Darling Dogs Boutique — Attraction in Sydney

My pup loves coming here so we’ve taken her back time and time again even though she’s been knicked the past two times during her hygeine clip resulting in irritation and a visit to the vet. Today when I took her, I requested that scissors be used for the hygiene clip to avoid this and was met with a confrontational attitude and a ‘we’ll see what we can do’ for mentioning this (asking that my dog wasn’t cut and providing a simple solution). Usually the person at the front asks what I’m looking for and if there are any requests, I was met with disdain for this one. Then on pickup, I asked to use the credit for a previous booking where I was charged for an extra hour of daycare (3 instead of 2) after a grooming appointment. (We never took her back for daycare as she came out absolutely busting to get outside to use the bathroom then drank an entire bowl of water, so it seemed she hadn’t been toileted for the 5 hours.) I was told this credit was revoked because the person last time didn’t know what he was doing and wasn’t authorised to give a credit. I suppose my request really upset her, as she didn’t even know the date of my previous booking, I had to correct her, so how could she decide a credit was wrong? I was also told that I’d be charged an extra handling fee in the future because my dog wasn’t cooperative getting her nails clipped. I’ve never had this issue before and other groomers including the groomer who usually does my dog at Dogue (who is always happy and kind) always says how happy my dog gets to see the washer and how cooperative she is and even accepted her into daycare without a trial because she saw how gentle her temperament was. Not to mention my dog happily lets me clip and file her nails at home, so not sure if this was an attempt to overcharge or if these people made my happy dog so uneasy that she was wriggling away. What is extra handling- holding her down? Then, as I put my pup into the car, she was shedding everywhere which is so uncommon for her being a Labradoodle, as it seems they didn’t bother to brush her which is supposed to be included in a Wash & Tidy groom. When we arrived hom, she was scratching and licking herself at dried blood as they have knicked her again during her hygiene clip! We won’t be back- we’ll make the trip out to the place we trust to look...

I had a very poor experience with Dogue grooming and won’t be returning. My biggest issue was the number of unexpected extra charges that felt excessive.

I was charged $11 for oatmeal shampoo because I advised one of my dogs couldn’t use perfumed products. For context, a full bottle of the exact same shampoo retails for $13.

I was also charged $5 per dog for “dematting”, even though one of my dogs had very minimal matting. When I questioned it, I was told it was for two tiny spots, one behind the leg and one on the ear - on a 3kg dog. It felt excessive and unjustified.

On top of that, they apply a “green fee” of $3 per dog, which isn’t clearly disclosed. It’s hidden in the subtext under pricing, not listed in the general pricing section, which is misleading. I would suggest to this company to put this in your pricing menu rather than misleading people with the price and putting it in your subtext.

Even the assistant behind the counter agreed with me that these charges were unnecessary, which says a lot.

In 11 years of owning dogs and using many groomers, I’ve never encountered so many minor but stacked-on fees. This was my first and last visit.

If you do choose this service - be aware they have many extra fees they aren’t afraid to stack...

I brought my 11 month old Vizsla puppy into Dogue Balmain to get his nails clipped. I have bringing in there since he was 10 weeks old. The last time I brought him in they said he was so well behaved. This time the staff member mentions to me she had to go in the back to check if he has to be doubled handled as they had notes on their system. When she returned she informed me that my puppy tried to bite the handler ( never tried or snapped at anybody before) and they would now have to charge me more for the double handling.They never informed me of what the extra charge was. I purchased other merchandise in the store and when my puppy came out I noticed outside the store that his nails had been butchered, so cut right back into the nerve. Whoever cut his nails did not know what they were doing, I returned back into the store to get a refund. Be very careful sending your dog in here , not only do they do a really bad job , they also find ways to overcharge you without letting you know the costs. So...