Hilltop Pet Grooming

False, misleading and untrue advertising/business practicesBusiness owner also has dog breeding service,NC Hilltop Kennels, from which I purchased a [redacted]. I purchased a male [redacted] from breeder/seller 9/22/15 for $650. Less than 24 hours later, the dog was at the animal hospital. I advised the seller less than one hour after purchase that the dog had vomited. I followed all instructions provided by seller, buying the nutritional supplement she told me he needed, a huge bag of the food she told he he eats, etc. I called my vet to set up a date for his next set of shots and deworming. Vet wanted to see him before then to give him a new patient health check so that was set up for next week since my vet is out of town at a conference. I spoke with the vet tech about getting the nutritional supplement and the dog food and was told they only have the prescription supplement and that the food I was told to get was poor quality for a baby [redacted]. I was advised to get the [redacted] for puppies and the [redacted] wet food for puppies in case he doesn't eat the dry in the beginning. I was advised to bring his medical records with me. I advised the tech that I only had a shot record. I was asked what shots the puppy had been given. I advised the tech and was told that they could have been purchased at [redacted] and given to the puppies by the breeder herself. The tech suggested that I contact the vets office that the seller stated she used for the 'vet check' and request a copy of the records. The vets office ([redacted]) didn't have a record of every having seen the puppy at any time. The seller contacted the animal hospital where I had taken my puppy and admitted to a person there that she had never taken the puppy to the vet and that she gave them their shots. Her advertisement on three different websites ([redacted] Classifieds and [redacted] Classifieds for Fayetteville,NC) plainly state "he will come with health guarantee, vet checked, three sets vaccines/dewormings." I called the seller after I had left the animal hospital but got her voicemail so I left a message. It was after this that she called the animal hospital before calling me back and then sounding as if I was to blame for making the puppy sick and that I should not have left the puppy and that after an hour or hour and a half, they should have had all the test results back and already told me what was wrong with the puppy. Her tone was extremely rude,ugly and unprofessional. My husband called her back after we had some of the test results back and she was rude with him as well and even hung up on him. I followed all instructions provided to me by the seller with regard to the care of the puppy short of force feeding him or cramming his dry dog food down his throat. Aside from the cost of the puppy, I will be looking at the additional cost of the tests run to find out what was wrong with him, being hospitalized all day, having to go to an overnight facility for care and then to the current vet for follow up tomorrow morning. All this in less than 48 hours of having the puppy. I have printed off all three ads, the email communications advising her of the puppy getting sick approximately one hour after purchasing him and requesting his medical records and being told that all my vet wants is his shot records. Desired SettlementPay all vet bills that may be attributed to any illness associated to the puppy not having received a clean bill of health prior to my purchase as the ads indicated. This would be for the hospitalizations that began 9/23/15 and expected to end 9/24/15, providing there are no further complications. Business Response I am responding in regards to the complaint filed by Mrs. [redacted] regarding a 14 wk male [redacted] puppy she purchased from me, Tues. Sept. 22, 2015. First off, all of my puppies are seen by my vet if any illnesses arise and all of my vaccines and dewormings and medications are purchased directly from my vet office. As a breeder I give the vaccines and dewormings to the puppies myself, as many breeders do. My vet comes to my house to administer rabies or checks. Most breeders and people for that fact do not take healthy puppies to a vet hospital unless there is a emergency. Sick animals are taken there and puppies are very subseptiable to diseases. Mrs. [redacted] was given a vaccine and deworming medical record with her puppy. This record had all the vaccines the puppy was given and dewormings and anything else he needed for his age. My vet advised me to remove the labels off of the shot vials and place them also on the vet records so no other vets would question what type of vaccine he had and they would see that they where not expired. The puppy was given three sets of vaccines and over 5 dewormings, alternating between different dewormers. All of these where the proper amount of vaccines and dewormings my vet advised me to do. The puppy was also weighed before he left that afternoon, and he was 2.56 lbs at 14 wks and was eating the [redacted] Puppy Food Dry only for over 6 wks now also advised by my vet, and under his advise he felt comfortable that this weight was perfect for him to be placed in his "forever home".I also have all of my puppy clients read over in front of me before signing a health guarantee/spay or neuter contract , which Mrs. [redacted] did. She took a signed and dated copy and I have my copy. This advised her of all the things we cover and guarantee and all the things we require our puppy clients to do. Mrs. [redacted] came to my place at 12 pm and I spent over 2 hours with her going over everything about the puppy and his care. I even had another person here and they waited over an hour passed their schedule appointment for me to properly give Mrs. [redacted] all of my undivided attention and advise and answer all her questions. Along with the health guarantee and vaccines/deworming record Mrs. [redacted] received a paper about hypoglycemic shock in puppies and how to prevent it. I explained to her, which she advised she was very familiar with, how this does affect puppies if they don't eat properly/enough or are too active and don't eat. She was told how to get anything into the puppy to bring its sugar levels back up from [redacted] syrup, Syrup itself and anything it will eat. No matter what it was from canned puppy food to chicken. The puppy needs to eat sufficient amounts of food at least four times a day. Mrs. [redacted] advised she would go and pick up some [redacted] or puppy vitamins on her way home and she was very familiar with taking care of a puppy since they had another dog. I also advised as I do with all my puppy clients how these are babies and don't be surprised if they get car sick and throw up a few times on their way home since they will have to get use to riding in a car. She was very happy when she left.I received an email later that day and Mrs. [redacted] said the puppy did get alittle sick in the car going to pick up her daughter from school but besides that he was doing wonderful.Then the next mid morning I received a long email from Mrs. [redacted] advising the puppy was doing wonderful and how grateful her, her husband, her daughter, the dog and cat where &thanked me for giving them such a wonderful little guy.I then stepped out and when I returned there was an message from a vet hospital wanting me to call them immediately regarding the [redacted] puppy.I called them and was placed on hold for 20 mins. before I was able to speak to someone.The young lady wanted to know about the vet records on the puppy and I advised that Mrs. [redacted] had the vaccine/deworming record. They wanted to know if my vet gave the vaccines and I explained that I get my vaccines, dewormings and medications directly from the vet but I administer the vaccines myself by his advise. I kept asking what was going on with the puppy and they told me they could not release any information to me. After I got off the phone with them I immediately called Mrs. [redacted]. I kept asking her what was going on with the little baby and she could not answer me. I asked her what they where doing or what they thought and she said she did not know she left him there. All she did know is that they conducted a parvo test on him and it was negative. She also said that they where giving him some fluids. I told Mrs. [redacted] it sounded like he was experiencing hypoglycemic shock from what she was describing to me. She kept on saying she gave him some food it couldn't be that. I asked Mrs. [redacted] how long it had been since she left the puppy at the vet hospital and she said an hour and a half ago. I advised Mrs. [redacted] that they should have a general idea what was going on with him by that time and to call them and find out and to PLEASE let me know since the hospital would not release any information to me and I was VERY worried about the baby. I waited for almost four hours before Mrs. [redacted]'s husband called me. I asked him what did the vet say was going on with the puppy and all he could say is he did not know his wife had written him a long email and it said a lot of stuff. He said something was low and then stopped. I said Oh was it his sugar levels. He then changed the subject and started to say what was I going to do about this. I asked him what did he mean. He kept saying that they had gotten a puppy from me and now it was at the hospital and he had a huge vet bill. Mr. [redacted] wanted me to pay the vet bills and give him back his money. I told Mr. [redacted] that I cant tell him what I am going to do about the vet bill or a refund since no one is telling me what happened to the puppy and if he was even still alive. Mr. [redacted] then started telling me since I was being rude to him and talking down to him then he was going to report me to agencies that handle breeders. I told Mr. [redacted] that he can contact anyone about this but I was not going to pay him any refund or pay the puppies vet bills until I saw what the vet diagnosed. After we hung up the phone, I called my vet . I asked my vet to contact the vet office and speak to the vet to find out what was going on with the puppy and if it was still alive. My vet called me the next morning after he spoke directly to the vet that handled the puppy and the vet stated that the puppy did have tape worms and was very hypoglycemic. The vet said they gave the puppy tapeworm medication. The vet said that was normal since basic dewormers do not cover tapeworms. Tapeworms are from fleas and a [redacted] puppy only weighing 2.56 lbs can not be given any flea preventative that small of weight and not till its is at least 4 months old. The vet stated the tapeworms where not the cause of the emergency. The vet stated directly to my vet that the puppy was hypoglycemic and was given fluids. They gave it fluids all day and into the night and then he started to eat alittle again and released back to the [redacted] family. The vet said it was not something caused by the breeder. She said that the puppies blood sugar dropped because it did not eat enough or properly.I was glad to hear that the little baby was alive and doing well again. Mr. [redacted] contacted me the next day and said they received the vet diagnoses.I asked him what the vet said and he said the vet said the puppy was hospitalized for intestinal parasites.I asked him was it tapeworms and he said yes.I asked him, directly, was there anything else and he said no.I then told him that I had already had spoken to my vet and he contacted the vet that treated the puppy directly and she told him what the puppy had and why he was hospitalized with fluids.I told him the puppy was diagnosed with hypoglycemic shock and was placed on fluids for that not tapeworms. He paused and then asked was I going to pay the vet bills and refund him and I told him no.I told him that his wife signed a health guarantee, she and had a copy that she fully understood and read over and signed. It stated that I did not cover any vet bills and did not cover or refund any money regarding intestinal parasites or hypoglycemic shock. Mr. [redacted] then ended our phone conversation by hanging up on me. As a breeder I try to do everything to make sure one of my babies are in perfect health before it leaves.The law states a puppy can leave at 8 wks, I kept this puppy until he was 14 wks old and over 2 lbs and with three sets vaccines/dewormings and eating hard puppy food before he left. I give my clients all the information I can regarding proper care of the puppy. Once it leaves how can I be responsible for them not taking proper care of itConsumer Response There are a number of things in dispute with what Mrs.[redacted] is stating. I arrived at the pet grooming salon at 12:10 pm and left at 1:45 pm (I have a text sent to my husband with the puppy in his dog bed, inside my car, prior to leaving her parking lot and this is time stamped). Our appointment was at 12:00 pm. The person that arrived for the [redacted] had only been there approximately 10-15 minutes before I left. I discussed the vet check with Mrs.[redacted] and she stated to me that she takes them to [redacted] in [redacted]. After my puppy got sick, [redacted] called them and they had no knowledge of this puppy or any from its litter. She had stated to me when I was at her shop, purchasing the puppy, that they ([redacted]) were the ones to give the vaccines and put the labels in the shot record so that whatever vet the new owners take the puppies to will know what vaccine 'brands' were used. I was advised of the dog food the puppy was eating, of the pine shavings used for litter training, of the [redacted] or Karo syrup for the glucose levels and to feed it several times a day. All I received from Mrs.[redacted] was the puppy, a bag of puppy food and the shot record along with my contract. The shot record states the puppies date of birth was July 2, 2015 which would have made the puppy 11 weeks, 5 days on the date of purchase and not 14 weeks as stated in her response or the 12 weeks as she indicated in her advertisement. When arriving at my daughters school, the puppy did vomit and I did send Mrs.[redacted] an email advising of this. After I got my daughter, we went to[redacted] which is where Mrs.[redacted] stated I could purchase the dog food,[redacted] and pine shavings. They didn't have the [redacted]. When getting back in to the car, the puppy vomited again. This time, I called my vet's office. Was told that the food that I was advised to buy for the puppy was not a good brand of food for a [redacted] and that the vaccines could have also been picked up at[redacted] by the breeder since there wasn't a stamp or initials of the administrator in the shot record. I made an appointment for a well check for the puppy for the following week since the vet was out of town at a conference. I was told what a good brand of dog food is for a [redacted] and how to integrate the old and the new foods. We then took the puppy home to feed it. The puppy didn't want to eat. I left the puppy at home with my husband and went to [redacted] and bought the [redacted] puppy food my vet recommended and the [redacted] along with other items for the puppy. When I got home, I tried to get the puppy to eat the food provided by Mrs.[redacted] first since this is what it was used to. It ate a few pieces and that was it so I gave it some [redacted]. I attempted to feed it again before bed and he still didn't want to eat so he got more [redacted]. I opened a can of the [redacted] puppy mousse to see if it would eat this. He licked a little bit off my finger but not much so I gave him more [redacted]. Shortly after midnight, the puppy woke me up to go outside. When we came in, I tried getting him to eat again but still a no go and at 5:15-5:30 am when I woke up, I took him out again and tried to feed him again. He still wasn't eating. Gave him more [redacted]. At about 9:30 am, I took him outside to go potty and noticed blood in his stool. I called my husband to let him know. He told me to take the puppy to the Animal Urgent Care. I wasn't aware that they were no longer open 24 hours so the ladies next door to them at [redacted] called [redacted] to see if I could bring the puppy there. They said I could so off we went. When I got there, they immediately did a parvo test which they said came up negative but stated might have done so due to the blood in his stool. Was told that they would need to get him on IV fluids and start tests to find out what all was going on with him. I told them to do whatever they needed to to get him healthy. A number of tests were done and it wasn't only low glucose that was an issue. Three vets told me that nothing I did would have caused the test results that came back. The only thing possibly within my control was the glucose level but I provided the puppy with the amount the breeder told me to. When I left the puppy at the vets, I called the breeder to let her know that the puppy was at the hospital since it had been less than 24 hours since I left her place of business. She called me back after she called [redacted] trying to find out what was wrong with my puppy. She admitted to the employee on the phone that the puppy had not been to the vet and that she administered the vaccines. I was told she was not very pleasant about being told that they would not give her any information since she was not the owner of the puppy. She then called me, kept trying to tell me that the puppy was hypoglycemic and that I should have known after about an hour or hour and a half what was wrong with the puppy and demanded that I call them to find out what was wrong and call her back. She had no compassion whatsoever. She was rude and condescending the whole time she was speaking to me. My husband called her because he was upset over how she spoke with me. He had no idea that I had even said anything about getting reimbursed for the vet bills. He wanted to get the truth from her because we were not getting the information needed on my puppies history. She kept hanging up on him which I can prove with my mobile phone records by simply calling the carrier and asking them to check the call logs to determine if the particular calls were normal terminate or hang ups. My husband didn't care what the vet bills cost as long as the puppy was taken care of. After making attempts to speak with the breeder and getting hung up on, he was glad we had gotten the puppy away from there. After the puppy was hospitalized, I began to do a little more internet research and found that she had posted on at least three separate web sites with this puppy. On two, he was listed as being 12 weeks old and was pictured with what she states was his parents. On the third site, he was listed as 14 weeks but with no pictures of parents. After seeing the different sites, I went to her breeders website, Hilltop Kennels where she has pictures of her sires and dams. I saw the pictures of was supposed to be my puppies parents. The sire/father was supposed to be [redacted] and dam/mother was supposed to be [redacted]. My contract however lists the sire as [redacted] and dam as [redacted] (or [redacted], the penmanship wasn't very clear). Also, if the puppy was vet checked as the advertisement indicated as well as the contract, where are the vets papers? I requested this and she declined to provided them to me or rather, to my vets office. When my puppy was in the hospital, the vet stated that there would have been a paper that should have been provided to me that shows a vet signed off on stating that they saw the puppy and that it had some 'basic and routine stuff' done. I received a shot record. I want the proof that the puppy was vet checked. Did the vet check the puppies heart and lungs and palpate the internal organs? Did the vet check the ears for parasites? Did the vet check the anal region to make sure there wasn't any discharge or signs of parasites? Did the vet check the puppies genitals to make sure he had two testicles? This I double because while at the shop with her, I asked her how she could tell at such a young age whether an animal was a boy or girl and she picked the puppy up, started feeling around and said "Yeah, there they are, two little pebbles" almost as if she didn't know that he was in fact a boy. Did the vet check the puppies mouth to make sure the teeth and gums were healthy? These are all things that I would expect to see listed on a veterinarians letterhead or form showing that a puppy was vet checked.I have all the results of the tests showing that this puppy had more than just hypoglycemia going on when taken to the hospital. I also have the pictures from the advertisement showing what his parents look like and the pictures from her kennels website that show the same pictures but with different names of what my puppies parents are. Doing some photography, I know the pictures are one and the same. She has misrepresented herself quite a few times to me and lied otherwise and all of which I can prove.Final Business Response Again, my response is the same. My vet spoke to the vet that treated the puppy at the vet hospital Mrs. [redacted] took him too. The vet stated to him that the puppy was being hospitalized and kept on fluids for hypoglycemic shock, his blood sugar levels dropped. She stated that the puppy was either not fed enough or he did not eat enough either way it was NOT attributing to me the breeder. The owner/owners where responsible for his care and he was in their care. Mrs. [redacted] is stating alot of incorrect information. The facts are the parents are who they are stated, a DNA test would state this, she is confusing the grandparents with the parents. The food I use is a very high quality all natural puppy food. Many people, breeders and vets recommend different foods. My vet knows what I use and he said it is very adequate. As for the sex of the puppy, never was I confused you can tell a male from a female as soon as they are born just as a human child. I was showing Mrs. [redacted] how vets and breeders can tell if a male dog has both testicles decended or not and he has both down. Mrs. [redacted] is now talking about a "Health Certificate" from the vets office not a puppy check. I never stated the puppies had separate individual health certificate. If Mrs. [redacted] was so uncomfortable with the puppy then why did sh purchase him. I did not force her. The facts that I know that came from the vet directly are that the puppy had hypoglycemic shock. He also had tapeworms but was not given IV fluids for the tapeworms it was from hypoglycemic shock. The puppy was wormed with [redacted] the morning before he left. The deworming takes 24 to 48 hours to expel the worms completely. The deworming did not have time to work properly before the fecal test was done. If Mrs. [redacted] likes I will pay for the medication for the tapeworms but nothing else. Again I ask how is all this information resulting or the cause of the puppy having hypoglycemic shock. The hypoglycemic shock was caused by the current owners not me and that was stated by the treating vet directly. The puppy was no longer in my care they had full responsibility for the puppy.

We have been taking our dog on a regular basis to Hilltop Pet Grooming since July. They have been doing an awesome job up until today. We were recently quoted a price of $15-$20 for a bath and touch up on our dog as an in between full-grooming services. After the dog was finished and ready to be picked up, the cost was $25. They said there was more hair than they expected. Really? They did not preapprove that price increase through us or even tell us that it would be an extra $5 for anything added outside the bath, facial, and butt trim. When I call to find out about this, [redacted] said it was extra because the of the hair, etc. I said had you told me it was going to be extra, I would have said don't do it and just stick to bathing her. She said basically I was upset over $5 and I said yes because I did not know before hand. I said we will have to do something else and take our dog some where else now. She said okay hate to lose you over that and have a great holiday. We have a family business outside of our careers, and we don't do business like that. If we quote something, then we stick to it and eat the cost if we quoted to low. That is considered our fault and not the customer. We just make the correction for in the future. This was very upsetting, and I need to bring this to the attention of the public people.Product_Or_Service: Pet Grooming Partial Desired SettlementI need either the money back or for it to be deducted off the next round of services. I really want to get this worked out and continue going there as they do a great job with our dog. As a business owner, you can not do business like that. Matter of fact, I would be out of business if I tried pulling that on our customers. I guess if they want to lose a loyal customer over $5 then so be it. That just means they really don't need the business or recommendation. Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted]-ownerContact Phone:[redacted]Contact Email: [redacted] I would like to respond to the complaint from the client that had the issue with our fees for the services they requested for their dog. The clients wife requested for their pet to have a bath between the regular groom on their pet. A bath consist of just that a bath, condition, leave in conditioner and nails cut and dremeled. For this service for their size of pet and that they are grooming clients it is $20. I told the wife that quote and stated to her if she wanted anything else that would be additional. Once the pet was brought in for the bath appt. they requested to have her face cleared/shaved like a [redacted], potty patch done and feet completely shaved again like a [redacted] (this is a [redacted] which usually does not get this breed cut/special cut). This is basically a full groom. Once clippers or scissors are put on a dog it is considered a groom. I told his wife again this would be almost a complete groom on her dog except we are not cutting her body. I told her it would be an additional fee of $5. Since they were clients that where coming between the dogs regular appt. I would not charge full price, regularly $35, I would only charge $25. Also, once I started grooming the pet I noticed she had red swollen skin and signs of her licking her feet and scratching. Again, since this was a current client I added a medicated bath to her groom for free. I was concerned about her skin issue and wanted to help relieve her from irritation and discomfort. This special medicated bath is usually $5 more. So after everything was complete the dog would have been charged $40 for this grooming service but she was only charged $25. When the owner came to pick up their pet I advised them of her skin issue and that I gave her a medicated bath for free to help the dog out. The owner was very appreciative I did that. The whole grooming service was conducted between myself and the wife. I only talked to the husband on the phone after the dog was already paid for and picked by the wife. I was advised by the husband he was not happy with the $5 extra I charged for the dogs grooming when he was told it was going to be only $20. I told him that $20 was quoted for a bath only and his wife and he added services on to the bath such as shaving the dogs face and feet completely and doing a potty patch. As with any business added on services are additional and additional fees are charged. I also advised the owner that what they requested was a groom not a bath and the pets fee would have normally been $35. I also advised the husband that I gave his dog a medicated bath at no charge because I was worried about her skin issue and wanted her to have some comfort. This special bath would have been an additional $5 also but I didn't charge anything. I told the husband that actually I should have charged them full groom price of $35 plus $5 for a medicated bath a total of $40 but only charged $25. The husband was still upset over this and said he was not aware of the $5 extra I was charging even with all the add on services he requested. He thought it was only going to be $20 and because of that he was going to have to take his dog somewhere else. I told the client apparently their must have been some miscommunication between the clients wife, myself and he and I apologized for that. I also told him I hated he felt that way and I hated to loose him. I try to help all of my clients and their pets and go above and beyond to give them the best services I can for the best prices. I feel this was an issue of miscommunication between everyone involved. Consumer Response This company has always done a great exceptionally well job on our dog. I am very thankful that they have gone above and beyond. That is why we have kept coming back. It is not the money that is an issue but the miscommunication that occurred. Yes we brought the dog in for a midway bath and trim. Originally we were informed that the $20 would include a bath along with facial trim, buttocks area, bottom of paws, and nails if needed. The company called and asked if we would like to have the top of the feet trimmed to match the bottom. We were informed that some people do and some people don't and that it is a preference of the customer. We said sure that would be fine. At no time was there a discussion that there would be extra cost to do this. We did not add extra services as we only wanted done what was told that would be done in the $20. We should have been told that there would be an extra charge to trim the top of the feet. As far as the medicated bath, that was done upon the owners choice and there again not something that I said to add and or wanted to pay extra for. I know we were not charged for the medicated bath and that I am thankful for. We are consulting with our veterinarian to resolve the allergy and/or skin issues to the climate here in North Carolina that we did not encounter in Colorado. Since this misunderstanding could not be cleared up and taken care of, we have chosen to go to a place a little higher in cost. There again the money is not the issue. The issue is we were not informed of any additional cost at any time and nor did we add any services other than what we agreed to. We assume that when someone asked if we would like the top of the feet trimmed to match the bottom that all is well and no additional charge would be given in less noted otherwise. If you asked us that is a very sly way to get people to add services that they do not know that they are adding and then dump an extra fee on them when they come in to pick up their dog. We really hate that we have to go someplace else and would have preferred to have worked it out. Perhaps it would have been best to say yes you are correct but next time be aware of these additional things and what they cost. I would have been totally cool with that and we would have been totally cool had we known in the beginning of all of this. We are very thorough and that is why we ask so many questions and repeat so that there should be no misunderstanding and what we want and what we are getting for the price we agree too. I would just like for this to be on public record so that people will know that they do an awesome job but you be careful when it comes down to quoting prices. I guess if they wanted to correct the problem and make things right then this would not need to be public and we can continue on business as usual. Final Business Response Well again in our defense the communication was between the wife and the shop directly. The shop did advise of addition charges occurring if additional services were requested which did. We are sorry if somewhere in the communication between the shop, wife and then to the husband where miscommunicated or not relayed. We have never been a " shady" or "out to get you" business. We are being portrayed as this business that is out to rip people off and be dishonest. We are a small Christian owned local business. Again, we are sorry for all the confusion but we can not afford to be taken advantage of either for our kindness and love for animals. We have to be paid fairly for the services requested. Making this public may help out others also showing how all parties involved in a transaction must be on the same wave link and in total understanding. We tried to make this situation right but the gentleman did not want to hear it. His mind was already made up and he was taking his services elsewhere. We don't understand how we could please him when he resolved the situation his way. We understand he is taking his services elsewhere and feel that is the best solution for all parties involved.