The Groom Room at NDC — Terms & Conditions
Terms & Conditions
Payments
We do not accept any bookings without a deposit. At the time of booking you are required to pay a deposit of the standard services you require, the remainder of the payment, including any additional charges, are due prior to collection.
We use an online booking service — this is the quickest and most efficient way to check our availability, we can book for you in store or via the phone, the deposit will be taken at the time of booking also.
Our booking system stores your payment details and will automatically take the remainder of your payment when we complete our service, including any extra charges. If you'd like to pay with a different card than you booked with, please let us know at drop off.
We offer an instalment plan to pay for your groom, deposit must be paid then you can pay any amount you like at any point in store or via phone. Full balance must be paid prior to collection.
Managing Your Booking
Your appointment is fully manageable online via your booking confirmation email. Changes and cancellations made more than 48 hours before your appointment are completely free of charge.
| Situation | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Change or cancel online/in store more than 48 hours prior | No charge, fully manageable online, no fees apply |
|
Cancel within 48 hours of appointment (in store/phone only) |
Deposit retained |
| Move within 48 hours (in store/phone only) | We will do our best to accommodate, please contact us |
| Cancel within 24 hours of appointment (in store/phone only) | Full appointment cost charged, we are a small salon and cannot absorb the loss or fill the slot at short notice |
| No show (did not attend, no cancellation) | Full balance due immediately, payment taken automatically, future bookings cannot be made until cleared |
A reminder email and text is sent 24 hours before every appointment. Please ensure your contact details are up to date when booking,. We do not want to charge for missed/late cancellation appointments however as a small business we simply can't absorb the cost of these. Please help us to avoid these difficult situations by attending your appointment or giving us plenty of notice of any changes.
Arrival & Collection
Please ensure you arrive on time. If you are more than 10 minutes late we will have no option but to mark your appointment as a non-attendance, as this will impact our next appointment.
We are a busy salon/shop, for their own safety all dogs must be on leads.
We will contact you via text message 20 minutes before your groom is finished with a collection time. Please ensure you collect promptly to allow us to prepare the salon for our next client. We offer 1:1 grooming, one groomer takes care of your dog from drop off to collection, due to this the groomer cannot accept their next appointment until their previous client has been collected. Late collection will incur extra fees.
Additional Charges
Our prices are on a 'from basis'. We use a set pricing structure which is based on your dogs size. We will assess your dog for any extra work required at drop off and advise of any noticeable price increases. This may be due to various issues that will take us longer to complete, such as excess matting.
Occasionally things present during a groom that can't be spotted during the assessment. In this case we will make a decision on whether to proceed with the extra work based on the health & wellbeing of the dog; however we will do everything possible to advise you of any extra charges prior to accepting your pet at drop off.
If the coat is overgrown due to infrequent grooming and requires extra time, this is chargeable. We recommend that Curly coated breeds are left no longer than 8 weeks between grooms. Heavy matting can occur with these breeds if they are not groomed regularly. We also recommend that you comb your dog at home in between grooms to avoid any matts forming.
- £10 – Extra grooming time due to infrequent grooming or matting (per 15 minutes)
- £5 – Late Collection Fee (per 15 minutes)
- £50 – Flea Treatment (flea bath for your pet, full salon cleanse including flea bomb & cancellation of our next 2 hours of appointments)
Matted Coats
We know there are many reasons why dogs become matted and we offer no judgement — your dog being pain free and happy is our only concern..
We only give a full shave down if there is no way that we can save the coat length without causing pain. Matted coats are extremely painful, they pull at continually at the skin with every movement the dog makes, they are impossible to break without causing extreme pain and we must shave under the mat, close to the skin to remove it, this is the kindest way to remove them however it is painful and when the matts are removed if the skin has been twisted tightly below it then skin eruption can occur, in this case we recommend visiting a vet after the treatment to avoid any infections of the broken skin. Unfortunately skin irritation and pain is impossible to avoid, we will be as gentle as possible to reduce discomfort as much as we can, if the skin is too pinched, the groom is too painful or the matts are too close to the skin to safely remove we will recommend a vet visit where a shave down under sedation can be carried out. If we recommend this please do it as soon as possible, your pet can't tell you but they will be in extreme pain and the only option is full coat removal. We are happy to offer advise on how often your pet needs grooming at at home care between to avoid these extreme shave down grooms.
Shave down pricing: It is impossible to advise how long this treatment will take and will depend on dog size and severity of matting. This often only becomes apparent when we start the shave down and assess how deep or severe the matts are. The cost of the groom will be the standard price for a 2 hour groom dependant on your dog's size, any additional time over the standard groom will be charged at £10 per 15 minutes (or part of). If this treatment needs to be carried out over 2 sessions we will advise and the 2nd session will be booked at the same price structure.
Fleas & Ticks
If during your groom we discover an infestation of fleas on your pet, we will carry out a flea bath & comb and we will continue the groom. The owner will be contacted to advise that we have found fleas and the extra charges that will be incurred. If we find fleas, we must use a flea bomb & perform a cleanse and towel/holding room bedding & equipment clean, which will close down our groom room for 2 hours. We cannot risk passing fleas on to our next client and will need to cancel our next appointment. We know that the odd flea can be hard to spot, but unfortunately if you bring us fleas we have to charge for the extra time and products required, plus the cost of cancelling our next appointment. We cannot absorb the cost of this. We are happy to remove ticks during the groom.
Photos & Social Media
We take photos of your dog before and after each groom and these will be stored in your customer account for us to refer back to if needed. By agreeing to our T&Cs at the time of booking, you are giving us permission to use photos of your pet on our social media channels (we will give out no information other than their name). If you do not wish this to happen, please ensure you have unchecked the social media box on your information form.
Puppies
Regular puppy grooms will desensitise a dog to the grooming process, our groom room and of course build trust between them and their groomer. We do not offer any services to puppies under 8 weeks (2 months), and we do not clip puppies under 24 weeks (6 months) unless there are special circumstances which require it. We offer a puppy pamper which will give your puppy a gentle introduction to the grooming salon and process without any fur being removed. If you have a dog who will require regular grooming, we highly recommend this package several times to reduce the fear and anxiety that may be present when it is time for a full groom.
Large Dogs
Regardless of their size and breed dogs who are scared are often unpredictable. As we work on a 1:1 basis, for our safety and theirs we always groom large dogs wearing a muzzle until we are sure that they are comfortable with us and our groom room, only then do we groom without. Regular puppy grooms will desensitise a dog to the grooming process, our groom room and of course build trust between them and their groomer. We recommend puppy grooming to avoid muzzle grooming when your dog is fully grown. If your dog is already fully grown and is not used to us or our groom room, we are happy to offer grooms as long as they are muzzle trained. Dogs who are not muzzle trained fight and pull the muzzle off, which creates an anxious dog and a tense groom room. We do not allow this to happen and due to this there are no exceptions to this condition.
Restricted Breeds
Our insurance does not cover us for restricted breeds and we are therefore unable to offer any services to these dogs.
Owners in the Groom Room
Our insurance does not cover owners being present in the groom room during full grooms. Owners may be asked to be present during nail clips if we require them.
Refunds
We do not offer any refunds. We take our time and give care and all of our attention to your pet during our grooms. When you book your pet in, we will use the standard groom for that breed. If there is a specific requirement that you'd like (i.e. longer fur in places or something different to your last groom), please let us know on your booking form which is emailed to you after every booking, and we will do everything possible to do this for you.
We apply these terms & conditions to keep our Groom Room running smoothly and to ensure that our customers and their pets are happy with the service we offer. Please help us to continue to offer the customer service you'd expect by adhering to these.