Madeline's Pet Care - Santa Clara, California

Amar Vadhia

I have taken my dog to this location multiple times. The grooming is good. However, the most recent time I went, my dog was attacked by a Pitbull that the staff knew was aggressive. They told me when I picked my dog up, "There was an accident, an aggressive dog escaped her cage and bit your dog. We knew it was aggressive and locked it in a cage away from the rest of the dogs". To me, this screams that the staff/owner does not check the crates/cages locking mechanisms to ensure proper safety. I took my dog to the ER vet later that day. I called and emailed the owner of Madeline's pet care last week, the same day the incident occurred. It has been 6 days with zero response from the owner or the rest of the staff. Zero. Response. A staff member told me "Don't worry about it, I used to be a vet tech, just apply warm compresses". When I took my dog to the ER, the surgeon gave her anti-bacterial medications, pain meds, and told me that I chose the better option of having her checked out. I would rather trust a ER vet surgeon on this matter. But seriously, it's been 6 days. How has the owner not even responded to my email yet? Seriously, be better Madeline's Pet Care. Be better.

Gary Maxwell

Took our puppy in for a first time grooming and he came back absolutely handsome as heck. The ladies are fabulous and listened to my preferences and offered great advice. Puppy came out happy and we’ll be back in six weeks! Only downside is the location, but I can deal with that.

Tamar Borochowitz

We brought our 10yo Border collie to be groomed at Madeline’s pet care and are very happy with our experience. They are very professional and know exactly how to groom each breed and they had the patience to groom our dog (needs a lot of combing). The availability was good and they seemed gentle with the dogs.
I had some misunderstanding and was surprised about the pricing so make sure you understand the total. But we are still happy with the outcome and we plan on being regulars. Thank you Terrie and team!

Archana Raja

My dog recently had a grooming session with this company. We usually have a good experience . This time, not only was the host rude in her tone, but they have carelessly cut too deep into the skin of my puppy near his snout and there is a red patch. I do not recommend this place as I don’t feel safe leaving my dog with them for four hours.

David Hoffman

Madeline's Pet Grooming was responsive to my phone call, quick to be able to explain what they would offer my 7-month old golden doodle and what it would cost. I dropped Stella off at 8 and picked her up at noon after getting a phone call to let me know she was ready and she looked great. Nice women, good service and reasonable prices!

Darmie Park

Decent groom job but they said they would have to keep my dog from drop off @8am till 12pm PT. When I called. They said still not ready. Picked up closer to 2pm PT. My dog was very upset and traumatized for being in the cage that long other than getting groomed. Clearly they wanted business over what is best for the dog. Never again will I go to a place that wants to keep my dog more than the time it takes to groom.

Cliff Bryant

Having gone three times now to groom our year old Portuguese Water dog, we are very satisfied with their services. We drop off our dog around 8:30 and get a call that he is ready before 2:00. We gave printed instructions on how to groom a Portie and they followed them! He looks good and like a Portie should look! We are very impressed because other groomers we visited with our previous Portie could care less. However they listen and give advice. Their suggestions on time to groom have been very good. They are friendly and clearly like dogs. They care for their customers, both human and canine! Their prices are very reasonable ($140 for 50 pound dog), not grossly inflated as other groomers have done ($300). We will continue to use and support them.

Ishan Sharma

PSA: HORRIBLE COMMUNICATION, HORRIBLE PRICES, HORRIBLE SERVICE.

See end of post for other businesses who respect your pets and time.

PRE CURSOR
First off, this review may seem as a surprise. 4.6+ stars on Yelp. Their storefront says "People love us on Yelp." 30+ years in business. I thought this would be a safe bet, right? Not so fast. Read on.

SUMMARY:
Stepping into Madeline's Pet Review is entering nightmare where communication is archaic, quotes are as arbitrary as sticking a finger up in the air, and customer service is nothing short of a circus act.

STRIKE 1: COMMUNICATION
Don't think about easy scheduling with this business. They insist on phone calls to book. After calling, I asked for a simple request: can you please text or email me so I can be reminded on when to come in? Spam callers and voicemails make it hard. They don't have any other options. They want to make it hard.

I was met with silence until the day of my appointment where they decided that texting me a reminder was okay now. After I received it, I said I'd head over immediately.

When I got there, I proceeded to be shouted at by the owner (?). I was promptly scolded for being "late" - despite the fact that nobody bothered to inquire about my travel time, which happened to span several cities.

Is getting yelled at when first visiting a proper way to feel as a first time customer?

STRIKE 2: PRICES
Do not expect to walk in here feeling good about your wallet. Their prices are nothing short of highway robbery.

The owner quoted me $180 for my dog. Let's talk less about the price (high) and more about the approach. I think it's reasonable, if you are spending $150, to ask how people got to this number. I expected some sort of reasoning so I know how this was calculated - perhaps based on size, weight, or breed.

Unfortunately, Madeline's response was "Because I said so and we've been in business for [40+ however many] years.

I looked on their Yelp page and they said "our prices are reasonable and competitive'. That's completely false. Maybe it's high, that's okay, but how about you try to put some finesse on the customer service? There is a $30 off first time customer - can you mention that? Can you perhaps give a more detailed explanation of the pricing so I feel like a human at your storefront?

STRIKE 3: DOG UNFRIENDLY
Upon entering the store, I was greeted not by the soothing presence of animal lovers, but yelling from the store owner and barking dogs. Dogs were in a cage and when one poor soul dared to bark, the owner said "Hey! shutup". This is a he-said-she-said, but my initial experience is that this is not a dog-friendly place. To further support, the owner seemed to dismiss my problem: I needed a haircut for my dog. She said to "go somewhere else - you will be unsatisfied here".

I'm glad she said this: I would be unsatisfied.

I drove my long drive home with my unshaved dog. I called up another groomer who promptly scheduled me, only for $110, full-service.

There are many grievances raised here, such as being yelled at that I would not wish upon anyone. I am a business owner myself and was shocked to see such poor handling of new customers.

I would not wish this dog place for grooming amongst my worst enemies. Please avoid for high prices, bad service, and a seemingly dog unfriendly place.

Here are a list of alternatives that I've had much better experiences with. You can consider these if you don't want my experience with bad service and high prices:
- Unity Bulldogs (San Jose)
- Pawfection (Milpitas)
- A Dog's Tail

I am open to the store owner reaching out to make amends, but as of now, I am so turned off. I have never been a business that has treated me so badly, not just, dog grooming store, but local business in general.