Complaint Review: Jewels Cockers Julie Nelson

My wife and I inquired about a puppy through puppyfind.com.  The name of the seller was listed as Joy's Cocker Spaniels in the Bay Area CA. Joy Philbin emailed me and told me she owned the mother and father and had the puppies at her house. When I asked for pictures of the mother and father she told me that they were co-owned with a woman named Julie Nelson (Jewels Cockers) in Lincoln CA.

Julie and Joy sent confusing emails to us. One time the email was signed 'Joy' but the email was from 'Julie' because she was talking about her breeding experience. Joy had already told us she did not have breeding experience and was learning from Julie.

Then we asked for references. Joy/Julie (we are not sure who or even if they might be the same person) sent a list of references. First on the list was someone named Steve Medak. When we googled him we found that he is married to Joy Philbin!!

My wife called him and he never told her he was married to Joy!! He went on and on about how great Joy Philbin and Julie Nelson were!!! My wife asked him if he had ever met Joy's husband. There was a long pause and finally Steve emphatically said 'NO'. My wife asked more questions about his wife and where she was from. He came across as very uncomfortable and ubruptely stopped answering questions about his wife.

We asked Joy Philbin if there was any sales tax on the puppy because my wife works for the state and knows that breeders in CA are required to collect and submit sales tax on puppy sales.  Joy emailed us and said there was no sales tax.

All of this was very fishy to us and we declined to purchase the puppy.  It was clear that Julie Nelson did not want her name advertising the puppies but wanted the deposit check made out to her and mailed to her address in Lincoln, CA.  Joy Philbin and Steve Medak live in San Ramon CA

It all seemed like a scam to us and we wanted to warn people about it.