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Warning About Trainer Solicitations from Questionable Website
Hello,
I wanted to bring this to everybody’s attention. For months, I have been receiving e-mails soliciting my services as a trainer from an online website for dog training. I had been a bit circumspect about them. Then last week someone from their organization left me a voicemail. I thought perhaps they might be legit. Now that I am sitting at home with COVID I had more time to look into them today.
First, when I looked at their website there is no information about any founders or any of their trainers.
Second, they claimed having good customer satisfaction in their e-mails citing Trust Pilot. On their website, they also claimed good customer satisfaction on both Trust Pilot and Google. While they have some decent reviews on Trust Pilot (which anyone can post) there were no reviews on Google. This means they don’t have a Google Business page which is rather unusual for a site that claims they have a nationwide network of online and in person accredited trainers. There is also no information about the company or their location or anything on any BBB sites. Their website ends with .org but I also found no information on them being a charity except I thought I had seen somewhere at some point that they were not for profit.
Fourth, when I called back the person who left me the voicemail, she asked if I was interested in joining their team. I said I first wanted more information about them. I asked who the founders are. She told me they are two disability attorneys who started out trying to place disabled people with Service Dogs. When I asked for their names she kept it vague giving me their first names only until I asked her to also give me their last names. She said their goal is trying to provide affordable training to people through online courses, in person training, and group classes. Then I asked a few more questions. I found out they have no locations. I asked how they intend on having group classes without having any spaces for them. She told me they are going to roll this out and will have the trainers host the classes in their own homes. (So they don’t have group classes yet as she first indicated). Then I asked who created their online courses and what kind of accreditation do they have . She said the trainers in their network who are from AKC. I asked about fees and was told they take 50%. She said all I would need to do is go in and train. Then I asked her what about correspondences following the session. She said the trainers do that but it can be very short something to the effect like Great session, we worked on AB&C. So I just laughed at her and said I would never just do that and ended the conversation saying “It sounds to me like two attorneys got together and saw an opportunity to make a lot of money in field that is growing. Basically, they put up a dog training website for unknowing clients and solicit trainers to do all the work for them. They ride on the trainers’ reputations and take half their money. That’s quite a business model. (As you can see, I am a person who doesn’t pull punches especially in situations like this). She asked for my name again I guess because she forgot and I just hung up the phone.
Fifth and finally, I did more digging after the call and found on their LinkedIn page they do list themselves as a non-profit. Really…. and they are taking 50% of the fee and declaring themselves a non-profit? Wonder what Uncle Sam would think about that? I also looked up the founders and one of the founders previously had another non-profit for service dogs that i saw listed on a couple of websites citing scam alerts. I’m sure theirs more out there about them but that was enough for me.
So I just want to make everybody aware in case you get any unsolicited e-mails.
Btw, I did not list the name of this organization or any of the links from my research as I am not sure if that fits under the rules of this message board.
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4 Replies
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Thank you, @doggonespecial ! It helps to create awareness in our group when we find out what you’ve researched on this email from this online training organization. Hope to steer clear of this.
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Thanks for bringing this to our attention and doing the research!
I have received similar emails from a woman claiming she got my info from the CCPDT website. She claimed I “fit” exactly who they were looking for “in your area”.
She did have a profile on Linkedin that appeared professional as a “hiring manager”.
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Glad to help out. I figured I’d save everyone the time and effort.
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Definitely sounds problematic. Thanks for doing the homework and for keeping it professional here.
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