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09-30-2009, 04:11 AM | #1 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: St. Martinville, La, USA
Posts: 129
| 1st time buyers information on potential scams I just saw on the news this morning that you can go to www.RipoffReport.com and the Better Business Bureau (search for the location of the breeder) to see if the seller is legitimate. There can be scams from dog sellers of all breeds on the web. I would first ask for feedback from other Yorkie Talkers if they had any experience with the breeder that you are interested in. The KATC news story was about www.purebulldogpuppies.com . This is NOT a legitimate site. Another note: It is hard to proscecute online scammers because jurisdictional issues. Use a traceable source of payment such as paypal with a credit card. It was suggested that you do not use a moneygram. |
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10-02-2009, 07:04 AM | #2 |
YT Addict Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Missouri
Posts: 358
| Preventing Scams Let's make a thread on how to prevent being scammed. Here are ideas I have posted on my website. Does anyone else have others? The best thing is to visit in person or have someone you trust visit the breeder to make sure they are on the up and up. Sometimes just walking into a person's house gives you a "sixth sense" if you should trust them or not. If you have a bad feeling at any time please listen to yourself. However if you live too far away to visit (like many people do), I have several suggestions, you can do any one of these suggestions or all of them. 1. Talk with the breeder on the phone, don't just email them. If you are looking at their website call the phone number posted on the website and any number they give you by email to make sure they are the same person. Sometimes you can do a reverse phone number lookup on the internet to make sure the name matches the phone number. This doesn't work if the person's phone number is unlisted or is a cell phone. (for example, my number is unlisted). 2. Not all good breeders have a website but most of them do in this day and age. If you are looking at their website look at the counters. Websites with higher counters show they have been breeding long enough that if they were scamming they would have been caught. 3. When looking at the website look for a professional looking website. It doesn't have to be fancy but should be clean and well organized. The website shouldn't have lots of typo's or poor grammar. Check out the backgrounds in the pictures on the website. You don't have to be a professional photographer to take decent pictures and there should never be junk, trash, dog cages, etc in the backgrounds of the pictures. Also that the dogs are clean and neat in the pictures. If someone doesn't take care to show their dogs and puppies in the best possible light how can you be sure they cared enough to take care of the puppies as they should? 4. Be aware of questionable claims. The old saying "If something sounds too good to be true it usually is" really does apply here. No reputable breeder will advertise a puppy that weighs 7 oz at 11 weeks and then show a picture of a 2 week old puppy. If the price for the puppy is way below the usual price of a Yorkie puppy question the breeder as to why. Especially if it is way lower or they are only asking for "shipping fees". 5. Ask for (and call or email) references. Ask for their vet's phone number and previous puppy buyers. Any reputable breeder will be glad to give out their vet's number. I can understand with privacy concerns if they don't want to give out puppy buyers phone numbers but frequently the good breeders have several puppy families who have agreed to give references for them. You can also check out their guest book on the website for comments from previous puppy buyers, click on their email addresses and ask for references. I created a reference page on my website with multiple families who have left their email addresses for anyone to email for a reference. 6. If there is a particular puppy you are interested in ask the breeder to take another picture for you and include a specific item. I like to ask for a comb or brush, or even something unusual like a flashlight or toothbrush. This helps to make sure the breeder actually has the puppy being advertised and hasn't stolen the picture off the web. (Don't ask for a coffee cup, dollar bill, a soda can, or a can of soup-those are done too often in pictures.) You can also get a good idea of the size of the puppy when compared to the item you ask for. 7. As an alternative to # 6 ask the breeder to take a picture of the puppy with a piece of paper that has your name printed on it. If the "breeder" makes an excuse why they can't give out their vet's phone number or can't or won't take a picture that you requested please run the other way. (other than they don't have the item to put in the picture, you can always request another item.) If they say they can't take the picture because their camera is broken or they don't have one be very suspicious. 8. Of course a good breeder will usually only have one or two breeds that they raise. I would recommend that you not buy from a breeder who has multiple breeds. I would much rather adopt a puppy from a Yorkie Specialist than from someone who raises seven different breeds. 9. Be cautious about adopting a puppy from another country. Usually the US and Canada are pretty safe but overseas or third world puppy adoptions are very suspicious, especially if the price is very low. This is where a lot of people get scammed. If at any time you have concerns that aren't eased by talking with the breeder please look elsewhere for your puppy. There are too many good, ethical breeders who will be glad to assist you in finding the newest member of your family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Teresa~~~~~~ |
10-02-2009, 07:25 AM | #3 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: St. Martinville, La, USA
Posts: 129
| Great Advice Teresa. I think there should be a sticky on this info. |
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