ComplaintsforMidas Touch Dog Obedience School

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 15, 2023, my husband **** and I took our two 19 week old Corgi puppies for our first training session with ***** at Midas Touch Dog Obedience School. We had spoken to ***** a couple of times in regards to what we were hoping to gain from training and had paid a $200 deposit via *****. When we arrived ***** didn't know what we were there for, gave us the wrong paperwork to fill out. When we were going to write the check for the balance, which should have been $750, he told us it was $4,900. Apparently he was thinking we were boarding our dogs with him for training. That was straightened out, more paperwork was filled out and a check for $750 was given to *****. ***** repeatedly told us on the phone and while at the facility he implements ***** ******** techniques for training. After telling us our puppies were spoiled he put a slip lead on our smallest puppy and proceeded to drag her across the room yanking hard on the lead repeatedly, which was choking her. He then proceeded to do the same with our other puppy. Each session was supposed to last an hour. This session was 41 minutes and the entire time ***** was texting and looking at his phone. It was apparent we were not his priority. After leaving we searched and watched ***** ****** videos and discovered that the way ***** handled the lead and walking our puppies was not based off ***** ******. We decided we were not comfortable with the way ***** was handling our puppies and called to tell him we wanted to cancel the remaining classes. ***** informed us that he doesn't do refunds but since we didn't receive a copy of the contract he would refund $700, if we agreed to sign the attached form barring us from posting or telling our experience with his company. We agreed to meet to see the form, ***** apparently couldn't be bothered to be there and had an assistant meet us. We did not agree with what the form stated as it is basically blackmail, so we left. ***** has not tried to contact us since.

  Business response

  08/11/2023

  They called me on training their two corgis and as I told them when they originally called to inquire, I do utilize slip leads in my training. This is a safe way to give a correction based on the dogs natural instincts. It is not used to drag the dog around the room and the neck pressure when giving a correction lasts for about as long as a finger snap at most. The way these are designed makes them unable to choke the dog and is based on ***** ******’s teaching which I base my training off of. I had two others dogs that day after this lesson who were coming for board and trains so that was my fault and we fixed the paperwork. As I tell everyone, none of my lessons are based off of time but on how long it takes for both owner and dog to understand what is being taught and are able to do the homework effectively at home. If it takes 30 minutes or 90 minutes just depends on the people and the dog. I was not texting during their lesson and I had my phone in hand in case of emergency but was not using it during their lesson. They went and watched ******* videos based off of ***** ******’s show rather than his training videos, which show very different techniques. The show is not able to show the constant correction and pressure needed due to time constraints where his personal training videos do. In the contract I have everyone sign we do not give refunds and I have everyone take a photo for their copy as it also doubles as a receipt since their payment and the method is on there as well. I agreed to refund the $700 if they signed our non-disparagement agreement which states that they cannot post false statements or damaging statements about the company as they did not do the lesson package. They are allowed to post about their experience but it just protects us from them trying to state negative comments when they really do not know as they chose to stop the course. It is not blackmail, as my contract states no refunds are given no matter the reason but I am willing to work with clients who stop the course while also protecting my own business so they do not slander it simply because they can. Since they refused to sign, they did not get a refund. I was in a traveling lesson with another client when they said they were going to come in so my office administrator stayed to make sure someone was here to meet them. They told her they would be going to their attorney so my no refunds policy is reinstated once that happens, and I wait to hear from said attorney and do not contact the client. This way they cannot claim I was harassing them in any way due to them not signing the form. 

  Customer response

  08/23/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: *** ****** does not take responsibility for his actions and is not being truthful in his response.  *** ****** should reevaluate if his practices truly match ***** ******** (which they did not in our case) and be honest in his dealings.  He also should care more about the dogs he is supposed to be helping train than just his reputation.  Per *** ******, "Negative reviews or talk can damage my business, whether the accusations are true or not".  *** ****** is correct in that statement, it's too bad he feels the need to, in essence, blackmail people to get those good re views.  We never intended on posting a review as we felt that his training methods were not in line with the positive training that we were seeking.  If *** ****** had simply refunded the agreed upon amount, we would have walked away with no complaint or review, but alas that was not the case. Instead, his actions reek of desperation to have only positive reviews, whether deserved or not.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

  Business response

  08/30/2023

  Again, the form is not blackmail. They had the choice to sign it if they wanted a refund which they were not due per the contract they signed at the time of sale. I have had bad reviews from clients, and that is fine. The reviews are simply a way to check that we are making our customers happy while teaching the dog what they need to know. I have been to multiple classes, seminars, and training sessions that follow the teachings of ***** ******, *** *****, and ****** *****. The teachings do follow ****** in those ways, which you cannot know based off of one class and a few videos. If they look at his older videos, they will see the higher level of corrections used before he began to censor them due to being on television. What I told them on the negative reviews was based on if they went about saying my teaching practice is ineffective or not correct when they cannot know that based off of only coming to one class. As I do not know them personally other than meeting them for the one class, I do not know their character and thus I have the agreement since it just ensures that they are not leaving a false impression when they do not know how my classes work based off of one lesson. If they had done the entire course and then were unsatisfied, I would have done what I can to please my customers as I do with all of my clients. I always try to make my client happy but there are times when that does not happen as you cannot please everyone. 

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