) we can’t complete the job we were hired to do because of the following reasons…None of that was discussed. Lastly, the haircut they completed was grossly below any professional standards. They should have (3) completed a professional cut to industry standards, because it was what they were paid to do. Moreover, they failed to clip his nails and clean his ears, which is also standard practice based on industry standards and past performance. They took fur chunks out of his face and muzzle, crooked feet cuts, left patches of dirty fur under/in his ears, failed to brush out his tail, clipped his back side so short that the dog has been in constant discomfort since the grooming. I am not certain they didn’t abuse him in some way as he’s been more withdrawn since the incident. I made multiple attempts to contact the company via facebook and their main number, but despite my requests they refuse to respond to me in any way. I have made several calls but the mailbox is always full. I asked them to complete the job they started but after zero response I have asked for a refund so i can take the animal elsewhere. I am expecting a refund and some measure of communication from the facility to help resolve this.

  Business response

  04/19/2024

  ****** last visit was on Jan 31st at 8:30am. It is recommended to keep in a routine every 4-6 weeks. From Jan 31st to April 4th, it was  9 weeks before they had brought him in. Unfortunately, he was matted. We have a waiver for them to sign that states they are okay with us moving forward doing the hair cut to make the animal feel more comfortable. (attached is the waiver) There was no written instructions provided. All that was stated, "don't touch the face and don't touch the mohawk. The ears were cleaned and dematted. When you dematt a dog, fur tends to come out in chunks. We do what we can do when we get a matted dog in our possession. On a poodle breed, the nails have longer quicks, therefore we cannot cut more of the nails or they will bleed and hurt the dog. Poor Rudy was being worked on for hours trying to save his fur. We do not like to push dogs to their limits. When he got tired of being on the table, we call it quits because it will stress an animal out. According to the attachment, it goes over how a dog will act after being dematted. It is extremely uncomfortable and we always recommend a shavedown instead but they insisted on dematting. There will be no refund due to the situation. Lastly, Stated in the paperwork under satisfaction, you have 24hrs to let us know about the groom for us to fix. We were informed on April 8th through Facebook messenger.  

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I dropped my 2 dogs off for their noon appointment at 11:45am on 01/02/24. I was assured they would be groomed and ready to go by 3:00pm. I planned my whole day around this, but when I arrived at 2:50, they weren’t ready. I was then asked to return at 5:30pm. Things happen, so I understood. I show up at 5:35pm and there’s no one in sight. The doorbell rang when I came in, I called them, etc… Around 6:20pm, someone finally came out of the back and informs me that they hadn’t even started on one of my dogs and that the other was only half done. It’s not just about the poor grooming and the unnecessary stress that this put my dogs through, but it’s about respect for a customer’s time. I expected far better service and professionalism than I received. When I posted a review on Google stating exactly what happened, the owner lied and said that I did not have an appointment and that I was a work in. I was not. My appointment was at 12:00. Regardless of that, I was told my dogs would be ready at 3:00 and they were not, then again at 5:30 and they were not. Had I waited until 7:00, I’m still not sure if they would have been groomed. The owner has since had the business block me on all social media.

  Business response

  01/11/2024

  Attached are the times that *** ******* called the shop to set an appointment on Jan. 2nd 2024. We had told him that he would be a work in on the 2nd or we can schedule him for a different day. As a work in, we cannot guarantee a time for pickup. He came in around 3pm to pickup his pups with no one sending a message to him that they were ready for pickup. We told him it will be longer because there were appointments that were scheduled out for months before him. We did not guarantee a time. He was no where in site when he stated that he came back in at 5:35pm. We do have an employee working the front desk until ALL DOGS are checked out. Also, Attached is the date of service. He Was very upset so we did not charge him for the service. Basically the bath was free, we started the cut but did not let us finish. He proceed to post pictures of them online of unfinished work. He refused to let us finish his dogs. Those pictures are not a reflection of our work. Yes, he is blocked from social media due to slander of the business.

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