Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I typically am not one to post reviews but I feel after picking our pups up this weekend it was necessary. We dropped our dogs off on Friday and picked them up Monday afternoon. We have been taking our dogs to Dogtopia for around 2 years and typically feel safe when we board them while out of town. This time, we received a call Monday to say our dog was hurt but they didnt know how it happened. They said they called on Sunday but we received no other calls or voicemails. I even reached out via Instagram on Sunday due to not seeing our dog on the live ************* reached back stating that she was probably in the area the camera did not catch - never once telling us about the incident that happened sometime Saturday. They had no recollection of the incident on cameras or from weekend staff. When I picked our pup up, she had a half dollar sized gash on her side (pictures attached). We immediately took her to the vet and she had to get stitches. Our other pup also had a wound near his nose - and again, no explanation of when or how it happened (pictures below).After this incident and the vet, Dogtopia was contacted and they felt that 1 attempt to contact and no medical reimbursement fell in line with policy. Dogtopia has been a staple in our boarding and daycare needs but after these incidents, no explanations of what happened, and no reimbursement of the pay or vet bills - we will not be bringing our dogs back. Our vet mentioned these incidents being to negligence and not watching the dogs properly at the facility. They also advised us to not bring them back to Dogtopia again.I wouldnt feel right not posting and warning other dog owners about this. When you board your dogs somewhere, you trust people to care for them. This incident shows that they were not being cared for.

  Business response

  09/23/2023

  Dear *****,
  
  Firstly, we sincerely apologize for the distress this incident has caused both you and ****. The well-being of the dogs in our care is our utmost priority, and we deeply regret that your experience this time resulted in **** becoming injured.
  
  As soon as we noticed the sore on your dog, our team called you immediately at 2:03 pm on Saturday. We left a voicemail requesting you contact us for further direction. We didn't wait for your response to start caring for the wound; our team cleaned it multiple times daily to prevent infection or further complications.
  
  We understand that its difficult when our beloved dogs get sick or injured and we appreciate your acknowledgment of the risk of open play in our agreement. We see this as similar to children playing on a playground. Just as kids might occasionally get scratches or bruises, dogs can too. While we always monitor play, sometimes these incidents can happen unexpectedly, and we do everything we can to prevent them. We operate with a mutual understanding that pet parents are responsible for any required medical expenses. 
  
  I understand how concerning it must be to see injuries on your dogs without a clear understanding of how they happened. We have reviewed the footage and spoken to our weekend staff again in light of your feedback. We are committed to transparency, and we feel just as frustrated from not being able to pinpoint the exact cause of this injury. At no time are dogs left unattended.
  
  We highly value the trust you've placed in us over the last two years, and we deeply regret that this incident has shaken that trust. Our mission is to provide a safe, fun, and educational environment for dogs. We take your feedback seriously and will be reviewing our procedures and training to ensure such incidents are even rarer in the future. We have implemented a policy that will require an emergency contact to assist with vet care if we do not have a response from the pet parent within 24 hours.
  
  Again, we are truly sorry for the stress and inconvenience this has caused you. If there's anything further, we can assist with or any other concerns you'd like to discuss, please dont hesitate to reach out to us directly at **************. We have placed a credit on your account if you need care in the future as a goodwill gesture. We understand that we could have required an emergency pick up on Sunday and will make sure our team follows that procedure from now on. We truly enjoyed our time with Nova and Tea, they are both wonderful pups.
  
  Warm Regards,
  
  *************************
  Owner, Dogtopia McKinney
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩