A Message From Our Co-Founders Regarding Social Media Smear Campaign 

A Message From Our Co-Founders Regarding Social Media Smear Campaign 

Apr 08, 2021Emily Wallace

To Our Healthy Spot Community -

A smear campaign on social media has been targeting our company and our team over the past week.

There have been many lies spread about Healthy Spot.  We made this video to share the truth. You can also read the message below the video.

TRANSCRIPT

I’m Andrew here with my co-founder Mark.  We started Healthy Spot grooming salon 13 years ago to inspire healthy pet lifestyles and make a lasting, positive impact on our pets and our community.

We are proud of the business we’ve built.  Our company has helped thousands of customers improve the health and care of their pets, partnered with dozens of local rescue and animal welfare organizations, and stood among the leading advocates to ban the sale of puppy mill dogs and cats in California.

We are here to speak to our Healthy Spot community about a smear campaign on social media that has been targeting our company and our team over the past week.

There have been many lies spread about Healthy Spot.  We want you to know the truth.

In January, a former team member of ours made an inexcusable mistake. This person caused significant injuries to the tail of a dog that was being groomed at our Costa Mesa location.

We were heartbroken that this happened on our watch – and took full responsibility for the incident as soon as it happened.

Our team immediately took the dog to the vet and covered the cost of its care. Numerous Healthy Spot team members – including me – reached out to the pet’s family to apologize. We made it clear that we would cover any veterinary expenses associated with the pet’s injury – now and in the future.

We have kept that commitment.

We also posted a public apology about the incident on our website right away.

We immediately suspended the team member who had made this mistake. And…after investigating what happened, we found that this person had not followed our company’s rigorous safety protocols.  As a result, that person was let go.

Not long after the incident, we were contacted by a lawyer hired by the pet’s owner.

Through this attorney, the pet owner’s family threatened to “blast” Healthy Spot on social media unless we agreed to make a large cash payment to them separate and apart from the costs of their dog’s veterinary care.

They asked for $300,000.

It was clear that they were seeking to weaponize the platform of the pet owner’s daughter – who is a social media influencer with millions of followers.

Their lawyer promised that if we made this large six-figure payment to the dog owner, she and her daughter would sign non-disclosure agreements.

Otherwise… if we did not, they would blast us on social media and damage our business.

We were being extorted.

We rejected their demand more than a month ago and heard nothing. We reiterated that we would cover the veterinary expenses associated with their dog. Then, this past weekend, the pet owner’s daughter launched her promised social media campaign.

She has completely misrepresented what happened.

Our stores, our team members and our social media accounts have been flooded with vulgar and threatening calls and messages from her followers.

Hundreds of fake negative reviews have been posted about Healthy Spot. Our supporters, team members and partners have been targeted and bullied online.

We have even received physical threats, including death threats, targeting team members and threats to burn down our store. 

These threats are frightening and unacceptable. They need to stop now.   

No company is perfect. We acknowledge our team makes mistakes just like everyone else, but we will always take accountability for them with integrity and transparency as we have for the past 13 years.

We have worked hard to model and advocate for the improvement in the standards of safety and care in the grooming industry. We are proud of our industry leading practices and our unmatched team of passionate professionals.

We deeply value and respect the trust our customers put in us with the care of their pets. Our promise to you is that we will continue to learn from every experience as we strive to deliver the highest standards for pet care and safety in our field.

You have our commitment that we will continue to work hard to earn your trust and support. 

Thank you.

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Comments (8)

  • You guys are the best. Your team members have become extended members of our dog’s pack. We love you and will always patronize your establishment!

    Leslie Tang
  • I stand by you Healthy Spot! Your Mission Bay campus has been my saving grace every time I needed help with my pet. And it was always been a place I have told your staff and others alike. That I enjoy coming there to just feel the positive and humanness. I have always been treated with genuine kindness and extreme care by ALL staff members. When my dog passed last year I reached out for comfort and they did just that. Your high standards for quality and care are outstanding. You have become more than just a store but an integral part of our community. We love you healthy spot!

    JP
  • I’m so sad to hear this. No one deserves that behavior. I hope this stops for you guys.

    Deda Coben
  • I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this company. They are great, professional, and very friendly. They take pride in their work, and we can see that. We love buying our treats from this place because they are healthy and good for our baby cat. Keep up the good work guys, and don’t let these fools discourage you. You guys are awesome

    Jessica Jones
  • We love you guys and support you all the way! We admire that you guys have been calm about the situation and haven’t lashed back but taking it in a very calm and mature way. We hope you guys can overcome this and continue to spread your love to your dog community!

    Katherine Phuong
  • I am mortified and feel awful about this post. Healthy Spot has been our go to for supplies, grooming & we used daycare (MDR) when my now 3 yr old was a pup.
    Jordan (grooming) at Playa Vista is amazing and takes incredible care of our Sofia who has luxating patellas on both hind legs. We would never consider going elsewhere as we always feel safe leaving her.
    My husband & I have known several of your staff on a first name basis in both MDR & Playa Vista. We love that, it’s a sense of community. Keep doing what you’re doing as this is an abuse of power.

    Lissa Schwartz
  • I will continue to support Healthyspot and its team. You did the appropriate thing by taking responsibility, investigating and taking steps to rectify the situation. It’s unfortunate that the pet owner is trying to extort you and having their followers attack healthyspot.

    Chisell Martorell
  • You are a great place. I trust your groomers and have faith that this will stop. I also have a groomer there that means the world to me. She has loved animals since she was a baby and that she is the most honest and loving person you want to have as grommer and employee. She loves with her whole heart when it comes to animals. Thank you for your service.

    Rosemary Martinez

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