Dishonest in their transaction

In the publics interest, i am writing this review to warn prospective buyers to double check and confirm the breed of the dog you are purchasing and the price as well. I am also writing this review on how Wiggly pets responded to our complaint with threats and accusations.

I am sure there are excellent experiences with Wiggly pets, but unfortunately, our experience was the latter.

In July we responded to an ad on Junkmail RE Golden retriever pups. Junkmail auto sends a message to Wiggly Pets, stating that I am interested in the Golden retriever pups. Wiggly pets responded with “only have this female” and sends a picture. We assumed that she was a Golden Retriever as this is the breed we were enquiring about and discussing. We made arrangements to purchase this dog. I asked for photos of the parents, and they looked like Golden retrievers (I am no expert) and we went ahead with the purchase of the above mentioned “Golden retriever pup”. Upon arrival we found out that the price was R1000 more than the ad we responded to, and Wiggly pets explained that the litter we enquired about was already purchased and that this is a new litter they collected today. Still not disclosing that it is not a Golden retriever pup. We then EFT’ed the additional R1000 and we left with what we thought was a golden retriever. Upon arriving at our local pet shop later that day, the owner of the pet shop complimented us on our adorable Labrador. We corrected him, and said no it’s a golden retriever. We left the shop and decided to wait until we see the vet to confirm. The vet said she had retriever in her but did not confirm that she is a golden retriever. I asked if she will have longer hair, to which he responded that we will have to wait to see. Her vet booklet from Wiggly Pets stated “Labrador retriever”, which we noticed on the day of our vet visit. After googling the difference between a golden retriever and a Labrador retriever, and based on what the vet said, we assumed it’s perhaps a cross between a Labrador and a golden retriever as they have long hair as per the pictures of the parents.

Chewing on this for weeks, I finally contacted Wiggly pets and asked what breed is our puppy to confirm. To which they responded retriever female, and that she will have longer hair as both parents did.

As there is a difference in appearance as well as in temperament from our puppy to our friends’ golden retriever puppy of same age, I continued to explain that I was upset about the transaction, mainly the service. Service in regards to Wiggly pets not disclosing the different breed on the day of purchase. This would have created a different expectation on our side. I was told that we signed a purchase agreement, which we did - however, we signed this agreement in the belief that we are purchasing a golden retriever.

We do however love our new puppy and we do not want to give her back, nor did I ask for my money back at any given stage. I made my intention clear by notifying Wiggly pets that I will be reviewing the purchase to ensure something like this won’t happen to someone else. Unfortunately Wiggly pets has since turned off the Review section of their page.. one can just wonder why.

Wiggly Pets immediately threatened me with legal representation, and that this has happened before and that they won both times resulting in a fine.

During this conversation, it was insinuated by Wiggly pets that I am a liar, just like the previous two people who was fined as per above and that I was harassing them by complaining about the service. I was also told in so many words by Wiggly pets that I am desperate for money and that I should think with wisdom. I did not appreciate these accusations and personal attack of my character. Especially after I made my intentions clear from the beginning that we are not giving the dog back, nor did I ask for my money back, I was just complaining about the fact that we were not notified of the different breed. We were going to get a letter from the vet stating that she is not a golden retriever but a Labrador retriever, but decided not to as the ad Wiggly pets sent to us later in the conversation confirmed her breed. (Ref to the second last paragraph of my review.)

We were then threatened by Wiggly pets that they want to come and fetch our new puppy and that the “owners” wants their dog back and that they are scared we won’t love our new puppy. This aggravated and concerned me a lot considering that we had to provide our address on the purchase agreement and that we already stated that we do not want to return our dog nor do we want our money back, I was purely complaining about the fact that our new puppy was not a Golden Retriever as I was specifically looking for a Golden Retriever. Our new puppy is not something I can “just” return/exchange and it is a long term commitment, hence the seriousness of clear communication.

Wiggly pets then sent me the ad for the litter I bought(first time seeing that ad) which stated Labrador retrievers for R4000 each. However, we paid R4500. And I still do not have an answer as to why there is a difference in price. Please be cautious when purchasing a puppy through wiggly pets, because if something goes wrong, there is no support or customer care from Wiggly pets, just intimidation and threats.