Valley View Puppies Cindy Johnson Convinced me I was buying a tiny teacup yorkie of excellent quality. Learned the hard way - you don't always get what you pay for. ripoff Alma Nebraska
I purchased my yorkshire terrier puppy, Huck, from Cindy Johnson of Valley View Puppies in April of 2006. After lots of research (though apparently not enough) and an exhaustive search, I stumbled upon Cindy's website, valleyviewpuppies.com Right away, I was impressed with the information provided on the website, general information about yorkies, information about herself, pictures of the sire and dams, testimonials, etc. I made it very clear to her size was most important to me, and I really wanted a teacup sized yorkie. I also admitted I was very, very leery about buying a puppy online. She assured me the little male I had chosen would definitely be less than 3.5 lbs, and would probably barely reach 3.
The little male I purchased was still too young to travel, so Cindy promised she would keep me updated with pictures. I didn't receive any pictures or emails for a while. I began to get the feeling I had been scammed, and I even ran an identity check on her, to make sure there really was a Cindy Johnson living at the address she had given me.
When she finally did touch base, I questioned her. She gave me a huge guilt trip, explaining that she was digging herself out of blizzard conditions in Nebraska at the time. I felt terrible like a paranoid, crazy lady - here this poor woman was suffering through a blizzard, and I was doing background checks on her! The funny things was, I noticed the blizzard didn't keep her from updating her web page with new pictures of her other puppies that same week.
As the weeks progressed, I began to think my puppy looked a little large. But Cindy assured me, he was a tiny teacup, and that her teacups tend to grow very quickly at first, then just completely stop growing. Still, I wasn't convinced, so I asked if she could photograph my puppy next to a slightly older puppy that came from a different litter. The sire and dam of this other puppy had a proven history of producing tinies. (BTW, I was originally interested in this other puppy, but Cindy said the little male I chose had a much better pedigree, his mother was smaller than the other's, and his bone structure was much more petite.)
I also asked if she could provide me with both their weights, so I could compare that as well. She said she couldn't get the two puppies to stay still long enough to snap the shot, and she never did provide the weights either. In hindsight, I now wonder why her husband or some other person couldn't have held the two puppies next to each other while she took the picture. But the thing was, I was still kind of embarrassed over the whole blizzard-background-check-episode-thing, and I just didn't want to come across as a difficult or hard-to-please customer. Plus, Cindy comes across as so sugary sweet and so genuinely interested in being helpful.
I really felt guilty questioning her at that point. I did, however, ask her to provide the puppy's weight a week before he was due to fly home. She said he weighed 1 lb. 5 oz. Funny thing is, when Huck arrived, a week later, I weighed him on my digital scale, and he weighed in at a whopping 1 lb. 12 oz. Teacup yorkies don't gain 7 ounces in 7 days! At that point I realized, either Cindy wasn't being completely upfront or her scale was way off! I expressed my concern over his size. She said he was just fat, because he had received lots of table scraps (That's a whole other issue!
To this day, we still struggle with Huck's annoying tendency to beg and rummage through the kitchen garbage!). She said his weight gain would slow down and taper off, especially once he no longer received table food. Anyway, to make a long story not too much longer, as you might have guessed, Huck continued to rapidly grow, and grow, and grow, and grow! He is not the tiny teacup she promised. At 9 months, Huck weighs 5 lbs and is not showing any signs of slowing down. He receives cup of NutroMax every two days, and usually doesn't even finish that. And we DO NOT feed him table scraps! So, he's definitely not over fed.
By the time I paid for shipping ($350), I had shelled out $2200 for Huck. Cindy said she based his price first on pedigree, then on size, then on coat, then on ears. Unfortunately, I was misled on every one of those traits. She told me he had an impressive pedigree on both the mother's and the father's side, which she said was the main reason he was priced higher than the others she had listed. However, when I received his 3-generation pedigree, there was only one champion, and it was on his mother's side. She told me he would be a tiny teacup (her exact words).
Well, he's not even a teacup, much less a tiny teacup. He's barely even what most would consider a tiny toy. As for coatshe told me Huck would have a "very nice coat". Huck has what's called a wiry coat. A wiry coat tends to appear dry and frizzy and usually never achieves any significant length. As for Huck's ears they're big and tall. I have to keep them trimmed very short and I let the hair on the bottom half of his ears grow, so it hides their size.
When you charge that much for a dog, a breeder should be willing to stand behind their puppy. I know an exact size cannot be guaranteed, but at that price, a breeder should guarantee a size range and if it's advertised over and over as a tiny teacup, then the buyer should receive at least a teacup sized dog. I've asked Cindy to provide me with a partial refund, since Huck has fallen short, not just in size, but in every area she promised quality.
Just charge me what you would normally charge for a dog with his pedigree, size, coat and ears, and refund me the difference. She refused, claiming she'd already bent over backwards for me, and said she was sorry Huck didn't turn out to be exactly the size I had hoped for. It's not that he isn't exactly the size I had hoped for. Rather, it's that he isn't even near the size I paid for, nor the quality.
Anna
SEVERNA PARK, Maryland
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Qgata
northport,New York,
United States of America
Valley View Puppies is an Excellent Breeder!
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, September 21, 2011
I am a very happy customer from Cindy at Valley View. I purchased both of my Yorkies there, one is 5 and the other 4. Cindy has always made it clear (as any responsible breeder would) that she cannot guarantee size. It's genetics. It cannot be guaranteed by anyone but God. She is an extremely dedicated and responsible breeder, and this report is unjustly hurting her business. This woman returned her puppy and got a refund. What more can she want? Cindy makes everything clear in her website, including puppy care and safety and potential health hazards. Anyone reading this should really trust me when I say this, this is an excellent breeder. My little guy is only 5 pounds and super healthy. My girl is a little bigger, but also healthy, and they are both smart and sweet, very loving, and mo false promises - only educating guidelines - were ever offered by Cindy.
Anna
SEVERNA PARK,Maryland,
U.S.A.
More lies....
#4Author of original report
Mon, November 20, 2006
I have every email correspondence between Cindy and myself, every email she sent me and every email I sent her. Those emails will back up every aspect of my original review. The fact that Cindy says this is the first she's heard of my dissatisfaction is an outright lie. I sent an email to Cindy on 24 May 2006 expressing concern about Huck's size and on 2 June 2006, when it became obvious that Huck was going to be larger than expected, requesting a partial refund. Cindy responded to that email on June 2. That's when she said she'd already "bent over backwards" for me and there was nothing else she was willing to do for me. I have all of those emails, proving she is lying now, just like she did then.
As for the positive review I left for Cindy, Cindy began asking me for a written review before Huck even arrived at my home. Although I expressed concern over his size, Cindy assured me he was just fat, and his growth would taper off soon. Again, I trusted her, and at that point, I still had positive feelings about the transaction, so I didn't think twice about giving her a review. Now I know why she pushed the issue. I have noticed there are not many new reviews posted since I first visited her website back in March 2006. I also noticed she no longer posts her dogs on Puppyfind.com, a site that allows consumers to post reviews on breeders' listings.
Cindy did give me the choice between the two puppies, but she said several times she believed Huck would be the smaller of the too, so she did sway me in that direction. She didn't provide me with all the information I needed to choose between the two. As mentioned, I requested a picture of the two puppies side by side and I requested both their weights. I received neither. Here are a few excerpts from Cindy's emails...
"Benji is just adorable with the teddy bear face with the nice confirmation,
thick silky coat (reminds me of your boy's), short nose etc. His weight full grown should be around 3 lbs at the very most. His brother from
Missy's (Mom) last litter was 1.2 lb at 6 months and his sister was 1.4 lbs at 6 months. Missy had 4 her first litter and 5 this litter so I have a pretty good history. All of the puppies are very consistent in size and confirmation. Mom is about 3.75 lb and Dad is under 4 lbs and has been siring my tinies. He also should be Black & Gold at maturity. Now Jack is
going to have more of the baby doll face but he will also be very tiny with short legs and boxy confirmation and should be black and tan as well -
I think he may just a touch little smaller than Benji and his coat may not be quite as thick but it will be a nice coat. The biggest difference in the two is the pedigrees which explains the difference in price - Jack has champions on both sides of his pedigree and Benji has the champions on Dad's side and just a few on Mom's side.
"Okay, so here are my thoughts.......I think you are getting the smaller one in Huck. When I put them together he was still quite a bit smaller than Benji. If anything they may end up about the same size but I highly doubt it. I would be very very suprised if Huck ended up bigger than Benji. Now, did that make any sense at all?? You are right I do have the history with Missy's litter but looking at Alli and her size she is just tinier featured and weighs a little less. Anna, go with your gut feeling and that is usually the right decision for you. I hope I gave you a little food for thought. If you decide that you like the looks of Benji now that would be fine as well."
"Benji is just a touch over1 lb and Jack is 14 oz. This is probably a statement that is going to be hard to understand but in my previous email I told you about the previous litter and their weights at 6 months?? What I have found with my puppies that are out of "Chance" they grow up until 8 weeks or so and then seem to slow way down. I have never had anyone call me
and say - gosh your puppy got way bigger than you said it was going to."
"Well, I brought both the boys in together......I asked my husbands opinion as well. As hard as I tried to get a picture of them together -- it was impossible!!!! It was like trying to get two toddlers to sit still and both smile at the same time. They were tearing around playing, one going one direction and one another. You should have been here - I finally just gave up and let them play."
"I will send you pictures as soon as I can - I am in hopes of that happening today. I am really sorry that you are so uncomfortable and please reassure your husband ......I have worked very hard to build an excellent reputation
so as I have stated before, when you get your puppy and love it and realize I was trustworthy, I will have one heck of a great reference!!!!!"
"Anna, I do understand your concern about being scammed and I wish that I could reassure you even more. You are not offending me in the least, but I do know one thing when you receive your puppy and you love him, I will have
one great reference!!!"
As you can see, Cindy always asserted her puppies would be tiny teacups, saying she'd never had a problem with them getting larger than estimated. And, as you can see, she did sway me towards Huck, stating she believed he would be the smaller of the two. The facts are right there - undeniable!
C
Alma,Nebraska,
U.S.A.
Unfair Accusations - She had Choice out of two litters!
#4REBUTTAL Individual responds
Mon, November 20, 2006
Having been in business for several years without complaint, this has been very upsetting. It has always been very important to me to have happy customers. Not hearing from her for months, this has come as quite a surprise especially when she was given choice between two different puppies from two different litters. I answered her questions being careful not to sway her either way as she stated that I did. I am now being punished for her choice. I made absolutely no guarantees on size and I explained that to her on several occasions. She said that she understood that.
Anna was given the choice of two different puppies from two different litters. I did my best to give her all the information that I had available to me. Her story has changed quite a bit from the actual events but that becomes a she said, she said and I do not feel that will solve anything. I am very offended by her accusations that I lied about a blizzard and lied about my address. I live in rural Nebraska with an address from one area and a phone number from another and we did have a 3 day blizzard and 2 days of digging out. My total concentration was to keep my puppies warm and safe during the storm. She asks why I could post other pictures and not her puppies - they were in my camera prior. I am sure that that is hard for someone to understand that lives in Texas with no snow. I am not sure what point she was trying to make regarding my address and the blizzard.
I want to be sure that everyone notices that Anna did receive a puppy and he was a healthy he was not sickly and he made the trip to her home in Texas without event and she loves him very much. She was not scammed in any way. I cannot guarantee size which is in my health guarantee/contract that she signed and I talked to her about that at length. She had the choice of two different puppies from two different litters, one that I had history on regarding size of past litters and one that was from a litter that I had not history so I could only base my estimate on the 8 week weight times 2 to 3, formula and the size of the parents. For example if the puppy weighs 1 lb at 8 weeks according to the formula he could weigh 2 to 3 lbs as an adult but still there is no guarantee due to genetics. I provided her with pictures of both sets of parents and the puppies to assist her in making her decision.
Many of the items I do not feel it necessary to address but I welcome any of you to go to my website on my testimonial page and read the testimonial that Anna authorized me to place on my website. This report came as quite a surprise to me since I have not heard from her in months (since last Spring when she purchased the puppy) I am truly sorry that she feels that I should know what a puppy is going to weigh as an adult but that is not possible and I did give her the choice of two different puppies she made the choice. How can I be held accountable for this when I gave her choice I worked hard not to sway her one way or the other I just gave her the facts. She chose the puppy from the litter that I had no history on, basing her decision on the 8 week weight and pedigree. My pricing is not based on size there are many factors taken into consideration he would have been priced the same even if I would have known he was going to weigh 5 lbs.
I have worked very hard to be very careful to give the facts about my puppies, to have very happy, healthy puppies and to be an ethical, honest and reputable breeder.