WARNING! Beware of sending money to Melissa Horn in France to purchase a dog - Page 1

WARNING: Beware of sending money to Mel Horn of Raw Performance K9 for the purchase of a dog!

We agreed to purchase a female Dutch Shepherd from Mel Horn on January 1st. We were told she had bought the dog back from a buyer due to a divorce situation. We were given a quote of 1090 euros for shipping at that time.

We transferred money for the dog plus 200 euros for transport to the shipping agent on January 2nd. On January 10th, we inquired as to what was happening with shipping and we were told that she was working on vet documentation.

On January 16th, we noticed that Ms. Horn had unfriended us on Facebook and that the dog was still listed as being for sale, so we again asked what was happening with shipping and told her that if the dog could not be shipped in the coming week to refund our money. We were told that she had used our money to buy the dog back from the buyer (which contradicted what we had been told initially) and that the dog had needed a rabies vaccine updated which is what was taking so long to get her shipped.

On January 19th we received a notice that the dog was going to have to be in a crate for 48 hours without food and without bathroom breaks due to the shipping arrangements. This was unacceptable to us and we sent some other possible flight options.

On January 27th we were sent a shipping invoice for 1630 euros (not counting the $350 customs broker fee once the dog arrives in Seattle), which was significantly higher than the 1090 euros we were originally quoted. We stated that we are not willing or able to pay that much for shipping and to please refund our money. Ms. Horn ceased communication with us as of January 27th.

We have never had a bad experience purchasing a dog from Europe in the past and I have never had to give a bad review of someone, but we are out a significant amount of our hard earned money at this time and I don't want to see anyone else go through the same thing. Feel free to pass this warning along.

Here is a link to a site that has all of the emails and documentation for this transaction:
http://www.vonderschafersweg.com/#!beware-mel-horn/a36vy

One thing I really don't understand...what sort of shipping arrangement is leaving a dog in a crate for 48 hours without access to bathroom breaks or food? I have never encountered a shipper overseas that does not kennel for an overnight trip. In fact, I specifically tried to avoid the shippers taking a dog out of a crate and it was impossible.

I would give a little more than 3 days for a response before assuming she won't be giving a refund.
I hope this issue is resolved for you!

Jenni... she is trying to ship multiple dogs out at one time to save on the transport costs to the airport. I have also never heard of a dog being left in a crate overnight during a layover. The problem is that we were never informed of these issues prior to making payment for the dog. We were given a quote for a "direct flight to our nearest international airport"

hntr... It has been almost a week without any response and one of Melissa's friends got on Facebook to defend her saying that she does not and will not give any refunds. This was backed up by two more people on Facebook coming out with stories of their bad experiences with Melissa and that they also never received a refund.

If people do not speak up and let others know how these businesses choose to operate, they will continue to get away with treating people like this. We are speaking up and letting it be known. If Melissa does the right thing and finds a suitable flight for the cost we were originally quoted or refunds our money, we will be on here letting everyone know that this situation has been rectified.

I understand and a lot of people do that- consolidate trips- but I still don't see where that changes the policy about leaving a dog crated that long. I know of no shipper who would do that...

Is it possible that she sees it as you backing out of the deal since you chose not to go with her shipping arrangements, and then didn't like the cost of the other arrangement that wouldn't leave the dog crated so long? Is there a language barrier? Could you go with the original shipping plan and then she would follow through?  I'm just wondering- not defending her. I just don't really understand why this would go south like this at the point of shipping...or how it is even possible that a dog would really be crated 48 hours. The airlines have kennels, and kennel attendants. :/ I'm just confused- not judgmental.

I don't understand it either. If I give someone a quote on shipping, it is with the understanding that I can make those arrangements happen. If there was no direct flight option, where did the shipping quote come from for a "direct flight to our nearest international airport"?

I can understand a small increase in shipping cost due to finding a different flight, but we're talking about a $600 difference. We cannot afford that and would have gladly told her so weeks ago had it not taken so long to get shipping arrangements made.

Since she will not talk to us, there is no explanation at this time.

Frankfurt has kennels - no dog needs to stay in a crate for a 24 hours...
The seller doesn´t sound dishonest. Vacs and vet take some time, that happens.
Rabies is a "to do", and they are right, the shot has to be current for another 30 days prior to shipping.
The problem seems to be the size 4 crate, guess they changed to size 5, but I may misunderstand that part.
Another problem might have been the agent, making wrong statements about the flights.
I´d not over react right now. They seem to care.

Unfortunately, I can only go by what has been communicated to me. I was told (which can be read on the emails) that the dog would be in a crate for close to 48 hours without being walked or fed. That is unacceptable.

I have never said the seller was dishonest. I do not feel she is showing good character in a situation that is as frustrating to me as it probably is to her. The only options she gave me was to pay the additional $600 or come pick the dog up. Neither of those will work for us and her lack of response says she is not interested in working anything else out. If that is how she chooses to do business, so be it. That does not mean that I can not let other people know what kind of person they will be dealing with if they send her money for a dog.

The fact that I am not the only person that has had this kind of experience with her speaks volumes.

I have much higher expectations for dealing with a bad situation. Case in point: We sold a dog for $3000. The dog was picked up by a ground shipper. 9 hours later we received a phone call from the ground shipper very upset because they had lost the dog 3 hours earlier when they opened his crate and he bolted. They could not get him back. My husband drove 6 hours in the middle of the night, found the dog, called the buyer who backed out of the sale due to the situation, drove home another 6 hours and we refunded the buyer the full $3000. Were we under obligation to do that? NO. It was the right thing to do.

K9, so you know shit happens - just saying...
I don´t know the seller, but we seem to be talking about someone making a life out of buying and selling dogs ( driving to the airport twice the month ). For you this dog is special, but for the seller it´s daily business, and it looks like the seller was misinformed, too.
The seller might have gotten wrong statements about shipping costs to your location, and may try to find another appropriate way for both of you
Difficult - I really hope you are going to get this young female healthy and happy in the sooner future.

Thank you, Susie.

Yes... I know all too well that things do not always go as planned. Whether people respect you or not depends on how you handle the situation when things go wrong.

I do hope that this turns out to have a happy ending. I will be glad to come back and give an updated report if it does.