In February 2007, my daughter and I purchased our first English Bulldog puppy. Having had such good luck with our purchase experience from Pups-A-Million, we decided to purchase a second English Bulldog puppy. In researching hundreds of different breeders, we decided on Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. This was the biggest mistake of our lives. Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. located in Florida is nothing but a puppy mill and I would not recommend purchasing anything from them.

On February 8, 2008, we decided on an English Bulldog puppy based upon advertisement that Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. had posted on PuppyFind.com. On February 9, 2008, we went to the airport to pick up our new puppy only to find out upon opening the pet kennel, that Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. shipped us the wrong puppy. All paperwork that was shipped with this puppy was for the actual puppy that we purchased but did not apply to the puppy we received including the so called “health certificate”. I immediately called Martin Leon to inform him of this mistake and followed up the emails to him. In Martin Leon’s email he represented that the paperwork that was shipped with the wrong puppy was in fact the wrong paperwork and was for the puppy I had actually purchased but did not receive. Martin Leon made arrangements for the return of this wrong puppy and for shipping of the puppy I purchased, which was to take place a few days later.

This wrong puppy, upon arrival, had a serious hacking cough which immediately concerned me due to the fact that I have 3 other dogs and I did not want them to become sick. I called Beverly Hills Puppies and left Marin Leon a message concerning the cough that this puppy had and asked that he return my call concerning this issue. The next day I again called and sent an email to Martin Leon asking if I could take this puppy to my veterinarian. I also questioned what shots this puppy had, and specifically whether he was vaccinated against “bordetella” or “kennel cough”. Having owned dogs all my life, I know that kennel cough is highly contagious and I had 3 other dogs to be concerned with. Martin Leon finally responded to my concerns indicating that since this puppy was due to be returned in about 24 hours he did not believe it was necessary for me to take him to the vet. On February 11, 2008, I emailed Martin Leon because Syracuse was expecting a serious snow storm at which time Martin Leon indicated that the Delta was not shipping to or from Syracuse and new flight arrangements had to be made.

Due to the fact that shipping had now been delayed, I again called Martin Leon to obtain permission to take this puppy to my vet as his cough was becoming more and more serious and I was very concerned about the health of my 3 dogs if this puppy had kennel cough. He finally gave me permission and agreed to pay for those charges. Upon return from my vet, I emailed Martin Leon a copy of the vet invoice together with a copy of the antibiotics this puppy was placed on for treatment of kennel cough. To date, Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. and Martin Leon has not reimbursed me for these expenses.

On February 13, 2008, I emailed Martin Leon with my concerns regarding the purchase process from Beverly Hills Puppies and my doubts about purchasing anything from them because of the issues encountered with them up until this point (the lack of return phone calls, emails, etc.). I also wanted instructions on how to ship the medication and what to tell Delta Airlines about the medication. Martin Leon responded indicating that the flights were confirmed, to show up with the “Health Certificate” that he emailed to me 2 days earlier, to not tell the Delta Airlines anything about the medication and that he would be mailing a check to me to cover the puppy’s vet bill. Clearly there are issues with this. Beverly Hills Puppies sent me a health certificate for a puppy that was not even in their possession yet their vet supposedly examined it and determined it was in good health.

On February 14, 2008, I finally picked up the puppy we purchased and returned the puppy shipped in error. On our way from the Airport, this puppy had the same severe cough just like the previous puppy. I immediately emailed Martin Leon to advise him of this and let him know that he was due to be seen by my vet the next day. Upon this puppy’s examination by my vet, he was immediately placed on antibiotics and treatment for kennel cough. Clearly, wherever these puppies are being shipped from, the whole kennel has “kennel cough”. Needless to say, all 3 of my dogs ended up with kennel cough, one of which developed into pneumonia requiring my seeking vet treatment which has cost me in excess of $1200.

On February 19, 2008 (less than 10 days from the arrival of the first sick puppy), I emailed Beverly Hills Puppies/Martin Leon to advise him of this serious issue and to request reimbursement of my vet expenses due to their negligence. Beverly Hills Puppies claims that their warranty does not cover this illness. However, any idiot knows that any so-called warranty does not take effect until you actually receive what you purchased.

To date, I have received nothing from Beverly Hills Puppies in payment of any of these claims. Even the bill Martin Leon agreed to pay for the wrong puppy, has been unpaid.

I filed a complaint with PayPal who advised me that “the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods. It does not apply to complaints about the attributes or quality of goods received.” I then posted a negative review on the PuppyFind website about Beverly Hills Puppies/Martin Leon only to find out that the comment had been deleted. When I questioned PuppyFind as to why they deleted my negative comment, I was informed that “PuppyFind leaves it up to the advertisers to delete any negative comments due to disputes amongst other breeders”. Although Marin Leon claims that “PayPal and PuppyFind investigated their situation and did not find fault on our part”, this is not the case. These entities do not investigate these issues.

I have also filed complaints with the Florida Better Business Bureau, Florida Attorney General and New York State Attorney General. The Florida Better Business Bureau and Attorney General only forward your complaint information to the seller. They do not arbitrate or resolve any disputes. I advise anyone who has run into a similar situation with Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. and Martin Leon to check with your local State Attorney General and Better Business Bureaus as they may be able to help you. Since my experience with Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. and Martin Leon was an internet purchase, the New York State Attorney General claims jurisdiction over this matter and they will resolve the same. If enough of us complain about Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc. and Martin Leon, perhaps something will be done to put these scammers and puppy mill out of business.

Finally, when I submitted the paperwork received from Beverly Hills Puppies to register this puppy with the National Kennel Club (NKC), my paperwork was returned. When I called the NKC and questioned this, I was advised that they are now looking into Beverly Hills Puppies practices and procedures. They advised me that none of Beverly Hills Puppies’ English Bulldogs have ever been registered with the NKC and that it has come to their attention that Beverly Hills Puppies is breeding English Bulldogs with pitbulls and other dogs and trying to pass them off as English Bulldogs. They further advised me that the 3 generation pedigree listed on the NKC application are made up names. They require that your puppy be inspected by a licensed NKC breed inspector and require photographs. It is my suggestion that you do as I did and purchase a doggy DNA test (which costs about $60) to determine if you in fact have received a purebred English Bulldog puppy from Beverly Hills Puppies, Inc.