(A customer walks in with her dog.)

Me: “Hi! Who do you have with you?”

Customer: “Sorry?”

Me: “Who do you have with you?”

Customer: “Sorry?”

Me: “What’s your dog’s name?”

Customer: “Sorry?”

Me: “Do you have an appointment?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “Who is the appointment for?”

Customer: *visibly agitated* “Sorry?”

Me: *equally annoyed* “Who is-”

Me: *checking the book and suddenly realizing there is a dog scheduled named “Suri”*

(I have successfully groomed a dog and the owner has picked it up. I am working on another dog when I have this phone call with the customer:)

Customer: “How much did you charge me for this groom?”

Me: *checking the paperwork* “We charged you [amount].”

Customer: “That’s not the price I was quoted! I was quoted [other amount].”

Me: “Well, I’m looking at your paperwork, and the price is circled, and your initials are next to it. Did you initial the price?”

Customer: “I don’t understand why it’s more money than I was quoted!”

Me: “I don’t know what you were quoted, but the paperwork that you signed when you came in clearly states that it’s the amount you were charged. Also, a quote is just a quote. The price could go up or down, especially since your dog is a mixed breed and we charge by AKC standards for breeds.”

Customer: “It just seems like you’re charging me a lot more money here.”

Me: “Ma’am, I have no control over pricing. The company I work for prices everything. You signed next to the price; the price was clearly marked for you.”

(At this point, the customer is clearly upset, but she can’t argue with me about this. I’m also really reluctant to apologize for her mistakes. We hang up the phone, but not amicably. My manager has been standing near me and grooming a dog during my half of the phone conversation, and we have a little talk about how important it is to have customers initial next to prices for this reason, and she tells me that I handled myself well. Later on, though, the customer calls back and gets my manager and this happens:)

Customer: “I was in there earlier with my dog, and the groomer cut him!”

Manager: “Oh, no! Well, bring him by, and we’ll have the vet look him over.”

Customer: “I don’t want to bring him to the vet!”

Manager: “Ma’am, if your dog is cut and bleeding—”

Customer: “He’s not bleeding! He’s not cut. No… he’s just… the skin is red. It’s red skin. The groomer did this!”

Manager: “It could be razor burn, but the vet would have to look it over to see what’s going on.”

Customer: “No! I’m not bringing my dog in! You will refund my money!”

Manager: “I’m not going to refund your money without seeing the dog! Also, if your dog is injured, don’t you want help for him?”

Customer: “Look, you have a satisfaction guarantee, and I am not satisfied! You will refund my money!”

Manager: *suddenly remembering this customer from earlier in the day* “You know what? I will refund your money, and if you ever come in here after that, you will only ever be booked with me from now on. You will have to work around my schedule, and if you ever try this again, you will not be welcome back.”

Customer: “Just refund my money!”

(So far, the customer hasn’t come back. I can only assume she figured out what a fool she made herself out to be, but who knows?)

(I’m working on a dog when a customer enters to pick up a dog that I finished earlier in the day. I put the dog that I am working on on the floor and tether it, and it immediately pees. One of my coworkers jumps in and picks up the dog while I drop some paper towels onto the mess and mop it up really quickly. We re-tether the dog, and I check out the customer, who jokes about the dogs peeing. I run to get the customer’s dog, and as soon as I hand it over, it pees. The customer and I both laugh about it, and I really wouldn’t have cared except the customer says:)

Customer: “Oh, look! He left you a tip!”

Me: “Oh, haha!”

(I drop paper towels onto the mess and the dog pees AGAIN!)

Customer: “Aw, another tip!”

Me: “…”

(The customer then walks out of the salon without actually leaving me any sort of tip whatsoever.)

Coworker: “What are you going to do with that amazing tip?”

Me: “It’s not even enough for me to drown myself in.”

(A customer brings in 80lb bulldog in for B&B.)

Me: “So do you want me to just trim his nails or file them, too?”

Customer: “Oh! I only want you to file them. I live near the woods so he needs to be able to protect himself. So make sure they stay sharp.”

Me: “Sir, what do you think is going to get him?”

Customer: “I don’t know… like a rodent.”

Me: “What kind of rodent?”

Customer: “A raccoon or a… fox.”

Me: “Well, that’s why he has a mouth full of teeth to protect himself. He’s going to use those, not his front feet.”

Customer: “Uh, well, just make sure you don’t cut them. Like I said he needs to be able to protect himself.”

(I work as a receptionist at a dog groomer’s and due to past experiences, I’ve always been on the shyer side, but after a year, I’ve been getting better with dealing with the customers. This has been the fifth day of working in a row and we’re about an hour and a half away from closing. A client walks in to pick up her dog.)

Me: “Hi! You’re here to pick up [Dog]?”

Client: “Yes, how was he?”

(I ring up her total and give her her change.)

Me: “He’s a very good boy. I’ll go get him.”

(I take him out of the cage where he’s sitting and grab his leash and collar. As I open the door to walk him back out to the office, I hear her talking, albeit rather rudely, to my coworker who bathed him.)

Client: “I CANNOT believe he was in a cage this whole time! He was here for about an hour or two!”

Coworker: “Ma’am, he wasn’t in the cage for long.”

Client: “I don’t care! He doesn’t belong in a cage! My dog is the best dog! He doesn’t bark or jump. He’s definitely not like any of these other dogs.”

(She was referring to the four dogs who were still here for daycare who were relaxing in the grooming room. They jumped when I walked past them, because they were excited.)

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we didn’t know that he wasn’t supposed to be in a cage. No one told us.”

Client: “Well, I didn’t even know that you had cages here! That’s the reason why I was coming here because I didn’t like him in a cage. I didn’t even think that that was an option! I’m not going to stop coming here, but I would like it if he wasn’t in a cage.”

Me: “I’m very sorry, but no one told us that he wasn’t allowed in one. Usually, to dry faster, bath dogs are in cages with the dryer so they don’t get dirty running around on the floor.”

Client: “Well, I don’t want him in one anymore. I can’t believe you put him in one.”

Me: “I understand that, but we didn’t know about today and we are terribly sorry. Here, let me put a note in the system about that.”

(I go to do so and she follows me with the dog.)

Client: “Make sure you put it in under my name!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, I’m doing that right now.”

Me: “I’m sorry again for that. The note’s in now.”

Client: “It’s fine! I just don’t want it to happen again.”

(She leaves in a huff with the dog wagging his tail and my coworker leaves while another comes up from daycare.)

Coworker #2: “You should’ve told her that he kept trying to get to the front almost every time.”

Me: “That would’ve sparked another b**** fit with the result of me crying.”

Coworker #2: “Well, if she comes back next time and the dog escapes the store whose fault is that? We’re not allowed to cage him anymore. That’s on her, not us.”