Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/23/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was quoted in writing the price of boarding my dogs to be between $465. - $500 plus tax. When I went to pick them up the bill was $797.00.
  I have talked to the owner and he told me nothing can be done because the higher price was correct even though I have the amount in writing. I am retired and I would have never boarded my dogs for that amount because I can’t afford it.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/26/2024

  Below are my notes pasted directly from customer's in-house account notes. We would be happy to reply with backup info such as emails, invoices, etc.

  ***** *****

  Woofers Pet Resort

  Sturgis, SD

   

  10/23/24 JF Our employee gave customer a hand-calculated estimate on a sticky note. She says she told customer the estimate was not ironclad and that the number range given was PER DOG. I have every reason to believe her but have no way to verify the veracity. Because the per dog "estimate," scribbled on a sticky note as as a loose range of a somewhere-between-this-and-that amount, it was significantly lower than the bill at checkout, the customer was upset the bill was higher than she believed it should be. The customer is elderly and seems to have trouble remembering details. She says she doesn't know how to sign up for an account or submit a reservation list online. Perhaps she did not understand or remember the range given was per dog. The increased likelihood of miscommunication is why our policy is to never hand-generated estimates. There is no need to do that, anyway, because our software generates an estimate before someone sends us an online reservation request. But the customer had been adamant that she (presumably because of her age?) could not navigate our system and asked us to hand-enter her reservation. Our policy is to not do this because of the likelihood of miscommunication, but our employee did it anyway to help customer who said she could not do it on her own. At checkout customer raved about our service and had another future reservation on our books, but then she said we overcharged her. She was upset, as anyone believing she was overcharged would. Later, customer called saying the care was excellent but wanted to speak with manager. I called her. She said we overcharged her, that the estimate we gave her was wrong. She explained that our employee gave her an estimate, and she emailed us a photo of a hand-written sticky note with scribbled writing. I seem to remember a figure of approximately $300-$500, but I threw the sticky away and am relying on my memory. I wondered how she could so proficiently shoot and email a picture from her phone but couldn't use her Woofers account to make a reservation request.) I said I understood her concern. Told her we weren't supposed to give hand-generated estimates, that doing so was against our policy because it caused this exact kind of miscommunication and anger. Told her I had audited her bill to make sure she had been charged correctly, and she had except for a multiple dog discount we could've applied. I apologized again and said as owner our employees' communication is my responsibility, that it's my fault, and I explained I'd be taking up the problem with our employee so this would never happen again. I refunded her card $49 for the multiple-dog discount. The next morning I received a nasty email (archived in our email account) from her twisting the particulars, calling me names, and making personal insults. I composed a response to further explain my decision but realized doing so again would be unproductive, so deleted it. The tenor of her email had insured I would stick by my decision. I replied simply by wishing her well.

  
  In her and my call the previous day, I had suggested--and she had decided herself--that she could not afford our facility. (There's nothing wrong with that. I cannot afford to stay in many nicer hotels.) I suggested there are other, more bare bones facilities with lower prices that would be more affordable, and I offered to suggest a couple of good ones, but she kept insisting she wanted to our high level of care. I told her that higher quality came with a higher price tag just like a Marriott is more expensive than a Holiday Inn, and she agreed that she could not afford the level of service she wanted and would have to choose a cheaper place. Still, she wanted to keep her three dogs' next reservation at Woofers, which was of a longer duration than the first, and she was emphatic that we should not charge for her three dogs' entire next stay. Agreeing to her would've meant she would've received hundreds of dollars of discounts above any perceived difference between our sticky note numbers and her bill. I felt that she was trying to take advantage, and, especially given the name-calling and insults, declined. She then demanded I cancel her reservation, which I did, sending a cancellation confirmation by email.
  I will again emphasize to our manager and ask him to make sure the front desk people understand we are not to give hand-calculated estimates. Just to make sure, I will also speak with our staff member who hand-generated a cost range, and our other customer service person directly.

  
  11/11/24 JF Problem was discussed with our manager who spoke with employee multiple times and also other front desk person. I told him that although the estimate figures provided by our employee were accurate, the way in which they were prepared and given the customer were against policy because they were bound to cause miscommunication. I also spoke to both employees myself emphasizing in no uncertain terms so everyone is clear that we are not to hand-generate estimates no matter what, even if trying one's best to help a senior citizen, no matter how accurate the info is, we can avoid this kind of needless miscommunication, misunderstanding, and customer anger. I feel confident this will not happen again. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/01/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: the gentleman did not speak the truth. I am a very capable senior citizen- there was no name calling - I stated that his employee was very helpful and gave me a handwritten estimate of the stay for my 3 dogs. The estimate doubled - if it had been for one dog it should have tripled. I still have the note if you would like to see it. 
  I am through with this business- I wish him well and I wish he would speak truth. He has to live with his actions, as do I with mine. 
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** *****