Hi n-tb
Thank you for your lovely review. We are unable to work out who you are and would love to send you a thank you email. Could you please email me on [email protected] letting me which email to say thank you to :)
Thanks again
Regards,
Jules

I am very confused by the issues of concern that you addressed. Confused and heart-broken.

You addressed that the cattery is very noisy. I am very confused by this as every other client has expressed how quiet and tranquil the cattery is.

We are over staffed at Divine Creatures. The boarding codes recommendation for staff-to-cat ration is one staff per 55 cats, we have one staff per 15 cats. How could this be a negative? It allows us to give each cat individual attention. All our primary care staff are also qualified veterinary nurses.

You requested for our staff to stop cleaning and doing their job whiles you checked into Divine Creatures. You were there for nearly two hours, which could negatively impact on our guests. However we did work around you and accommodate your every request

You reported the music is too load however the music is specific cat relaxing music and is set at an audible level so the cats inside their rooms can hear the music.

You addressed that you were not kept updated. During your cats first stay, you were sent 11 emails in 4 days. During her second stay you were sent 4 emails in 10 days, one of them was a beautiful video that Kate took a lot of time to do for you. This was all provided for you, free of charge. The previous reviews have all thanked us for sending one free email update nothing has changed. We do our best to get photos and videos but not all cats want this intrusion and can find it stressful. Our prime concern is the welfare, feeding and the caring for the cats and stopping to take photos all the time can take us away from this.

You have complained that we were unable to groom your cat. At Divine Creatures we are a gentle care facility and deeply respect cats. Our priority is to ensure your cat is happy during her holiday with us and not pinned down and forced to do something that she does not want. We attempted and achieved to lightly brush Your cat and you were not charged for our time attempted and achieving this. I can understand complaining if you were charged however, we issued you a full refund.

Your issue with the manager Monique was because you claimed that you told Monique that you bought food from our store. In fact after reviewing the cameras and 4 staff searching for this mysterious bag of food you claimed you bought, you had fabricated this story and had in fact not bought any food from us.

You express that we are not transparent regarding what we feed our cats. We sent you THREE email communications prior to boarding detailing our policy on brushing, food, vaccination, flea requirements, etc. In addition, our terms and conditions must be read before proceeding with the booking, it is then sent to you another 2 times. Our Terms and Conditions which CLEARLY explains our food is provided. I am confused how you are complaining that our premium royal canin food is provided and you were not told about this. We just couldnt be clearer.
Kate, Silvi, Aimee and myself spent a significant amount of time winning Your cat over and she enjoyed her holiday with us during her second visit. We all provided her with hours of TLC therapy, love, care and attention Your cat had during her stay with us which was evidenced to you during the told of 14 emails sent to you during the 2 stays Your cat had with us. I am confused why this hasnt been your priority focus, appreciated or even observed.

Well to say I am shocked to receive this kind of reply is an understatement.
Firstly, I appreciate the standard you have at Divine Creatures and can see you have spent a lot of time and effort in making it what it is today. However, a review is a subjective piece. I am not criticising Divine Creatures but merely giving my account, and my opinion. Im sorry you have taken it so personally but it was certainly not to offend or criticise. This is purely my experience and I believe a review has every right to reflect that. Now lets address your issues.
1. Yes I do feel the cattery is noisy. I did say in my review that my home is extremely quiet and that my cat is very isolated. Therefore I feel it is quite natural that I find it noisy. Your webpage says it is tranquil and quiet so thats what I expected. But given there was constantly lots of people cleaning and footsteps and doors opening and closing, no I did not find it quiet & tranquil at all. Purely my opinion that I had expected, and hoped, the room my cat was in had been better insulated, because the website said it would be quiet. And as you stated, I was there almost 2hrs, and it was not quiet or tranquil.
2. I never said that your staffing numbers were an issue so I dont know where you think I did. In fact, Im pretty sure I have never even mentioned it. Your staff however, told me that there was limited staff members who were very busy attending to the 90+ cats you had on site and could therefore not afford the time to keep me up to date via email. On a side note, it would be nice if it was clear on your website all the extra services one can pay for (the dedicated half hr grooming for $10, the email updates for $100 for a week etc), rather then just the jungle gym, or waiting for the confirmation emails. A confirmation email is just that-confirms what you already know. Ie the booking. Not really to contain additional information. But this is not wrong either.
Otherwise I love the fact that your primary carers are qualified vet nurses. And even the ones who arent, are trained in cat behaviour. This is fantastic!
3. At NO TIME did I EVER ask your staff to stop cleaning. I am shocked that you would say this. I would NEVER ask something like that because it is a necessity and a place of business. So whoever told you that completely and utterly fabricated this. IF your staff WAS asked to stop cleaning, it certainly was NOT at my request!
4. Perhaps the music has scientific back up and thats great. However, as you said, I was in that room myself for almost 2hours and I know how loud it was. And I know how loud my cats home environment is (not at all), which is why I found it quite loud. My cat is easily startled by noises. Ive had her for 11years so I know when she is stressed and what is relaxing for her. I merely mentioned in my review that I thought it was too loud and it would have been great if it could have been a lower volume. Purely an opinion. Not to be taken as criticism, as you obviously have.
5. Yes I was sent 11emails in 4 days. However I do not count replies to my questions as an update email. At no time did I ever see on your website that I could not have regular emails/updates. In fact, it says that email updates are doable. But it does not say only at a cost of $100/week. So I did not think I was doing anything wrong. It was only after the first visit that it was told to me that there is a cost involved if I want daily emails. Hence why on the second visit, I did not email constantly to ask how my cat was doing. I think I may have sent one email initially to ask if she has settled in. And that was all, as I did not want to purchase the $100 deal. Since your website says that email updates are available I did not think one email would be an issue as I was quite happy with the brief reply that she was ok.
I do not believe that as a client, I MUST read everyone elses reviews to discover your business only provides ONE free email. Why cant this be clearly stated in a price list somewhere easy to find?
Yes I received the lovely video that Kate made for me on her own accord, and appreciated all her efforts. I replied that yes I had received it and thanked her. I do not count HER reply email of oh Im glad you received it as an update email. That (and the emails of the previous 11 you mentioned) are part of an ongoing conversation. Not update emails on separate occasions. I did not expect the video. I had no idea you even did them. Although I do appreciate your efforts, this was something Devine Creatures/Kate did on her own accord. I mentioned it would be nice to have a photo sent to me. I did not expect a whole piece of art. I literally would have been more then happy with just a random photo of my cat sleeping or whatever whilst you were walking past. I certainly did not expect a whole movie where my cat would have to play a part. This was also before I understood that any updates would actually cost me money. Other catteries and carers I have been to always provided these free of charge so I apologise if I assumed the same from Divine Creatures. Once again, I feel a price list detailing everything available would be an excellent addition to your website.
So the emails you did send me, even if they were following from the same conversation (which you have individually counted as an update email), were really appreciated. But once I understood this was not what you normally do, I had no problems with accepting that. Clearly that was my initial misunderstanding which I feel could be avoided if you could clearly state this on your website, instead of expecting clients to read all the other reviews. I did not think one brief email on the second visit would be an issue. Especially as I wasnt expecting a long update-a shes fine/settled now would have been fine.
6. I did not complain that you were unable to groom my cat. To be fair, I did say in my review that if my cat wasnt groomed, it could actually be my cats fault as she may not have let anyone near her to do so. However, when i picked up my cat, I asked your staff member if anyone had managed to give her a brush at all at any time,and she told me yes, that they gave her a little brush each time they spent some time with her. Therefore, it was safe to say even a 1min brush would not have allowed me to get 4 full brushes of hair out of her when I got home. Ive had her for 11yrs-that only happens when she hasnt been brushed for a few days. So Im not sure what standard the brushing was that she got. But once again, I DID mention that may have been my cats fault if she didnt let anyone groom/brush her. However, perhaps you may want to tell your staff not to tell clients they did get to brush the cats if its only a little tap. THAT is why I was surprised to get so much hair myself. Because your staff told me she had been getting little brushes when they spend time with her. At no time did I expect you to force my cat to do anything. So Im shocked that you believe I expected you to force her. This was something I felt during the first visit too. I did not appreciate one of your staff members making me feel like I was expecting them to force her. However, as I said, it was only this one staff member I had any issues with bc she made me feel like I was a terrible owner.
Further more, I asked if the cats ever got a brush during cuddle time that was not a dedicated half hour groom which I discovered was an additional service I could purchase after the first visit when I enquired about grooming. And your staff told me YES. So I dont think it was unreasonable to assume that someone would attempt to give her a little brush when they spent time with her. I fully understood this would not be a dedicated groom. But even a 30sec-1min brush is effective in keeping her fur tidy. I dont have any issues with this-my issue is being TOLD they she has been getting a little brush during cuddle time.
7. The issue with Monique. I already explained to Monique that I misunderstood the website that says Divine Creatures can give cats their special/particular diets. It does not say that DC provides food as well which is included in the cost. Therefore I assumed that this sentence meant we provided our own food and DC would be happy to feed it. Hence when I arrived for the first visit and realised I had left my cats food at home, I saw that you sold her food. So I said to Monique I could just buy it. Monique said ok. And started typing on her computer. I assumed she was adding this to my bill and that once I was gone, she would take the food up to be used. I did not realise that the food was never purchase. Hence the big confusion when I asked for the food. It took quite a while before I realised that I never needed to bring the food with me to begin with, and Monique made me feel I was ridiculous in thinking I had to provide my cats special diet. Your website says you will feed the cats the cat food you use. It does not CLEARLY say it will also be able to provide any special diet as long as that brand is in stock as Monique finally told me later after we realised the mistake. Hence my review recommends more clarity on your website. I am disgusted you are accusing me of fabricating this story when Monique knows full well this was a misunderstanding and that this is what happened. I would also recommend that a detailed invoice always be provided for any cats visit. Im sure your clients would appreciate it. Of course there was no record of the food purchase, because it had obviously not been purchased as I originally thought.
I read the invoice-but I thought i must not have read it properly so I said I would go back and read it carefully, and I told Monique I had already read it when she insisted on showing me the invoice on the computer. I looked at it on the screen again bc Monique was very insistent that I did so. To be polite, I did. So Im not sure where you got the idea that I said I didnt even read it.
8. Transparency. Yes I did read the email a you sent prior to boarding. However, I assumed the grooming services listed were additional add ons to the automatic little brushes your staff told me my cat would get in cuddle time. And I did say I was happy to pay for this additional groom if my cat allowed it. I even said which days to do it, IF POSSIBLE. But I took this an an extra thing. Not the ONLY brushing she would get.
Your emails says:
Please bring any food you wish your cats to be fed. Cats will be fed the highest quality premium cat food of Royal Canin Sensible. Any other diet other than the one supplied by Divine Creatures or if your cat has special dietary needs e.g: Diabetic, Urinary Tract problems, Dietary sensitivity / allergy, we are happy to feed them these diets. You may purchase a bag through us or supply the diet yourself. Sufficient food must be supplied by you to feed your cat(s) for the whole period of stay. You will not be charged any extra for this service
This sounds like youre saying that I needed to provide my own food for my cat. So I dont think my misunderstanding was unreasonable at all. Im quite appalled that despite realising there was a misunderstanding, you still blame me like it was intentional.
9. I did not imply Monique is cruel or uncaring and I can not be held responsible for your take on my words. I even clearly stated that I got bad vibes from one staff member only. This is clearly a subjective opinion. I apologise if I offended anyone, but I did not appreciate how she interacted with my cat, nor did I find her reassurance that reassuring. In fact, I found her quite flippant and dismissive of my concerns. Perhaps she was fed up with my worry.

10. I definitely appreciate the efforts the rest of the staff went through to winning Savannah over. And I made a SIGNIFICANT point to be very positive and complimentary in how you all dealt with my cat, and myself. Particularly you yourself Jules, and also Josh. I never met Aimee. And I was never formally introduced to anyone on my first visit. I believe you Jules were the only one to ever introduce yourself (it would have been nice to say you were the owner too). Rather people just started talking to me like I should know. I read name badges to know who people were and looked on your website at a later stage to understand everyones roles. And I was very pleased with what I read. However I believe perhaps on a first visit, you could perhaps introduce everyone and explain Jules is the founder (which I was very happy about) etc, Monique the manager etc. You cant really assume everyone will read the entire website and all the reviews.

Despite all the negatives, I believe I was ALSO very positive about the majority of my experience at DC, esp with Jules and Josh. And I largely believe a lot of the problems came from misunderstandings. Im sorry you feel you cannot accept my review, despite none of the problems really being anyones fault. I believe these misunderstandings could have been avoided if perhaps on the first visit, you book a little more time and introduce everyone and go through everything so clients fully understand about the diets and food, and the extra services. I believe most of my misunderstandings arose bc it was assumed I understood everything as you meant it. I am sorry you feel I am therefore not suitable to be a client of your business just because I gave an honest review of my experiences. As you can see, I was also extremely complimentary of your service and was more then willing to continue to use your business as I travel a lot, despite the initial mishaps. But I fully understand that you feel you dont need my business and I am sorry you didnt feel you could move past the initial problems. I thankyou for the prompt refund of the holding cost, and also for the efforts you, and your staff have gone through during my visits. I hold no animosity towards DC, I am only sorry you accuse me of lying and cant accept my misunderstandings. I wish you and your business well and would still recommend it to people