In June I spoke with volunteers at Home for Good Dog Rescue in Summit/Berkeley Heights NJ regarding adopting a dog. They were very persuasive in claiming the dog I was considering adopting was one year old and housebroken. I am a senior who was recently widowed and it has been very lonely so I wanted to adopt an older, housebroken dog from Home for Good Dog rescue - the main concern I shared with them was adopting a dog who was housebroken. After a few days with the new dog, it was clear she was not housebroken.
I found myself on my hands and knees several times each day cleaning up after the dog who would not go outside — I walked her ever three hours starting at 7AM each day. As an elderly woman, I began to feel ill and dizzy each time I found myself on my hands and knees cleaning up after the dog.in an attempt to make the adoption work, I tried to give it more time, however, I began to feel increasingly ill and on the 10th day after the adoption, we contacted Home for Good Dog to explain the unfortunate circumstances and to begin the process of returning the dog.
On that day, they advised us to give it more time, to let the dog "acclimate to her environment" and try to make it work - they told me that if I changed my mind to let them know and they would reimburse me for the $335 adoption fee. Three days later, I contacted them to let them know that I was becoming ill, my hands were bruised from continuous cleaning of dog urine and feces, and given the dog was not housebroken as they described at the adoption, I had no choice but to return the dog.
I agreed to foster the dog until a new home was found and they decided to pick the dog up from my home 14 days after I adopted her. Upon picking up the dog, I agreed to give them approximately $200 worth of goods (dog crate, leash, collars, food, bowls, etc.) and was told they would reimburse me the $335 fee. After following up to inquire about the fee, they informed me they would not refund me the money because I returned the dog after the 10-day window. I reminded them that on day ten, when I called about returning the dog, they advised me to give it more time and agreed they would refund me the adoption fee.
I wonder now if they intentionally asked me to hold off until the 10-days passed because the agreement was, which I was foolish and did not read the fine print of the application, that they reimburse the fee if the dog is returned day 10 or sooner, and after day 10 you lose the fee - I should have been more careful with them but trusted what they told me at the time. Not only did they not refund me the fee, they also kept the $200 worth of dog items that I could have returned for a refund.
When we inquired about these items, they would not respond on the topic. As a senior on a very fixed income, it was challenging for me to lose nearly $600 and they made no attempt to make a good faith effort to handle the matter in a way that I feel was fair and equitable. They ended up with my adoption fee, the $200 in goods they took from me and another $335 upon the dog's readoption. They reneged on their commitment to refund me the money, leaving me stunned and very disappointed with how I have been treated and I would never do business with them again.
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