Barb S.
I am happy, but...
First, the good. On my initial inquiry I received a very quick response with information and a quote to transport a puppy from California to Vancouver, BC. Alexandra and I spoke for a while and she sent me a copy of the CFIA form I was required to complete. Each line was filled in as an example and there were notes beside each line explaining in more detail. The form is confusing and the CFIA website is as well. It was nice to have some hand-holding here. Kudos to CFIA, as well. The website says it will take five to ten work days to get a permit. I received a response to say I had made an error after three days, I immediately corrected it and had my permit the next day. The puppy I had intended to buy didn't work out, so it was another two months before I reached out to doggone taxi again. At this point I worked with Blezza. She seemed less experienced than Alex, but she always answered my questions with a quick response and got me the information I needed. The plan was to pick the puppy up from the breeder in Mariposa, drive to the airport in San Francisco, where a pet nanny would fly with her under the seat (she is a small eight week old puppy) to Seattle. There she would spend the night and be driven over the border the following day where I would meet the driver. All went smoothly and she arrived exactly on time. She was a little intimidated from the 24 hours of travel, but half an hour after reaching our house, she was bouncing around trying to play with our two old dogs. So thank you Doggone Taxi for bringing me Lizzie. Now, the bad. As other reviewers have stated, communication is where this company requires improvement. First, the invoice was $650 higher than originally quoted, as the initial one did not include ground transportation from Mariposa to the airport in San Francisco. That should have been noted from the first, as obviously ground transportation was required. Second, there was a lot of confusion about pick up. Border crossing was to be on Friday. Pick up was always scheduled for Thursday. But nobody could give me a time. Finally, on Tuesday, three days before estimated arrival, I was told pick up would be 10:30 to 12:30, Wednesday or Thursday! After some panic-stricken calls, it was confirmed pick up was Thursday. Two hours after pick-up, the breeder was called by Doggone Taxi, asking for the vet certificate required to cross the border. She had given the original and a copy to the young man who picked up the puppy. At that point I was upset and demanded a photo of Lizzie on the plane to prove that my 5 pound puppy was safely under the seat instead of travelling in the hold. I did get a photo after a while. The next morning I received notice that the driver would arrive ten minutes late to a new address. Fortunately, we live nearby, so when we arrived and realized that there is no gas station at that address (in fact, no such street number), we just went to the original meeting point and the driver arrived with Lizzie and at least one other dog a few minutes later. I paid for the service with a deposit and then a final payment. When I tried to pay online, I was unable to get the code needed to access the payment, so I called Ashley and gave her my credit card. When I was trying to make the final payment, the system refused to acknowledge me at all, so I once again gave my credit card number. So this aspect of the company also requires some tweaking. Doggone Taxi delivered my puppy safely when promised, during a very difficult situation. If this company can improve its communication with its customers and internally, the customer will feel greater trust and security, and then it will earn five stars.
Response from DoggonetaxiMar 25, 2022
Hi Barb, I would like to apologize for the miscommunications you experienced. We try to make it clear to each client that the first quote you receive is just a general estimate since airfare constantly changes and prices can be higher at the time of booking. We have taken your comment into consideration and we have retrained our staff so experiences like yours won't happen again. Thank you for choosing Dog Gone Taxi.
