We booked Nikita's boarding service in November (pickup/dropoff, meet and greet, and in-home…read moreboarding included) for the dates of 12/18-1/6. We paid the deposit in full ($175) at this time. Once it got closer to the pickup date, we attempted to schedule a meet and greet with Nikita so that our puppy could get acclimated to his new environment. Initially, Nikita was very friendly and forthcoming and agreed to meet me at a mid-way point in the city. However, she would not answer her phone on the day of the meeting. After I was able to reach her, she tried to postpone the meeting before ultimately rescheduling for the next day. The reason she gave me us that she had to take the train to my location, which raised a red flag seeing as we had paid for a pickup/dropoff for which she said she would use her personal vehicle. We would have been understanding had she told us she was having car trouble beforehand, but for one reason or another, she didn't communicate this to us.
The next day, I called her an hour before we were scheduled to meet at the same location to confirm (the drive can be a anywhere between 40-60 minutes at peak traffic hours). She didn't pick up numerous calls, and when she finally responded, via text, she once again tried to postpone our meeting. This time, it was "phone issues." Red flag #2. In fact, she tried to allay our concerns about her lack of access to reliable transportation by telling us that we could always bring the pup to her on the day of instead of having her pick him up. We responded that I could not possibly do that, since I was flying out of the city before the pickup date and that we had already paid for the pickup. Red flag #3.
Fearing she'd waste my time again, we tentatively made plans to drive over to her business the next day, where presumably she would board our pup, to help her out with the logistical issue of coming to us. However, the pickup date was only a few days away, and given Nikita's flakiness, her willingness to charge us for pickup/dropoff while her car was "still in the shop," and he reluctance to facilitate a meet-and-greet for which we had already paid, we concluded that she had not provided us the agreed upon services and decided to look for other boarding services. We called Nikita to explain that and to negotiate a refund--after all, she does not have a clearly stated refund policy on her website and we felt we had a claim to a partial refund. We knew she had probably incurred expenses preparing to board our dog, so we were perfectly willing to accept a refund of less than half of our security deposit. We spent 3+ hours of us explaining to her why she hadn't honored our agreement and why we believed we were entitled to a refund--to wit, failing to provide meet-and-greet services in a timely manner, reneging on the terms when she withdrew pickup services, providing an inaccurate list of services on her website, and failing to offer a due refund, despite the fact that she does not have a clearly delineated policy on her business website.
She ultimately relented and offered to return $60 of our $175 deposit on December 14th, and told us that it would be sent within 10-14 days. We didn't like the fact that we had to fight to get it, but we were willing to appreciate the gesture regardless (even if we had to wring it from her) and to consider the matter settled. It is January 14th today, exactly a month from our last correspondence. I've been in touch with her for the past two weeks inquiring about the status of our refund and letting her know that we would be filing a formal complaint and leaving negative reviews on her business pages. No answer, so our hands are tied.
I hate having to leave this review. We generally support small business in Chicago and we went out of our way to find a qualified, independent professional to take care of our puppy instead of giving our money to the larger businesses and chains within the city. By all appearances, Nikita is that person--she's veterinary technician, seems to love animals, and has curated her business' online presence well enough to suggest legitimacy. Unfortunately, once the money's been paid, all pretenses of professionalism and fairness disappear, and you will be left with unkept promises, exasperating customer service, and a LOT of wasted time and money. To quote from Nikita herself, "I'm of the belief that any business or person is allowed 3 chances to rectify most situations." I tend to agree with this sentiment, but her invocation of it is disingenuous in this context. You, the reader, can scroll up and count the opportunities we gave her yourself. If you want to leave your beloved pet with a person who believes she gets three chances to screw up AFTER you've paid her one-third of the total cost of the service, then Kitty Bitty is the boarding service for you! For the reasonable pet parent, dealing with Nikita isn't just bad business, it would also be reckless to leave your dog or cat in her care.
