Oh how infuriating! They should have appreciated how hard it was for you to compromise with a half clip.
My Bobby in my avatar, not neutered, was incredibly thick coated. It would have been impossible to hand strip him because of his difficult temperament. The shiny quality of his clipped coat stayed . Some groomers had ideas that the chest should look like a sharp rectangle, which I trimmed away myself. The texture of the hair was also ok. The annoying thing was having hair all the same length, rather than a soft mixture of natural ends. So when it regrew it’s was always too thick looking.
I found a wonderful groomer who produced wonderful puppy clipped cuts, keeping ears and feathers. She was trained to hand strip but said that it took hours for the dog, her fingers, and a bigger bill. She claimed it wasn’t fair on the dog to stand all day and compared it to having our eyebrows plucked. Do the answer is let it all grow back , and have puppy cuts for a year. Thin the coat with Mars coat king and thinning scissors. With the clip, look out for matting under the armpits.
A good groomer is vital, ask other owners . Soften the severe look.
A thick coat does have to be kept under control, especially those feet!