This review is solely based on my experience. I opted not to leave my babygirl with them due to the reasons below:
I called the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to see if they had any availability for Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. I knew it was a long shot but I'm new to the area and am still trying to find vendors and businesses for everything that I knew comparable to my last home (NYC). She actually said they had space available so I pushed one more time to see if there was a better time for us to come in, as my dog has not been groomed by any one else in all of her 8 years and she gets very scared around a lot of other dogs, especially barking dogs. The woman on the phone assured me we could come in at 9:30 the next morning.
The next morning, we drive up to Lorton, I walk inside and there is no one at the front. I did yell out a few 'hellos' before I noticed the sign on the door that said "If we're not at the front desk, feel free to come on back". I opened that door and was greeted by 2 little fluffy dogs in an open playpen grate. I still see no body, not one human. I look around and see 2 grooming tables, one full of hair (I assumed they had just finished shaving one) and the other was full of disorganized, disheveled papers. I yell out hello a few more times and finally a woman pops out from the back through another door that says "Keep closed". She tells me to come on back and enter. Ummm, first of all, there was hair, debris and stuff everywhere, about 15 dogs (big and small) in crates/cages. Further, the room was very warm and you can see this is evident as they had 3 or 4 fans placed throughout the room. I didn't know or feel comfortable what I was stepping into. On top of that, you have no clue who I am-I'm sure we have paperwork to fill out, confirming she is up to date on all shots, right??
My babygirl is Chihuahua/Yorkie mix (Chorkie). She gets very scared easily and I felt her start to shake as I held her. The two other techs in the room were not working on dogs and just seemed very frazzled and overwhelmed. They all kept telling me-sorry, it's a very busy day. Finally, one of the women brings me back up front to the area by the front door where I came in. She sits down and says-oh ok, yes you have a 9:30 appt, here's the paperwork to fill out. So before I started filling it out, I said-I asked for this time of morning, which you said would be quiet but clearly it is not. She just kept saying "Very busy day." So I stopped, b/c as a new customer, I felt remarkably uncomfortable and I knew that translated to my babygirl.
I did ask her at 9:37, if they were able to take her in right away, I will wait in the lobby so you do not have to cage or crate her-she doesn't like it, She told me they wouldn't be done until noon. So what did I do? Promptly put the pen down and stopped filling in my name, and said thank you, but no thank you. I was under the impression you arrive for an appt, you are seen right away, give or take 1 off situation. On top of it all, I tell her no and that my baby was shaking. She said they all shake and then once we take them in the back, they stop and they're fine. I asked if I could see it happening from a window or something-OMG no, it was like I asked if I could borrow one of the bigger dogs to use in a show or something.
So, unfortunately, with all of that detailed above, I chose not to and did not get my babygirl's grooming today. Sigh, still on the hunt for a great groomer. Online reviews only go but so far, you've got to actually visit the place and form an opinion for yourself-lesson learned. I'm glad those of you who rave abut your positive experiences were able to see this place on perhaps a good day. But, from what I saw today...no-go. I love my baby too much. read more