This Woman’s Manners Need Some Grooming

I work at a dog salon part-time (I’m a full-time student), and I often schedule new appointments for clients. We have a lot of clients who specifically need Saturdays because they work all day and we close pretty early — like between 3:00 and 4:00 — so we tend to have the same groups of dogs every five or six weeks.

Yesterday, we had the normal doodle and corgi group — as we call it because we have a lot of doodles and an adorable corgi — but with an added Yorkie. I personally bathed this Yorkie and she was a doll. She was perfectly behaved and let me do basically whatever (except nails, but we expect that from Yorkies).

When the “mom” showed up to pick up the Yorkie after her groom, I happened to be free and went to check them out.

Me: “Do you need another appointment booked?”

Customer: “Yes, six weeks out.”

Me: “Do you need a Saturday?”

Customer: “No, I need a Friday.”

Me: “Okay. Need a specific time?”

Customer: “First thing in the morning.”

Me: “Okay, 8:00… It appears the date we’re looking at is booked in the morning, but we can go a week before or after if you really need a Friday.”

Customer: “What does [Boss/Owner] have in the morning?”

Me: “Looks like a Shih Tzu.”

That happens to be my dog, but I don’t tell her that.

Customer: “Well, that Shih Tzu can wait. My precious Bella needs that appointment!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t just reschedule a dog’s appointment. This person happens to schedule appointments throughout the entire year, so he’s had it since December.”

I know this because, again, it’s my dog and my grandpa makes the appointments.

Customer: *Getting louder* “I don’t care! I want that spot!”

At this point, one of my coworkers came out to see if I needed any help. I have very bad anxiety, so this lady yelling at me was causing me to visibly shake and I was close to having a panic attack. [Coworker] saw this and said she’d take over and whispered for me to get our boss.

I did, and then I went into the bathroom to quietly freak out and hyperventilate in peace. My boss ended up scheduling the woman out for five weeks and telling her that if she ever yelled at one of her team members again, she’d have no choice but to blacklist the woman. My boss knows I have bad anxiety, and she’s absolutely amazing.

Moral of the story: don’t be an a** to a small business owner and expect to get your way.