Sellers beware of John Benavides

I had an ad posted for female ball pythons between 1500 and 3000 grams for sale. They all sold the first day the ad was posted. I got a call the following day from John Benavides inquiring about the ad. I explained to him that all the girls in the ad were sold, but I did have some smaller girls for sale. 3 of them being proven breeders this year. I gave him all the weights of the girls on the phone and gave him a price of $1600 shipped. The weights are as follows:
1354g
1238g
1230g
1125g
801g
654g

He said that sounded fine and sent me postal money orders for the girls. I shipped the snakes to him and recieved a call from him the next day when they arrived. He said they all looked good and that he would inspect them better when he got home (he was at work). I didn't hear from him till the next day when I received an e-mail from him stating that he thought he was getting 6 girls that were between 1500 and 3000 grams like the ad said. Any ball python breeder knows that I would have to be crazy to sell 6 girls that size for $1600 shipped. After speaking with him again on the phone, he stated that he did not recall me giving him weights and that I must be mistaking him for someone else. I offered him a full refund several times if he was not 100% satisfied with the animals (that is my policy and I hold to it). He said no, he wanted to keep the snakes. I thought the issue was resolved. 2 days later I got another e-mail from him telling me he wants $300 returned to him or a full refund, and that if I opted for the full refund, he would have to post his bad experience on the BOI.
I am offering him a $200 refund. I think that he is really making out on this deal. But as you all know, sometimes you have to take a loss to keep customers happy and to keep a good name in this business. I feel that I have a good reputation in this business and would hope that there are many of my customers out there that would vouch for this.

I will keep you posted on how this turns out.

Ted @ T&M Reptiles

Just got an e-mail back from him. He said he will take the partial refund of $200.

and that if I opted for the full refund, he would have to post his bad experience on the BOI.

For what ...? Giving a full refund ?!?

Pffft...

For the record, John Benavides (the buyer) is a personal friend of mine and I have been directly involved with every single reptile purchase he has made since getting into reptiles about a year ago.

As for this particular deal, I was sitting right next to John here at work when the ad on Kingsnake (for 1,500-3,000 gram females) was posted on July 14. I specifically remember telling John to hurry and email Ted so that he wouldn't miss out on those females. John then followed my advice and emailed Ted and requested a price quote on 6 of the females. Contrary to what Ted claims, John did not telephone Ted until after payment had been made and they were discussing shipping. I know this because 1) I was here when John received Ted's reply via email (*posted below) and 2) Had John called Ted on the telephone and gotten the weights of the females, he would have relayed that information to me and I would have told John not to buy them.

*Here is the reply mentioned above...

I can send you 6 for $1600. 3 of these are proven breeders and the other 3 are '02 that will breed this year. Let me know. I have had alot of phone calls and e-mails already. I would rather sell them off in larger groups (6 is good).

Thanks,
Ted @ T&M Reptiles

Considering the above email and considering that the Kingsnake ad listed 1,500-3,000 gram females for sale, it's not hard to imagine why John and I truly believed that he was getting 6 (six) females that would for sure breed this year for $1,600. That's approximately $267 each. Sounds too good to be true? Maybe...but here's why I told John to go ahead and get them.

1. I've seen people in need of money sell things cheap and I've been in situations myself where I've had opportunities to buy animals that I didn't have the money for, so I sold off other animals in a hurry at low prices in order to make the purchase.

For example, maybe something new popped up in Africa and Ted needed to round up big cash in order to get it.

2. I figured that since this was a quantity deal, that may be part of the explanation for the relatively low price.


Needless to say, I figured it was just a good deal...nothing more, nothing less, so I told John to go through with the purchase.

Does this mean that I think Ted knowingly tried to misrepresent the animals?

Absolutely not. I realize that the name "John" is a common name and I realize that Ted may have talked to several people with that name as Ted even said that he had spoken to a lot of people regarding those females.

However, this does not change the fact that in the end, John did not get what he thought he was paying $1,600 for.

Does this mean that John is another pain in the ass nickel and dime customer just trying to get something for nothing?

No. In fact, I am the one who told John what to ask for. Secondly, I know John quite well and I am absolutely certain that he is not the type of guy who would do something like this to try and save a few hundred dollars. Considering that John thought he was buying six 1,500-3,000 gram females and considering that he passed on the purchase of several other females since coming to the original agreement with Ted, I can see why he wishes to just keep the snakes and get a partial refund.

Yes, Ted did offer to refund the purchase price for the six females, but you have to think about where that puts John. He just invested a rather substantial amount of money on a particular morph and feels a great sense of urgency to get breedable female Balls now if he wants to be able to produce anything this season. That said, John felt that he was basically being forced to either take what he got and live with it, or send them all (including the larger ones, which will probably go this year) back and start over in his search for females.


Bottom line...

1. I have known and worked with John for five years and I know for a fact that John is a stand-up guy and is not trying to get something for nothing.

2. Honestly, I do not think Ted was trying to mislead John.

3. I do, however, believe that Ted has made an honest mistake and is thinking of someone else (perhaps even someone else named John) when he says that he gave their exact weights to John over the telephone. Having said that, I have spoken to Ted on the phone today about this and I realize that he honestly believes that this is not the case.

After a long conversation with Anthony today on the phone, we came to the conclusion that this may very well be just a misunderstanding or miscomunications. If this was in fact miscomunications on my part, then I send John my deepest appologies, and I think that John and Anthony do realise that I would not try to mislead anyone on purpose. That is not how we do business here at T&M Reptiles. Hopefully this is now water under the bridge and we can actually become friends in the business. I would be happy to help out John anyway that I can in the future.

Ted @ T&M Reptiles

Are these normal colored balls?
Karen

Probably but large females can command some pretty high prices.
If you spend $500 on a single female BP and then breed it to a male pastel for example, just having one pastel show up in the clutch and you have made back your investment plus extra.

The only point of this whole transaction that I have a real problem with is the sellers threat of taking it to the BOI if he got a full refund instead of a discount on the purchase price. That smacks of an extortive attempt at getting the best of both worlds on this deal. It is the sellers decision as to how he handles a situation like this and a full refund is pretty much considered an acceptable remedy across the boards

Ted has handled this transaction by going way above and beyond the call of duty.

I think he meant to say buyer instead of seller.
..and i completely agree..

Originally posted by Suncoast Herpetological
The only point of this whole transaction that I have a real problem with is the sellers threat of taking it to the BOI if he got a full refund instead of a discount on the purchase price. That smacks of an extortive attempt at getting the best of both worlds on this deal. It is the sellers decision as to how he handles a situation like this and a full refund is pretty much considered an acceptable remedy across the boards

Ted has handled this transaction by going way above and beyond the call of duty.

Smacks of an extortive attempt? Please. Your post "smacks" of another BOI drama queen who just likes to hear himself talk.

In case you didn't bother to read my post, this is over with and I've already addressed "the thing that you have a problem with", so please re-read my post and quit beating this dead horse.