Action 9 investigates pet shop contracts which can be costly mistakes.
Consumer investigator Todd Ulrich exposes high-risk pet store sales at a time when many families are buying dogs for convenience during the pandemic.
Read: ‘Super anxious throughout the flight’: Travelers feel more exposed to COVID-19 as airlines relax policies
Like so many others, Jordan Mingorance wanted a dog in these tense times. She found Ellie at a local pet store.
âI thought of a puppy just so we could have a mate,â Mingorance said.
She loves her Pekingese, but had serious regrets the first week. She claims the loan terms were never discussed when she purchased the puppy from Chews A Puppy in Ocoee.
âI said ‘OK’ and took them at their word and that was my stupid mistake,â Mingorance said.
Read: ‘He couldn’t breathe’: puppy owner says Ocoee pet store sold his sick lhasa apso
She thought her Pekingese cost $ 4,500 and she agreed to fund the store.
She says the loan document only appeared on a computer screen that a manager quickly scrolled through.
Mingorance said he heard the director say, âYou don’t have to read this now, you can read it later. Just know that your payments are $ 189 per month.
Read: Cypress Creek High School students fight for refund after trip to Japan canceled
When she got home, she noticed that the interest rate was 95% and that after making all the loan payments, her puppy would cost $ 9,000.
“Do you think they hid the interest rate from you?” Ulrich asked.
– Yes, replied Mingorance.
Action 9 has previously investigated Chews A Puppy, after two consumers told Ulrich that they had been sold sick puppies and the store was not covering their vet bills.
Mayra Camacho said she lost hundreds of dollars.
âThen I get the letter denying every invoice I submitted,â Camacho said.
Read: COVID-19 leaves concert ticket holders looking for answers, refunds
Ulrich helped the two clients recover the expenses of the vet bill.
Chews A Puppy is ranked F by the Better Business Bureau for six unanswered complaints about sick puppies and contract disputes.
Action 9 showed the terms of Mongorance’s loan to consumer lawyer Jared Lee.
âThis is an extremely expensive and abusive loan,â said Lee.
He said the store used a foreign bank to provide financing so it could exceed the loan
interest limits in Florida. It is as unfair a loan as a payday loan.
âIf you borrow money to finance a pet, don’t go through the pet store in most cases,â Lee said.
Mingorance said if she returned the dog, the store would still keep $ 2,000 in fees.
Store managers did not respond to Ulrich’s call.
âI just think they shouldn’t take advantage of people,â Mingorance said.
Read: Hole in wall allowed dozens of snakes to enter woman’s apartment
Buying a puppy can be emotional and now is not a good time to sign a pet store loan agreement, especially now.
You’ll pay less by using a credit card or going to a credit union instead of their super high rate loan.
Cox Media Group