Biscuits & Bath - Greenwich Village — Local services in New York

I ignored the reviews on: yelp, citysearch, insiderpages, etc...why? because I spoke with an awesome sales person on the phone, that's why. She told me about the great benefits of socialization versus personal training. Don't make the same mistake I did. She made it seem like the kindergarten was a great, great place. A place where there are actually people who are responsible. A place that didn’t smell like garbage. Instead, upon entering the open room with decay on the floors that looked like a torture chamber, there was a sick puppy at the kindergarten, the Murray Hill location was nothing but a disgusting smelly nightmare and was nothing like the location I visited first to check and see if this place was decent, here downtown by where we live. Unfortunately, the sick puppy in this kindergarten session of 5 was sitting right next to my dog...the trainer during the kindergarten notified the group and said the dog was "getting over being sick and just threw up this morning, so be careful." Later on, that dog left early when others had puppy playgroup time. Two days later, my dog was sneezing and coughing. Turns out she got kennel cough and a cold from the puppy and we had to spend $250 on vet bills. When I called up and spoke with a representative at Biscuits and Bath to notify them of this irresponsibility, a representative said they would speak with the director as well as the manager of the location and get back to me that day. They mentioned that an option would be that they would replace the time my dog would be missing in the kindergarten (2weeks) with personal training sessions, until she recovered enough to go back to the kindergarten - due to what transpired and because the puppy was sick, someone would come to the home to train her instead of her delaying for 2 weeks. In short, neither the director nor manager contacted me that "same day" and I had to call back the next day, where I was told I would receive a call indefinitely that day from the director. The director, David Muriello, called me at approximately 4pm on a Friday exclaiming that he spoke with the manager of the location and there was nothing they did wrong, and there was never a sick puppy there – “your dog must have gotten sick somewhere else.” Mind you, this was the first time my dog stepped foot outside of the apartment since we got her. He went on to say, "sorry there is nothing we can do." Nothing you can do? How about offer me something? like the free personal training sessions that were offered originally by your representative? Instead he offered me a refund minus the first session I went to, OR a credit of nearly $400 that the kindergarten cost me towards Biscuits and Bath. I asked what about the free personal training session I was offered by the representative? He said "what? give you something for free? why? we did nothing wrong!" What a cowardly response. Coulnd’t admit something could have possibly went wrong at this despicable horror show for dogs. He went on with how this was his day off and he has other calls to make that are worth more money so “let’s reach a decision of what you want to do.” Wow. He wasn't willing to offer anything else. After I told him it was inevitable that my dog got the sickness from the kindergarten because she hadn't been walked outside and had been in my apartment her entire life until the kindergarten, he denied any possible trace that they let sick dogs into the kindergarten. Just deny deny deny. In the end, the moron gave me my full refund. It's a K-Mart version of the treatment your dog should be getting. Good, loyal customer service says the customer is always right! and good customer service is willing to compensate for mishaps. If he had done the right thing by me, (had the kindergarten been good) I would have probably praised this place, as I normally do. Instead, nickel and diming got this establishment absolutely nowhere....

Do NOT bring your dog here. My dog went in for grooming and when I picked him up, the crown of his head was raw, bleeding, and oozing. I asked what happened because I wanted to know how to care for the wound. Did my dog move while he was getting groomed? Did the groomer slip? These things HAPPEN! They immediately told me he had been brought in with a hot spot there, which he had not (obviously - it would have been highly visible). This is when I became concerned for how my dog had been treated while there. After the staff changed their story three times about when the spot was noticed and what happened, I spoke with a manager who informed me the only thing the groomer was at fault for was not alerting me to the hot spot as soon as she saw it to avoid the situation of me questioning how he got it. I was growing increasingly concerned with my dog's treatment, so I asked to see the tapes of his grooming. I was informed that for the privacy of their clients, this cannot be shared with me. This is legitimately the most absurd reason I've ever heard. Privacy rules obviously do not extend to pets - as though they'd be embarrassed to be seen in the bath! Moronic. A few days later I asked to see the tapes again, and in a lengthy letter inserted below, I was told the cameras had been offline at precisely the moments I needed to see. This is HORRIFYING. What in god's name is going on behind closed doors to our animals at this place that we can't see them being bathed? I repeat, do not send your pet here. It's a terrifying place. PLEASE NOTE: D IS FOR DOGGY AND DOGGY STYLE BOTH A FEW BLOCKS AWAY ARE REPUTABLE BUSINESSES, UNLIKE THIS ONE.

The manager wrote: The following is what was found:

Ollie was checked in for his reservation at 11:30am The bather noticed an irritated area on Ollie’s head at check-in however did not communicate this to management or get an additional team member’s opinion At this time the grooming room camera is off-line being serviced At 11:58:35am the camera returns to an on-line status and continues to be worked on (not good visibility, camera is being remounted and positioned) At 12:06:04pm the camera serving is completed (Ollie is not visible in the tub and is drying from his bath) At 12:19:32pm Ollie is taken from the dryer and placed on the table for brushing and spa services, Ollie shows no signs of distress or pain At 12:50pm Ollie received final check (to ensure coat is dry, all tangles have been brushed out) At 12:55pm the spot on Ollie’s head is noticed by our senior groomer during final check At 1:05:52pm the senior groomer leaves the room to tell management about Ollie’s head At 1:24:58pm manager enters grooming room to get Ollie for pick-up Ollie’s reservation is checked...

we've had the worst experience ever. They pretend they care and seduce you with cheaper fares in the beginning, while you are there care of the dog. But when you come back the dog is alone, or always with someone different cramped in a small space with a ton of other dogs. Then our dog had bloody diarrhea and we had to go to an emergency hospital. She picked up a parasite and it just can be from the day care because when she was still a puppy we carried her there and back home. We witnessed the other dogs eating excrements that for our taste were lying around for a little too long unattended. Of course you can't blame them entirely but it suddenly just didn't seem right there. Luckily we aren't one of those desperate not time to really care parents that have a 9 to 5 job every day so we had the luxury to go away. But the worst was the tone that woman had the last day we tried to bring her back. You not only speak every day to another person not having a clue about the profile of your dog they can get quite rude. And you feel the urge taking your money. I wish they at least would have been a little smarter in the way they communicate. Suddenly without letting you know beforehand its not the price you payed that one month, it was communicated as a puppy fare, suddenly its double the price from 400$ to at least 800$ saying the 400$ was a one month trial. Take it or leave it. And again, the way this was explained, the tone was unacceptable for us. Luckily we found out later that many other have experienced similar things and that there is a much better, more reliable place not far away. We definitely dont recommend this place, and this is the first time I actually took my time to publish a review because that place is just no good and I hope they will run out of...