Complaint Review: Murphy's Personalized Equine Transportation Services

I do not know the person who filed the original report but I would like to add my two cents to this report.  I have actually used both companies listed in this report.  I could not agree more with the person who commented before me about Walt and Cyndy Miller.  They are the best people to transport your horse hands down.  Walt shipped a seven months pregnant mare for me from VA to AZ and she arrived in excellent health.  When I was moving from AZ to UT, I called on Walt and Cyndy again to move all five of my horses. 

Walt took excellent care of "the girls" and Cyndy keeps you informed at all times with how the trip is going.  We even discussed/agreed upon Walt staying an extra night near Las Vegas (this was completely at my suggestion) because I was concerned about the icy road conditions in Utah.  I didn't want Walt or the horses hurt trying to get up to where I moved to.  If you ever need a horse moved, these are the people you want to move it.

On the other hand, I have been completely dissatisfied with the service from Murphy's PETS.  I wouldn't trust Gail Murphy to move a dead horse let alone an expensive one.  If you read some of the other reports on this site, you get an idea of what happens.  She promises to come and pick up on a given day, you get tons of excuses of why she doesn't show up on time (we are talking DAYS later) and when you start to press her for reasons why, she stops answering your phone calls.  I paid $500 to learn that lesson and got absolutely nothing in return except wiser (my personal report on this company was filed on this site at one time).  Please, run away from Gail Murphy and never trust her to transport animals for you.

Walt Miller of Miller Farms Equine Transport is not the man Anne portrays him to be in her report filed here on RipOff Reports.com. Walt  is a very knowledgeable, caring and compassionate horse hauler.  He will go above and beyond to get your horse to arrive at its destination in the same condition as it departed in.  And yes, sometimes this may mean stopping early and finding an alternative reputable Horse Hotel for the night instead of the one that was planned for that night because one of the horses on board is in need of rest.  So the miles that were planned on being traveled that day did not get accomplished. And yes, sometimes a horse on board may not be traveling well, especially if it was only used to 30 -60 minute trailer rides before it took off on a several hundred or several thousand mile road trip. So it may need a longer rest period before it can continue traveling.  In that case Walt will make the time to lay up a day or two along the route in order to give that horse and the rest of the horses on board a longer rest period. But anyone who has had horses hauled in from long distances knows you are not promised to have the horse show up at your door like the cable installation man.  You are given a time window of dates to expect the horse to arrive. Things can and do happen on lengthy hauls. But most horse owners would agree if their horse or any horse on the trailer is in need of rest then by all means stop the trip and give it rest.  If this should happen Walt or Cyndy will always call to let everyone who has a horse on board know the circumstances.  Anyone who has ever had their horses hauled cross country knows a lot of horses do not travel long distances very well. They can lose weight, become over tired or extremely stressed out traveling thousands of miles in a short amount of time.  When this happens Walt makes the welfare of the horse his primary concern not arriving on a certain day or at a certain time at someones door like the cable guy. We have used his services twice from CA to WV and from WV to CA and both times he took extremely good care of our equine which was the Champion Spotted Mammoth Jack  named Gate Farms Cant Touch This. On one of our trips there was a very expensive dressage horse coming to CA from FL. She was not used to long distance travel and was not handling the trip well at all and about half way to CA she was in need of a much longer rest than just over night. Cyndy  Walts wife called everyone that had a passenger on board and relayed the situation. We all agreed to have the whole trip stop and rest for as long as this mare needed which was 3 days.  Walt was willing to leave the mare there and resume the trip to CA if anyone on board could not wait another 3 days for their horse to arrive.  Then after dropping everyone off, he would go back and get the mare and bring her to CA.  But as it is with most horse owners everyone who had an equine on board was a caring and compassionate horse owner and really felt bad for this mare. So none of us had any problem with stopping the trip where it was at to give this mare and the other horses an extended rest.  

And all long haulers travel log books look more like a zig zag line then a straight line. They travel up and down and back and forth across the country picking up and dropping off horses. When going from FL to CA it is highly unlikely you are going to travel straight across from point A to point B, unless you have filled the entire trailer with horses all going to the same location. All other long distance trips take detours to pick up and drop off horse passengers along the route.

Annes expectations of what a long distance horse hauling is, is extremely distorted and her expectations of what Walt Miller was to provide very unrealistic. Walt Miller of Miller Farms Equine Transport is a very professional, reputable and honest hauler and we will be using his services again!  Tucalota Longears Company

I did some hauling for Gail Murphy and max smith and they rip me off out of $800 this people done this to other haulers and customers, BEWARE of this people !!!

I was shocked to read this report. I have used this company twice - once for a short haul in California, and the second time from California to MIssouri. I have found them to be professional and caring. After reading this report, the horse owner sounds extremely unrealistic about transporting a horse, i.e., she was in the truck with them? Horse transport companies are not private limo services that pick you and your horse up and take a direct route to where you are going and drop you off at your requested destination.

I will be using Gail again to transport another horse from New Jersey to Missouri. I would not consider using anyone else. I am happy to give this company the highest recommendation and hope this silly report is ignored. You may contact me by e-mail if you have any concerns regarding this company, (((ROR redacted)))

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

We were made aware of Julieanne's Ripoff report on 3-16-2008.

The Summary:

1. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT haul Julieanne or her horse.
2. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT have a contract to haul the horse.
3. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT receive remuneration from any person or company for moving Julieanne, Julieanne's horse or Julieanne's household goods.

The Details:

We were contacted by Julieanne by telephone. We are based out of the West Coast and Julieanne inquired about shipping her horse from Florida to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

We ultimately declined the job as she demanded to ride with the horse. We have never transported humans only animals.

She begged us to help her find someone who might be able to haul her and her horse.

As a courtesy, we referred her to Walt Miller as we have known him for over 20 years to be a knowledgeable and outstanding operator. We knew that he was going to be in Florida around the time period of her request. We warned her that Walt would probably decline transporting her with her horse, but told her she could ask him and see.

Walter did transport her as far as a farm in Oklahoma City. He, at his own cost, placed the horse in a double stall when Julieanne would only pay for a single stall. Walt had discovered that the horse had recently suffered a pre-colic condition and he wanted the transport to be as least stressful as possible.

It was coincidental that we were at the layover facility in Oklahoma at the time of Walt's arrival. Walter arrived just as we were transferring everything we could into the farm's huge barn the reason for this was that we had, minutes before, received a weather-watch warning advising imminent large hail and possible tornadic activity. The wind was howling and it was raining heavily.

Walter unloaded the horse because it was it was kicking and tearing up his new Sundowner trailer. We all (except Julieanne) pitched in to offload Julieanne's gear. I WAS ASTOUNDED AT THE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS. Her stuff filled TWO extra stalls AND Walt's tack room. She had a trunk that took three men to get off the trailer and slide into the back of the farm's Gator.

All her gear was stowed indoors and her horse was placed in an indoor stall. She was given sleeping accommodations and a hot meal, gratis! Someone came and picked her up the next day.

Clearly, the only persons ripped-off here were the transporters Walt Miller because he hauled the horse, the gear and the human, and Personalized Equine because of an unsubstantiated and slanderous blog on the Rip-Off Report. The fact that Rip-Off posted this blog without making the haulers aware of its contents is another matter. Baseless accusations such as Julieanne's posting cause hard-working folks to lose money, clients and time spent on refutation.

Call Personalized Equine anytime is you have any questions or wish to further discuss this matter. We have been transporting horses for over 30 years.

Thanks,

Gail Murphy
Personalized Equine Transportation Service
www.murphyspets.com
800-729-8763

We were made aware of Julieanne's Ripoff report on 3-16-2008.

The Summary:

1. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT haul Julieanne or her horse.
2. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT have a contract to haul the horse.
3. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT receive remuneration from any person or company for moving Julieanne, Julieanne's horse or Julieanne's household goods.

The Details:

We were contacted by Julieanne by telephone. We are based out of the West Coast and Julieanne inquired about shipping her horse from Florida to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

We ultimately declined the job as she demanded to ride with the horse. We have never transported humans only animals.

She begged us to help her find someone who might be able to haul her and her horse.

As a courtesy, we referred her to Walt Miller as we have known him for over 20 years to be a knowledgeable and outstanding operator. We knew that he was going to be in Florida around the time period of her request. We warned her that Walt would probably decline transporting her with her horse, but told her she could ask him and see.

Walter did transport her as far as a farm in Oklahoma City. He, at his own cost, placed the horse in a double stall when Julieanne would only pay for a single stall. Walt had discovered that the horse had recently suffered a pre-colic condition and he wanted the transport to be as least stressful as possible.

It was coincidental that we were at the layover facility in Oklahoma at the time of Walt's arrival. Walter arrived just as we were transferring everything we could into the farm's huge barn the reason for this was that we had, minutes before, received a weather-watch warning advising imminent large hail and possible tornadic activity. The wind was howling and it was raining heavily.

Walter unloaded the horse because it was it was kicking and tearing up his new Sundowner trailer. We all (except Julieanne) pitched in to offload Julieanne's gear. I WAS ASTOUNDED AT THE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS. Her stuff filled TWO extra stalls AND Walt's tack room. She had a trunk that took three men to get off the trailer and slide into the back of the farm's Gator.

All her gear was stowed indoors and her horse was placed in an indoor stall. She was given sleeping accommodations and a hot meal, gratis! Someone came and picked her up the next day.

Clearly, the only persons ripped-off here were the transporters Walt Miller because he hauled the horse, the gear and the human, and Personalized Equine because of an unsubstantiated and slanderous blog on the Rip-Off Report. The fact that Rip-Off posted this blog without making the haulers aware of its contents is another matter. Baseless accusations such as Julieanne's posting cause hard-working folks to lose money, clients and time spent on refutation.

Call Personalized Equine anytime is you have any questions or wish to further discuss this matter. We have been transporting horses for over 30 years.

Thanks,

Gail Murphy
Personalized Equine Transportation Service
www.murphyspets.com
800-729-8763

We were made aware of Julieanne's Ripoff report on 3-16-2008.

The Summary:

1. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT haul Julieanne or her horse.
2. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT have a contract to haul the horse.
3. Personalized Equine/Gail Murphy DID NOT receive remuneration from any person or company for moving Julieanne, Julieanne's horse or Julieanne's household goods.

The Details:

We were contacted by Julieanne by telephone. We are based out of the West Coast and Julieanne inquired about shipping her horse from Florida to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

We ultimately declined the job as she demanded to ride with the horse. We have never transported humans only animals.

She begged us to help her find someone who might be able to haul her and her horse.

As a courtesy, we referred her to Walt Miller as we have known him for over 20 years to be a knowledgeable and outstanding operator. We knew that he was going to be in Florida around the time period of her request. We warned her that Walt would probably decline transporting her with her horse, but told her she could ask him and see.

Walter did transport her as far as a farm in Oklahoma City. He, at his own cost, placed the horse in a double stall when Julieanne would only pay for a single stall. Walt had discovered that the horse had recently suffered a pre-colic condition and he wanted the transport to be as least stressful as possible.

It was coincidental that we were at the layover facility in Oklahoma at the time of Walt's arrival. Walter arrived just as we were transferring everything we could into the farm's huge barn the reason for this was that we had, minutes before, received a weather-watch warning advising imminent large hail and possible tornadic activity. The wind was howling and it was raining heavily.

Walter unloaded the horse because it was it was kicking and tearing up his new Sundowner trailer. We all (except Julieanne) pitched in to offload Julieanne's gear. I WAS ASTOUNDED AT THE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS. Her stuff filled TWO extra stalls AND Walt's tack room. She had a trunk that took three men to get off the trailer and slide into the back of the farm's Gator.

All her gear was stowed indoors and her horse was placed in an indoor stall. She was given sleeping accommodations and a hot meal, gratis! Someone came and picked her up the next day.

Clearly, the only persons ripped-off here were the transporters Walt Miller because he hauled the horse, the gear and the human, and Personalized Equine because of an unsubstantiated and slanderous blog on the Rip-Off Report. The fact that Rip-Off posted this blog without making the haulers aware of its contents is another matter. Baseless accusations such as Julieanne's posting cause hard-working folks to lose money, clients and time spent on refutation.

Call Personalized Equine anytime is you have any questions or wish to further discuss this matter. We have been transporting horses for over 30 years.

Thanks,

Gail Murphy
Personalized Equine Transportation Service
www.murphyspets.com
800-729-8763

Any connection to the above report about this trip and the truth is both distant and coincidental.

Gail did refer us to pickup this horse in Florida and transport it to Oklahoma. We all wish she had not, but we had no way of knowing that at the time. Walt got to Florida and did not think the horse was in good travelling condition. The customer persisted that it needed to go and go now, Walt declined to take the horse until it was vet checked as the health certificate had been issued prior to the horse exhibiting symptoms of impending colic, a serious and often fatal intestinal event. The vet came and treated for colic and as the horse seemed better the next morning, the vet deemed the horse safe for travel and so Walt agreed to load.

The owner needed a ride as she could not afford this trip to California and calculated her strategy to get someone else to supply her transportation. She decided to "tag along" uninvited. In over 20 years of horse hauling, we have NEVER had an owner who assumed that their safe passage coast to coast was included in the price of hauling the horse. It was NOT OK with us to take her and her possessions (we do not move 2 legged critters, we confine our cargo to 4 legged passengers). Walt reluctantly agreed to let her board as he still had lingering concerns about the horse's fitness to travel and having the owner in attendance could prove useful in case the horse did not travel well. She even had the nerve to demand that we pay for her motel room! (If we didn't layover the horses, how were we generating motel charges?)

The itinerary was made abundantly clear to her before departure, and Walt offered her the option of waiting for another truck, SHE DECLINED THAT OFFER. Yes, we held to our schedule and itinerary. Yes, we honored our commitment to the owners of the other horses booked on that run. Yes, that was more miles than we would have liked her horse to travel, but it was HER CHOICE. Further, Walt DID offload the horses for layovers en route and she refused to pay for the accommodations, forcing us to absorb the cost. That she owned a horse she clearly could not afford and that she decided to move herself ,her horse and her bulky belongings across country, another maneuver which she could not afford was neither our decision nor our responsibility! There was nothing wrong with that horse that a change of owner could not have resolved.

In Oklahoma, we were to deliver the horse to McLoud and further westbound transport would take the horse the rest of the way. It was NOT left by the side of the road, but at a reputable Horse Hotel with a licensed vet tech in attendance. When she asked Walt to take her to a different location, he tried to, but her horse did like travelling alone and started kicking the daylights out of the trailer.

Rather than risk injury, to the horse and/or the rig, he offloaded the horse at that horse hotel. That this intellectual indigent was along and needed 3 men to offload her belongings in the pounding rain while she did little more than complain about the situation, is neither our responsibilty nor our concern, but yet, we did all we could to make her comfortable, put her up in our friend's house trailer, brought her hot meals, loaded and offloaded her belongings.

This report is not even borderline scandalous, it is nauseatingly entrenched in libel. I never persued that avenue for 2 reasons: first I did not know about this report until today, nearly 9 months later. Secondly, I hold firm to the posture never to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

This trip was booked through TravellingHorse.com. Jeanne Haugen, the owner of the service got this similar complaint and inceremoniously dismissed us from the service in an apparently futile attempt to appease her. Jeanne (I saved the emails proving this next point) flat out told me she is a "nut case" but felt that she had to protect the customer who is not paying her as opposed to the hauler who DOES support her website business by paying monthly for the listings. That bothered me at the time, but proved to be nothing more than a blip on our screen. Walt has learned his lesson, and will NEVER again allow a client to plant their considerable butt in our passenger seat, and will NEVER again fail to listen to his gut when it tells him he has a human of questionable character in his presence.

I do agree there are vicitms here. Gail, her partner Max, Walt , the owners of the horse hotel in Oklahoma, and last but not least: this woman's horse. At least our involvement with her was short lived. We can live with ANYTHING temporarily, that horse is stuck with her like gum on the bottom of his shoes.