Wanting fee to be returned

[SilkenScarf]

I am fully happy to be told I am being unreasonable, but wanted to ask some opinions of people not emotionally invested and can see both sides.

I bought a puppy. She was lovely and everything we expected and wanted and more. I am not a new dog owner, I had another dog who died some months back and gave it some time before thinking of getting another dog.

About a week after getting said puppy, my child (2 years) appeared to have an allergic reaction whenever in close proximity with the puppy. I washed everything the puppy had touched, hoovered twice a day and several times in between with the small handheld hoover. We made sure puppy didn't jump up at the toddler (which is hard for a puppy), yet my child constantly came out in hives around the face, eyes, neck and back. We went to the doctors who also confirmed it was an allergic reaction and prescribed some hydrocortisone cream.

I contacted the breeder and let them know what was happening; I made it clear I didn't want to re-home puppy if I could help it but wondered if she had encountered this issue before and could offer advice. She replied saying she would call later that day but she didn't. 3 days later she got back in touch.

During these three days the toddler's rash/hives was still there and more prominent whenever in close proximity to puppy. It became apparent the best thing to do was to return puppy to breeder. Later that day, I dropped the puppy off on the proviso the fee would returned when she found the puppy a new home. I asked about next steps and she said she would advertise the next day and be in touch.

It's been over a week and no advertisement has gone up. I've messaged her again this evening asking how she is getting on with rehoming the puppy and asking how they are, but she has yet to respond.

I'm not sure if I am being unreasonable expecting the fee to be returned or if it's standard practice to keep hold of it until the puppy has been rehomed. I did ask her if the puppy couldn't be rehomed, would my few be returned and she said yes.

For those wondering, my toddler had no issues with our previous dog who was a hypoallergenic breed, whereas the puppy wasn't hypoallergenic. Although if we knew toddler was allergic, we wouldn't have selected a dog from that breed.

So:

AIBU = Yes you are unreasonable for wanting your fee back.

AIBU = No you are not unreasonable for wanting your fee back.

For those interested, the fee was £1500.

Yanbu in that she has gone back in her word.

But yabu to have expected the fee in the first place. The fee is presumably hassle like registering microchips or whatever i.e. her time has still been spent.

Pets don't come with a money back guarantee so i think you were a bit cheeky to even ask.

You absolutely won’t get all the money back. Breeder will deduct boarding and other costs.

I agree with RealBecca

If it makes any difference (it won't I'm sure) in the two weeks I had the puppy, I had taken it to the vet and they confirmed puppy had ear mites, treatment and appointment costs cost about £100 and I gave all the medication to the breeder.

Also puppy was nearly 17 weeks old when I brought them home.

I hadn't considered they might charge to board the puppy although this hasn't been discussed. I just feel like I'm being ignored when I've done everything I can (except re-home my child) to make sure the puppy is well looked after.

If this were me, as the breeder, I would give you most of the money back, minus the fees for changing the dogs names back etc, and minus any expenses.

Why was the puppy 17 weeks when you brought them home? How did you find this breeder?

They certainly won’t refund you anything until they’ve resold it and if it took until 17 weeks to sell it to you it may take considerably longer or have to be a significant reduction to get a new buyer . Most people want an 8 week old puppy that no one else has messed about with , not a third hand one that may well have issues because of being passed around . I actually doubt you will see very much in the way of a refund .

The puppy was earmarked for their daughter who decided to they didn't want to take the puppy in the end as they had recently lost their own dog and it was too soon.

Breeder was local to me and advertises online. They also own the mum and dad, plus a couple of other dogs which all live with them and I met.

Yes I completely agree about the puppy losing appeal for a variety of reasons the older it gets.

It's microchip is still registered to me; will this cause a problem do you think?

What does your puppy contract say? Mine says that if i I return the dog I get £100 and that's it.

Ah, there was no contract, which in hindsight isn't ideal when things like this happen.

Perhaps they're waiting to rehome the puppy first? If they don't get a buyer for ages then the price goes down surely. You could ask the breeder, when they think you'll get your refund.

I would presume you’d never get the £1500 back. Why would they possibly pay it back to you? You chose not to keep the dog.

YABU for buying from a dodgy online advert and falling for the line that they were going to keep it and decided not to.
YABU for saying any dog breed is hypoallergenic.
I would very much doubt you’ll see that money again.

It's been really interesting to read everyone's comments which although is mixed in how bluntly they are all worded, the majority appear to agree I won't see some, if not any of the money again.

I really hope the puppy finds a loving home. At least I was able to get their ear mites sorted.

Normally you won't get money back til they have been paid when the puppy was removed.

They might take some money put of that for changes in documents and their expenses looking after the puppy.

I'm interested to know what treatment the vet gave for earmites. A spot on advocate treatment kills earmites. That's about £10? I know I'm missing the point of the thread!

I'd be surprised if you get the money back. You returned it.

The daughter will have taken the pup is my guess

The vet did indeed prescribe advocate. Sorry I forgot to mention they also had a really big build of up wax/debris in both ears that needed a cleanser and some medicated drops (I forget what these are called). All that, plus two vet appointments added up to about £100. It still hadn't cleared completely by the time I handed pup back but I passed along all the medications so they could continue with it. I didn't mention it for any other reason other than to show I was very happy and willing to meet any costs of pup.

I really can’t understand the relevance of the ear mites.

I think you were a bit mad handing over all that cash with no contract. I suspect you won’t see your money. Expensive mistake, but these things happen. I also suspect they may have rehomed to the daughter.