Breeders have you ever ...long & venting

[tammy8833]

Breeders have you ever had a customer rub you the wrong way after they picked up a puppy??

my little girls babies have been rehomed a couple of weeks ago and something is still bothering me. i had 3 yorkie/pom 2 females and 1 male. all of them had deposits at 6 weeks of age, the lady lived about and hour from me, we talked on the phone alot and a friend of mine whose a breeder near her had talked to her a couple of time (she was thinking about giving this lady a puppy, b/c she was so nice and sweet blah blah blah) anyways, she wanted to paypal me the deposit i said sure but she needed to ad the 3% she never did. i never asked her for it, she also sent more money to pay for the puppy paypal, still no 3%, and still i let it go i thought she and her family were really nice. then i delivered the puppy and i think i messed up when i said i would work out something on delivering to her the puppy, but i guess i messed up by not giving her a price then, so now im out gas money (in a BIG TRUCK) and some puppy money..BUT i thought she was an awesome home. i delivered the puppy, got home and 20 minutes home she calls telling me the puppy is invested with fleas!!! and just horrified with me!! i was so upset and kept telling her thats in possible they never left my home except for their vet exam which the vet comment they were perfect, they were never outside, i actually took 2 puppies with me so they had some company on the way there and he didnt have any fleas, and the other girl didnt have any fleas, none of my adults had fleas. i even had the next two couples look at their puppies when they met me at home for the deposit over look their new puppies and see if they saw fleas and they didnt. i know that my dogs dont have fleas and that something was wrong on her end i dont know if she was trying to get money back or what. she actually had her 10 year old call me to say the puppy had fleas and then she got on the phone and said that they put her on a white towel and brushed her hair and all these fleas fell off..i also explained that if she was had fleas, especially like she was describing the dog would be sick and lethargic and she wasnt, and i would have notice something like that happening before i delivered her. this was my first litter and i was really trying for things to be right, i wanted to keep in touch with the people. and i wanted people to recommend me later for my two yorkies..but she just upset me and this is still bothering me. she actually called one night not long ago at 11:00pm and ask if i had anymore puppies!!

oh and she did have another dog at home a pomeranian i think so i dont know if maybe she had fleas or what

i was also very professional i think..we had the contracts, the deposit agreements, the birth certificates, a portfolio, food, coupons, nutra stat, collars, charms, blankets, bows the whole nine yards

sorry this is so long but its really bothering me and i didnt know if anyone else ever had this problem before...my mom said you will run into fruit cakes now and then

[Susan123]

oh man, that's horrible. If it were me, I 'd consider visiting and seeing for myself, their probably in her house. If there are no medical problems and she's just being the problem.... I would just tell her "I'll refund your money, give me the puppy. If not, Shut up." Of course it may not be that easy. I like to make sure I have good relationships with all the puppys owners before sale, to weed out people like this. There are some people who'll try to get every penny back bit by bit.

[tammy8833]

she's called me several times to let me know how the puppy is, how her vet visits are going and she hasnt mentioned any thing about the fleas since, if it wasnt such a long ride i would deffinately stop and take a look, but she lives so far away. and when we talked before she got the puppy she seemed like a perfect new mom

[Susan123]

That's good, maybe whatever it was with her and her "fleas" has blown over. She may have even asked the vet and the vet may have straightened it out for ya.

[tammy8833]

thats a thought....and you know she only calls late at night like 10-11 pm..maybe shes a fruit and i just cant tell an orange from a zuchinni

[jrsygal37]

Tammy, how much did your pup weigh and how old was it? I'm asking becasue my Bella who is now almost 4 years old came to me at 5 weeks of age and she was INFESTED like her whole body covered in fleas. She had nests of fleas on her and scabs from them biting her. AND, YES you are right if it's a young pup and small (Bella weighed a little over a pound) they will be sick and lathergic. We got Bella on a Saturday and I brought her to the vet first thing Monday morning. My vet had actually said to me that if I had not done what I did (Put her in warm water with Johnson's baby Shampoo and pull them all off then treat her with antibiotic ointment) she would have been dead by Monday. There is NO WAY a small dog could be infested with fleas and be healthy. Let the lady know that. Elaine.

[Susan123]

Originally Posted by tammy8833

thats a thought....and you know she only calls late at night like 10-11 pm..maybe shes a fruit and i just cant tell an orange from a zuchinni

LOL, maybe she needs a friend. At least she sounds like she's caring for the puppy well (vet visits, she has another small dog).

[lisatodd]

some people are just that way. i am sure she saw something and thought it was fleas and then realised it wasn't. over reacting, lets hope

[tammy8833]

hi girls

the puppy was 2lbs at 8 weeks old
i told the lady if she WAS infested to wash her in dawn dish soap and take the free vet exams i gave her (3 total) and have the puppy check out immediately

im sure things are fine now..she was calling me back for another puppy so i guess thats good..i just dont want to look bad when i took so much care with the puppies

[puppylove17]

I just wanted to mention that as far as the paypal fees are concerned she should have added the 3% since you told her it was due to you. I would not just not include it if I were buying a puppy or anything else from someone and using paypal but I might move on and buy from someone who didn't charge the additional 3% for the payment method. If I were selling something, I personally (and probably because I have been a business owner and used to taking credit cards, etc and paying the fees that entails) would not charge the customer the additional fee as I would consider it a cost of doing business. I might charge a bit more up front for the pup or whatever I was selling but I would never tell someone they had to pay for using a payment method that is safe and secure for both of us. JMHO
As for the rest of your problems with this lady it takes all kinds.............sigh............... and I think you have handled it well. If you ever sell her another pup, I would make sure she personally took it and looked it over while you are still there so if she has any complaints she could say so then not later.
Good luck to you and may all your future puppy buyers be nice!

[tammy8833]

she did not live near here and wanted to place the deposit immediatley so the cost of paypal was not included in the price of the puppy. everyone else came to my home to make payments.paypal was not something i considered in the purchase price, so i lost money each time she sent the money through paypal, she chose to send payments until the puppy was ready to go home. each time she did i explained that paypal charges ME each time she sent it therefore she was responsable for the charges. It was for her convience not mine. she wasnt able to drive here each time she sent money and didnt want to mail payments and i dont accept personal checks. but the point i was making when i commented that i never asked for the money is that, yes i did eat the profit loss and never asked her to correct that amount subtracted from the price of the puppy because i just wanted good homes for the puppies. im not a business person, this was my first litter so im not set up for any type of credit cards, and paypal was the best option for her, and i couldnt up the price after i had already quoted one price before we discussed paypal

also many website that offer paypal tell you to add the 3% if they are smaller companies or people.

and i completely agree with you on making sure the person checks the puppy when they are there. im pretty sure she looked her over some but when we met she had 2 kids with her and her mom and everyone was passing her around, and after my experience with her, which was my FIRST experience i made every other customer look their puppy over thoroughly. most customers visited several times here at my home before taking the puppies home.

[Susan123]

Sure, adding the fee is a good idea. Be it business, or just plain common sense. PayPal is out to make money of of your transaction of course.
Your purchaser chose to make a PayPal payment in lieu of the other options for her convenience. This is not a "cost of doing business"
If anyone works their company like this for a very long time, it will soon cost them their business As breeders, we spend so much of the profit on these puppys, before they go. That comes with breeding, it's expected. If someone wants to use paypal, they can pay the fee. JMHO

[tammy8833]

susan you captured what i trying to say thank you hunny