Cattery Complaint

[BroadBean66]

Hi Folks,wondered if you could provide some advice on this one,hear goes............I recently took took a long overdue family holiday.The cattery i normally use was sadly fully booked and i was given the details of another cattery.Had i followed good advice given to visit in advance of boarding i would have not used the the cattery as the pens were on the small side and basic to say the least.The story really starts on my return from holiday.Visiting the Cattery to collect the owner refused to give me my 6 cats back unless i paid her the bill IMMEDIATELY and was hostile and threatening in her manner.I had informed her that having just returned from holiday and it being after 5pm i did not have that sum available but would settle up in the next day or two as was a normal practice at the other Cattery.She stated that i would not go into a supermarket and not pay for goods immediately and the by the same token would not do this at her cattery.I enquired whether this information was made explicit on her website which she told me it was.On looking at her website terms and conditions it actually is not and only exists in wording on the paper bill given to me when i attempted to collect the cats.After being literally held to ransom i was able to provide the money she demanded but feel very concerned about this persons conduct.How do i proceed making a complaint,is it worth it and who to??????? Thanks in anticipation of your replies

[bobbys girl]

I am sorry you had this experience and also sorry I can't help. BUT you MUST lodge a complaint with someone. It sounds a dreadful place.
C'mon guys someone must have an answer.

[Hunnybunny]

Although her customer handling skills could have been better by the sounds of I don't think its unreasonable to expect to have to pay for the services provided when you pick up your cats.

I personally would never even consider going to pick my cats up from the cattery without means to pay for them.

Sorry but I'm with the cattery and don't think you have cause for complaint.

[greenkitty]

To be honest I have to side with the cattery, whilst I agree her customer service skills could do with improving you should have paid when you collected your cats, you should always pay on completion of the service provided. How did she know you'd pay later? It's unreasonable to expect to have the same relationship with a cattery you've never used before as you have with one you've used multiple times before. You probably should have checked in advance as to when payment was expected.

[BroadBean66]

Thanks for the replies coming through guys,i am not in the game of wanting comments that support my individual take on things and i welcome opinions that are counter to my own belief and value system on my experience.I was actually more angry on the day that she was using my animals,which are not in her ownership to force my hand on an outcome which personally i don't believe any cattery on collection has the power to do.........

[Simons Cats]

I'm completely with the cattery. I paid my cattery in advance because I thought drawing the money out when I came back would be a nightmare, plus it was paid and I didn't have to worry.

I think it's completely unreasonable behaviour by yourself. This is the catteries business at the end of the day, you wouldn't go into a shop and say "I'll pay you when I can be bothered". They had kept their side of what is a business agreement, you should have kept yours.

[BroadBean66]

I have to say that i rarely and i mean exceptionally rarely pay any bill upfront and would never pay a cattery upfront before a period of boarding is commenced,i want to see what i am getting for my money in terms of care.I am under the belief that a person receiving a bill has a 30 day window period under EU law to pay unless this is stipulated which as i have said already in re to terms and conditions,i wasn't...............

[bobbys girl]

Hi folks, I must admit my first post was not well thought out
It comes hot on the heels of last weekend. We had the opportunity of a weekend break (our one and only holiday this year). My mum was happy to look after 4 of the cats but was uneasy about being responsible for Bob so soon after his op.
Our vet offered to board him - not luxury, but safe. We wanted to pick him up on the way home. But as there would only be one person on duty and they may be out on an emergency call, we had to wait until Monday to collect him.
When I first read your post, 'BroadBean', I thought Yes, I would just want to pick up my little man ASAP. Our Vet is over the border in the Irish Republic and so deals in Euro. We have to change money which is sometimes a problem at weekends. They are very understanding about this and as they have all our details and know we are not going to 'fly the country' they will wait.
In the light of more sober thought (well 1 glass of wine at lunch) I have to agree with the other, more sane, posts!!
They may have been rude and the place not to your standards, but as they don't know you I can understand their reluctance to return your cats without payment.
I would not, however, pay for such a service up front. But would have asked the cost beforehand and have put the money aside.
Still you know what to do next time.......

[Toni Ford]

Sorry but I am also with the cattery. The owner's customer service skills seemed to be sadly lacking but she had every right to expect payment when you collected your cats. Having boarded 6 cats for your holiday period she was obviously due a hefty payment and when you arrived to collect them without being able to pay I'm not surprised that she was a bit annoyed. Please bear in mind that they are a small business, not a multi national!

I am sure that they will rectify the problem by adding a clause to their T&C's section of their website but please give them some slack and don't take the matter further.

Toni

[JulieandBarney]

To be fair, though I understand your thoughts, as to how the previous cattery works, I can not see how you can complain when asked to pay for your cats boarding on collection ? . . Surely you must have discussed this. Before just leaving 6 cats with them ?! . . I would find it quite normal to pay for a service rather than say ' I will pay you tomorrow ' they do not know that you will honour that as they do not know you. . . If I book to stay overnight somewhere generally I have to pay in advance, just because they are your pets should not excuse you . . . To be honest if I was in the cattery I would be pretty annoyed to say the least that you thought you could just collect them without payment . . Just to suit your needs . . It is up to you, not them to sort out the payment, as others have said, you wouldn't do your weekly shop in the supermarket and not pay . . But say you will pop in tomorrow and pay up . . . It would be treated as theft if you did not pay at the point . . Just remember it for next time . .

[BroadBean66]

Wanted to thank people for their replies and inform them that i will pursuing things through the legal route.Comments received significantly were of the opinion that to some degree there should be an expectation of the cattery owner being annoyed about not being paid immediately despite this not laid out in their terms and conditions.Personally i am of the opinion that while any cattery owner might be annoyed it is not acceptable,at least on my part, to express this in the manner already described.In my line of work if i spoke to a client or colleague in this way i would almost certainly be suspended from my duties with immediate effect by my regulating professional body irrespective of the issue under discussion or investigation.Sadly i think we are a nation of people accepting of poor customer care in business based domains and our need to look to our own potential short comings rather than those of the businesses we use limits robust regulation being implemented sooner when things go wrong.

[Hunnybunny]

Were your cats ill cared for? Poorly when you got them back? Mistreated or harmed in any way?

If they were fit and well when you pick them up I truely don't understand what your problem is?!!

As a small business owner I dread to meet people that throw their weight about under completely unreasonable circumstances especially when I have fulfilled my end of the contract satisfactorily.

When would you have paid the cattery? When you saw fit? When the cats had had a vet trip and been declared fit by a professional?

I'm sorry but you are being completely unreasonable and thankfully we don't live in a world where everybody has this attitude.

Good luck but I suspect strongly and sincerely hope this falls in the catteries favour for the sake of all small business owners.

[Baggypants]

Would you collect your cat from the vet and expect to be given time to pay?

Would you go to the hairdresser and expect to be given time to pay?

I hope this cattery, which is probably a small business being run from someone's home, has the means to defend themselves "legally" from this stupidity!

You are potentially putting someones business in jeopardy - a business that perhaps employs people, helps to pays their mortgage and feed their family. Just because someone spoke to you crossly because they had fulfilled their side of the business and you weren't willing to pay for it there and then!

I am all in favour of making sure large corporations don't rip us off but small businesses such as catteries should be paid on time when they have done a job otherwise they can't stay in business!

If you need to have the "last word" on the matter then send them a strongly worded letter telling them how dissappointed you were in their service (and how you're not going to recommend them to all your cat friends) but taking a legal angle sounds completely unecessary.

[greenkitty]

What is going to be your legal case? That she was a bit narked when you didn't pay? I think you might be laughed out of court... You're lucky she's not taking legal action against you!!!

[Jacks]

I think it's really disappointing that you want to take a 'legal route' on this. Services such as a cattery provide are not the same as a receiving a bill for goods. Can you send the service back? No. The cattery have cared for your 6 cats for a period and are entitled to payment upon collection. The fact that they are living beings and not dry cleaning is what you are seeing as the crucial aspect here - but no harm was going to come to your cats if you had needed to wait another day because you were unable to pay... and the fact that you were unable to pay indicated a lack of forethought on your part, not negligence on theirs.

Most catteries ask for a deposit and expect payment on collection or before - personally I have paid up front, but then I've researched and visited before sending my cats, as they are so precious. Maybe you are to some extent annoyed with yourself for not having done the same. Personally I think along with being a nation that don't expect good customer service we are also becoming a nation who are intolerant of personal criticism and who expect compensation when things don't go as we would like. If the cattery owner's tone was heated I expect yours was too. As others have said the cattery are a small business; they probably never imagined someone would think to turn up and take their cats after a holiday without paying there and then. I guess they'll make sure they make that an explicit declaration in future. Just because it wasn't stated at the time of booking doesn't give people the right to deny payment. It sounds like your previous cattery were extremely trusting; that's their decision. I would expect most small businesses would be very wary of the sort of situation you put them in by not making provision to pay before you went on holiday.

Agree with Baggypants - if you didn't like their tone, don't use them again. Write a letter of complaint if you thought the cattery was substandard. That has nothing to do with your obligation to pay. This is not a legal matter.

[MarkB]

LOL Julia - Having previously owned a small business, it never occurred to me that anyone might expect to pay me the following month - they would have been refused anyway. You may find all local catteries refuse to deal with you in future. Good catteries are hard to find. Especially during high season.

[Liz]

Sorry but it is normal business practice to pay for the cattery in full on your return personally wouldn't waste your money on pursuing legal action the owner might just win!!!

[Crewella]

Totally agree with everyone else. I run a small business and couldn't survive without prompt payment. The point you seem to be missing is that you were a new client and an unknown quantity - I would have felt the same as the cattery owner.

This seems to be a culture clash between a corporate ethos and a small family business. In spite of 'robust regulations', as a client I would usually far prefer to deal with a small local business than a large corporation - especially when it comes to care of my pets.

This also reeks of a toddler's tantrum when they've not got their own way - please think long and hard about what you propose to do, and the real motivation here..

[Simons Cats]

Is this person trolling??

If not I am shocked, appalled and actually find it funny you think you have a legal case. If your cats were well looked after and cared for, I'd be sending them a bunch of flowers to apologise for the misunderstanding and in the hope you have a cattery for your next hol. I wonder if that's the reason the first cattery didn't take your cats, due to your poor payment record.

You have no idea what the cattery owner may have faced before, rather than hostile, she was probably shocked that what must have been a significant payment wasn't going to be settled. You expect to walk in and take your cats with no thought of the care they received. Sorry but you're being totally unreasonable.

[bobbys girl]

Simon's Cats - you could have something there!
Crewella - ditto
I wish I'd had you guys as customers when I was in business! The number of times people wanted to 'hang on to the designs to show my wife/husband'. Yeh, free designs and a cheap job done by some bloke up the road.
BroadBean - please think again

[Hazel]

Surely a troll? If not how awful!
I have never turned up at a cattery without the bail money. I'm interested to know what in this life it is acceptable to pay for later: Hotel rooms? Groceries? Dentist? Restaurant? Your own holiday? The taxi back from the airport (well how can they expect you to have cash on you after a holiday)
Actually no, I'm not really that interested.

The first cattery I took my first cats to was terrible, the let my cat use his bed as a litter tray all week (they did keep washing it....which totally ruined it and left it out of shape) after I had specifically asked them not to use wood litter because they didn't like it. I wish I had complained rather than just vowing never to leave them anywhere like that again, but it's years too late now and I was just relieved to get them back home and upset that it wasn't the fantastic luxury service we were shown when we visited. I can't see what the complaint is here though, you were asked to pay and didn't want to?

What a load of rubbish!

[KittyWitty]

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. Suing because you were expected to pay for a service you had used - imagine if the world worked like that.

you will be laughed out of the lawyers office.

[Hunnybunny]

I have never turned up at a cattery without the bail money

[misspaws]

Well this is outrageous and I think it must be from a troll! If not I hope they have very deep pockets because I cannot imagine that any legal process would find the cattery at fault in any way and the time and money would be wasted. A good legal advisor would not recommend any legal action. I have never considered not paying the cattery upon collection of my cats! I always have collected my cats first thing in the morning after I return from holiday.

[lilynmitz]

If this poster does decide to take the legal route, they will get very short shrift from any solicitor. There is no law governing against being justifiably annoyed at not being paid in accordance with common good practice, there was no loss to the cat owner other than a bit of embarrassment at not having the money on hand, and ok, maybe there was no small print at the time of contract, but the days of people paying for services received as and when it suits them are over. If there was no breach of contract in the standard of care provided to the cats, and this is not being alleged, then I'd say she's wasting her solicitor's time and her own carefully protected money. Would she leave a hotel without paying on departure? So why should it be different with the cattery? She could of course vote with her feet and use a different cattery in future, but I suspect they'll all expect the same payment terms, and quite reasonably so.

[gemmusto]

As a cattery owner myself, her handling skills needs improving but you can't expect the owner to let u pick up your cats without paying her/him first running a cattery is really hard work I can tell you it's very long hours indeed. I had people collecting their cats either they not had cash but then we never hear from again or their cheques bounced. It's really upset after doing all that hard work and not get paid esp if someone has 6 cats that's £22 a day I usually charge. If I knew the customer well I wouldn't worry if they didn't pay straight away but this cattery you been to doesn't know you that well so they can't trust everyone they just met.
hope this helps