Kip Homestead Yarra Valley

Poor Customer Service and Training That Doesn’t Work – I opened a dispute with my bank after I could not find the refund policy for the training and board program. I was looking for a third-party entity to help intervene so that I could get a refund. In addition, I was not comfortable with their customer service enough to come to them first instead of my bank. I was right. After Kip Homestead knew that I had opened a dispute with my bank, I received a call from [Name Removed] about the dispute. I was happy to chat, remained calm, and explained to him why I had opened the dispute. Instead of a civil and professional conversation, [Name Removed] got so worked up that I opened a dispute, kept cutting me off when I talked and even raised his voice at the mail during the 18-minute conversation.

I did not get the results I initially wanted from the program. Kip Homestead’s favourite excuse is that “you [me] is the part that they can’t control”, even though I followed their advice for a while and the results are still not as expected.

The trainer, [Name Removed], could have been better at communication during the duration of the program. He did not send me a handover email as we agreed on the day of the handover afterwards. All I got was an email from customer service much later for a return. After seeing how forgetful the trainer was, how busy I was at the time, the unsatisfactory progress after the program even though my dog walker and I kept training him using the videos and tips given, and later on the level of customer service from [Name Removed], I realised that I was right not to come back.

I would not wish the level of customer service (raised voice, casually laughing, and cutting me off when I talk) on anyone uncomfortable going to them first. If I could go back, I would have chosen a different company for my dog because of how forgetful the trainer was.

Because of how worked up [Name Removed] was, I informed my bank of the situation, decided not to reopen the disputes, and let my bank return my initial charges to Homestead Kip. However, my bank made it very clear that I can reopen the disputes again, but given this level of customer service, it is just not worth the time and effort.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake in trusting my dog with Homestead Kip.