ComplaintsforLeashes for Living Assistance Dog School

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I began a dog training class with ************************* at Leashes for Living in June 2022. I signed a contract that I would pay $200 a month for a year. I started by paying her $575 for class and start up fees but after 4 classes I realized this class wasnt for me or my dog. I tried to exit peacefully but ***** demanded $2300 all at once. Eventually she agreed to $1000 via text message, but then sent me to Collection for $2931.00. It was my mistake to get involved with a person like ************************* and Leashes for Living and I have paid the ***************** $2931.00. I accept the charges I signed up for even though I think this lady should be stopped from hurting others in this way. I simply want to be refunded for the $676.60 fees that were tacked on to cover her costs with the *****************. I feel that this is fraud.

  Business response

  10/03/2022

  Customer Complaint #******** In response to complainant request to refund her the collection fee of $676.60.     Complainant signed a contract with Leashes for Living Assistance Dog School on 5/21/22 in this contract she agreed to pay a $300.00 nonrefundable startup fee and $2400.00 nonrefundable program fee.  The program permits this nonrefundable fee to be paid off in monthly payments (like a charge on a credit card or car payment loan the full price of the contract & you pay it off monthly) allowing payment of $200.00 does not change the obligated nonrefundable $2400.00 program fee.  We do not charge additional fees to allow students to do this.
  Several places in the contract it states the contract terms, the nonrefundable fees and the default withdrawal terms in which she agreed to and initialed that she understood . The contract specifically states in several places that IF she defaults or withdraws from the program during the 12month contract period the account must be paid in full at the time of default or withdrawal.  It also states that if payment is not made that we can turn the account over to collections and she will be liable for monthly late fees for nonpayment, collection fees as well as any attorney fees that incur regarding this account.      
  She withdrew from the program on July 3, 2022, stating her work hours were keeping her from training. She was reminded of her contract and was upset. I presented her emails to the board of directors regarding her request to be released from the program and released from her contract.  This is an issue that is voted on by the board and in these circumstances, I withdrew myself as a voting member.  She was made aware that I was not a voting member of the boards decision, I became the middleman passing information between complainant and the board.  In almost every email Ive been insulted, ridiculed, threatened,and heard the schools name slandered all stemming from unwillingness to follow the contract or offers presented that have led us to this point. 
  We will not make any concessions at this point.  She had every opportunity to contact us to make payment arrangements, or to pay what she offered but she chose to withdraw her offer.  Even after the offer was withdrawn, we waited to see if a payment would be made, and she did not make a payment, acknowledge the text message or the letter that was sent after her August 16th withdrawal letter.   This reinforced she had no intention of making any payment on this account therefore, giving us no other option then to move forward with collections.   
  Sequence of events:
  July 3rd, complainant attended class and would have received a written warning for the inappropriate and aggressive behavior she displayed.  Her husband stated she was in a mood and that soon became very apparent.  She entered the classroom with her dog at the end of the leash.  I relayed to her the importance of teaching him to stay close beside her and that this is a must for both service and therapy dogs in which she stated, its impossible and exhausting and continued to let him pull at the end of the leash.   Her husband agreed with my reasoning as to why and I took her dog and demonstrated his ability to perform this task then handed him back to her and again he was at the end of the leash.  I asked why she didnt utilize the techniques I had just demonstrated, she made a remark, threw down the leash leaving her dog in the middle of the classroom and stomped out of the building.  After she left her husband and I did an exercise together.  When she did not return her husband and the dog went outside and sat in their car in my driveway for some time waiting for her to return.  It was later that day that she sent me a text message asking to be let out of the contract due to work hours and no time to devote to training.  
  July 5th, I offered to meet and talk to her encouraging her to stay in the program. I tried to assist by giving her some advice on training time & expectations.  After that a few emails went back and forth. Even after reviewing her contract with her, she still wanted to leave the program.  I then forwarded her request to leave the program to the board. 
  July 6th, I offered her an amendment to the contract that would give her time off, no payment during time off would be due but contract would resume when she came back for the full term; meaning extra months would be added on at the end. 
  July 9th, the board voted, approving her request to be released from the program but not releasing her from the terms of the contract.  I was directed to send a letter with this information, a copy of the invoice and the boards response to her slanderous language toward the school. This decision was sent to the complainant on July 11th.      
  August 10th, she made an offer stating why dont we agree at $1000.00 since wed be paying all at once and leave it at that
  August 16th, I had not heard back from the board regarding her offer but relayed to her I felt the board might accept the original contract amount in 4 payments as again another option along with treating those payments as a tax-deductible donation. I recommended she start making good faith payments to avoid collections action.  Again,I addressed the defamation of my character and the program as being inappropriate.  
  August 16th, my email went down and after that I was not able to send or receive messages until August 18th.
  August 17th - ********* accepted her offer and directed her to make payment and I sent this to her in a text message, directing payment, and asked her to text me and let me know how she wanted it posted.
  August 18th my email was back, and I was able to look at all the messages that came in during the time while it was down AND saw that on August 16th, she had sent an email withdrawing her offer.  At the time I sent our acceptance this fact was not known.  So, the text on the 17th, I accepted something that no longer existed.  We waited 15 days and did not receive any further correspondence nor money from the complainant. This made it very apparent that she did not intend to respond to us nor pay us, she had withdrawn her offer and we were back to square one.    
  September 2nd:  I was directed to mail her a current invoice showing late fees along with a letter reflecting our disappointment that she did not honor her original contract, refused to honor her own offer and her rejection to all the solutions we offered her.  We told her that we would be moving forward at the original contractual balance including late fees to collections.  There was nothing else for us to do but follow the contract and send her to collections.   
  Im sorry that we could not reach a resolution in this matter, but I feel we tried our best but without the cooperation necessary on the complainants side this was not possible. The fact that she attended only 4 classes has no bearing to the terms of the contract she signed and agreed to when she joined the program.  The $1000 offer acceptance she keeps alluding to holds no bearing since she withdrew her offer prior to us seeing it meaning we agreed to something that no longer existed.    
  The complainant was fully aware of the contract terms, fully aware of the financial commitment, fully aware of how the privilege of being permitted to make the financial commitment in monthly payments over the term of the contract vs having to pay it all up front in a lump sum worked, fully aware of her financial responsibility if she withdrew from the program, fully aware of the consequences of nonpayment that she would be responsible for any expenses the school incurred in order to collect the moneys owed.  Just like it was her choice to sign the contract and join the program it has also been her choice to:  refuse to talk to us, refuse to comply with the contract she signed, refuse all the resolutions we offered, to make an offer but then withdraw it, to make no attempt to make payments (only payments received were on 5/25/22), and to not answer any written correspondences after August 16th. This is how the account appropriately ended up at collections for the original contract amount plus late fees and the collection fees applied per the contract.    
  There will be no concessions in any form regarding this account.  We followed and will continue to follow the contract.   Our no concession response will also apply to her 2nd complaint #*******    

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