Melissa Basinger |
| United States, Arkansas |
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Consumer reviews about Melissa Basinger |
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Jon McCartney
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Jan 22, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
Taking a quick look at the website, maybe this is a good result. See "First 48 hours with you new puppy" and "desinger toy breeds".
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Jon McCartney
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Jan 22, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
The good news is you got your deposit back. I'd be very leery sending a deposit to any breeder before seeing the dog in person. Research the process of buying a puppy - doing it sight unseen without visiting the breeder's premises is risky.
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Elane James
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Jan 28, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
I think it was a blessing on your part. Just a couple weeks ago my husband and I were wanting to drive over and pick up a male and female shihpoo from her for our 9yr. old son. I emailed her and asked her about Brutus and Sophie, and told her I would get back to her within an hour. She said no problem. My husband called her to advise her of our traveling plans and tell her which two we wanted for sure, and she sold Sophie right out from under us. No apology or anything. Still we were willing to go pick up Brutus. She was completely uninterested in making the sale for some reason. Said her daughter had a birthday party that Sat. morning and the only way she'd make the sale was in a Mcdonald's parking lot. I asked her if any of her customers ever wanted to see the parents of these puppies as we did...and she then went on to tell me that she never lets anyone come to her home because that was a privacy issue for her. She basically ratted on herself at the end of our conversation and said that she didn't allow people to come to her home because the next thing she knows ABC news will be knocking on her door asking about her puppy mill...and that nobody would understand unless they were breeders. I have been watching her website and I believe she is nothing but a puppy mill now. There were several red flags to me that something was wrong. I wouldn't buy from her. Ever.
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Missy bas
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Apr 4, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
If i am asked to hold a puppy for a client past the age of ready which is usually 8 weeks of age then i am basicly boarding a puppy and any vaccinations are the responsibility of the clients. If a puppy is not ready to be released then i will assume responsibility for vaccinations. I provided the first vaccination for juanitas puppy at six weeks of age. The puppy was ready to go at eight weeks but she did not want to come and pick her puppy
up until it was nine weeks old and she expected me to provide the nine week vaccination at my expense. I guess i could have kept her puppy until it was old enough to have had all the puppy shots at my expense. I refunded her the deposits because i had concerns for the welfare of the puppy. My first priority will always be my puppies.
G
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Thud
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Apr 4, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
The first complaint I have to agree with Ms. Basinger. A puppy is ready to go to it's new family typically around 7-8 weeks, depending on the opinion of the breeder. Once you have commited to purchasing the puppy, you are responsible for all vaccinations that need to take place after the breeder says the puppy is ready to be picked up. You can't commit to buying a puppy and then not pick it up for weeks and expect the breeder to fund the vaccinations out of their own pocket.
The second complaint concerns me. She would only sell you the puppy at the McDonald's parking lot? Refuses to let buyers view her operation and parents of the puppies? That screams puppy mill. If any of those allegations are true, you should definitely report her to the Humane Society and your local police station. If a breeder won't let you view their operation, it's probably because there are things there they don't want you to see.
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Missy bas
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Apr 9, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
Now in response to the second complaint. No i do not let strangers who contact me online come to my home. I have small children and i live very rural. It is not a matter of hiding anything it is a matter of safety and what i am comfortable with. My husband works alot and is often not home during the hours that clients would want to come and pick up their puppies. I offered to meet Elane at McDonalds because my daughter had a ball game that morning and i thought it was a convient place. Elane took everything i said way out of context. When she contacted me about the puppies she was interested in I asked her if she would like to put a deposit down on the puppies. She said she would need to speak with her husband. I sold the puppy to another client before she contacted me back and she was upset. I can only hold a puppy with a secure deposit. Just because a breeder is not comfortable with letting strangers come to their home does not make them a puppymill. This term is used incorrectly by so many people. Puppymill is a term to describe a filthy noncaring breeder cares nothing for the dogs. A puppymill breeder does not care who they sell a puppy to. They offer no kind of guarantee on the puppies they sell. The do not try to work with a client once a puppy is sold. They do not post instructions on thier website concerning the next 48 hours once a puppy is sold because they do not care about the next 48 hours. I found this board by accident and i am defending myself when i have done nothing wrong. It is heartbreaking to know that people will attack other people without just cause. If these complaints were in regards to the welfare of the puppies health or if they were more than just blind accusations then they are justifiable but this is nothing more than a witch hunt. Now here are three types of people who unjustly will attack someone and go so far as to actually make unfounded false accusations online. Is it any wonder that breeders are reluctant to let strangers come to thier home. You never know what kind of nut job you are dealing with. Please visit my website www.poshpuppylove.com and after reviewing my site if you feel i am a puppymill then please call me. Thank you
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Thud
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
Ok, I don't mean to stir the honey pot, but:
"it is a matter of safety and what i am comfortable with"
Why would you sell a puppy to someone you're not comfortable having in your house? Reputable breeders actually care where their puppies go and screen their buyers. By your own admission, "You never know what kind of nut job you are dealing with". You should figure out what kind of nut job you're dealing with before you hand over an innocent life to them.
I agree that the term "puppy mill" is overused. There is a gray area between reputable breeder and puppy mill that most breeders fall into. This is the area that dogs are bred specifically for financial gain. While they're not technically puppy mills, the dogs end up being treated more like cash cows and less like loving family members and consequently, their living conditions may not be horrible, but they're less than ideal for a dog's life.
Anyone buying puppies should do some web searching for "puppy buying tips". There are plenty of sites that explain what red flags to watch for when selecting a breeder. If I was a breeder, I would check that myself and evaluate any red flags I may have.
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Missy bas
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
If you didn't mean to stir the honey pot then why did you comment on somthing you know nothing about. You do not know me and to go as far as to tell someone to call the police on me. Are you serious? Who are you and what kind of person says things like that. I am sorry screening a client over the phone or thru email does not constitute enough trust that i am willing to open my home to them. People can say what they want and it is not feasible nor realistic for me to hop on a plane and interview a client in person before i agree to sell them a puppy. Do you have any suggestions on how i may improve my screening process because you seem to be such an expert on how reputable breeders should do things. I guess only reputable breeders can go that extra mile is that what you are saying? A few years ago a young girl only 14 years old in a small rural town (Greenbrier Arkansas) just like mine less than 30 minutes from where i live was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and then murdered by someone who contacted her online. Guess what she had put her trust in him. You can see it however you want and it does not matter to me how you look at it. My family comes first always. I am an RN and i have had a ring side seat to tragedy and what people are capable of doing. My reasons are my reasons and i feel that i have justified them enough.. On one last note There is a leap of faith that a breeder who sells online must take when approving a forever home for a puppy they sell. Yes they hope that things are as they appear to be but honestly how much trust can be establish thru phone conversations. Anyone with any sense can understand that. Yes i will turn a family away if i have my doughts and i do screen my clients the best i can. I do care about where my pups go and i always have their best interest at heart. I care about my family more. The day i turn my HOME into a pet store or a petting zoo will be the day i put a sign in my yard saying "OPEN TO THE PUBLIC"
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Jon McCartney
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
Thud, you are ONE HUNDRED PERCENT correct, and obvously you DO know a lot about buying a puppy.
The only place I differ is puppy mills are also interested in only one thing - making money. So in that sense they are just as bad as many breeders who pop puppies out just to make $. A reputable breeder simply does not do that - period, end of story. And a reputable breeder DOES screen buyers in person.
Fantastic advice: anyone planning to buy google "puppy buying tips". Super post!
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aliwithani84
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
Hello Jon. I heard you have this fascination of some fictional character from the NBC sitcom (The Office) Bob Vance from Vance refrigeration.
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Thud
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
I told someone to call the police on you if the extremely suspicious things they were saying are true. I didn't personally say you are or are not anything. I said the things they're claiming scream puppy mill (and they do, look it up). If someone told me they heard a gunshot from the neighbor's house, I would tell them to call the police. That doesn't mean I'm accusing their neighbors of murder. Calm down.
I understand your concern about letting strangers in your house, believe me I do, but you are breeding puppies. It's the line of work you chose to get into. It's a completely reasonable request from a potential customer to see the conditions the puppy has been growing up in and to view the parent's size, temperment, etc. I realize when you bought your puppies, you probably had no problem buying them out of a McDonald's parking lot, but most people want a little more professionalism in choosing their next family member. You honestly can't blame them for that, can you? Seriously?
A reputable breeder does genetic screening so things like disease and deformaties do not get passed down, they only breed one or two breeds, they are happy to let you view their puppy's parents and living quarters, they screen their customers in person and have an application process their customers must go through, they never ever ship their puppies, and their dogs live in ideal conditions. If most of those things don't apply to you, you are most likely not a reputable breeder. You're a lady with unsterilized dogs and a bunch of cages.
What makes me an expert? I'm not. I did buy a puppy several months ago and I read many articles that were written by experts on selecting a breeder/puppy. Just going by what you have written (not the complaints about you) there are enough red flags that any expert would quickly recommend not buying from you. That's not my opinion, that's a fact.
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Missy bas
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Apr 10, 2012
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Do Not Trust This Breeder
If you have any questions or concerns about me, my policies or my dogs please contact me directly. Thank you
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Jb123
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Oct 1, 2015
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Scam artist
I'm very interested to see how Mel will answer my complaint. We talked on the phone and over email and wired her money for our Pomeranian teacup puppy. We arranged to meet so we could get our puppy. She never showed up and she has never refunded my money. What a complete scam artist she is!!!!
PLEASE DO NOT EVER DEAL WITH THIS WOMAN!!!!
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Don Rone
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Jan 5, 2016
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DO NOT TRUST THIS BREEDER
We bought a Westie puppy from this breeder for $1000.00. She now looks more like a Jack Russell Terrier and a DNA test proved that she is not full blood Westie.This breeder got really angry when we asked her about this and threatened to get a lawyer.. And when we bought the puppy she would not let us come to pick her up. Instead she asked us to meet her in Louisiana.
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[email protected]
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Jan 12, 2016
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Response to the Scam Artist Claim
First of all never in my life have I ever took some ones money and not given them their puppy. I have not nor will I ever steal any ones money. This review is a lie. There is no truth to it at all. Please do not believe everything you read. First of all I do not take wire nor do I take wires as a form of payment. The only way I will take payment is thru pay pal or cash on pick up. I do not breed teacup Pomeranians. I breed standard poms but not teacups. This person must have me confused with some one else or they are lying. I sent them a message thru this site to get some clarification. Just wanted to let you all know it was not me. Thank you
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[email protected]
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Jan 13, 2016
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Response to the westie
Don Rone did not tell the whole story. The man and his wife live is Louisiana. I have a good friend who also lives in Louisiana. I had scheduled a trip to visit my friend and offered to bring the puppy with me. They were very happy and wanted me to do this as it saved them a five hour drive one way. I never once told them they were not allowed to come and pick up their new puppy. They purchased a pure bred registered pet quality westie puppy. Not a show quality westie. I never advertised the dog to be show quality. They received AKC registration papers with their puppy to show it was a full blooded registered westie. They contacted me a few months later and told me they had a DNA done on the dog. I asked them if the DNA was done thru AKC and they said "No" it was done thru a company that claims they can DNA a dog and tell you what breed the dog is or is made up of. They told me this crack pot company reported to them that their dog was a mix of several small and large breeds. I contacted the company in regards to this report and was told that the DNA is not exact. I asked them if the test could be wrong and they said "YES" They explained to me that they have DNA from certain bloodlines but not from all westie bloodlines as they have not gotten all the data from all the possible bloodlines that exist. So with that being said if the dog you are testing does not come from a bloodline that is in their system then they can not find a DNA match and the computer will then search for breeds that are close to a match. Meaning if your dogs bloodline is not in their system then they will call the dog a mutt or a mixed breed. So I asked the rep is it possible that the results of this test are wrong and she said yes. If your dogs bloodline is not is our system then it could give a false reading. I asked what would cause my dogs bloodline to not be in the system and she said if your bloodline is trace back to another country as we do not have access to bloodlines from other countries. So make sense because the great grandfather to this puppy was a male westie imported in from Europe. I explain all of this to Don and his wife. I told them that the test was wrong and asked them to verify this with the company that gave me all this info. I also asked him to contact AKC and have them do a DNA on the dog and if the DNA said the dog was not a westie or from westie parents then we would go from there. Yes I did threaten them with a lawyer as they were and are making false accusations about me which can and will have a huge negative impact on my business. I just saw this review and I will turn it over to my attorney. I will not let some one try to ruin my reputation based on false information. The only company that can offer a true DNA or a purebred dog is the AKC. The American Kennel Club requires all breeders to have all of their dogs DNA tested before they will register a litter of puppies. That DNA is kept in a data base so that if their is a questions in regards to the parents or the grandparents or great grandparents and so one for countless generations then your puppy can be traced back thru DNA lineage. I have never seen a picture of this westie that he says looks like a Jack Russell funny since Jack Russells are dog with color not solid white. Maybe he should have sent a photo of the dog into that joke of a company and they could have done a better job in trying to guess. The breeds they said this puppy was mixed with was hilarious. Breeds that I do not even own. His westie may not have turned out to be a show winner but it does not mean she is not a registered westie.
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Rlbishop
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Jan 25, 2016
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Puppy mill or not you choose!
Just looking at Melissa's website she now has over 60 puppies on her site for sale. My complaint is .....I had a puppy ordered from her I was so excited as she had posted videos of the litter which I believe was true. My big complaint is how Melissa handled the situation when my puppy got sick.arrangements were made to ship her out and everything then I received an email
stating she had bad news. My puppy was sick!! She stated in her email that she couldn't talk on the phone right now....well how convenient..... But she could sit and email me?? Puppy had ECOLI which she stated was a common bacteria in a puppies stomach which flared up from stress!! Everything I read about ECOLI in puppies led to....filthy living conditions, feces in water, feces in food, or infection in mother dog that has been over bred. She later that eve informed me the puppy seemed to be getting better, my hopes were getting up. Next day I waited for anything from her. Nothing!!! So I finally emailed her about 7 her time thinking maybe no news was good news, only to receive an email telling me my puppy was DEAD that morning. Needless to say I was devastated. I had purchased so many things for my new baby only to be told this. Yes I am devastated, hurt, and angry, but mainly by being notified by email!!! I now think it was for the best as I do not want a puppy mill puppy!! I got my money back.....but I fell in love with that little puppy who unnecessarily lost his life from ECOLI.
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Rlbishop
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Jan 26, 2016
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PUPPY MILL OR NOT YOU CHOOSE! FAIRNESS
In all fairness to Melissa Basinger I have to say I talked to my vet today and asked her about this ECOLI thing. She did reassure me it can happen in puppies but it usually is a test that is done and they have to wait for the results. She said no matter what happened anytime a puppy gets sick and gets diarrhea it is so easy to lose them because of their size. I would like to know if any of the other puppies got it also?? But I am still hurt by the way that I was notified about the whole ordeal.
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Rlbishop
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Jun 1, 2016
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My APOLOGIES to Melissa on my 2 reviews.
I truly have to apologize to Melissa Basinger for the things I wrote in previous posts. My heart was so broken as was hers. I do not feel she is running a puppy mill as she has hired employees that help her with her puppies. My heart was so broke when I found out the puppy I had ordered died. I had recently lost my 11 year old cockapoo and was just devastated. I lashed out because of people's remarks but not knowing any true facts myself. I am very sorry for doing so and want Melissa to know that. I feel her best interest is her puppies and her adult dogs. When a puppy gets sick it is so easy to lose them especially when they are only 2lbs to start with. We don't know positively it was ecoli it could have been numerous things. I hear low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can take a pup very quickly. I know her heart was broken as she was fighting to save the life of my puppy. For all she did I am very grateful. My apologies to you Melissa. I wish you the best with all your beautiful puppies. Rlbishop.
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cfbreaux
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Apr 12, 2018
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Disappointing
I purchased a puppy, Zoey, a Morkie, online from Melissa back when she was Melissa Barnes approximately 7 years ago. Precious Zoey arrived to me off of a flight a very sick puppy. My 6 year old daughter at the time was heartbroken as we had to bring her into the Emergency Vet Clinic, where she was given little chance to live and further diagnosed with Parvo virus. I contacted Melissa and she did show genuine concern at that time. Zoey spent the better part of a week in “expensive care” and actually pulled through. I was in contact with Melissa who wanted to see my paperwork, which I emailed all documents to her that the vet clinic provided to me, which included the name of the vet clinic and number if she had any questions. She had offered to cover the expense of the vet bill and explained that she had already spent the money I paid for Zoey on Christmas presents for her children, so I would not be seeing a full refund but partial refunds so it wouldn’t be such a toll on her financially. She was nice about the situation and I trusted I would see my money back. I never did get anything back. I tried e-mailing and contacting her several times thereafter and never recieved a response. Disappointed I was and have always been over these years that you put your trust into someone only to learn that you shouldn’t have.
Zoey has had a couple of medical issues over the years but overall is in good health. That I attribute to God. She was sent to the right person, because I did everything I could to save her...
I hesitiated to ever write anything, because I thought well, I’m blessed and maybe Melissa needed the $ more than me, but I can’t Not warn people. Please do your research, don’t make the mistake I did.
Thanks and God Bless!
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