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Bad Guy Mike Masters of Pennsylvania

Snakepliscan

Snakepliscan

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This goes back a ways, but I purchased a ball python from Mike Masters of Pennsylvania off a site know as Herpauction in Jan. 2000 for $175.00
After weeks of hearing excuses from the weather being too cold or he was out of insulated shipping boxes, the dude changed his phone number and address and took off with my money and ball python.

I had contacted the moderator of herpauction at the time but he was unable to help since Mike Masters just took off. I've never gotten this resolved just learned a hard lesson in dealing with reputable reptile dealers. Now I see someone by the same name selling a hatchling rack in the caging section in the Hamburg PA. area and I'm positive it's the same dude. :angry:

All I can say is if you're thinking of doing business with him you'd better get the merchandise before you send him any money! I doubt that I'll ever get my money from him but perhaps I can save someone from making the same mistake! I still have the receipt for the money order I sent him for $175.00 just in case he shows up here trying to defend his name.
 
Do you still have any Emails? It was 10 years ago, but proof will help your case.
 
E-Mails

My contacts with Mike Masters were over the phone. Once he changed his address and phone number I had no way of contacting him. I don't think Herpauction even exists now, But I did contact the auctioneer at the time, Ric Barker, and notified him of the problem I was having with Mike. Ric told me he can't keep your money that he has to send you the snake or a refund, neither of which happened since he took off.

I have the money order stub that I sent him for the $175.00 I doubt that he can produce a tracking number showing that he shipped me the snake! There was no BOI in 2000 when this happened. I wish that I had used paypal instead of sending him a money order as I could have easily filed a paypal complaint and gotten the charge reversed.
 
Snakepliscan said:
My contacts with Mike Masters were over the phone. Once he changed his address and phone number I had no way of contacting him. I don't think Herpauction even exists now, But I did contact the auctioneer at the time, Ric Barker, and notified him of the problem I was having with Mike. Ric told me he can't keep your money that he has to send you the snake or a refund, neither of which happened since he took off.

I have the money order stub that I sent him for the $175.00 I doubt that he can produce a tracking number showing that he shipped me the snake! There was no BOI in 2000 when this happened. I wish that I had used paypal instead of sending him a money order as I could have easily filed a paypal complaint and gotten the charge reversed.
Click to expand...

Do you have any proof aside from the money order ticket?

Can you post it? Any proof you have will help your case
 
RE: Proof

All I have is the money order ticket stub with a number, date and his name on the back of it. As to how I can post it I'm open to suggestions? Besides Mike Masters, the only other party that had knowledge of the transaction was the auctioneer, Ric Barker of Herpauction and they are not in business anymore to my knowledge.
 
Snakepliscan said:
This goes back a ways, but I purchased a ball python from Mike Masters of Pennsylvania off a site know as Herpauction in Jan. 2000 for $175.00
After weeks of hearing excuses from the weather being too cold or he was out of insulated shipping boxes, the dude changed his phone number and address and took off with my money and ball python.

I had contacted the moderator of herpauction at the time but he was unable to help since Mike Masters just took off. I've never gotten this resolved just learned a hard lesson in dealing with reputable reptile dealers. Now I see someone by the same name selling a hatchling rack in the caging section in the Hamburg PA. area and I'm positive it's the same dude. :angry:

All I can say is if you're thinking of doing business with him you'd better get the merchandise before you send him any money! I doubt that I'll ever get my money from him but perhaps I can save someone from making the same mistake! I still have the receipt for the money order I sent him for $175.00 just in case he shows up here trying to defend his name.
Click to expand...

I know you said you are positive the Mike Masters selling the hatchling rack is the same person. You should notify him of this thread if you think it is him so he can also tell his side of the story.
If you can scan the money order stub you can save it to your computer and upload it as an attachment.
With this being only handled over the phone it is hard to provide the proof and it just a he said type of scenario. I am not saying I doubt you but emails help the situation so much better but I know you said this was all handled on the phone.
 
I managed to scan the receipt to file but when I try to load the bmp Fauan's saying the file is too big to load. I can't seem to to edit-downsize it in my computer. Not really my field of expertise. So for any doubters please include your e-mail and I'll gladly send you an attachment of the receipt in an e-mail.
 
Save it as a .jpg instead of .bmp that will make a big difference in the size.
If you are unable to do that, you can email it to me at [email protected] and I'll take care of it and post it up here.
 
I think this is probably a misunderstanding, I just completed an attempted breeding loan that turned into a trade with Michael that, considering the circumstances, went as well as could possibly be expected. We both walked away pleased with how it turned out. I think as soon as he sees this, he'll give us another take on what went on.

Chris Canada-Smith
 
This may sound rude and I apologize if I come across that way but why post on a 10 year old debt now because you stumbled across someone who could be the Mike Masters from 10 years ago but you don't know for sure?????
 
Scans

I've managed to change the file format and get the scans loaded for the money order that was paid to Mike Masters on Jan. 8, 2000 for a spider Ball Python sold on Herpauction. If the detail is not good enough I will gladly e-mail or snail mail copies of the receipt for any party that requires it.

To answer a few of the prior posts- One party mentioned he has had positive dealings with the party in question. While I can't prove they are the same, Mike masters does mention in a few of his Fauna posts that he has been handling snakes for 18 years. So I find it highly unlikely that there are 2 Mike Masters in that area that have been dealing with reptiles for 18 years. Maybe he's a stand up guy, a born again christian. I'd just like to know why he took off with my $175 and never sent me the ball python?

Another party says why bring this up after 10 years? Well back in 2000 there was no Fauna, BOI and kingsnake.com was just getting under way. I've been looking for years on reptile related sites hoping to find this guy! It didn't make sense for me to hire a P.I. to track this guy down and attempt to take him to small claims court for $175. All I can say to you is have you ever been scammed out of $175 for anything? If so please tell me how you feel? :rolleyes:

Should I go up to Hamburg and say thanks for bending me over for $175! Forgive me but I think I'm entitled to a refund even if it's been 10 years! :NoNo:
 
I also noticed Mike Masters username as he was viewing this thread earlier and has yet to reply...... I guess he needs more time to come up with a story?
 
Snakepliscan said:
Another party says why bring this up after 10 years? Well back in 2000 there was no Fauna, BOI and kingsnake.com was just getting under way. I've been looking for years on reptile related sites hoping to find this guy! It didn't make sense for me to hire a P.I. to track this guy down and attempt to take him to small claims court for $175. All I can say to you is have you ever been scammed out of $175 for anything? If so please tell me how you feel? :rolleyes:

Should I go up to Hamburg and say thanks for bending me over for $175! Forgive me but I think I'm entitled to a refund even if it's been 10 years! :NoNo:
Click to expand...

Actually yes I have been scammed and it wasn't out of a little amount of money. It was thousands of dollars. So tell me how you would feel if he'd taken you for thousand 10, 5 or 2 years ago?? My question wasn't about how you feel. It was why bring it up now after seemingly 10 years of silence. The BOI and other forums have been around since 2002 I believe. Honestly it just seemed odd to me so I asked. Feelings have nothing to do with it.

If you're sure it's the same guy, by all means go to Hamburg and try to get you money.
 
If you paid via USPS money order.. then he commited Mail fraud and you should have taken it up with the postal service. Im not sure what the time frame is for filing though... you may still be able to.
 
RE: Mike Masters

Yes he goes by the username MIchaelfm and he was viewing this thread earlier and chose not to respond. I also viewed his profile and threads and noticed he complained about a bad trade with another party not shipping him the reptiles he traded for. He proceeded to mention how we need to rid the interenet of all these scammers!

Well Mike how does it feel to be :censored: over by someone?! What goes around comes around! :rofl:
 
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