I purchased a four year old Miniature mare named Rozs Just N Time for a broodmare through Chris Dove at Dove's Miniature Horses (aka DMH) in Worland WY, from an ad she ran on an internet sales board. She had several horses listed in the ad, some of which are owned by Roz Robinson of R&R Miniatures of Ranchester WY. The mare was advertised as a bred mare.
I did not have her preg checked prior to purchase because if she was not pregnant, I would breed her to one of my own stallions. When the mare arrived in mid March not only was the mare not pregnant, but my vet advised will not settle due to a very low thyroid imbalance. The mare is grossly overweight due to this also, and sometimes very skittish. She does not get along well with other horses. When I advised both Roz & Chris of the problem about a month after the mare arrived here, Roz told me that if she had known, would not have sold her and in April, told me she would take the mare back. The lab results and a summary from my vet were forwarded to them both, with Roz claiming that she wanted her vet to review it. I do not believe that Roz presented ANY of this information to her vet (maybe they already knew?) as when asked via email several times, she has just refused to answer.
When Roz said she would take the mare back, I assumed she would send me contact me about getting the mare back to her and sending the refund, and when I heard nothing for a few days, I emailed again to and asked what was going on with it, and it started a two month cycle of either being ignored completely or getting a run around in various ways - trying to blame the non pregnancy on the young stallion that the mare had been out with all summer, (Even after she was provided with my vet's summary and the lab report on the mare) -then tried to trade the mare back for that stallion (I already have 2, and only 4 mares, and certainly would not want a stallion that she implied might have fertility issues) and both ladies knew I was looking for a broodmare from the moment I inquired on Chris's ad, not another stallion. They also then offered to maybe refund a bit of money - though they never said how much, so I could keep the mare, buy the medicine she needs. I sent a long list of many reasons why I did not want the mare, and stated I would just settle for the refund please.
Roz again told me June 9th that she would send a refund and asked how I wanted it sent. She mentioned 'a friend' would be in NM in a few days and perhaps he could bring the mare home from there. I gave her the information for sending the refund, and had questions about 'the friend' and when, where and what info would need to be on the health papers required through my vet to get her home, etc...
Several more days passed and no refund arrived, nor did she respond to my 3 emails that week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.By Friday I was upset, as I cannot make arrangements to get her to NM in two days, nor can I have my vet out that quickly to get the paperwork done. My Friday email was asking that someone let me know what the heck was going on, and that due to her not responding, how was I supposed to get arrangements done on my end... Her response was that she decided to cancel the trip with 'the friend'.
I was NOT happy by this time and in mid to late June, I presented her with a deadline and a very angry email questioning her reputation and whether or not she intended to stand behind her word and at this point, demanded that she repurchase the mare as she said she would.
She now refused to send a refund and they have decided that I should pay the ENTIRE cost of shipping the mare back to her first and then she will send a refund. This was not the agreement nor was anything of the kind discussed for two months until I finally put my foot down and demanded that this issue, that was dragging out for weeks, be taken care of. I advised in my deadline email that if Roz did not repurchase the mare as she stated she would, I was going to start filing complaints regarding their bad business practices.
When a refund did not arrive and she failed to work on shipping arrangements with me, I waited another two days, and then began filing complaints, including one to the Admin of the sales board Chris had posted the ad on. When Roz and Chris were questioned about it from the Admin, they both told nothing but flat out lies regarding the entire issue from beginning to end.
I have kept EVERY piece of documentation on this deal from my first inquiry to Chris from her ad, and was able to prove it was nothing but lies - resulting in their being banned from using this very popular internet sales board.
Chris Dove ran the ad, then denied she did and denied that she had ANYthing to do with the sale at all, though I strictly dealt with her ONLY through the first several WEEKS after my initial inquiry, including her fowarding Roz's banking info to me for full payment of the mare BEFORE she was allowed to leave Wyoming.
Roz, the owner, admitted to me that she had had another mare that had a thyroid imbalance, so she is familiar with the problem and I believe by this mare's weight & occasional skittishness, this is why the mare was sold, though she claims she was unaware she was a 'thyroid mare'. Whether she did or not, she advised twice that she would take the mare back and refund my purchase price, and they have failed to do so.
Chris now declares, after the complaints were filed, that she was not an agent for Roz's horses, yet signed the health certificate and other vet papers as agent for Roz Robinson's horses. The brand inspection papers also had Roz's name forged on them by Chris, as they were not signed until the mare arrived in New Mexico and Roz did not accompany Chris on the trip to deliver the mare that far.
These ladies are liars, misrepresent what they are selling, and do not stand behind what they breed or sell. Nor do they stand behind their word at all. DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!!
Chris even 'suggested' at one point that the mare would make a great 'driving horse' with loud color to advertise a farm with in parades and all. With this mare's occasional thyroid tantrums, it would be suicide to attempt to put her in harness, and I did not pay this kind of money for a PET. The implied warranty was that she was a VIABLE BROODMARE, which is what I was led to believe I was buying.
Bottom line is, Chris Dove ran an ad on a site she was not supposed to be advertising anything on but her OWN horses - those are the rules. She was not listed as a registered agent with the Admin on that site. The Admin of that site told them both to take care of the situation and get it straightened out. Chris sent back an email full of several lies, which I was able to prove, with all the correspondance I have kept. Her email to the Admin basicly included a 'shame on me' for buying the mare without making a trip to WY to see the mare, and implied that if I was stupid enough to buy from them without doing that... Oh well.
I did not ask for a refund on the shipping I paid from NM to here, nor did I ask for money back for the vet work done or the feed this mare has consumed while standing here.in early August I sent them both an email to advise that effective immediately, a monthly board fee was going to begin accruing and also confronted them about their flat out lies to the sales board Admin, and let them know I have ALL documentation regarding the issue, so do not continue to lie about it all. I asked again for the mare's purchase price to be refunded immediately. Of course I have gotten no response from either of them AND NO MONEY.
It concerns me to know that these two ladies are also working with 4-H children to teach then sportsmanship, honesty and integrity!!!
0 comments