A few months ago we had a pup back and have since found him a wonderful new home.  Just before Christmas we recieved an email from the owners of another of the puppies asking if we would take him back as their circumstances had changed.  We collected him, and were pleased to find that the owners had taken our advice and socialised him well and taken him to obedience training classes.  He is a lovely dog.  We thought we had found a really great new home for him, but they returned him after ONE day saying their cat was sick and dieing as the dog wanted to play with it   I was so angry, with the new owner for not being more patient (the pup gets on with our cats, just wants to play) and giving the dog and cat a little more time to get to know each other, and angry with myself for not choosing the right people for this lovely dog.  Since then we have a problem.  The lady wants her money back (just charged a token amount) but she forgot to bring the puppys papers with her when she brought him back and even though she says she posted them a few weeks ago we haven't recieved them yet.  We are loathe to refund her until we get the papers, but are we in the wrong there?  OH says if you buy a tv and take it back you don't get a refund just because you changed your mind, it has to be faulty.  I pointed out that a dog is hardly a tv, but he says surely it is the same principal, especially as we haven't got his papers back yet.  We have since found a lovely new home for the puppy -  he went on Sunday (and I cried!) and they have already updated me saying he has settled well and is wonderful (which he is!).

Sorry for the long post, but just wondered what you would do - do you give the first people their money back now.  Do you give them the money back when/if the papers appear.  Do you not give them their money back at all?

Help!

Personally I would return their money just to keep the peace but ONLY on receipt of the papers.  If they truly have been lost in the post then you can get duplicates from the kennel club (I think the last registered owner would have to do it) and then get the ownership transfered.  If they've lost the paperwork then I'd wait until I got the duplicates back before handing any money over. Until you have them in your hand I'd not give them a penny.

Debs

As above, give the money back to keep peace and not cause more problems but only do it when you get the papers.

If you refuse to refund she can put the dog in her name and assuming she has a recipt for the money she paid you, in theory she would own the dog. 

I agree completely, they only had the dog a day so I would give them a full refund - even if they are Pratts ;) But not until the papers arrive, I don't think they can expect a refund until you have the papers back. I hope he finds his forever home soon, poor boy.

I usually tell people that once the dog has been rehomed, they can have some of their money back. This is only after feeding costs etc as I have found that if people want to buy something expensive, they get rid of the dog to buy the item

No money exchanges hands until the registration papers are given back though.

I agree with your husband we have said privately in the past that some people think they have gone to Argos for their purchase. A friend of mine had a pup returned after about 10 days and she did not give any refund.
I have in the past given a refund for a breeder who had used my stud dog. The owner needed the pup to go and the breeder would not have it so the owner contacted me as the stud dog owner, she couldn't afford the petrol from her home to mine so I covered that too but I just didn't want the pup to be put in rescue. The pup was with us for 4 weeks and I then rehomed her.
The breeder never got to use my boy again.

They only had the dog for one day yet they sent off the papers immediately? Blimey. I'd make sure you get the papers back before you handed any money over.
When I welcomed my pup here (8 weeks ago) for the first two days one of my other girls hated her so much she sulked, refused to eat all her meals and brought back up what she had consumed. I put it down to her jealousy of my attention being focused on the new addition. She got over it ;) but never once did I consider returning the pup, she just needed time to adjust. Some people :rolleyes:

If these papers were posted a few weeks ago, then you are not going to receive them.

If the puppy was returned the very next day and this couple were busy cleaning up sick from their dying (through fear of a pup) cat :rolleyes: I doubt they will have filled out the transfer of ownership papers would they?  And you seem to have expected them to bring the papers back with the pup the day after sale, so I take it they were just the transfered papers from the previous owners that you passed on and have not been sent upto the KC for change of ownership yet.

If this is the case then not to worry, just ask the previous 1st owners to get in touch with the Kennel Club and ask for a transfer of ownership form, they can sign it and then post it to you to forward to the new 3rd owners, (which would be my preference) or post it straight to them. The new 3rd owners can order the new KC pedigree if they wish as they transfer ownership then into their names.

Re: the money return. I don't disagree with what you are saying I would be very angry as I've said many times pups are not handbags to try out and return and their reason for return was extremely :rolleyes: :rolleyes: but...........

as it was only one day, I would refund after deducting £5 for every day that I had the pup before re-homing, afterall you were left with feeding, cleaning up, socialising, training and giving your time to a pup that should have been happily settling into a new home, not to mention the trauma for the pup moving home yet again.

An update on Kael - his new owners rang me last night and said he is getting on really well.  I know it is only two days in but they are completely enamoured of him.  They did say he has a bit of an upset stomach, but i did say it was probably due to him being a little disjointed at the moment.  They are going to ring me back tomorrow with another update.  The lady who had him for a day hasn't contacted us again yet, so I am leaving the question of a refund until she contacts me again.  I will get in touch with the previous owners and ask them to get in touch with the KC for the relevant forms.

Thanks for your advice all!

I tend to think that you shouldn't give the money back - potential dog owners need to think long and hard about the responsibility of owning a dog (and even more thought should have been given by a cat owner on the potential issues!)  We rescued one of our dogs from a rescue centre and whilst they would merrily have taken her back they certainly wouldn't dish out a refund and nor would I expect one.

speaking from the other side, ie as a purchaser, I would not expect to be entitled to my money back, given the fact that I had changed my mind, ( which is what the purchaser has done, depsite her lame ill cat excuse.)

Therefore any offer of a refund should be welcomed, so take payment for all your expenses, time, inconvenience, phone calls etc plus admin charge and offer a smaller amount, but only when you are happy with paperwork.

I agree with you. I would not expect money back for changing my mind!

I have actually taken a pup and changed my mind. We'd had a rescue who was wanting to attack kids and I had had to take him back to the rescue and was gutted... on the rebound I read the books and they all said the ideal dog for us as a family with kids and no prior dog ownership history was a Cavilier KCS. So I doid what the books said was right and saw a breeder and we came home with a pup... we took him home my son loved him to bits but he was not the right dog for us... so straight away I rang the breeder and said I had had no intention of messing her pup around and I really though we were making a mistake..immediately she asked fo the pup back and so home he went..I was very sorry and did not want the money back I just wanted the best home for the pup and we were not it... she will have been totally disgusted by me but still gave me the full refund.

after doing that I fotgot the pressure to do the right thing and go for the rescue or go for the 'begginner dog' and went with my heart and got the breed I wanted... a BC.

Getting a dog is a long term relationship and you need to get it right... breeders are the experienced ones not the buyers and we need breeders to make the right judgements about us as prospective puppy parents. New breeders like new puppy parents may well make the odd mistake but so long as you learn that's all you can hope for. It must be a great relief when you find you are pleased with the homes you find for your pups!

I expect if she talks to other people they will be is disgusted that she even though to ask for the money back...fair enough for you to offer it if you wanted to though.  

Well, this takes the biscuit - the owner who had Kael for one day rang me a little while ago and said could she have him back............  Angry doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.  It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what had happened to the cat that was dying when Kael was around.  I can't believe she would even begin to think that I would let her within a ten mile radius of any of my dogs.  Luckily the darling boy has a wonderful new family.  We had a lucky escape with this mad woman I think.  

:rolleyes:

Phew!  Was your pup lucky to get out of there. (They definitely think the pups a handbag, perhaps she realised the colour matched her shoes afterall) unfortunately you can't always spot the insane at first glance.

wonder why she wanted a puppy in the first place.... wonder if her last dog had just died cos her head sounds all messed up.

>We had a lucky escape with this mad woman I think.

I think that sums things up perfectly! The sheer pottiness of some people never ceases to amaze me. Thank goodness your pup came back the first time and now has a lovely new home only this woman would have been a constant nightmare I suspect. 

I would guess that as she hasn't had a refund yet she thought she would get the dog back and sell him on! A lucky escape for you and the Kael :)

Oh yes, I bet you're right, you have to think devious nowadays to beat devious!