Clipping "error" by professional clipper

Id be mortified if I'd done that, and tidy it up for free and give them a hefty discount.
Bad reputations grow faster than good so OPs clipper seems a little short sighted to say the least!

FYI I charge £45 for a blanket, same for a full/hunter. £25 for a pony chaser clip, £30 for a horse chaser.
I add on extra if I don't like the horse or don't like the person, tbh. And I don't clip anything dangerous/very nervous unless its sedated/twitched as appropriate.

I don't understand how people think its expensive. I certainly wouldn't expect someone else to get all their (very expensive) gear together, drive right to wherever I asked, and do a very skilled job well for £20.

I clip most of the horses in my area and have lots of repeat customers/word of mouth recommendations so I can't be thought of as too expensive!
 
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Tiddlypom said:
The woman doing the clipping should have fessed up and either knocked the price of the blanket clip down or offered to do the full clip for no extra charge.
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I agree with this! Yes, mistakes happen - but she should have apologised profusely and offered one of the options above imo, certainly not have asked for extra to turn it into a hunter/full clip! The horsey world talks and so many people are swayed by word of mouth. I'm sure that won't have done her any favours.
 
Patterdale said:
Id be mortified if I'd done that, and tidy it up for free and give them a hefty discount.
Bad reputations grow faster than good so OPs clipper seems a little short sighted to say the least!

FYI I charge £45 for a blanket, same for a full/hunter. £25 for a pony chaser clip, £30 for a horse chaser.
I add on extra if I don't like the horse or don't like the person, tbh. And I don't clip anything dangerous/very nervous unless its sedated/twitched as appropriate.

I don't understand how people think its expensive. I certainly wouldn't expect someone else to get all their (very expensive) gear together, drive right to wherever I asked, and do a very skilled job well for £20.

I clip most of the horses in my area and have lots of repeat customers/word of mouth recommendations so I can't be thought of as too expensive!
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I guess I just don't understand why someone wouldn't clip their own horse TBH. Although I can see as the person doing it you would need to pay tax, NI etc and make a living.
 
When I used to do DIY livery most of them had their own clippers and made a total pig's ear of their horses! I would always choose to pay someone to do my horses if I couldn't clip straight lines or large areas without tram lines, rather than having them walk round looking a state. That said, quite a lot of those advertising themselves as pro clippers around here are just people who have decided to make a few quid, and some of them I wouldn't want near my horses either.

And yes, I agree, the fault here was the asking for money to repair the mistake rather than doing it for free.

ps, and the reason I think a full clip costs more than a lesser clip, despite being easier, is that you're clipping off more hair and so blunting the blades more.
 
Blimey, I think that's pretty off of her - I'd have turned that in to a hunter clip at no extra cost!

Paid someone to clip my horse this year (always done it myself) as my clippers decided to not work after two attempts and half a bald shoulder! As I am allergic to horses, especially mine, and as a result LOATHE clipping as I will suffer fir a few days after, we decided to get someone else in! She charged £35 for a high blanket clip with legs and head off. I thought THAT was expensive! Ha ha
 
However professional they appear, they are just humans doing a seasonal job.
All humans make mistakes.

But this woman should have given a fairly big discount or done a full clip at s reduced rate.

Owner should have stood her ground and.not paid.

£50 is a lot for a blanket clip too!
 
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If we make a mistake in the business that I own we bend over backwards to recompense the customer.
If I had done that to a client's horse it would be profuse apologies, no charge and a free clip next time!
It is easier to keep an existing customer than find a new one, and wouldn't you recommend the clipper with that level of customer service! All it will cost the clipper is a bit of time.
 
MileAMinute said:
I get the safety aspect, but why charge more if you don't like the horse/person?
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Because if people/horses are unpleasant to deal with then I'd rather not deal with them, but if I know they're paying a bit extra I can bear it better ;)
When I started I used to go to all sorts of places and spend hours faffing about with owners that were badly organised or horses that were badly disciplined for tuppence an hour, but now I'm a bit more choosy :D
 
I would have expected a £10 discount for the mistake as the reason most people pay professionals to clip is because they would do a better job than themselves and if you specifically paid someone to clip your horse so the horse would look good and now it does not then I think the clipper should have been more apologetic.

I used to pay someone to clip my pony and now do it myself to save money and also so I can do him whenever he needs to rather than have to make an appointment. I am not good at clipping and he does not look smart but it is functional and serves the purpose, hopefully with more practice I will get better. Most people I know would not put up with their horse not looking smart if they are not good at clipping and in the learning phase and therefore pay others to do it.
 
I admit to being a complete dunce when it comes to clipping - my friend does it for the cost of a Frankie and Bennys breakfast.

I would not be pleased if I paid money for any professional service and they made a mistake - the decent and good business sense thing to do is to admit the mistake and offer a relevant level of compensation which could have been something as simple as an apology and a tenner off. Business reputations are easily damaged and given what OP has experienced I would not hire this individual to clip my horses if I needed someone to do it. Regardless of how small an error it was its how they deal with it that matters. This is the reality of business
 
MissTyc said:
Posting this for a friend who does have an account here but doesn't want to be identified if possible.

Paid £50 for a blanket clip to someone advertising clipping services, adverts stated fully insured (though she says she did not double check this). Clippers were in good condition, woman seemed to know what she was doing. Clip was fine in principle BUT the woman accidentally ran the clippers over the horse's bottom, as in over the top of the quarters!

So the horse now is sporting a blanket clip + random 3 inch clipped line across the quarters. Woman said she "got distracted" and thought she was doing a full clip (having already finished the other side of the horse as a blanket).

Luckily friend is of the Life is Too Short variety and decided not to bother getting upset about something that will grow back, however daft horse will look for the rest of the winter, but she did try to negotiate a discount on the basis of the error. Woman was having none of it and got angry and said horse was clipped now, as agreed. She offered to turn it into a full clip for another £20 and made that sound like a huge favour as she didn't really have time. My friend decided to stick with the ruined blanket clip for rugging purposes and handed over the cash as she felt a bit intimidated.

Nothing one can do about it now, but was wondering if this had ever happened to anyone? What did you do, what should one do, is it just one of those things (and yes, life is definitely too short, but I still think I would flip out. I clip my own and I even hate myself for bad lines lol) ,,,
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Exactly the same thing happened to me with my mare this month! I too am a life is too short sort of person and it will grow back and we don't compete so not too upset or angry. However my YO was annoyed as she had recommended the clipper so I didn't have to pay for it and my YO has tidied up herself. At the very least she should have put it right and not charged anymore!
 
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