Advice needed for puppy purchase

elsastockwells

Hi MalMonroe

Thank you for your kind words & advice.

 I do agree and I would have loved to have rehomed a rescue dog I have found myself turned down by many as I have a number of cats.
I do have a 15 year old Romanian rescue dog called Koda. I also had his sister but sadly we lost her at the beginning of last year. That was why I was getting the pup, as company for Koda.

 I suspect they are trying to scare me too. They probably think I am a soft touch.

No contract was signed and they are definitely not registered breeders. They said they wanted their dogs to have 1 litter before spaying their female.

Thank you so much for the links. They will be very helpful.

 I don't know whether the pup has been sold, like yourself, I would imagine so. They did keep relisting their ad on Pets4Homes until a few weeks ago.

Thank you for the advice regarding the credit card. It wasn't anything I would have thought about.

elsastockwells

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Letter before action and small claims court if they don't stump up.  It's up to them to prove they weren't able to sell the puppy to someone else, or had to do so at less than £2,000.

Thank you. That is a great point.

elsastockwells

cx6

Thank you for your understanding and kind words.

That is great to know. I am not unreasonable and would happily cover their costs.

 It is such a relief to know that they can't just keep all of the money.

elsastockwells

Undervalued

Thank you.

This was a private sale.

 I will be contacting CAB and hope they can point me in the right direction.

elsastockwells

pinkshoes

This was at the beginning of November 2021. They were due to leave in the middle of November 2021.

 I did remind them that they needed to refund my money last week but they ignored my message. I messaged them again today and told them if I didn't hear from them then I would have no option but to consult a solicitor.
They then messaged me back and told me they had been told by CAB and a solicitor that they don't need to give me any money back.
They knew all along that I have been ill.

Soot2006

elsastockwells said:

pinkshoes

This was at the beginning of November 2021. They were due to leave in the middle of November 2021.

 I did remind them that they needed to refund my money last week but they ignored my message. I messaged them again today and told them if I didn't hear from them then I would have no option but to consult a solicitor.
They then messaged me back and told me they had been told by CAB and a solicitor that they don't need to give me any money back.
They knew all along that I have been ill.

They don't sound very nice at all.  If they could have sold him 10 times over, then really they shouldn't have had any trouble selling him as he would still have been ready to leave as a puppy. Don't let them bully you.  Send them a letter before action - loads of templates online.  Then the ball is in their court.  You have accepted the loss of the deposit; you will not accept the full cost of the puppy.

pinkshoes

elsastockwells said:

pinkshoes

This was at the beginning of November 2021. They were due to leave in the middle of November 2021.

 I did remind them that they needed to refund my money last week but they ignored my message. I messaged them again today and told them if I didn't hear from them then I would have no option but to consult a solicitor.
They then messaged me back and told me they had been told by CAB and a solicitor that they don't need to give me any money back.
They knew all along that I have been ill.

You don't need a solicitor. Just write to them and send it first class with proof of postage.

Dear <insert name of mean evil puppy seller>

On <date> I agreed to buy a puppy from you for the sum of £2000.The amount was paid in full on this date. The puppy was due to be collected on <date>.


On <date> I became ill and made the sensible decision that it was not in the best interest of the puppy if I continued with the purchase. I informed you of this decision and you agreed in writing that you would refund the sum of £1500. You were then able to use the £500 deposit to pay re-advertising costs to sell the puppy again. As per your text message on <date>, you informed me that you would have no issues re-selling him.

As no refund has been forthcoming, I am therefore giving you 14 days to issue a refund of £1500. As a gesture of goodwill, I will allow you to retain the deposit of £500.

Please transfer the money to me via bank transfer. My details are as follows:

Sort code: XX XX XX
Bank account XXXXXXXX

If no refund is received by <date  16 days after posting>  then I will be taking you to court for the money, and claiming the £1500, as well as the small claims court fee, admin fee, and the £500 deposit money less a reasonable amount for re-advertising. 

Kind regards,

Ellastockwells

Undervalued

pinkshoes said:

elsastockwells said:

pinkshoes

This was at the beginning of November 2021. They were due to leave in the middle of November 2021.

 I did remind them that they needed to refund my money last week but they ignored my message. I messaged them again today and told them if I didn't hear from them then I would have no option but to consult a solicitor.
They then messaged me back and told me they had been told by CAB and a solicitor that they don't need to give me any money back.
They knew all along that I have been ill.

You don't need a solicitor. Just write to them and send it first class with proof of postage.

Dear <insert name of mean evil puppy seller>

On <date> I agreed to buy a puppy from you for the sum of £2000.The amount was paid in full on this date. The puppy was due to be collected on <date>.


On <date> I became ill and made the sensible decision that it was not in the best interest of the puppy if I continued with the purchase. I informed you of this decision and you agreed in writing that you would refund the sum of £1500. You were then able to use the £500 deposit to pay re-advertising costs to sell the puppy again. As per your text message on <date>, you informed me that you would have no issues re-selling him.

As no refund has been forthcoming, I am therefore giving you 14 days to issue a refund of £1500. As a gesture of goodwill, I will allow you to retain the deposit of £500.

Please transfer the money to me via bank transfer. My details are as follows:

Sort code: XX XX XX
Bank account XXXXXXXX

If no refund is received by <date  16 days after posting>  then I will be taking you to court for the money, and claiming the £1500, as well as the small claims court fee, admin fee, and the £500 deposit money less a reasonable amount for re-advertising. 

Kind regards,

Ellastockwells

That is all (probably) fine providing the OP has proper evidence that the seller agreed to refund the £1500. There is a vague reference early on to a text message but the devil may be in the detail.

Otherwise the OP had no legal right to withdraw from the contract. She had paid in full and the seller could have insisted on delivering the goods (i.e puppy) as agreed. If the seller still has the goods (puppy) they could still go down that route as what we are told about the text message would imply that any agreed partial refund was conditional on the puppy being sold to somebody else.

Sadly one needs to leave aside the emotional aspects of this. The law treats domestic animals as goods and chattels and the OP's illness is not relevant unless the seller chooses to waive some of their legal rights.

pinkshoes

@Undervalued - I have gone on the basis that the "goods" are no longer available so cannot be supplied. The seller said themselves they could have sold the puppy many times over so have hopefully mitigated their losses.

Indeed the OP could ask for either the "goods" to be supplied or the refund!

Jenni_D

Kind regards? Really?  

Dear Sir/Madam = Yours faithfully
Dear <Name> = Yours sincerely