OK, the best way I know how to do this is in the order of the chain of events. I do not fee like the Buyer has told the full story here, only bits and pieces of it.
From the way it sounds from him, this situation has been dragging on for months, when the truth of the matter is that I received the funds for the snakes only a couple weeks ago (July 8th). The rest of this will explain why he doesn’t have his snakes yet and the different ways I have tried to work this out. I am going to explain ALL of the circumstances surrounding this mess, so please forgive me of some of these things don’t seem relevant, but I want everyone to know the full story.
Around 7/1/05 the landlord told me that our lease would not be renewed and that we would have to move by or on August 1st. That’s all the notice she really had to give because our lease says she can choose not to renew the lease and give us 30 days notice. At that point I panicked because I knew we were not in a financial situation to where we could move anytime soon. I posted every reptile I owned for sale, trying to “liquidate my assets” and put some $$$ away so that we could move. I also had lost my job during this time.
7/3/05 – The Buyer first contacted with questions about the snakes. He asked me if I had any way of documenting that these snakes were CB. I told him no, I had no documentation, I had purchased them from a friend of mine who breeds a few snakes a year and that there was no paperwork involved because they were only “normals”. He told me that it “would be nice to have something in writing” guaranteeing these were CB. I told him that I would write something out and have it notarized that these snakes were CB. He agreed that this would be acceptable and e-mailed me saying he definitely wanted to purchase the snakes. (Sidenote: at this point, he accepted that I would give him a guarantee and never mentioned anything about “having to have” the phone number of the person I bought them from.) He said he would send PayPal funds right away.
7/5/05 - Storm Cindy came ashore, very near us. We had flooding rains and did have some flooding in our house. Our power was sporadic and I was able to connect to the internet only with dial-up, but I did manage to get an e-mail to the Buyer with my PayPal address, since it appeared he didn’t have the correct one. I had other reptiles I was supposed to ship this day and couldn’t due to the bad weather.
7/8/05 – The Buyer sent payment and an e-mail stating that he had some problems with a hot water tank and had some other issues, which is why he had been a couple days sending the payment.
7/9/05 – *Early* that morning I sent a mass e-mail to everyone who had purchased a reptile from me (including this Buyer, I just checked to make sure). The e-mail stated that I was directly in the projected path of Hurricane Dennis and that my area was under voluntary evacuation (note: it wasn’t long until we were under Mandatory evacuation). My initial plan was to go to my mother’s apartment (since Damien was out of town with his mother) but my mother’s apartment building was evacuated too and she had to leave as well. She decided to head for her sister’s house in Texas and I decided to just “drive North” as the people on the TV were advising us to do. So I left this area with a car full of animals (a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, a cockatiel bird and numerous reptiles including the ones people has purchased from me) and a couple changes of clothes. I was determined that even if the storm took my house it wasn’t going to get any living breathing creature that lived there, so I took all of them with me. I advised all of my Buyers in the mass e-mail that I would take ALL of the animals/reptiles with me when I evacuated, and I did so. I also told them that I would have a Yahoo “vacation/away” message up until I returned, and that I would be back in touch ASAP after I returned. When I evacuated I went North, and went to between Hattiesburg and Jackson, MS. I did finally find a place to stay at a small hotel (and no, I didn’t inform them about the animals because I knew they would refuse to let me stay there). The hurricane didn’t make landfall for a couple more days and I was also advised that my county (Harrison County, MS) had imposed a curfew the day the hurricane hit and no one was allowed on the road or they would be arrested, the curfew wasn’t lifted until 6 pm, so I decided to wait until the next morning to go home (I can’t see too well in the dark when I’m driving). When I finally headed out to go home, I got about 30 miles and my car started smoking. It was only another mile or so when my car just died there on the side of the road. I started making calls to find a wrecker service (sorry, I am not mechanically inclined at all, and had no idea what was wrong with the car). I found out it was going to be around $200.00 or so to have my car towed home. I didn’t have $200.00 or anywhere near it. I spent all I had with me on a hotel stay, food, and gas. I checked my bank account and it was down to about $7.00. I then started making calls to find someone to wire me $$$ to my bank account. To make a long story short, I finally was able to get the $$$ wired to my account, but was stranded on the side of the road for around 36 hours total until the funds were available and then the wrecker arrived. During this time I did *everything* I could to keep all of the animals/reptiles cool, because it was HOT out there. I even removed everything from the car (all animals) and went into the woods where there was shade and it was a little cooler. I basically “camped out” with them for one night.
7/13/05 I finally got home. The moment I arrived home I first got all the animals out of the car and realized that some had died (several ball pythons mainly) and my dog was also apparently having some major issues as well. I got my dog into a cool area with cool water and got her through what apparently was a heat stroke and also got all the reptiles into regular enclosures (I had taken them in Rubbermaid type containers). By the way, we had zero damage to our house except a little water got in (which I am now used to every time it rains hard). I got on my computer and sent another mass e-mail out to all Buyers (including the one in question here) which informed them that I was home and would get back with them later in the day about their reptiles. I wanted to let everyone know I had not forgotten about them, nor was I ignoring their e-mails. I also had to assess the damage done because I knew I had several dead reptiles on my hands. I fell asleep before I could send out very many e-mails, I was slightly exhausted form the previous days events.
7/14/05 The moment I woke up, it was my number 1 priority to get back with everyone I had not sent an e-mail to the previous day with the status of their reptile(s) they had purchased. I also checked on the reptiles and had lost even more call pythons overnight. At this point I had lost more than half of them and all of them had already been bought and paid for. I e-mailed Mr. Gilbert (the Buyer in question) immediately to let him know what was going on. I explained the entire situation with the hurricane and everything just as I had explained it above. Here is an excerpt from that very e-mail I sent him on the 14th:
“The same guy I purchased these babies from has several
more (and does have many females) that I will be able
to go and get from him the last weekend in July (2
weeks from tomorrow basically). I would be able to
send all of the female ball pythons to you and ship on
Monday, August 1st. These are all very well
established, feeding on thawed frozen, cb, etc. Most
were hatched early to mid-June. I am going to make a
trade with Donnie to get these, but he has assured me
is will hold onto these for me. I have done business
with him for over 3 years and have known him even
longer. If I could go pick these snakes up sooner I
would, but finances won't allow it right now
unfortunately.
In the alternative, I can refund your money if you
would like. However, please note that it will
possibly be June 29th before I can send a refund.
That will be the first time that I know for sure I
will have enough $$$ to send you a full refund.
I sincerely apologize for this entire mess. These
tropical storms and hurricanes have basically
financially ruined me. Makes me wish I had never
moved out of Atlanta.
Please let me know what you would like for me to do
from this point. I will be happy to send snakes (plus
a couple extras for your time and trouble) on August
1st, or either of the other alternatives.”
7/15/05 – Buyer e-mailed me with this:
“Okay, I am sympathetic to having problems and am trying to understand
the way things have happened. What I can't understand is- why would
they have been transported both ways in the first place? I would think
that you would have just shipped them first, or at the very least
shipped them from the location you evacuated to if there had not been
enough time.”
I wasn’t exactly sure of what he was talking about, because I explained the whole situation to him, including about FedEx not shipping just before the hurricane and I left over a weekend. He did not seem to understand this, and has asked me the same question several more times, and I have answered it the same every time.
7/16/05 I went to Atlanta for a job interview. I had already had the ticket to go prior to the hurricane. I knew I should probably stay here, but went to the interview anyway. I desperately want to get out of Mississippi. This place is backwards from the word go. I regret moving here from Atlanta 2 years ago. The moment I arrived home I went to my computer specifically to answer e-mails from this Buyer and one other person whose full order also had perished. I explained to Mr. Gilbert *again* that I would be traveling to pick the snakes up during he last weekend of July because that was the first time it would be possible for me to do so. I also explained to him that I was making a trade with the guy I was getting the snakes form that involved me trading some larger household items that couldn’t be shipped (a couch, a huge table and things like that). I told him again that the snakes would be ready to be shipped on August 1st and assured him, again, that they would be shipped that day if someone would be there to sign for them. I also informed him that I had a job interview the following day (7/18/05, Monday) in New Orleans, so I would not be able to answer his e-mails the next day since I would be away from my computer until Tuesday (7/19/05) morning. Before I left, he asked me for a phone number to verify things, so I sent him my cell phone number.
BUT, instead of calling me, he filed a PayPal complaint that night. Even after I had told him that I *would* replace the snakes with the same or better quality and throw in some extra ones for his time and patience. Here is the reason he stated to PayPal that he was filing the complaint (copied and pasted directly from PayPal, I can do a screen shot if necessary):
“I purchased animals from the seller that were not shipped. I was then told that the animals had died and she would replace them. I asked for references and a phone number of the person she was going to get the animals from and got no response. When I asked a second time, I got a message that she was going out of town and would be away from her computer.”
First of all, when he asked me for a phone number to verify, I sent him mine, thinking that was what he was asking for (fyi, he has never called me to this day). Secondly, I told him out of abundance of caution I would be away from my computer for basically 24 hours, so that he would not be worried during this time if I wasn’t immediately responding to e-mails. I had been planning to ship him his snakes on August 1st, which was the soonest possible day it could be done. To this point, the Buyer had stated he wanted the snakes and not a refund. He had kept stating this.
7/20/05 I sent the buyer an e-mail stating that I had mailed out a Merchandise Credit Certificate good for 20 female ball pythons and reflecting the $450.00 he had paid for the,. The Credit Certificate stated that his snakes could be sent on or after August 1, 2005. I figured this might help him put his mind at ease, having something in writing from me. I submitted to PayPal that I had sent him this Credit Certificate, I even sent them a copy of it showing that I understood he was entitled to the 20 female ball pythons. (Note: I didn’t hear directly back from the Buyer again until 7/25/05 when he asked me a laundry list of questions and I answered each one.)
I sent him several e-mails over the next few days (7/20 to 7/24), practically begging him to cancel the complaint because I am in a very serious financial bind and now this has affected my FedEx account too. I offered to refund his $450.00 immediately, but couldn’t do so because of my account being frozen due to his complaint. When he made the complaint, PayPal froze my account because the amount was so much ($450.00). If anyone wants to verify that my account is STILL frozen, try to send $0.01 to my PayPal account, which is:
backbaybargains@yahoo.com. You will see that I cannot send or even RECEIVE money at this point. There is around $612.00 in my PayPal account, $450.00 of which is owed back to Mr. Gilbert. I now have *another complaint for $265.00 which is due to the fact that I can’t ship anything out right now because my FedEx account has been affected by this mess. Here is why: My FedEx account is "on hold". The
only credit/debit card is my PayPal one, and it is listed on my FedEx shipping account. I can't ship *anything* out through FedEx until they are able to re-instate my account, and *that* won't happen until after PayPal unfreezes my account. FedEx will only ship live reptiles for
account holder in good standing, and right now they do not consider me an account holder since my account is on hold and is not considered in good standing since they submitted a $37.15 bill to my account that
wasn’t paid because PayPal had frozen my account and my PayPal debit/credit card would not go through. I have paid FedEx back for the $37.15 with a check, but they won't re-instate my account until my debit/credit card will be able to be charged again. I just talked to my rep and she verified all of this for me for sure. She said that unless I have an active account (secured with a credit card) I can only send shipments which contain regular goods. Ok, everyone knows how screwy FedEx is, but I didn’t even know about this until recently myself.
7/26/05 A series of e-mails were send back and forth between me and the Buyer. I was getting frustrated at this point myself because he has picking apart every word I said, blatantly calling me a thief and a scammer, and sending me the same questions, worded differently, over and over. I finally got to the point where the stress of this mess and everything else I have going on got to me. I had to put it down and let Damien take over. Damien (who is my fiancée by the way, a lot of you know that) suggested that we just tell PayPal to send this guy his money back and sell the snakes to someone else. The Buyer had stated over and over that he wanted the snakes instead of a refund, but I agreed for Damien to e-mail PayPal and tell them to issue Mr. Gilbert an immediate refund, ASAP and we would just find alternate buyer(s) for the snakes after we pick them up this weekend.
1) I have not “kept the Buyers money” out of spite. He has told me over and over that he wanted the snakes instead of a refund, so I was doing the best I could to accommodate him. The moent he said "refund" (yesterday) we set things in motion to have his refund to him ASAP with PayPal.
2) I recently had a transaction where the Buyer (not this guy, a different person) received the wrong items and made a PayPal complaint against me. I sent him the correct items, which he received in excellent condition, but then wouldn’t cancel his claim, stating since I initially screwed up his order he wanted his money back too. Guess what? PayPal sent it to him, over $300.00 that I am out, plus the reptiles I shipped him, plus the one that was accidentally shipped to him. I am only trying to prevent this scenario from happening again. Who is to say that *this(* Buyer (Mr. Gilbert) won’t receive his snakes, not cancel the PayPal complaint, and still receive his money back so that I am out the snakes and the money.
3) PayPal had advised me that the request to refund Mr. Gilbert’s money has been received and forwarded to their “investigations team”. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long it takes them to refund his money, but they are holding the funds, so hopefully it will be to him soon.
FYI, this thread was started by Mr. Gilbert AFTER he was informed that he would be getting a refund in full instead of the snakes. He was even forwarded (last night) a copy of the request Damien made to PayPal to IMMEDIATELY refund Mr. Gilbert his money. Mr. Gilbert was aware LAST NIGHT that he would be receiving his money back ASAP, as soon as PayPal could possibly do it, yet he chose to start a “bad guy” thread on me after he was told his refund was on the way. How’s that for spite…?
I am sorry that I am so frustrated right now and it comes through in this I am sure.
This transaction started on July 8th, only 19 days ago. I offered the Buyer replacements snakes to be shipped out on August 1st. I am still not sure why there was a problem with that. Had he received the snakes on August 2nd and been unpleased, he still would have been WELL within his window with PayPal to file a complaint (PayPal states you have 45 days from the date payment is sent to file a complaint).
I tried very hard throughout a terrible ordeal to keep Mr. Gilbert informed of what was going on. I am in a very serious financial bind right now due to the fact that I *have* to move by August 10th (I was given a slight extension on when I had to leave, the 10th instead of the 1st). I also spent a ton of $$$ during the whole hurricane mess. Had I known the hurricane wasn’t going to hit here, obviously I would not have left and the reptiles wouldn’t have died and I wouldn’t have had to spend every penny I had plus some I had to borrow. But unfortunately, not even the weather forecasters could say where the hurricane was going to hit.
I do shoulder the blame for having left for the hurricane evacuation, I should have stayed. I also accept the blame that I am responsible for the deaths of many, many reptiles when my car broke down, as well as my dog now having possible brain damage from being overheated. I feel AWFUL that I caused the deaths to so many animals, I honestly do. Those of you who know me know that I would never intentionally harm any animals or reptile and have taken in many “hopeless cases” and tried to rehab them. Anyway, I have also not been trying to “steal” from or “scam” Mr. Gilbert has he has accused me of in various e-mails. Had he not been so hasty in filing a PayPal complaint only 9 DAYS after he sent me the funds, he would have still received his 20 ball pythons, plus some extras, on August 2nd. But now, everything is in the hands of PayPal since we have asked for him to be sent a refund in full directly from the PayPal account.
I hope this explains everything. If anyone needs further info or questions answered please contact me here or privately. If any of this doesn’t make sense let me know, it is still early in the morning here and I woke up to this mess and wanted to immediately respond, even before I have had my morning coffee, LOL.
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