Champion Berners Reports & Reviews

Champion Berners Reports & Reviews (3)

Victim Location 99139
Total money lost $915.95
Type of a scam Online Purchase

On May 14th I reached out to ChampionBerners.com. I had recently had to put my dog down and was looking for another Bernese mountain dog. I had heard of champion Berners through their Facebook page and knew they were reputable breeders of the Bernese mountain dog. What I was not aware of was that they did not have a website. So when I googled Bernese mountain dogs for sale and saw their website and saw that they had puppies available I reached out to them. I was contacted by them via text within an hour or two. We texted for a while about the puppies. She emailed me pictures of the parents and more pictures of the puppy. She told me that the puppies were family dogs and spent all their time with their kids but that one of the 3 I was interested in was already sold but out of the two left Rupert was more loving and great with their kids. I asked if they were able to fly the puppy to me. She said yes they could and that it cost $210 to fly a puppy from where they were to the nearest airport to me. I knew the puppy was cheap for being a Bernese mountain dog but the last Berner we got was also cheap because the breeder wanted to make them affordable for normal families, because they truly are great family dogs. She asked me to pay through Zelle, but I had never heard of that and my bank account wasn’t associated with that app. So I offered Apple pay, which she didn’t have and then PayPal because I knew it was safe. She said she didn’t have PayPal and didn’t know how to get it, or some sort of excuse like that. So she said she would take an American Express gift card. This should have been a big red flag but honestly, I had never bought a puppy online and didn’t know any better. Now I do.

She sent me a link for an American Express gift card that I could pay for on the site and have American Express email it to her.

So I did that. We texted about how she was going to fly the puppy out to me the next day and how excited I was. Then the next day I sent her 4 text messages over a 4 hour period starting to get worried that I hadn’t heard back from her. She finally texted me back and said she was sorry that she didn’t have her phone on her early and that she had been busy all morning getting the puppy ready and that they were at the shipping agency now and would text me the details when she was done. A few hours went by and I hadn’t heard from her. Then I get a text saying “Hello”. Me thinking that I missed some of her earlier texts because we were on a mountain drive that day and out of service. I hadn’t heard anything back so we started to head to the nearest airport in Spokane (2 1/2 hours away from us). I let her know we were on our way and asked for the information. Still nothing. We got to the airport and there was no puppy waiting for us. I called her number and it said it was no longer in use. So I had my friend call her. It rang a few times then went to voicemail for my friend so it was at that point that I knew. I had been scammed. She took my money and blocked my number. I have since tried contacting her through email with no reply. But I did set up a fake email, used my sisters number and fake name and inquired about a puppy. And just like that within 2 hours she was texting my sister about the dog I was interested in. So I had my sister tell her to email me at the fake email address because I did not have good cell service where I was. So she emailed me. I responded by confronting her about ripping me off and how I wanted my money back. That was hours ago and she has yet to respond. I have all the texts and emails from this scammer and will do whatever it takes within my power to get this site taken down. No one should have to go through the heart break and embarrassment of being scammed.

Useful

I found the champion Berners website. It looked legit. I emailed them asking for them to contact me by phone. A lady named Kimberly emailed me back and then started texting with me. She seemed so nice and helpful that I didn’t question it. I had heard of champion Berners before not knowing that they only had a Facebook page and not a website. So I thought I could trust it. We spoke for a day, she told me how much for the dog and how much to have him flown to me. She asked me to use Zelle, I had never heard of it and it turns out my bank wasn’t associated with that app so I asked her if I could use Apple Pay. She said she did not have Apple Pay. So I asked about PayPal, again she did not have PayPal. So she suggested I go buy an American Express gift card and send her a picture of it. I do not live close to any stores that sell those so she sent me a link to order one online and asked me to email it to her at [email protected]. So I did. She told me she would text me in the morning with the tracking details. I texted her 4 times over a coarse of 4 hours before she finally texted me back. She apologized said she was busy getting everything ready and had forgot her phone but that they were at the shipping agency now and would contact me when they were done with all of the tracking details. I wrote her several times after that thinking that maybe she forgot. I finally got a hello from her and then nothing. I sent her several text messages after that letting her know we were on our way to the airport and nothing. I finally called and her number said it was no longer in use. So I immediately called American Express to have the card canceled. Unfortunately she had already used the card for google services. I put in a claim with American Express but it’s starting to look like I will not get my money back. The real champion Berners only uses Facebook. I contacted them, they are aware of the problem and are looking into changing their name and then buying the domain name so that way this does not happen again. I lost about $1,000 because of these POS’s. Don’t be like me. Take the extra steps to ensure it’s not a scam and never buy a dog with a gift card.

Useful

Victim Location 02878
Total money lost $2,000
Type of a scam Online Purchase

My cousin was in the market for a puppy. She found the championberners.com website for Bernese Mountain dogs, emailed the site for details and was contacted back within an hour. A puppy was available for immediate delivery, the last male was ready for shipment right away if an American Express gift card could be obtained. A gift card was obtained and the puppy was supposedly shipped. A tracking number and website was forwarded. Soon after a male person called her to say the puppy needed a special crate due to weather, an additional $1500, refundable money to secure return of crate. Another gift card was obtained and information forwarded. That was the last of hearing from this "breeder".

I since contacted the seller for a puppy and they were right back at it.

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