YOUR PETS HEALTH AND WELFARE

Whilst your pet is in our care its health and welfare is our primary concern. It will only ever be groomed according to it’s tolerance of the process. If your pet is fearful of any of the procedures employed during grooming, a workaround or alternative will be employed. Occasionally during grooming a pre-existing condition may be discovered which you may not have been aware of. We will notify you of this so that you can seek veterinary advice. Although extremely unlikely, accidents can happen during grooming. In the event of an accident or serious medical issue arising during your pet’s groom you authorise us to seek emergency veterinary treatment. 

You will be given detailed feedback after every groom. If you have any queries or need further clarification, please just ask or contact us at a later stage. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of your pet’s groom please let us know before you leave. Reasonable requests to alter the trim will be dealt with immediately or changes noted for the next groom. We are more than happy to disclose any details of your pet’s groom or advise you about how best to care for your pet’s coat. 

PRICING

Starting prices are for pets:

- That are used to being professionally groomed on a regular schedule (a MINIMUM of once per season, 4 times per year depending on breed)

- Whose coats are well maintained between professional grooms (kept tangle, knot & matt free by regular brushing or combing)

You can reasonably expect to pay more than the starting price for:

- Matted, poorly maintained and/or overgrown coats

- Pets which are difficult to manage or uncooperative during grooming

- Timid, anxious or nervous pets, which require frequent breaks & may need special handling

- These cost more time, labour and/or product. The costs are passed on to you.

If we are unable to complete a groom due to behavioural problems or aggression you will be charged the starting price of the groom.

A deposit of 50% (Basic Price) is payable upon booking, this will be deducted from the final sum.

All remainder of costs are payable in full at the time you collect your pet.

TIME KEEPING

Please be punctual. We work by appointment only; the appointment slot allocated for your pet’s groom has been booked at your request exclusively.  We do not double book appointments; a no-show is lost income. We also offer a free appointment reminder; by text or phone.  Just tell us your preference.

Most grooms take between 1 – 3 hours or more depending on the size and temperament of the dog, and its coat condition.  You will be advised what time to collect your pet.  It is advisable not to return to the salon before this time, as your presence may distract your pet during the finishing stage of its groom.  It is essential that you collect your pet at the agreed time as once the groom is finished your dog will be eager to go home and may become unsettled or anxious.

Late collections may incur an extra charge.  This will be more should you have requested salon exclusivity.

Please phone us if you are running late.  We understand that from time to time unforeseen circumstances may arise.

Clients arriving more than 15 minutes late for their appointment can be considered a missed appointment and may have to re-book, this will result in the loss of your deposit and require a new deposit to be paid if a new appointment is required.  If you need an earlier drop off/later collection time due to other commitments, please discuss this with me when booking. If your pet is collected after closing time (after 6pm) a late pick up fee of £5 per 15 minutes or part of applies.  If you incur any of the above mentioned fees, they are payable in full at the time you collect your pet.

CANCELLATIONS 

We respectfully request 24 hours notice if you need to cancel your pet’s appointment. The slot can then be offered to other clients.

NO SHOWS & LATE CANCELLATIONS (of less than 24hrs notice) 

A no show or late cancellation will result in the loss of your deposit.

NEGLECTED & MATTED COATS

In the event that your pet’s coat needs to be clipped down to release it from matting or coat neglect, L.A.C Groomers, its owner and operator are not liable for any post-grooming effects of this procedure, which is not without risk.

Any humane de-matting will be undertaken solely at my discretion, in compliance with The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (clause 5 – Animals are to be protected from pain, injury and suffering). De-matting during a routine groom is limited to a maximum of 15 minutes and is only possible if the matting is minimal. For severely matted coats where de-matting isn’t possible, the only humane way to deal with this will be to completely shave off the coat.

You will be given an estimate of how long matt release is likely to take & an estimated cost for the procedure. A shave-down consumes significantly more time, labour, product & tool/equipment wear and tear than a routine trim therefore will incur an extra charge. All shave-down costs are payable in full at the time you collect your pet.

AGGRESSIVE & POORLY SOCIALISED DOGS: THE DANGEROUS DOGS ACT

We reserve the right to refuse to groom any pet at risk of harming the groomer or itself. If your dog is accepted for grooming & displays aggression that we have not been informed of during its session, the groom will be terminated immediately. You will be contacted to collect it. The full starting price of the groom will be levied.

You must inform us prior to grooming if your dog has ever bitten or displayed aggression. Failure to disclose this information may result in refusal of further services.

Your attention is drawn to the Dangerous Dogs Act, which holds owners liable for bites and injuries caused by their dogs.

PHOTOGRAPHY

We take photos of your dog while being in our care to showcase our work via social media or advertising, as well as proof if a dogs coat has been neglected/matted. If you would like any pictures that has been taken while your dog has been visiting L.A.C Groomers, do not hesitate to contact us and we can forward any photos that has been taken.

Consent for photography will be requested at time of registration.

This new regulation that has come into play, May 25th 2018, replaces the Data Protection Act.

L.A.C Groomers keeps your details (Full Name, Phone Number, email very occasionally Address) on the record cards of your dog.  When we are not using them they are kept locked away. 

When being used they are out on the side of grooming table with your dog so we can refer to them while grooming.

L.A.C Groomers has your details, so we can remind you of grooms, so we can contact you with a reminder of your appointment or when your dog is ready to be picked up.

We keep all Dog Grooming Customer Care Card information on a private secure server with a state of art security systems which has secure password that contains more then 8 random characters which include random letters, numbers and symbols. Password is changed every 28 days. 

I Charlene Chapman is the only person with access to this server. 

The details on these records are the same as on the paper version mentioned above, this is purely so if the card is damaged or unreadable (bad handwriting) a digital copy will still remain.

Credit/Debit Cards

L.A.C Groomers do not retain any credit card details nor do we even take them outside of using a chip and pin/contactless card machine.  The company that processes our transactions is a GDPR compliant company.  All payment details such as card numbers are not accessible to us.

L.A.C Groomers retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with our services. However, L.A.C Groomers may also be required to retain this information to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements.  We generally keep your data for 5 years.

If you reside in certain territories, including the EU, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases.  L.A.C Groomers describes these rights below:

– Access – You may have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information L.A.C Groomers hold about you by contacting us using the contact information below.

– Change, restrict, delete – You may also have rights to change, restrict our use of, or delete your personal information. Absent exceptional circumstances (such as where L.A.C Groomers is required to store data for legal and tax reasons) we will generally delete your personal information upon request.

– Object – You can object to (i) our processing of some of your information based on our legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing or reminder messages from us after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, L.A.C Groomers will delete your personal information unless we have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.

– Complain – If you reside in the EU and wish to raise a concern about our use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with your local data protection authority.

Helpful links to understand GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation better