On 9/6/13 I agreed to purchase a 584g female piebald ball python from Justin Duplantis for $500 shipped on my reptile shipping account. He sent me a pic of her on a scale. We agreed that i'd send a $250 deposit via Paypal and send a final $250 within 2 weeks.
I sent the $250 deposit 9/6 and the final $250 9/10 (10 days less than the amount of time I was given). I messaged Justin via Facebook on 9/9 asking how soon he could ship after I sent the final payment. He told me that he could ship as soon as the money cleared into his account.
Justin told me the dimensions of the box he planned to ship her in were 12x12x12. Since FedEx now charges by dimensional weight instead of actual weight on 9/10 I asked Justin if he could ship in a smaller box for example a 12x8x6 box considering the snake was only about 600g and that would be about a $15 difference in shipping charges. He sporadically messaged me back until 9/16 saying that he got a box and the dimensions were 9x8x4.
I texted, emailed, and Facebook messaged Justin a copy of the shipping label 9/17 at 4:26pm. All he had to to was print the label and put it on the box. Justin texted me back and said the it was 3:30pm (as we're in 2 different time zones) and therefore to late to ship overnight packages which I felt was bull crap as most shipping centers have 2 daily overnight pick ups with the last one being 6-8pm.
On 9/18 I texted Justin asking if he was shipping that day. He said that he was. I texted him back at 8:32pm and he said that he wasn't able to as he was still at work and was getting rid of he snakes because he didn't have time for them.
On 9/20 I received the snake (10 days after I had paid it off).
The next day I texted Justin this message:
So, I purchased a 584g healthy looking female pied from you. What I received was a 429g dehydrated snake that hasn't eaten for I don't know how long and was shipped horribly. The box had no styrofoam insulation, had a couple of crumpled up pieces of used notebook paper, a cut up piece of clothing, and 2 ICE PACKS! This snake arrived barely moving and almost dead as she was so cold! My temps were 70 degrees when she arrived and 60 overnight! I am a very patient and tolerant person but this was one of the two worst herp transactions I've ever been involved in. She is extremely dehydrated and her cheeks are so sunken in from it her whole head is about the same width! She literally drank for 10 minutes straight (and I know because I went and fed all of my rats, came back, and she was STILL drinking) as soon as I put her in the water submerging her whole head in it! Balls go of feed fine, but they don't go off water! I asked for a 2 week payment plan, paid her off in 4 days, and didn't get her until 10 days later. The condition of this snake is horrible and extremely misrepresented from what I was led to believe I was purchasing! How old is the pic you sent me?!? She's 160g smaller than the pic you sent me which is more than 25% of her weight from that pic! She's super thin and has saggy skin from the pics of her I took. You're right, you do need do get rid of all your snakes because you don't have time for them if this is the condition you keep them in. This is completely unacceptable and I need some serious compensation (i'm ONLY considering this because I don't want this poor snake coming back to those conditions as I'm sure it'd be hell getting this snake back to health) or I'm sending her right back for a full refund and you can try selling it to someone else. I have taken several pics of the sub standard shipping and her in general. It's no point in beating around the bush so I'll just tell you now if you're not willing refund one of my payments in full i'll be sending her back because that's what it's going to take for me to even risk keeping this snake with the possibility of her dying in my care due to the repercussions of her current condition.
I took multiple pics of the snake and the box she was shipped in and sent them along with the message.
This snake submerged her whole face into the water bowl as soon as I introduced her to it.
On 9/21 Justin messaged me back via Facebook and said he'd contact me back tomorrow regarding this and that he was really sorry.
9/22 at 8:06pm I messaged Justin asking him to please let me know something. 9/24 at 7:30pm I messaged again as I hadn't heard anything and stated that I needed to hear back from him so that we could come to a quick resolution. Justin messaged back saying that he could send me another snake. I asked him "like what?" To which he didn't respond.
At this point since I no longer need to tell what happened i'll just copy and paste our convo:
9/25 at 2:38pm I messaged: ?? I'm looking to resolve this asap and avoid going through filing paypal cases etc
4:17pm:
Filing cases??
Bro I work ALOT I don't see my phone often. So ur biggest complaint is what? The snake was underweight?
Me: I understand that but I'm not interested in this taking 10 days to reach a resolution. I sent you pics. The snake was VERY dehydrated and not in good condition. She was 584g in the pic and arrived at 429g. That's over a 25% difference in weight. What the hell happened since the pic was taken?? That's false advertisement. Also, the shipping job was horrible. I already stated all the problems with it. There was no styrofoam insulation, had a couple of crumpled up pieces of used notebook paper, a cut up piece of clothing, and 2 ICE PACKS! This snake arrived barely moving and almost dead as she was so cold! My temps were 70 degrees when she arrived and 60 overnight. This is totally unacceptable and I guess you don't realize that. I'm going above and beyond trying to reach a resolution with you instead of posting this transaction and pics all over the Internet as I can guarantee you most people would have already done. And yes, opening a case which is what people do when they receive and item significantly not as described. Anthony McCain shipped snakes in a sock and panty hose. Once that hit the net his business was destroyed as the thread has been viewed over 25,000 times. I'd really rather not go through that and am giving you a chance to make it right first. The snake and its shipping was extremely sub standard.
Justin: Dude this isn't a business for me I'll be honest. Yea I weight was off she was most likely full, and I've received several snakes without styrofoam. Only thing ur getting compensated for is the miscue on the weight. So what would you like.
I have a super pastel, couple pastels & a spider reduced pattern
Justin sent me professional pics of these snakes so sure they're from when he purchased them an not recent so I'd assume they're in the same condition as the snake I received.
Me: I'm really not concerned with how you received snakes because those people obviously weren't professionals. It's illegal to ship them without styrofoam insulation and violates all reptile shipping companies terms. I'm quite aware this isn't a business to you. Please give me some more info like sexes and approx weights
This is a business for me and I take it very seriously. Years ago I shipped incorrectly. The buyer about died and extremely exasperated the snakes arrival condition. I gave him a $100 refund no questions asked bc I'm the one that messed up.
Justin: All males I'll have to check weights when I get off. And bro I wanted to use syr.com that's what we should of done there would of been no issues. So basically ur trying to get a payback for your mess up years ago c'mon dude. If you were that upset with the snake you would of shipped back instantly c'mon bro.
Me: Shipping the way you did is against SYRs TERMS ALSO. Have you not read them?!? If you would have shipped this way and I sent pics to SYR I guarantee you they would have closed your account. I was one of their first account holders. What I'm telling you is I messed up years ago and the buyer tried to destroy me. I'm saying that I'm not trying to do the same to you and am trying to resolve this between us. I told you in my first message that this needed to be resolved or I was shipping her right back. Why would I just ship her back without talking to you first?!?You have my money and I'm just going to spend more money shipping her back?? That makes no since.
Justin: Syr sends you supplies. It's my bad though man. I've been working 7 days a week for the past month I'm never off don't even have time to manage my snakes which is why I'm getting out of the hobby I'm not going to let them starve
Me: This is how I ship all of my snakes
9/26 at 11:33am: An approx weight will work if you think you can guess within 100g
Justin: 130 on the super
Me: Would you just do the super and spider and I'll send you $50 more to cover shipping however way you choose to ship
Justin: Just one man
Me: Then the super and you cover the shipping
9/28 at 4:08pm: ??
9/30 at 7:27am: I haven't heard back from you. I need this resolved this week.
10/2 at 12:31pm: Do you plan on resolving this this week? Meaning shipping the super pastel by tomorrow (Thursday)?
10/3 at 9:16am: I need to know something by today or I'll have to assume you plan to do nothing...
It is now 10/5 and Justin has not responded to me since 9/26 (9 days ago) but has read EVERY one of the last 5 messages I sent him within a few hours of me sending them. I know this because on Facebook messenger it says "read" and the time someone read any message that was sent.
I have to assume this whole time he just made it seem as though he was going to make this situation right just to stall. I think I have been extremely patient and given Justin WAY more than enough time to resolve this problem.
I will be filing a Paypal not as described case and sending a link of this thread to Justin.
BAD TRANSACTION PURCHASING FROM JUSTIN DUPLANTIS
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