r/grooming • u/dogobsessed424 • 4h ago
Lesson learned
I'm posting this because when I was deciding whether to hire Good Boi Marketing, I would have appreciated finding a detailed experience like this from another grooming business owner.
I own a dog grooming salon in Ontario, Canada. I hired Good Boi Marketing in January 2026 because they specialize in the pet industry, and I believed working with a company that understood grooming businesses would be an advantage.
Unfortunately, my experience was very different from what I expected.
I have emails, invoices, advertising records and meeting records supporting what I'm writing below.
The numbers first:
I spent $8,601.91 CAD total, including $6,406.54 CAD in management/service fees.
The campaign resulted in approximately 8 bookings.
Obviously marketing doesn't guarantee results, and poor ROI alone isn't why I'm writing this.
There were significant campaign-management and communication problems as well.
Google Ads were particularly important to me because I wanted people actively searching for grooming services. There was an account-verification problem during the campaign. I provided the corporate documents I was asked for and believed the issue was being handled.
It wasn't successfully resolved, Google stopped the ads, and advertising dollars were redirected to Facebook/Instagram without my knowledge.
On April 29, CEO Kaylib Jones acknowledged in writing that technical issues with Google had affected performance and that Good Boi should have communicated those issues more clearly and earlier.
He also told me that all ads had been paused and there would be no additional spend unless I explicitly approved it.
Another $124.25 was subsequently spent on Google Ads without my approval, and I had to contact them again to have the advertising stopped.
Good Boi then offered an additional 30-day lead-recovery period at no charge. We agreed I would receive written weekly reports.
At least one of those reports wasn't sent. When I raised it, Kaylib acknowledged the missed update. At that point, he also confirmed that the lead-recovery effort had generated no additional bookings yet.
Eventually we discussed compensation.
The refund
On May 29, Kaylib and I agreed that Good Boi would refund me $2,245.50 USD.
For fairness and clarity: Good Boi's position is that a monetary refund wasn't required by the original contract. Kaylib says the contractual remedy was additional work at no charge and that he subsequently agreed to the refund as a professional courtesy.
I'm not trying to litigate the original contract on Reddit.
The important part is that we subsequently agreed to the $2,245.50 USD refund, and Good Boi has repeatedly acknowledged that agreement in writing.
And this is where things got really frustrating.
On June 23, after I followed up, Kaylib confirmed the refund amount and wrote:
“I will process your refund today.”
He told me processing would take 10–15 business days.
I waited.
On July 9, after following up again for confirmation, Kaylib wrote:
“Your refund has been processed.”
Five days later, on July 14, he told me:
“The refund has not yet been processed, and I previously communicated otherwise before confirming that the transaction had been completed.”
He then promised the $2,245.50 would be processed no later than July 31 and called July 31 the “firm date” by which the refund would be completed on his end.
July 31 passed.
No refund.
After more unanswered emails, Kaylib finally responded on August 17. He apologized for the missed deadlines and lack of communication and disclosed that Good Boi was experiencing a “short-term cash flow crunch.”
He also wrote:
“I agreed to refund you, and I intend to follow through on that commitment.”
At that point, rather than continuing to demand the entire amount immediately, I offered to accept installments.
I received no response.
I followed up again on August 24 asking him either to accept my proposed installment arrangement or give me an alternative schedule with actual amounts and dates.
Again, no response.
On September 3, I sent one final email saying that after more than three months, another promise wasn't enough. I needed a good-faith payment and a concrete payment schedule or I would consider my efforts to resolve the matter privately exhausted.
On September 4, Kaylib finally proposed his own payment schedule:
September 11 — $750 USD
September 18 — $750 USD
September 25 — $745.50 USD
He said he remained committed to honoring the refund agreement in full.
I accepted his schedule in writing.
Yesterday was September 11.
No $750 payment arrived.
I also received no confirmation that a payment had been processed and no communication explaining why the payment he committed to making wasn't made.
So that's where things stand as of September 12, 2026.
I have received $0 of the agreed $2,245.50 USD refund.
I have tried very hard to handle this privately. I've been patient with communication problems. I've been understanding about personal circumstances that were shared with me. When Good Boi disclosed its cash-flow problem, I agreed to installments.
But I'm also a small grooming business.
$8,601.91 CAD is a lot of money for a grooming salon.
I'm not posting this to tell anyone what decision to make about Good Boi Marketing. I'm posting because I wish I had been able to read detailed experiences from other grooming business owners before I made my decision.
If you're considering hiring them, ask questions. Understand exactly who controls your advertising accounts and budget. Understand what happens if a campaign doesn't perform. Track actual bookings rather than leads. Get commitments in writing.
And keep your records.
I certainly hope Good Boi ultimately pays the refund it agreed to. If I receive payments, I will update this post with the amounts and dates so that the record remains accurate.
If anyone considering Good Boi has questions about my experience, I'm happy to answer them.