Lost Deposit

[Fergie51]

After seeing a puppy on Pets4Us, I contacted the seller and arranged to view the pup in a couple of days of contacting her. She was unable to use the site payment app and I used bank transfer to pay a deposit. This was a normal deposit as part of payment. The day before viewing, I contacted her saying we would have to cancel the visit and after much thought would not be buying the pup and I gave our reasons.
The seller is now refusing to return the deposit based on “she could have sold the puppy several times over and that is her compensation.”
Any advice on what to do would be appreciated or do I accept the lost deposit?

Ignoring the whole concept of why on earth you’d pay a deposit on a pup you haven’t seen, which blows my mind …

Accept the lost deposit, I’m afraid. I mean, that’s the whole point of a deposit, that you don’t get it back if you change your mind? Even worse that you did it ‘off app’, you have no chance I’m afraid, puppy probably doesn’t even exist.

Adopt. That is all.

What were the terms of the agreement? A deposit is usually a payment to secure your right to purchase an item, and if you choose not to do so, the seller keeps the deposit as compensation for the inconvenience of any admin already completed and the faff of having to readvertise and restart the selling process. If you've just changed your mind, I think that's what the deposit covers.

As an aside, if you try again - any breeder that will take a deposit on a puppy before meeting you should be avoided like the plague!

Why on earth would you buy a puppy based on pictures online without seeing pup/ parents/ breeder in person?

Good breeders have waiting lists, if puppies don't have homes lined up and are advertised like this then you know you're dealing with shitty breeders/ accidental litters.

Given her attitude, you probably dodged an inbred, unstable dog but please do some more research before considering getting a dog, especially a puppy.

Pets4Us? Even the website name doesn't make sense.

You should be wary of buying a puppy without meeting them first. You need to see puppy with it's mother. I visited my 2 puppies twice to pick out which ones I wanted before paying deposit and collection on third visit at 12 weeks. I saw them suckling from their mother. Saw the father and all pedigree details and paperwork before paying deposit. A deposit means you claim the right to put jade the pup. If you change your mind you lose your deposit.

Whole thing is dodgy but why would you think you could cancel and get your deposit back? In your mind, what was the deposit for?

Can you do chargeback on your card?

The puppy owner still has the puppy to sell so her arguement doesn’t wash. . However, it may have been a non-refundable deposit. .

M&S won’t refund the deposit if I cancel my Xmas food order…
please don’t ever get an animal, any type, ever.

OP paid by bank transfer.

Thank you for your replies. The following might explain my naivety in trying to have a dog.
We can’t adopt a rescue dog as our youngest grandchild is under 8 and for most dogs, the requirement is for children to be aged 8 and over.
We have spent months looking for an older dog to rehome and despite making appointments to visit, we would find that another family has rehomed dog the day before etc.
Then we opted for a puppy. Due to our experiences of not even getting to visit, I stupidly thought we could see the pup, get to know the owner if I paid the deposit. No intention of buying a puppy without seeing him, the mum or paperwork.
The deposit was NOT non refundable.
The website was Pets4Homes not the one I typed by mistake.

How was the deposit NOT non-refundable? Did the seller specifically tell you that in writing for you paying direct to their bank, as they apparently 🙄 couldn’t use a protected system that thousands of other people manage to use? If so, I suppose you could try small claims court.

If you are saying that Pets4Homes give circumstances where their deposits (which I believe are held in escrow?) can be refunded, then you invalidated that protection by not paying through their system, I’m afraid.

that’s how deposits work!

Due to our experiences of not even getting to visit,

I think you should have a think about why you weren't getting visits. There's almost certainly a reason for this given how many 'breeders' seem to throw puppies at families without a second thought.

But yes, you made a mistake and were very naive. Hopefully this is a good lesson learned.

To be fair, this breeder might well be legitimate...I do know a few breeders who want a deposit before seeing the pups - although they will show on camera - because of such a large amount of time-wasters. Although it's not something I do as I think that's what thorough vetting is for. But a deposit once you have 'reserved' a puppy is usually non-refundable (personally, knowing what I know about the pets4home system, I would never use it as a buyer or a seller if I did use that platform).

What's the breed?