ComplaintsforHappy Tails Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made an appointment to board my dogs (a yellow lab and a black lab) with Happy Tails from Friday, June 28, 2024 at approximately 5:30am to Sunday, June 30, 2024 before 1:00pm. I dropped my dogs off on Friday, June 28, 2024 at 5:45am. In addition to dropping off my dogs, I also dropped off two (2) bags of dog food (one for each of my dogs), as well as two (2) Dental Chews and two (2) Dasuquin joint supplements for each of my dogs. I told them that my black lab should be fed one (1) dental chew and one (1) Dasuquin each morning (i.e., Saturday morning and Sunday morning) and he should be given five (5) cups of dog food each night (i.e., Friday Night and Saturday Night). When I returned to pick my dogs up on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at 12:45pm, I paid Happy Tails $250 for two nights of boarding for each of my dogs ($130 for my yellow lab and $120 for my black lab). Happy tails returned my yellow lab, however, they were unable to return my black lab.After spending about an hour and a half at Happy Tails trying to figure out where my black lab was, I learned that Happy Tails gave my dog away on Friday, June 28, 2024 at 2:30pm (approximately nine (9) hours after I dropped him off for two (2) nights of boarding), Happy Tails had no idea that they had given my dog away until they attempted to give me the wrong dog on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at approximately 1pm, Happy Tails had been giving my dog's food and daily supplements to other dogs, and Happy Tails never fed my dog. Despite all of this, Happy Tails still charged me for services that they did not provide. I was told that a Happy Tails representative would call me on Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 8am to discuss what happened, however, they never contacted me. Happy Tails didn't reach out to me until I sent them an email demanding reimbursement on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Considering I am an attorney, they passed my July 2, 2024 email to their attorney.

  

  Business response

  07/12/2024

  Happy Tails, **** provides boarding & daycare for dogs among other services.  It is our goal to provide the best care and boarding experience for the animals in our care.  ****************** did bring his two labrador retrievers to Happy Tails on June 28 for boarding.  Happy Tails, **** acknowledges a mistake was made in the identification of ****************** dog, a black labrador retriever.  Later in the day on June 28, another customer who boarded a black labrador retriever was inadvertently given ****************** dog.  The customer who received the dog accepted the dog at the time and believed it was his dog.  Apparently that customer did not realize that the dog he picked up was not his until he received a call from Happy Tails, *** on June 30 inquiring about the dog. 

  On occasion the ** collars we utilize for identification of each dog are misplaced when the dogs play and interact in our community boarding/daycare areas.  Ordinarily, in this situation, staff and customers are able to identify the correct dogs and match them up with the owners upon pick up.  In this unfortunate circumstance, the customer who presented on June 28 did not correctly identify his dog which compounded the mix-up.  As soon as ****************** brought this issue to Happy Tails' attention our staff acted immediately to locate ****************** dog.  After calling others customers with black labradors who had recently boarded and had gone home, the dog was identified and returned to ****************** unharmed.   

  Happy Tails, **** has refunded the boarding fees paid by ****************** on June 30 for the two dogs he boarded with us.  We have attempted to provide additional concessions to him to address his concerns which he has thus far rejected..  We will be following up with additional communication to ****************** in an effort to reach a resolution with him.

  Customer response

  07/16/2024

  Complaint: 21957889
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Happy Tails admits there was mistake, however, rather than accepting responsibility, they attempt to place all of the blame on the individual they willingly gave my dog to. Additionally, this is the first time I am hearing of the ** collars allegedly used by Happy Tails. This must be a very new policy considering Happy Tails also attempted to give me the wrong dog on or about April 7, 2024. Thankfully, on April 7, 2024, I was able to get my dog right away because he was still on the premises, and Happy Tails hadnt already given him awayas they did on June 28, 2024.
  
  I want to make sure no one else is forced to go through the stress and heartache that my family, my dog, and myself endured. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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