I contacted Jollie K-9 through an online dog classified posting. Lemmie "Skip" Ruffin was advertising an imported, registered, titled and papered Level 3 protection dog named Auxie for $3000. I emailed and requested more info and Skip left his phone number. On April 13 we talked about my needs and this particular dog at length.
The dog seemed to be an absolute picture of perfection. I'm an experienced handler and I will say everything Skip had to say was spot-on and was exactly what I wanted to hear. He had an answer for everything. That's all well and good for the most part.
Skip called me on the 14th and asked me to send him $1500 as a deposit for the dog. I let him know I would send him a deposit once I determined if this dog was for me or not and I asked him if it would be alright to have a friend of mine from the Birmingham area come and see the dog. He agreed and I gave my friend his contact info. Skip called me on the 16th to tell me that he and my friend worked out and arranged a meeting for the 20th of April. He pressed me for payment again and I let him know a deposit would be coming once a few things were cleared up and I was sure I would be buying the dog.
I asked Skip on the 17th for a contract and receipt for deposit. I wasn't going to send him money blindly as he kept pressing me to do. He let me know on the 18th that he does have a contract and guarantee which are featured on his website (I will add it does exist on his site but it is for puppies and even still, the language is quite ambiguous and vague) He wouldn't give me a contract or receipt for my deposit.
I talked to Skip by phone and email on the 19th and he again asked me for payment. I let him know I found a way through my bank to send him an insured and traceable payment and that I did so that day, which I did. I knew I was secure and covered in case he flaked out on me. This was the same day I saw him listed on this site, go figure. On the 19th we discussed my friend's visit and that my friend would be there the next day to see the dog and witness some bite work and see the papers.
Skip said he was looking forward to my friend's visit and that he would call me the next day after my friend had left to discuss. I got a call on the 20th from my friend, telling me that before they left to see Skip they called to get directions and confirm and Skip was "Surprised and shocked" that my friend was coming to see him and that Skip thought I wasn't interested in the dog at all. He said to my friend that he thought the appointment was off because he hadn't heard from me all week.
Talk about a surprise. For me that is. Skip said he would be back in town Sunday night, the 22nd, and that he would call my friend to schedule a new meeting. No such call was placed. I wrote Skip an email on the 22nd asking him what happened to the meeting and that I'm not sure what all the confusion was about.
Skip wrote me back Monday the 23rd and said he sold the dog because he hadn't heard from me or my friend and thereby thought I was not interested. He went on in his email to say a lot of things that just never happened the way he says they did such as having no contact with us, etc.
I knew then and there Skip was out to get my money and either run away with it OR he wanted to give me a dog he desperately needed to get rid of.in either case, he clearly did not want the dog evaluated in any form and he didn't want anyone looking into the dog's paperwork. He dodged every effort to have the dog checked out, he dodged every effort to offer a contract, he dodged every attempt at making a secure transaction all together.
His deceptivness and lame excuses didn't help anything except to further my opinion that Skip has something to hide. I wrote back to Skip and let him know how things REALLY took place and I reminded him he can't deny having spoken to me, because in his email he wrote to me he left in all the past messages. WOW what a terrible way to lie.
I let Skip know that our calls had been recorded as it is is legal to do here so if there was any doubt to my claims, just to let me know and I would put our conversations on a CD and send them right along. I intercepted my deposit so it never got to him, thankfully and I never had to take advantage of my buyer protection.
Skip was very deceptive and really leaves one with a sense that he is hiding something. Being overly pushy for payment just makes one feel even less at ease, especially when on his site he USED TO (removed this week) advertise dogs at Auxie's level sell for around $8,500. So why was super dog only $3,000? Hmmmm.
I checked out the other two reports on Skip (just type in "jollie") and it looks like the same level of deceit and bad business was experienced there, too. Can't say if his dogs are any good because he wouldn't let us have a look at them but as for Skip himself, I would advise staying away. Too many stories, too many fact-shifting conversations and too many worries and lack of assurances.
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