Sorry if this sounds horribly cynical, but presumably Mr Patel is also aware that it's not doing his reputation much good to be publicly and justifiably criticised...

He should have contacted Amanda well before now.

That being said, it's really good that he's now trying to make amends and I truly hope Amanda gets some more help from him now.

How do you know he is being JUSTIFIABLY criticised?

You have only heard ONE side of the argument.

As he says, he has apparently tried to contact Amanda before with apparently no luck.

There are always two sides to every story.

Aren't there?

If someone CHOOSES to air their personal grievances (real or imagined) on a public forum, it does not mean they are necessarily right and if the other party is not a fellow forum member, then they are not in a position to defend themselves.

Always presuming that they would wish to breach client confidentiality and enter into a public debate.

Client Confidentiality should, IMHO, work both ways!

It is a 'justifiable' criticism because the client clearly did not receive what she was promised. She paid upfront, in good faith, and then was badly let down.

As for the breach of 'confidentiality' - the client tried to go via more official routes, and she got nowhere. So what was left for her to do? I think it's great she posted openly here about her experience - maybe it will prevent someone else from having such a disappointing experience!

Maybe SB pointed him to the forum?

It's always a difficult situation when a behaviourist works for a company and then leaves that company.

Dependent on the contract of employment, there can be many reasons why the behaviourist has no contact with a client after departing the company.

Public forums can be great places, but can also lead to 'lynch mob' mentality, ie string 'em up without knowing all the ins and outs of what's happened and why it has happened.

Hopefully, Amanda will now contact Chirag and will be able to get help from the person she felt the most comfortable with.

Good luck, Amanda. Hope all goes well and that Cain benefits x

Never a truer word was spoken........

I agree that it is a very tricky situation.

However for me the bottom line is this:

One person paid the fee - and one person took the fee.

And from what I recall it was not a small fee......

It has taken I think five months (Amanda please correct if this is wrong) for Chirag Patel to get in touch. Yes, he says he has tried but the fact remains, he didn't succeed and thus the client, having paid in good faith, has been left aggravated and upset.

I do think that some of the fault lies with the owner of the company, it's not all the fault of Mr Patel.

But to reiterate: the client was left extremely unhappy.

Maybe he had to sign to say he would not have any contact with previous clients as could be seen as poaching clients from the company of animals? It's not unusual for companies to do that to protect their client database.

I agree that Amanda paid a lot of money and has not had good service, but I understood that it was paid directly to company of animals not Mr Patel. I wouldn't consider myself obligated to offer refunds or further services to a client if I no longer worked for the company.

Ok, I was not planning to reply to this thread any further, mainly because it appears to be ok for me to share positive experiences in the public domain yet I get totally condemned for sharing anything negative which IMO is double standards. Surely if confidentitality was so important, then I should have been equally condemend for sharing my positive experience with the assessment. I also do not appreciate the insinuation that I am 'imagining things'. I was never going out of my way to try and make trouble for Chirag, and I pursued this in private for over 5 months before saying anything publically. And even then the motivation for my thread was simply a result of pure exasperation. I have never criticised Chirag as a person, as a behaviourist or his methods. I don't believe I ever said that I would not advise people to go to him. I only expressed my frustration at his total lack of follow up.

Just to clarify, I had my consultation in November 2011. I chased it for 5 months with Chirag and CoA privately. Chirag left CoA in April 2012. Since then, I pursued my complaint directly with CoA as I have no expectations that he has any further obligation to me as he has now left the company. However, I do believe he did have an obligation to reply to me during those 5 months that he was at CoA, therefore it is not a case of him being unable to reply due having left the company.

I am undecided whether or not to contact Chirag. Quite frankly I have had more than enough going on in my life over the last 6 months and in the grand scheme this feels like an insignificant stress. I was happy enough with Chirag's methods at assessment but vastly disappointed by the follow up. I was unhappy with my assessment with Roger and have decided not to take him up on any further follow up. I feel no further forward and let down by everyone, this has been stressful and of little help to Cain.

I have my refund and I do not wish for any further consultations or reports as I feel they would be of little benefit to Cain. I feel like it's a little late for apologies or explainations now. I am not bitter in any way and I hold nothing personally against Chirag, I am simply tired and wish for this experience to be over.

MM, I am sorry people are making you feel bad
You are quite correct if its OK to share good things then its OK to share bad things, and I dont think in any way you were rude about anyone, you stated what has happened quite clearly with the timelines without being rude about anyway

From what you say you have been let down by both the company and Chirag, I dont think you have been unreasnoble at all
I am glad you have got your refund, and I think you can come away from this knowing that you know more about your dog than the head of the company

By the sounds of everything I would say you are doing great with your boy, its just a long slow road