I have used Melissa's Menagerie for my dog's daycare since November, 2022. The new owner, Christy Lincoln, has made it incredibly difficult for me to bring my dog to daycare and refuses to give me a refund of daycare credits I purchased in good faith that I would continue to use Melissa's Menagerie for my dog's daycare needs.
I paid for 30 days in advance last September; I always pay in advance so I can have peace of mind that my dog's daycare slot is saved and paid for. There should be no reason to turn me away due to "understaffing" or "too many dogs" because the expectation is that I paid for service and will use the service. Plus, the discount helps save money in the long run.
I am not sure if this payment was made before or after the ownership transition. Initially, I was unaware that the business had even changed ownership and I have no idea how long Christy had owned the business before she finally told me that she was the owner, not the new manager. I asked Christy if any changes would be made. She replied that, other than getting all new staff, nothing would change.
That didn't last long. Her first change, was dropping half days from 5 hours to 4 hours (and I believe it was an employee who informed me of this change, verbally, as I was dropping off or picking up my dog, not Christy, not in advance, and certainly not in writing). When I told Christy that was not going to work for me due to my work hours, the fact that my availability changes throughout the day, every day, and that I cannot leave my dog all day because she gets way too over stimulated, Christy agreed to keeping my half days to 5 hours. However, she has made additional changes that have made it impossible for me to continue using her business. She never gave advance notice, never communicated in writing, and no choice was ever given to stay or leave for someone who paid in advance (before all of her changes). Her changes include (not necessarily in order):
- - No weekend hours (this lasted for a month or more before she finally reopened for weekends)
- - No pick up or drop off between 12:00pm and 1:00pm
- - Owners are required to "schedule" daycare visits ahead of time
To date, I've only used 12 (approximately 24 daycare days) of my 30 credits.
Since Christy has changed her operating hours and has even turned me away when I tried to drop off my dog on a Saturday (this was in February and she said it was because I did not "schedule" in advance and Christy was leaving and didn't want to leave my dog with her staff because "you know how she is"), I still have 18 credits left that I'm never going to use because she has made it way too much of a hassle. I finally asked for a refund, saying,
"It does not look like I'm going to be coming back since your schedule no longer accommodates my needs; the change in hours open for drop off, the change in days available, and the fact that you need to be there when I bring Harley has just made it entirely inconvenient for me to continue using your business. I would like a refund of my remaining credits."
She refused, saying,
"We have a very normal schedule and are able to accommodate the majority of our customers' schedules. Showing up whenever you wanted, doesn't work for the small business that we are. We do need notice so that we're prepared for the day/dogs. I also never said I HAD to be there when Harley was there. It was that one saturday I had to leave early and you just showed up without notice or an appt and we were not equipped with enough staff. I have always been nice and accommodating to you and Harley. Despite her behavior, I always welcomed her and did my best to keep you in the loop on how we handled her. We do not give refunds for credits."
- - That's a little over $400 she is refusing to give back.
- - Other than allowing me to continue with 5 hours for a half day, there have been no accomodations to my needs.
- - None of her changes were communicated ahead of time.
- - And, apparently, my dog has undesirable behavior (because she is a high energy dog) and Christy's been doing me a favor by allowing her to attend daycare...
Even if Christy changed everything back, I definitely DO NOT want to take my dog to a place where she is not wanted. read more