Chagra Kennel

We spoke with this breeder about getting a golden retriever puppy. after finding her on Petsplace.co.za. All was fine prior to putting down money (we facetimed to see the pregnant mum) but after the puppies were born communication got very poor. We are from the South Coast and this breeder was in Benoni, Joburg. She said she was organising a puppy visitation day on a weekend that wouldn’t work for us (this was discussed this prior to the puppies even being born), and so from the get-go, we agreed to drive up the previous weekend to see the puppies. When we got there, the whole interaction was bizarre. She wouldn’t let us see the puppies and told us we had to wait for a facetime call on the following weekend (she told us initially 1, and then it was going to be 11), and that she’d share videos of the puppies in the week to help us. We then asked on the Monday for videos and she said she wasn’t going to be able to because she was packing for her holiday and working. This was even more weird because we met a man who said she said worked for her full time looking after the puppies:- even if she was busy, he surely could have taken a quick video for her. At 11.40 on the facetime day, we’d still not heard from her husband who was supposed to call us, so I called her. From the get go, she was screaming at us on the phone that we were putting her under so much pressure. The call was truly unhinged; she was saying to us that she’d raised two good children with her husband (absolutely zero relevance to anything that we said or the conversation at all). The conversation was going absolutely no where, and we agreed on the call that it was best for both parties not to proceed, and that she’d refund her. Her husband, who was supposed to call us did call later to apologise. In fairness, he couldn’t have been more reasonable and nice, but the damage had been done. We sent a follow up with our banking details for the refund but she didn’t reply or refund the money as was agreed. Throughout our interaction with charlene, almost everything that was agreed was broken. 1. We agreed could come and see the puppies early – only to drive the whole way up to Benoni not to be able to see them 2. She said those who pay first get first pick of the litter – not true 3. She said she would share photos and videos of the puppies to help us given we were far away – she later said she couldn’t do that because she had to pack for her family holiday 4. We agreed times for a facetime – and when they were 40 minutes late and I followed up, she literally lost the plot (I believe any reasonable person would call after no communication and waiting for 40 minutes beyond an appointment time). We’ve lost 7000 rand with this breeder. Charlene – if you’re reading this, we’ll take down this review if the money comes back, but I hope this weights heavily on your conscience because you should be ashamed of yourself.