Refund?

[thaiblue12]

I always tell people if a goat does not work out I will take them back as long as they have not been exposed to other goats, if they have I will pay for testing and if they come back clean then I will take them home.

So 3 months ago a lady and her son came here looked at goats, asked lots of questions, went to the goat fair, came back after she kidded, asked more questions, took her and two of her boys home 2 months ago.
I get an email from her telling me she does not have the time, seems like she keeps them in a smallish area even though she has like 10 acres so they keep escaping. Mine are on pasture so the doe keeps trying to go out to browse/graze but ends up eating roses and such. So she wants me to take them back.....
Ok but should I buy them back? It is not like it has been a week or two and she now wants a refund, it has been 2 months and I am not sure what to offer her, if anything. This has never come up before.

She has not mentioned getting a refund so far but I do not want there to be any weirdness.
Give her a full refund?
Partial?
Or it has been too long and if she just wants them gone, take them and give her back nothing?
Or I guess sell them again and give her back something then?

[saanengirl]

I'm not sure what to tell you in this case. I have a detailed bill of sale that states what I will refund/replace. I guarantee my goats to be CAE negative up to 6 months past the date of sale (if they test positive after that, they were exposed after they left here). My goats have tested negative for CAE every year, but I think it is important to have the guarantee. I guarantee the same for TB and Brucellosis. I give a 1 year fertility guarantee on bucks and does and require a veterinarians statement in order to replace the animal.

Personally, I don't think you should have to buy anything back after 30 days, but you can have a take-back policy with no refund after that point. In the future you need to have a written agreement.

[TroutRiver]

Ask her if she is looking to get her money back. If she says yes, then you could offer to give her a partial refund, like maybe 50%?

Really, there is nothing wrong with the animal. You shouldn't have to take her back just because they got bored and couldn't take care of her properly. If they really want her gone, and you won't give them as much $ as they want, they can sell her to someone else.

[Fowler]

I dont offer refunds, but I do offer to take them back if they feel they can no longer take care of them.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Did you say you would "take them back" or did you say you'd "refund" their money and take them back. What you said specifically will make a HUGE difference.

[freedomfrom4]

Unless the goat was defective and that is what led to the return then I wouldn't refund. She thought she wanted something and decided she didn't. She got a learning experiance and the benefit of goats for the 2 months she had them.


Are they milkers or meat animals? If milkers think of it like this. A gallon of goat milk is say $5 and she could milk a gallon a day, so $35 a week in milk. She has had her for 10 weeks, so she has had the benefit of $350 dollars worth of milk, plus she and her kids were avaliable to clean brush on her 10 acres and you can't even put a dollar amount on the value of goat companionship

With rabbits, returns are offered so that the owner doesn't have to worry about placing it and gets no refund.

[thaiblue12]

I did write down that I will take her and her kids back if I does not work out, I did not write anything about a refund.

She is Nigie doe in milk. The lady said she probably could not milk twice a day so I suggested a doe with a kid to keep her in milk. So far she said she has only been able to find the time to milk her 4 or 5 times. Good thing the two boys are keeping her in milk or she would be a dry doe by now.
One boy is to be returned to me at weaning -also in writing-so I may have to get him back a bit early if she sells to someone else. They could not decide which boy and since she was going to separate them at night I did not want the one boy to be lonely.

There is nothing wrong with the doe, she is tested negative, friendly, milks well etc. As an FF she threw triplets, all boys, but that is the dang buck's fault, lol.
She seemed like she knew what she was getting into as we spoke, visited for a while and emailed with any questions. But goats I guess are not for everyone. Somedays I could kill some of mine, mostly the LaMancha and her mini friend

[saanengirl]

Offer to take them back, no refund, or she can sell them herself.

[CaliannG]

Yeah, no refund at this late date, but if she really just wants them gone, you'll take them back.

[Govero Farms]

Thai, I would love to get your doe but I cant. DARN IT. I really enjoy ND. I am impressed with them! LOL.

I would take them back and no refunds and could resell her while these goats are over there. I dunno. It is tough one.

[julieq]

It sounds like you want the doe back, which would work out well for both of you.

Due to our strict biosecurity policy, nothing we sell can be returned. Nor do we offer refunds. The only thing we put in writing occasionally is kid feeding & care for new goat owners. Having said that, since 1998 the only problem we've had is with a ND doeling who was sold to a show home in Southern California who developed a teat spur. We let the buyers have their choice of replacement doeling, then paid for vetting and air shipment for the replacement doeling ourselves. (So please don't feel we're lacking in honesty or compassion for our buyers.)

If we were to put something in writing granting a return or a refund, we'd certainly expect some flaky customer to take advantage of that policy. We choose to be 'hard nosed' at the get-go. Then if there's a true problem later, we'll deal with it in a generous manner by choice, not by force.

[houndlover]

People who are in the business of selling livestock should consider a contract, spelling out exactly what each party expects of the other. If you do not have anything in writing, no refund. It was her choice to buy goats. She can return them to you (and you can resell them), or she can choose to sell them to someone else. If you start taking back animals and giving full refunds, your goats will become a very expensive hobby.

[moonspinner]

If you have it in writing that you will take a goat back and say nothing about a refund then you don't owe her any $ IMO. If she asked a lot of questions then she should have known what she was getting into. Sounds like she wasn't willing to properly manage them and now they're getting into trouble and they're a lot of work and she no longer wants the hassle.
If she didn't mention a refund I would just take them back and say nothing about money. Then if she brings it up you can remind her about what you put on paper.
At two months down the line, it's too late to say sorry it's not what I thought it would be and expect to get your money back.

[hiddensprings]

I use a sales contract that spells everything out so I don't have questions in later. I learned the hard way. :>) I would not give a refund after a 2 month period and before I'd take them back, I'd go look at them. You don't know how she has cared for them. You could be getting sickly animals that will cost you money to get healthy.

[tailwagging]

just asking, if these where puppies would you guys feel differently?

[thaiblue12]

No Julie I do not want her back, I sold her because I need less goats I have her mom and two of her sisters so I still have enough of that line. Someone had said if the doe was defective then they could see buying her back, and they said nothing seems to be wrong with the doe and I was listing her good points.

I would rather take a goat back, then have them end up skinny, half dead messes, which is why I put in the contract that the goats can come back. But if they have been exposed to other goats then testing must be done first and come back clean before they come back here. I do not mention I will buy them back in writing.
Nor I am going to buy back goats say a year later because they decided to go with sheep, or pigs or whatnot.
Buyer's remorse is not the seller's problem.

I left the ball in her court. I feel like too much time has passed and they are her goats, well not the one buckling. In my last email I stated I would take them back if she wanted or if she found a buyer that would be fine as well but I need my buckling back before they went to their new home.
I told her to let me know what she decided she was going to do. Never mentioned money and left it up to her. She has not emailed me back.


Govero I really need to get over to your area, I will let you know if I am headed that way

[BarbadosSheep]

If she does expect a refund, why not tell her that you will attempt to resell them and will refund her the amount in excess of the expenses associated with taking them back (quarantine, testing, feed, etc). Although really, you are under no obligation to refund her money at all if you never put that in writing.

[houndlover]

I sell dogs (hunting hounds), sheep, rabbits, and goats. I sell EVERYTHING on a contract - which also serves at the bill of sale/receipt. I make money on my animals, and so for tax purposes, must have everything (even puppies) in order. It's a good practice even if it's a hobby - you all should know what it's costing you to raise your own food.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I would tell her you will take them back, I wouldn't offer a refund. It sounds like in your written reciept you said you'd take them back-nothing was written that you'd refund their money.

If she doesn't want to just give them to you & your worried about their well being then I would try & help her re-home them or resell them & give her so much of the money then.