I really wanted to like Urban Dog, because it is so difficult to find a good groomer. Our first trip was great, our dog was seen by Matt who did exactly as we had asked and he came back looking great. Matt was polite and friendly, and he gave our dog a heartfelt A+ for great behaviour. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to get him for the second trip.
The next time we brought our dog, I arrived for my appointment, greeted only by a very uninterested front desk. This kind of thing always puts me off, but I figured as long as the groomer did a good job it didn't really matter. The surly front desk person eventually asked me why I was standing there, then proceeded to just walk away with my dog. I told her I wanted to tell them what I wanted done and I also wanted to know when my dog would be done so I could plan my timing and come back. 2 pieces of the groom instructions are very important: we don't shave his face and we do not touch the inside of his ears (vet ordered).
I was informed that they were massively behind schedule and I could come get him 4 hours later. I asked if that was how long the actual groom was expected to take and they said, no, they're just really behind. I would have appreciated a call to come later rather than just leaving my dog in a pen there for several hours.
When I came to pick up my dog his face had been completely (though unevenly) shaved. I spoke to the groomer who said that we weren't brushing his face enough so she shaved it. I told her I would have really appreciated if they had called me or asked first, because I would have taken him home without the face done and just cleaned it up myself instead. She said she sometimes calls people first but "didn't this time". Great. The haircut was incredibly uneven, with his neck area clearly not even trimmed down. On the way home I noticed that my dog was fussing with his ears a lot and looked inside to see that they had been plucked and cleaned, despite our vet's orders not to touch them. They were bloody inside and he was clearly uncomfortable. A few days later he developed an infection and we had to spend several hundred dollars on medication and a vet trip. We tried to call the manager at Urban Dog several times but were always told they were not available, with no call back.
Obviously we're not going back here. It's a shame because our first visit was so positive, but our second visit was a disaster. It really had everything terrible going for it: horrible customer service, a bad groomer, a post-groom vet trip, and an unreachable owner.