Kennels

We just returned from our holiday yesterday and I went to collect our darlings today from the kennels and they were filthy!!

Their bed was chewed (they never chew their bed like that), I bathed them and the water was disgusting (as was their bed which went straight in the wash!!). Not only this but they are matted (despite me saying they needed grooming) and they charged me more money as they said that the girl who quoted the price had under quoted!!!! We have used this kennels before but they have changed ownership....would you complain?

would you complain?

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just a bit yes. try trading standards and possibly RSPCA.

Too right I would! First of all word of mouth is an incredibly powerful advert, just one bad report will undo all the good of 10 good one's!! Secondly did you actually ask for the dogs to be groomed during their stay? If so then they have not fulfilled their side of the contract, thirdly if you given a written quotation from them then they have no right to charge you more even if it is wrong, and this takes us back to word of mouth again, if you were telling folks what really happened they'd not want to take their own dogs there would they? BUT if you were saying "Oh they're great, they underquoted me and they stuck to it" people would see that the new owners care about their business and want to establish a good reputation!

OK rant over now!! think you know what I would do now eh? :lol:

I don't think that grooming would be included in kennel fees. I only used kennel once, for monty. They charged extra for lead walking, but as he had a large run , I declined, not wanting a stranger walking him along country lanes.

Barbara Nixon said:

I don't think that grooming would be included in kennel fees. I only used kennel once, for monty. They charged extra for lead walking, but as he had a large run , I declined, not wanting a stranger walking him along country lanes.

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I agree, Barbara - I would do the same.

Yes I would complain!

I would absolutely complain and probably find a new kennel for next time I am going to be out of town.

Yes I am going to write a letter!

I did ask for them to be brushed every day and at a charge of £19 a day I would have expected it. Their bed is completely ruined but that is irrelevent that can be replaced but it would indicate to me that they were stressed which is really unlike them!
The thing that also wound me up was that when I was leaving I saw 2 young girls (under 15) who were actually walking most of the dogs (for free no doubt) for the kennels and they had obviously walked mine as they said goodbye for them. It is quite a worry for me when they are walked as Ashton especially given the chance would happily run off (and has several times although we have always caught him) so I think that had I known that children would be walking them I would definately not have left them.
Unfortunately I didn't get a written quote for the price it was via the telephone but its not the price that has really upset me they looked like they had been living on the street and although I expected them to smell (downside to kennels) I feel that they looked awful!!

Sorry rant over...when it comes to my boys it makes me very angry!!

I would report this -- the underage kids walking dogs -- I wonder if they have insurance to cover these 'employees' for one, and I wouldn;t want my dogs walked; I'd want them to be given time to run in a safe enclosed and secure area.

On the grooming -- I still don't think you can expect grooming even at that price. Grooming is a totally separate service and might cost that much again per dog per grooming session as the norm. If you want grooming done, you probably will need in future to negotiate that with the kennel as an additional service.

It wouldn't be too unusual for dogs to chew their beds when kennelled -- but on the other hand probably indicates some boredom. Some kennels do wash dogs before returning them -- but most do not. If the weather was rainy and they were outside where they got dirty, if I ran the kennel I would probably run a brush over them to get the dirt cleaned up a bit before the dog was collected, but again, I wouldn't expect this as a customer. None of the kennels where I leave dogs would groom or wash them and they can get a bit grimy from the kennel environment and being outside to play.

If the kennels themselves are really dirty, then yes, that would be a source of complaint too! There are kennelling standards as far as I know in the UK. If they are a member of an organisation of kennel owners you could complain there too. But I think you'd weaken your complaint by noting you expected them to be be groomed. Also: you should not have to pay more even if the girl did underquote. If you have the quote in writing than you are entitled to that price and even if it was a verbal contract you probably can argue to receive the service for the price quoted.

I think we were lucky before as the previous owners had a much different set up. They got to know the dogs personally and could tell me what they had been doing etc and although they were smally after their stay they weren't anywhere near as filthy as they were when we collected them.
I wouldn't have expected them to groom them properly but they obviously hadn't been brushed at all!!
We used to pay only £7.50 per dog so I paid more for a much poorer service

I am going to devise a letter tonight, they are actually a very big company who have previously only done home stays and believe it or not are.....groomers!!!
We live on a very small Island and i'm sure if I wrote to the local paper their reputation would be somewhat tarnished!
At the same time I was collecting my boys a gentleman was collecting his dog whos lead they had lost!!

Thanks for all the advice