Sit Means Sit, Inc.

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Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:I have called multiple times and never gotten a response to my phone callsSaying that I "simply needed to call" is ridiculous because I attempted to do that for months and never got anyone to answer my callSonny never addressed the fact I had sent her multiple emails in her responseTherefore, it's not a dubious assertion to state that my emails and phone calls have been ignoredI do not want to train my dog with Sit Means Sit if they're going to claim that I'm lying about trying to contact themIf I was able to get in touch with anyone from Sit Means Sit, I wouldn't have had to escalate my situation to the Revdex.comI sent in emails with proof of my concerns that were not responded toBeing busy doesn't mean that multiple emails can be not addressed. I find it believable that a staffer would get aggressive with my fiance as he asked that we get our money backSonny doesn't say I can get my money backShe instead wants me to get the training that I had paid forObviously, this is not what I want. I want my money back.
Regards,
*** ***

We received your communication recently after discovering it, along with some other mail pieces had been sorted into the Veterinary Hospital's mailbox where we share an address. Imagine our surprise to get a pile of letters from multiple organizations requesting responses all from Ms. [redacted]'s...

complaint. The complaint you received from Ms. [redacted] was inaccurate at best and libelous at worst and has been published to other organizations. Her account is rife with inaccuracies and falsehoods. I will attempt to address each claim.1. We do not represent in any scenario that we train with a vibrate setting. We are electronic collar trainers. We have never trained a dog with a vibration setting, nor would we begin to now. Vibration as a tool is not an effective methodology. We train basic obedience, behavior modification, therapy dogs and medical alert dogs.2. When we start with an initial consultation, every dog owner is required to experience what the electronic collar feels like in their own palm. Only after a clear explanation, experiencing the collar, reading and executing our agreement do we move forward with collection of payment, scheduling and training. One stipulation of that contract that is initialed by each client is a no guarantee and no refund policy. While we can train any dog, we cannot guarantee that the owner will follow through with our instruction. We have included copy of actual contract.
3. Several attempts were made to contact Ms. [redacted]. Unfortunately her phone number was transcribed incorrectly and messages were left with a wrong number that weren't returned by whoever we were calling to let us know we had a wrong number. We assumed Ms. [redacted] was not returning our calls. At no time did Ms. [redacted] attempt to contact us to schedule the first training appointment. Only after running into one of our trainers at a dog park we sponsor did she mention that she had signed up with Sit Means Sit and wondered when she could start.
4. She "ran" into one of our trainers because he approached her and asked her to control her dog. Ted, our trainer was there with a black English Labrador he was training accompanied by a potential trainer we were evaluating with a Pit-bull he was working with. There were approximately 20-25+ dogs in the park at the time. Upon entering the park Ms. [redacted]'s Labrador approached our English Lab first in an anxious and aggressive manner, hackles up, lips drawn back and growling... showing typical signs of an unstable dog. Ted had to pull her dog off of the English Black Lab immediately after entering the park. As Brad entered with the Pit-Bull, Ms. [redacted]'s dog exhibited the same behavior and continued to press and attempt to dominate the new arrivals to the park. Ted and Brad and the two dogs moved to the far section of the park to work their dogs. Ms. [redacted]'s dog followed and continued to hound the Pit and the Lab. Ms. [redacted] tried to call her dog off but had no control. Ted spoke with her asking her to please control her dog because if it continued to hound the Pit-bull especially he would react and attempt to correct. She attempted to control her dog with no success. It was at this time she mentioned that she had signed up with Sit Means Sit but hadn't heard from us. Ted indicated that he was surprised as training generally starts 7-10 days after sign up as a rule unless the client specifically requests a later sign up time. He had asked if she had attempted to contact us and she said she hadn't. He gave her a card.
5. She indicates her friendly Labrador in her complaint with potential references. The dog is friendly toward humans as observed in our evaluation but Ms. [redacted] has no control over the dog in a high distraction environment like a dog park and her dog is unstable, anxious and domineering toward some dogs. If her dog were excellent and under control she would have never contracted a professional trainer in the first place. Clearly she knew there was a problem and one she was willing to pay for beyond cheaper alternatives.
6. Our English Black Lab meandered around the park with the Pit interacting with all the other dogs in the park from puppy to large mastiff without incident. There was, however, another dog in the park exhibiting many of the same anxiety traits as Ms. [redacted]'s dog. Again the handler had no control of his dog allowing it to jump all over, hump and attempt to dominate other dogs. That owner was also asked to please control his dog because eventually the Pit would correct the behavior. This type of behavior in dogs elicits 3 potential responses. Fight, flight or avoidance. The pit began with avoidance but eventually turned to correct the Chocolate lab. It did not attack the dog unprovoked but did turn to correct and essentially say enough is enough and it is loud and scary (to the layperson) and involves mouths. Ultimately, this is undesired behavior but even the best behaved dog will take only so much hounding from an unstable dog. Ted explained to that owner, it would be like someone coming into the dog park, picking a human and then shoving him or her around the park until they either left the park or fought back. They then moved to another side of the park where again Ms. [redacted]'s dog jumped all over the Pit. The pit corrected her lab but this time an Argentinean Mastiff (Dogo Argentine) got involved. When the Pit corrected, the Dogo decided he did not like her dog's anxiety either and sank his teeth into her labs hindquarters. Ted was able to call of the Pit off quickly having him sit infront of him while Ms. [redacted] struggled with the Dogo's owner to separate their two dogs. This took some time. Meanwhile the Pit sat facing Ted and next to Brad. Any damage done to her dog should be directed at the Mastiff.
7. Ms. [redacted] asserts that the Pit was seriously aggressive and attacked 3 dogs. This is completely false. Had that been the case he would have never been brought into a public environment. She is likely relying on the “reputation" that all Pits are aggressive by nature which is also a fallacy. The Pit did not run into the park and attempt to dominate any other dog (like hers did), did not react in an aggressive manner to any human adult or child in the park. Did not rush to attack any dog, namely the 3 she claims were attacked. It corrected 2 dogs that where highly unstable and domineering and over which the handlers had absolutely no control over. The other 20+ dogs in the park interacted fine with the Pit and the English Lab. If Ms. [redacted] is honest with herself, I think she can recall several other instances where her dog was corrected by another dog.
8. Conveniently Ms. [redacted] has forgotten the fact that the Pit was correcting, not attacking and that the Dogo Argentine went after her dog and continued to fight with her dog long after the Pit was pulled off, who Ted witnessed biting into her dogs hind quarters and was the culprit of any real damage. The owner of the Dogo, immediately leashed up his dog and left. Ted asked Ms. [redacted] if she and her dog was okay and she said he seemed to be after checking him out. Meanwhile he had the Pit leashed up and continuing to sit, getting him in a calm and relaxed state before leaving the park. It is also important to note that in a similar complaint to the Virginia Attorney General she claims the Pit bit her. Though giving no indication of this when Ted asked how she was, nor in this complaint.
9. I did speak with her and I was sorry that she had an incident and that I would discuss what happened with Ted. Ted described the situation as I described above. The trainer we were evaluating did not work out and went back to Wisconsin. The Pit he was working with belonged to a government or military family and is currently residing in Clarke County, NV.
10. After our discussion she went forward with the first training session (which she also neglects to indicate). Afterward she requested a refund. I sent her a copy of the contract that she signed indicating no refunds and that she should continue with the training so she could avoid future incidents with her dog. She refused, demanding a refund. While contractually not obligated to do so, we did provide a full refund on March 22"of this year and even offered to continue the training for free as our interest is in well behaved, confident and happy dogs. Our Therapy Dog Team (trained by us) can attest to this, as can several Assisted Living, Schools, Public Library Kids Reading to Dogs Programs, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, Prince William County Fire and Rescue, many area Veterinary Hospitals, Pet Stores and more.
 
While some of her complaint is her opinion of our training, ethics and abilities... it is coming from someone who is angry, has no dog training experience, could not control her own dog and has either a misperception of what happened or is wantonly lying. However, some of the things she states as facts are in fact false and fall under libel/defamation definitions as they are not true, was published to a third party and caused documented harm to our reputation. If it continues we are seriously considering a defamation/libel case. Ms. [redacted]'s complaint is a new area for us as we generally receive rave reviews. We have trained hundreds of dogs... from those that have been deemed dangerous by the state to highly fearful/anxious/medicated dogs to basic obedience for puppies, blind dogs, hearing impaired dogs, Therapy and Medical Alert dogs. Her complaints are misguided and malicious in nature, a lashing out as it were to tarnish our growing and stellar reputation in Northern Virginia. Vitriolic, misguided and untruthful attacks will not be tolerated and it is disheartening that with all the work we have done with dogs, people and our community one person's vendetta can compromise all of it.
Respectfully,
Sonny M[redacted]Certified Master Trainer
Sit Means Sit Dog Training of Northern Virginia
The Go Team of Virginia

December 15, 2017Dear [redacted],I read the complaint that was sent to you by [redacted] and looked back into our records. She initially purchased our Doggie Basics training package after an evaluation with Tim R[redacted] on 6-11-2016. Her first appointment was supposed to be 6-27-2016. After she...

rescheduled twice appointment was set for 8-12-2017.T-BC - [redacted] - ###-###-####Friday, August 12, 2016 5:00pm – 6:00pm[redacted] apt. *, Centreville, VADescription:[redacted] - 4 mo - male border collie/jack russell mix - Basic obedience - CGC test in the future - maybe therapy dog Sold + collar Scheduled 7/29/16 @ 4:43pm Confirmed 8/11/16 (left message)she called back and confirmed on 8/12/16 @ 4:06pm was originally scheduled for june 27th , client rescheduled twice.Her next appointment was scheduled for 8-25-2016. We generally don’t want more than 14 days to pass between appointments so that our client and pup stay on track. She rescheduled again out to 9-1-2017. (the code on top off appointments means Ted, Bring Collar (our term for first appointment in the green, Sonny M[redacted] for Ted M[redacted] i.e. substitute trainer for 2nd)SM for Ted - 2nd - [redacted] - ###-###-####Friday, September 2, 2016 6:30pm – 7:30pm[redacted] apt. ** Centreville, VAContact: Sonny M[redacted] Owner, Dog Trainer Sit Means Sit Dog Training Tel.: ###-###-#### [redacted]@sitmeanssit.com fairfax.sitmeanssit.comDescription:Client rescheduled 8/25/16 @ 12:17 pm Confirmed 9/1/16 (talked to her) client has not been consistent with e-collar training and will need to follow through and get caught up before they will be allowed to grad. she will call office to set up next appointmentAs a business we are blessed to be very busy. While some of our training is at our central facility in Manassas, we do a lot of in-home training covering the entirety of Northern Virginia, making time for appointments, drive time, etc. We worked to accommodate [redacted]’s multiple reschedules while advising against an inconsistent, scattered schedule for training. We do sometimes have serial “reschedulers” as clients and it is our standard practice to put the ball in their court as indicated in the notes asking them to call us when they have a solid date for an appointment they can keep.Our Doggie Basics package includes 3-4 private lessons to graduate to group class where they have to demonstrate specific, learned skills before being invited into group. About 90% of clients graduate to group class after 3 sessions, sometimes it takes a 4th with a difficult dog or client. But no unfinished dogs are invited to group class, it would be too advanced for them and detract from fellow clients.[redacted] simply needed to call and schedule a 3rd appointment which is the next step in the process. Our Office Manager Samone takes and logs calls she receives and indicates no record of [redacted] calling as she would have promptly scheduled the next appointment. We don’t like to have clients and dogs out in limbo because it makes the work all that much harder, like starting over again with the first lesson. We want to get them through in 3-5 weeks and on to group class.As to the assertation that they are being systematically blown off or that our office manager or a staffer “got aggressive” with her fiancé is dubious. It’s not part of our culture or characteristic for any of our staff. [redacted] is still free to call and schedule her 3rd appointment as part of the package she purchased and come to group class once mastering sit, come, place, off, quiet, break, heel and loose leash walking but not until she is officially graduated to that level by one of our trainers.Every business has unsatisfied customers for one reason or another and we attempt to keep this to a minimum. Our record through online reviews such as [redacted] 4.9* out of 5* (out of the 171 reviews we did have 3 1 * against 165 5* and 3 4*) speaks to our drive to make sure every customer is satisfied, and every dog trained well with maximum opportunity for success.Warm Regards,Sonny M. Certified Master Trainer

[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 Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: This response from the business owner is a blatant and egregious lie.  The business owner makes several assertions which are patently false, many of which I can provide documentation proving her intentional deceit. Attached is a transcript (series of three e-mails) between her an I addressing much of what she falsely represented in her statement.  
Furthermore, following the attached e-mail exchanges she contacted me via phone and: claimed that all contact and statements (the e-mails) were made by someone else, apologized, admitted she was responsible, gave me a refund for training, and then tried to convince me to continue with her service which I refused.  This company (and person) could not be a worse representation of a dog trainer and should be prosecuted for her negligence, fraud, and intentional deceit. 
Regards,
[redacted]

[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 Answered]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I have called multiple times and never gotten a response to my phone calls. Saying that I "simply needed to call" is ridiculous because I attempted to do that for months and never got anyone to answer my call. Sonny never addressed the fact I had sent her multiple emails in her response. Therefore, it's not a dubious assertion to state that my emails and phone calls have been ignored. I do not want to train my dog with Sit Means Sit if they're going to claim that I'm lying about trying to contact them. If I was able to get in touch with anyone from Sit Means Sit, I wouldn't have had to escalate my situation to the Revdex.com. I sent in emails with proof of my concerns that were not responded to. Being busy doesn't mean that multiple emails can be not addressed. I find it believable that a staffer would get aggressive with my fiance as he asked that we get our money back. Sonny doesn't say I can get my money back. She instead wants me to get the training that I had paid for. Obviously, this is not what I want. I want my money back. 
Regards,
[redacted]