Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Florida's finest k9 after adopting my Dalmatian from a friend. This is the trainer they used, I was scared since he was a new dog and this trainer had trained him and just wanted insight. The trainer convinced me to sign up for another 8 classes of training, promising by the end my dog would be 100% off leash trained. I worked effortlessly with my dog and by the 7th class we were NO WHERE near off leash, to which was being blamed on me not following his instructions even though I was. My husband felt off about the entire thing and we decided to terminate training after he charged me $112.50 for a make up class because my kids and I woke up with covid and the last thing on my mind was training that morning, however I was not going to continue training. This was VIRTUAL, through FaceTime not a IN PERSON. I thought after I terminated classes and was NOT going to make up the last class I would be refunded the $112.50 but no, I was still charged even though promise of off leash was not happening and now I paid ******* and still am doing training with my dog. I feel he coherced me into training, using statements like "I know this dog better than you do" and I felt almost scared to end up with a bad dog. He said things like "only I know his commands, not even his last owners know" I wanted advice if a shock collar would work, or other things and was told I could pay for the training if I needed advice, so I felt at a loss.. upon checking with other trainers after the fact they even stated he used tactics to create fear with me and my dog and coherced me into training, and that virtual training is NOT the best form and that's not what I was told. I am not a dog trainer and trusted this person.

  Business response

  10/09/2024

  In response to this complaint, we are sorry that the client feels the way they feel after canceling training with us. The client who reached out to us that adopted a dog that needed to be re-homed. This specific dog was a dog that I myself and the business had personally trained to obedience 3, full off leash capacity. The client was advised that her dog was fully capable of being completely off leash trained and previously was, but it had been over 6 months since the previous owners had trained or maintained the dogs obedience. Which meant that we would most definitely need to bring her up to speed on the specific type of communication and methods that were used to train her dog. We planned to try to fit the equivalent of 6 months of training into 8 sessions spanned over the course of 2 months. I mentioned to her that we normally do not bring clients through this rapid of a progression through our program, but for this specific case we would make an exception because the dog had already previously been fully trained. To respond to the guarantee portion of the complaint. Per the contract she signed, We, Floridas Finest K9 Obedience Training, guarantee our training if, (a) you have allotted and Invested the recommended and proper time working and training your dog in the manner we have instructed you to. In which case, she had not yet even completed the 8 sessions we require all of our clients to sign up for/ make the commitment to, Which means that the time we required her to spend training had not yet been fulfilled. In addition, in many cases, the client did not follow recommended guidelines in the homework that was given weekly which means the client did not train her dog in a manner that we instructed her to. The success of the training would depend upon how diligent she was and how precise she was with the homework we gave her, especially with how fast we planned to progress. To clarify, The client did not complete seven out of the eight training sessions, she only completed five out of eight. In addition, the client was not charged for a make up class, she was charged for a tardy, late or missed class. Per the contract she signed, In the event of a cancellation of a session without at least 24 hours notice, you can and will be charged for that cancelled session prior to the start of the next session, at a prorated amount determined by the full course price. Throughout the course of training with the client, there were a total of four sessions that were either cancelled or rescheduled without the proper notice of 24 hours given, and the client was only charged for one of them. Documentation is provided showing the client was extremely happy with the training services, guidance and advice we provided. The client signing up for training with us was 100% her choice and had more than enough opportunity to research other training options and opportunities for her dog before signing up with us. To respond to the advice the client wanted before signing up with us about the e-collar, we happily responded and recommended not to use an e-collar. In addition to that guidance, we spent over two hours going into extreme depth covering our training program and philosophy and what they can expect when training with us to make the client feel as comfortable as possible before signing up. In response to the "I know this dog better than you do", and "only I know his commands, not even his last owners know". We had her dog for just over a month prior to her adopting the dog from the previous owners and trained him to full off leash capacity. The reason why the previous owners did not know those advanced commands she mentioned, is simply because they did not do any of their follow up private sessions after the dog went back to them to learn the program and communication. 
  
  
  Detailed in the photos submitted of last communication/ text conversation between us and the client, after providing the description as to why she was charged for an extra session, she texted :
  
  
  Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I hope we do as well. 
  I think we have done as much as we personally need with gunner. I appreciate your time and dedication with us. He is a great dog and training has done so much for us with him as a family and a dog. We will not need anymore sessions.
  
  
  While we strive to do anything and everything we can to provide superior service to make our clients happy, when a client cancels or reschedules upwards of four training sessions without proper notice, does not dedicate the time and effort to train their dogs, and decides to voluntarily cancel or stop training with us before they completed the sessions they have paid for, aside from guidance and encouragement, there is nothing much else that we can do. 

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