Breeder Took Deposit, Dropped All Communication
VinnyBullTerrier
USA
in General
Hoping to get some advice on another issue I’ve been having. Before purchasing our current puppy, I put down a deposit with another breeder. This breeder was out of state but seemed honest, said all the right things, and I could find no negative statements about them online. This was nearly a year ago, and at the time they told me they were planning a litter and would be breeding a female any day. I put down the deposit, which was 500$, they never stated this was non refundable or had me sign any contact. Two months after putting down the deposit, I messaged to ask if they had any updates, if the female was bred, etc. They said they still hadn’t bred any dogs yet but would soon. Another two months pass, I check in again and same thing. No problem. When I sent another message two months after that they just stopped responding. They will not respond to text or email. I have been polite and I am willing to work this out/give them the benefit of the doubt but they seem to have ghosted me. At this point it is obvious they are never going to produce a puppy and we just want our deposit back. This isn’t a standard internet scam with pics pulled from Google, this is a breeder that attends shows, has health tested dogs, and is in good standing with AKC. I have given them every opportunity to get in contact and make this right but they do not seem interested in being honest. Can I take any action against them to hopefully recover our deposit? Would AKC do anything about this? I have all the communication saved and proof of the downpayment. I don’t want to name them and shame them online, but I do wonder if they have taken deposits from others and disappeared on them as well. I would like to talk to anyone that’s had a similar experience with this person, they are located in southern Texas.
Comments
If they show their dog are they a part of a Bull Terrier Club? If so, I would contact the club president and explain the situation.
What is the name of their kennel affiliation or Bloodline name?
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I was really holding out hope that the breeder would resurface and try to work with us, but it’s been long enough now it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be decent. I tried reaching out to them again this week and again no response. I feel really bad having to escalate things. I would have been happy with even a partial refund and explanation. Maybe calling them out publicly I can at least warn other prospective buyers.
The breeder is Pedrito Patron, of Grand Tate Bull Terriers, owner of the stud Rebelside I’m The Superman (this was going to be the father of the ‘upcoming litter). From McAllen, TX.
What makes this situation even worse, when I originally contacted them it was recently after losing our last bully to cancer (unrelated dog from a different breeder) and I had told them the story, how devastated our family was, how we were really looking forward to a new puppy. So they essentially stole 500$ from someone grieving the loss of their dog and then just disappeared.
I understand things happen and maybe they entered the deal in good faith, but at the very least they owe us an explanation. But who knows, they first asked me for a 1,000$ deposit which seems crazy high when the litter wasn’t even conceived yet. I agreed to do 500$ down and 500$ when the litter was born which I am so glad I did or we’d be out even more money. The full purchase price for the dog due before pickup/delivery was going to be 2,500. I would like to think at least initially they did plan to fulfill their end of the bargain and weren’t just out to scam us.
I haven’t tried to call them as all of our communication has been text/email. I know they are receiving my messages, as they did reach out briefly one time after the initial disappearing act. When they didn’t reply to multiple texts I emailed them. They claimed over email to have not received my text messages, they asked if I had the correct number. Which I did. I then texted them at the same number again and they apparently received that text just fine. They said they had a puppy returned from a previous litter and asked if we were interested. I said sure, send pics. They never sent pics, never wrote again. It was at this point I first brought up the subject of wanting our deposit back as the whole thing had started to seem incredibly fishy. The last message I received was over two months ago and I have sent multiple texts and emails since. They do have a Facebook page I could try to reach them at but it doesn’t feel likely they’ll respond on there either and I don’t use FB.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com