Town & Country Animal Care Center

Business did not provide the service I requested, but charged for a service I refused. Multiple attempts to contact company have been ignored.Though I was clearly extremely upset at the time I picked up my dogs, absolutely nothing was offered by the staff to remedy or mollify the situation. The following letter was then sent twice with no response from Town and Country, either time: I had a very disturbing experience with one of your employees when I came to pick up my 2 dogs yesterday (10/15/13). I would estimate that I have boarded my animals with you apx. a half dozen times over the last 2 years and have met a number of your employees - but I have never been treated with the level of condescension and dismissive-ness that I encountered yesterday. When I dropped my dogs off, I got into an argument with the staff person at that time (the receipt lists the name [redacted], I don't know for certain if that is accurate - the same person checked me in on Friday 10/11 and out on Tuesday 10/15). She informed me when I asked for the dogs to be bathed, that I had to have my dogs groomed, because they were setters. I told her that the dogs had been groomed less than 2 weeks previously, and I did NOT want them groomed. She proceeded to argue with me for the next 5 mins. that they HAD to be groomed - which I refused repeatedly. I told her they had been simply bathed on every other occasion I had boarded previously, and this had never come up - but she would not agree to the service I asked for. One of your other employees, a tall, thin young man that I have dealt with on several previous occasions, interceded on my behalf, and told her he had checked the dogs in, that they had just been groomed, and that there was not a problem with providing a simple bath. She left me standing there and proceeded to argue with him for the next several minutes - and finally backed down and agreed to provide a simple bath. When I came to pick the dogs up, she had changed the work order - after I left - to have them groomed, and then had the audacity to charge me for it. She did this in direct violation of the instructions I had given - several times. She bald-faced lied to me when she told me prior to leaving that they would have a simple bath. Apparently, she believes she is better suited than I to determine what I should do with my dogs, and just decided to make my decisions for me - again, despite repeated instructions to the contrary. When confronted with this information at pick up, she provided a lame, perfunctory "apology" - though from my perspective, it appeared she was neither sorry nor would she had done anything differently if given the opportunity to do it again. IF your policy has changed from EVERY previous stay, the correct choice would have been to tell me you could not provide the services I requested - in which case we would not be having this conversation. I did not authorize these expenses, in fact, I specifically declined them. I resent the fact that I was charged. I resent the fact that I was lied too. Furthermore, I resent the implication that I am incapable of making decisions for my own animals, without having your desk staff "fixing" them for me. I have to assume this is not the way you want your company presented to the general public. Desired SettlementI was charged $100 ($50/dog) for a grooming they did not need and that I had repeatedly refused. They gave me the credit card voucher to sign, before they gave me the itemized bill. Clearly that was a mistake on my part, and I should not have trusted that the services charged would be accurate. I expect my money to be refunded. Business Response I am unaware of mulitiple attempts to reach me from Mr. [redacted]. He emailed and faxed his letter a day OR two apart -dated 10-16-2013 AND 10-18-2013. I qustioned my staff on other messages he may have left and no one reports any additional attempts from him. I checked our answering machine dating back to the day he picked his dogs up and there are no messages from him. I responded to him today within hours of getting back in town. Mr. [redacted] has used our services a few times this year for boarding his pets and each time they have been bathed, brushed out and toe nails trimmed by a member of our Grooming Staff. 7-6-13 bath $35.00 - Calan $50.00 - [redacted] 8-23-13 bath $40.00 - Calen $50.00 - [redacted]9-24-13 bath $55.00 - Calen $50.00 - [redacted]Each time these services were preformed by the same member of our Grooming Staff and the charge was determined by the amount of time it takes to complete the task, the amount of coat/hair each dog has and the condition of the dog's coat/hair, ie, amount of matts/tangles/knots and how long it took to brush or carefully trim the tangles out. Neither of Mr. [redacted]'s dogs have ever received nor has he asked for a FULL Groom. It was determined Mr. [redacted]'s dogs could not receive a simple bath by one of our Kennel Bathers due to the abundance of coat/hair each dog has. I beleive the confusion for this service lays in the fact that all pets in our care who are signed up for any type of bathing/grooming or toe nail care come under the "heading" of GROOMING in our computer program and is printed out on the receipt as GROOMING. From there the pets are assigned to different employees who are a part of our Grooming Staff based on the individual pet's needs and the expertise of the staff members. I beleive when Mr. [redacted] saw the word GROOMING he assumed his dogs had received a FULL Groom, which they had not. It was obvious the dogs had not received a FULL groom as no hair on the dog's ears, throat area, neck, back or feet had been clippered - (the typical clipper pattern on Setters). When the front desk employee attempted to explained this to Mr. [redacted] he responded in a LOUD, AGGRESSIVE, EXPLOSIVE way, accussing her of signing his dogs up for a service he instructed her not to. Mr. [redacted] continued his verbal attack toward the employee even after she had left the front reception area and returned with his dogs for him. All of this was witnessed by other employees and several customers - each of them in total disbelief a "gentleman" would address a female in such a manner. The employee, having the maturity and many years of experience with customer service decided to allow him to vent as this was not the first time Mr. [redacted] had addressed the front office staff in such a demeanig way. His demeanor toward the front desk employee caused customers who witnessed this behavior GREAT concern and most of them stood there in disbelief and a jaw dropping look on their face. After contacting customers today who witnessed this outburst they informed me the more the employee attempted to explain to Mr. [redacted] the louder he got. Her attempt to explain to him that the word GROOMING on the receipt was simply a Heading on our computer program and that his dogs had only received a bath/brushout the louder he got. No offer of refund or adjustment in price was offered because Mr. [redacted]'s dogs had only received the service he requested, he simply would not listen to the employee's attempt to explain it to him. The front office staff has become accustomed to his behavior as each time he has visited our facility he complains about something. The employee that day was chalking it up as this is his way of dealing with situations he didn't approve or agree with and perhaps he was having a bad day. It is our hope to provide superior care to all our boarding pets. Having owned Gordon and Irish Setters myself for 30+ years I can honestly say I was vey fond of Calan and Rory. I can also say with absolute confidence I know how much work it is to properly care for a Setters coat/hair. We try our best to please all our customers, yet it is a fact you can't please everyone. Sometimes when a customer is verbally attacking you the best way to deal with the situation is sit back and take the verbal assault, knowing that is how some people feel better and in command of their life. I am sorry to say I believe with all my being that no one can satisfy Mr. [redacted] as he will not take a moment to silence his voice nor take the time to listen to what people are trying to explain to him. When I called Mr. [redacted] today and told he his dogs were bathed by the same person and had been charged approximately the same amount or within a range he qusestioned me and said he had always been charged $30 some dollars. I offered to fax him a copy of each of his receipts showing him the charges. He informed me his fax machine was not working and we agreed I would mail the copies of the receipts. Those will go out in the mail today (10-24-2013) Final Consumer Response Company provided refund - I consider the matter closed. Thank you.