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Dog Breeder will not refund deposit - Suggestions?

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dhahlen

Junior Member
State of Arizona

My wife and I looked at puppies from a breeder we found online. We were interested in a couple of pups and put a deposit down for two of them ($300 each x 2) for a total of $600. The pups were 3 weeks when we put a deposit down. A couple of days later, my wife and I decided to take only one pup, but were still considering a second pup but we were unsure. A few days before we were scheduled to pick them up (May 2nd), the breeder contacted us and told us that the parvo virus made it's way into the litter. They said they would need to keep the pup a few more days, I told them this was fine but I needed to discuss things with my wife. After a few days, we decided to not take any pups from them due to various reasons, parvo being one of them. I called several times, and sent a couple of e-mails without any response from them. Today, the breeder called me and did not hear of my last response. I informed him and he said they had never refunded a deposit before. I suggested that he discuss things with his wife, but that we wanted the deposit back. They offered to give back $200 of the $600 back, and said that the pups they held for us were not worth as much because they were already 6 weeks old and it would be harder to sell. I told them we did not sign a contract, and that it was a holding deposit, and it was not implied or noted as a non-refundable deposit. I even offered to let them keep $100 of the $600 for the trouble. He said he spoke with three attorney's, and they all were in his favor. Whether or not I believe this, it does not matter. Given that the pups were exposed to the virus, and how they were unwilling to refund the deposit, I would like to know my options in small claims. I plan on suing them for the $600, which was the cost of my deposit.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
 



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