Star Reptiles(bad Guys)

Zoo Dad....not saying who is right or wrong here.....I think that's yet to be determined. But "my computer is down" is really not an excuse in this day and age where most everyone has a PC. Maybe for a day or two.....but it's certainly not a reason to ignore a problem. I'm sure they know someone with a PC that is up and running and can respond.


G-Smack......I don't suppose you made a copy of the M.O. before it was sent by any chance did you? Always a good idea for backup in cases like these.

TC

Where's the proof?

Anyone can type supposed e-mails of any form or type, but does that make them legitimate? Of course it doesn't! E-mails can and should be copied in their entirety with headers included to show the originating IP numbers of both the sender and the recipient. Your IP is registered when you join a forum such as this, which provides compelling evidence from where messages are originating. This is useful to the administration in the event that someone should attempt to register with more than one user name, for example. It also serves to support claims of e-mails sent or received. Although editing can still be accomplished, with the complete header info, the evidence becomes much more legitimized than it does without this important information.

If Paul, Mark, Texas_beardie, godsmack000 or whomever this individual making these unsupported and damaging claims has evidence, not contrived, but cold hard factual documentation, then it's quite simple to remedy this situation as he or they allege:

She never gave me a reciet and I at first did know of the contract but later I found out about it. I waited for well over 45 days and no lizard and no refund.

and she claims that I didn't ever give her a mailing address. Not to mention she could of sent him to the return address on the money order.

If you in fact sent a money order, that is one of the best forms of proof you could possibly have to support your claim. In fact, you could easily scan a copy or take a photo of this document and post it here as proof! Furthermore, you can take your money order receipt to small claims court and sue for reimbursement and damages incurred as a result of your proven payment. If in fact you have no such receipt or written contract, as I suspect is the case, then you've made false and accusatory claims and at the very least owe Ms. Hetland @ Star Reptiles a sincere apology! IMHO, you should then ask for removal of your unfounded, inappropriate, and defamatory thread from this board!

It's quite simple...submit facts or proof and properly support your damning allegations or shut up and go do something productive, such as your homework, your chores, or take a lesson in respecting one's elders! If you do show factual evidence, supporting your claims, I'll be the first to publicly apologize to you, but I fail to see anything thus far, other than a disgruntled minor with an ax to grind against an otherwise innocent adult herpetoculturist and business woman! Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy and the clear facts will ultimately surface! As it stands now, you've proven nothing negative about this person or business and your "bad guy" post won't hold water!

Another thing that can be pursued is...Mail Fraud. A payment with a MO will have a receipt and it typically sent via the USPS. If you in fact did not receive the "goods" which were paid for using the USPS (especially if the MO was one from the PO as well,) then the Postal Inspectors can be brought into it vial your local office.

The level of potential frauds in the herp industry seem to be rising in relation to the increase in interest and money involved. The FBI's division (somebody please help with the name and URL) which is devoted to pursuing internet scams/frauds is another indicator of the activity not just in the reptile industry but the intire sale/purchase of goods using the internet.

If the MO was through another company, most of those also have fraud complaint divisions with their own inspectors. Either way, it will be in your best interest to request a copy of the cashed MO from the company to show that payment was received. The seller's responsibility at that point will be to show that the "goods" purchased were shipped to you, which in this case sounds like won't be possible.

It may take a while to get all of your "ducks in a row," but it will be necessary in order to completely substantiate your total claim. In a round-a-bout way, that is all that others on here are trying to get you to do on this forum. The more "evidence" you can present, the better your case...not just here, but for any party that ultimately is involved. Hope you understand as I'm not trying to belittle you in this matter. Just want all parties to have all the facts laid bare for all to see.

David

Jeff makes a good point. If you are going to post e-mails you should post a screen shot of them. It's the best way to show them as they were originally received. Retyiping everything is no good as one can leave things out "unwillingly". Hopefully the example below will show up.

Kindly.

Ok thanks I forgot about screen shoots. Also I didn't retype the emails i just copied and pasted. Would it cost me anything to get my money back? Like any settlement fees or anything?

I'm going to get a screen shot asap of some of the emails. I don't have the time right now so I'll do it Monday.

I just was sent a message about this. If anyone has any problems with my sales they are welcome to ask, I have many references and have never had a problem except for one kid. I had a beardie on reptibid and the highest bidder sent the money very late. By the time I got it it was snowing and I asked them to wait until the snow cleared for shipping. No response. I gave them my phone, they had my address and e-mail, no response for a month almost. Then the father of this kid calls me saying he is not allowed to have the dragon and they want a refund. At the same time I get an e-mail from antoher person about the fact that a father son team are requesting multiple refunds for things on reptibid. I decided to send a check so it is easily tracked, which I did send a long time ago with all my info requesting a response. They got it, it was signed for. They have yet to cash it, but it is still good. If they have any problems they should contact me like I asked, but they never said a thing since they signed for the check. I will not pay extra to have the first check cancelled and then send them a new one, so what I suggest is that they cash the check I sent since they didnt want the dragon anymore.
If anyone has any questions or problems feel free to contact me anytime star_reptiles @yahoo.com I am more than willing to discuss any problems with them. This problem with the child was solved long ago and it has been the only complaint I have ever had, it is my fualt for not carefully screening my clients to make sure they are adults but I have learned and am careful now.
Sarah Hetland

Someone I have been talking to also told me I should scan the photo copy of the refund check I sent, I currently do not have a computer, mine is down, I check my e-mail occasionally at the local library but have limited time on it. This child caused a lot of headaches for me with saying he wanted the dragon, no he didint, yes he did. I did not know it was a child either. When he FINALLY sent the MO it had begun snowing and he was mad when I said I wanted to wait a week for the snow to stop. I also asked for his address since he had someone else ship the MO to me. I never heard back from him. He never returned my e-mails and when someone finally called they cussed at me and asked for the money back. I told them I would wait 45 days before doing anything so if the kid wanted his dragon and his father would let him I would send it if not, I would send a refund. NO RESPONSE, so a check was sent for the full price paid $135, it was sent USPS with a tracking number and it was recieved. They have yet to cash it though because it has not gone through my bank. THis all happened long ago and I have deleted everything I had because my inbox was full, all I saved was the photo copy of the refund check. I will try to find a way to scan it or if anyone is really interested I can snail mail them a copy of it as well. I dont know what the kids problem is but it would be nice if he would have let me known their was a problem, my e-mail and phone is clearly avavilable all over the internet. I sell mainly locally but occasionally I sell on reptibid, feel free to check out my feedback, it is rather positive. My name on there is gemisnake so you can look it up. The only thing I can think of is that I did not send the buyer MARK, the check because I dont have his address, I sent it to a MR PAUL LEGEN. If he has your money then you need to get it from him, otherwise just cash the check already, it has been months since this was settled. And since I do not do any business yet at Fauna (I was not too familiar with the website at all yet) I would have never known this post existed if not for a few people letting me know. Thanks, and sorry this is such a long post. Mark, if you have any further problems why dont you e-mail me or call me instead of ignoring my e-mails to you and then bad mouthing me on a site I dont even sell on? I am more than willing to try and solve any problems but I dont know what else to do for you, you wasted a lot of my time having me wait for your replys that never came on this animal, we both came out at zero, you with no dragon, but your money back. And me with no money for the dragon from you. Noone really lost, noone won. AND BEWARE TO ALL SELLERS: My mistake was to sell to this person without talking to them on the phone. I would have made sure the parents were ok with the sale if I had known he was a minor child. I started in reptiles a long time ago when I was a minor and many of them are serious so dont take offense to this but I urge all sellers to only sell to adults or make sure to talk to the parents just to save yourselves the problems.
Like I said my comp is down so if anyone wants a snail mail copy of the check just let me know until I find someone with a scanner and any problems, questions or concerns feel free to e-mail or for a faster response until the comp is fixed call 9 am- 9 pm CST
(815)787-4572. Thanks for your time.

Paul,

I see that you chose not to fill in your birthdate on your personal information. For the record, just how old are you? And don't lie!

"Oh what a tangled web one weaves, when one attempts to wrongfully deceive!"

Attention: Paul, Mark, Texas_beardie, godsmack000 or whatever name you've currently chosen to adopt

I suggest you ask Daddy to cash the check sent to you by gemisnake aka Star Reptiles, make your apology to Ms. Hetland, and ask that this falsely reported thread be rectified by it's removal or by a clearly defined change to a "Good guy" post as it should have been from the beginning. It's encouraging to have young men and women interested in herpetoculture, as my own youngsters are, but when it comes to making purchases or corresponding with business owners, leave the responsibility of conducting such business in the hands of the adults! If "Dad" or "older brother" are part of the problem, seek some help from another caring family member. No one is attempting to discourage you from the world of herps and the enjoyment that accompanies, but you can cause irreparable damage to innocent business people with the uttering of "bad guy" or "rip off" when it's a false & erroneous allegation! You can still save face by taking the appropriate steps to show yourself as an upstanding young man with strong character...the choice is yours!

1st We have never recieved any refund from the beardie we had ordered from you back onn Jan. 20, 04. We have never signed for a check from USPS. I think that you are making up another story about this bad deal you made with my sons. We have been breeding and selling reptiles and birds for over 20 years. 2nd We have the reciepts and orginal emails that you have sent to us about you being snowed in. I think that since you don't even have a computer that works or even a camera to email us pictures of the beardy we trusted you and we tried to clear this matter up. I think you are truly a scam artist. You really should be ashamed of yourself for ripping off children. We have never said any bad words to you anytime we contacted you about this matter. 3rd You need to prove to us that we recieved a check from you. We have necer seen any check to solve this matter. The orginal price for the beardy we ordered from youwas $125, get you story straight Sarah. What you do to others will come back on you Sarah. If you really want settle this then cancel the check you sent to us and send another one for the correct amount of $125 or prove we have your check you say we signed for it through USPS, which means you have a copyof signature and you know where you sent it to. I am the Father you can make it out to me Mark Leger or Paul Leger, you know our correct names because you have your money and we have no beardy. We have proof you cashed our MO. Small Claims Court will cost me about $50, so we will still get $75 back!!!, or you can be a lady of you word and mail us our $125 back, and you will never hear from us again. You're not much of a business person if you have to go to the library to use a computer, this is a sad situation when people have to rip people off on the internet. Good luck to you in future sales. My home number is 903-849-3340. You have 15 days to send back my sons money or I will File Small Claims on you. Date 4-21-04.

Mark Leger