Pet grooming madness

We've been taking our little furball Arty to Pretty Paws in Foster City for his every once in a while grooming needs. We typically bath him, and take him in for a hair cut every 3 months or so. He's about due for another hair cut. I made the mistake of checking reviews on Yelp and found that Pretty Paws has terrible reviews, with horror stories of injured or abused pups. So now I'm on a mission to find Arty another groomer, and was surprised to find how expensive it costs around the Peninsula. Arty's haircut costs as much as his daddy's and mommy's!!  Here're some prices I was quoted -

• Bow Wow Meow in San Carlos (4 stars from 50 reviews on Yelp): Probably $50 or more, our neighbor takes their small maltese in for $50.  Seeing that Arty is bigger than the maltese, it's probably going to be $50 or more.
• Super Pups in San Mateo (4.5 stars from 28 reviews on Yelp): $60
• Le Chien Fortune in Millbrae (5 stars form 14 reviews on Yelp): $51

Funny thing is, equally reputable places in San Francisco costs less!  

• Pet Grooming Headquarters (4.5 stars from 46 reviews on Yelp): $25-30
• The Barking Lot (4 stars from 14 reivews on Yelp): $35

In the end, I opted for an appointment with Carol's Animal Farm in San Mateo (4 stars from 6 reviews on Yelp) for $35.  I'm praying that all will go well...