Watch Out for Diana Mason

i got the same message and for whatever its worth i dont think she meant for things to turn out this way at all.

How in heaven's name did she expect things to turn out, shipping animals (and allegedly animals not in the best of health) in the middle of winter via USPS with inadequate heat and poor packaging?

She attempted to put responsibility on the buyer

I did everything the guy asked me to and he just threw it all in my face.

, yet I can't imagine that a buyer who is paying a flat rate that includes shipping would request substandard and illegal shipping. Virtually no consideration was given to the animals' best interest.

My gut reaction to this situation, after considering her response and the shipping conditions, is that she's not nearly as concerned about her actions as she is about the fact that it was brought up on the BOI. She still hasn't contacted the buyer, nor inquired about the animals. Doesn't say much about her at all.

i do remember from our first deal she has no pick up service in her area for ups or airborne

Neither do we. 50 miles from the nearest UPS drop off location, and even farther from Airborne. No excuse. We take snakes to the drop off locations as late in the day as possible for shipping, and have live animals shipped to the main locations for pick up there so they don't spend all day in a delivery truck. That's the price we choose to pay for living in a beautiful, yet remote, area and still doing business.

If she's a novice, fine, everyone was once and some of us still are. However, that is NO excuse for not knowing how to package an animal, how to ship an animal, and how to ascertain that an animal is in acceptable condition to ship. These are all things that can be learned beforehand, and are not necessary to pick up through trial and error.

However, since you did a deal with her last year I don't consider her novice enough to make mistakes like that.

I only hope she was serious about getting out of the reptile business, but my gut tells me that she'll just be getting a new ID and email address.

Robert, now that all is said and done, what have you decided to do about the USPS? Are you reporting it?

Shipping via the post office is a no brainer.Its a no-no. Ever since 911, many United States post office irradiate the parcles that come through their locations. This spells death or illness to snakes.

I am not sure of all the details, but know that shipping viaUSPS is a violation of FEDERAL law, unlike shipping via FedEx and UPS, which are both private companies.

Sounds like the person chose the wrong method of shipping(2 day instead of overnight) and also choose the cheapest method of shipping. Sounds like they were out to spend as little as possible to send the snake to you.
Lastly....$100.00 is DIRT CHEAP for a w/c DeAlberts. To cheap, but then people seem desperate to move their animals lately, I dont know why now.

Thats all,

Fred
Aztec Reptiles

Sounds like the person chose the wrong method of shipping(2 day instead of overnight) and also choose the cheapest method of shipping. Sounds like they were out to spend as little as possible to send the snake to you.
Lastly....$100.00 is DIRT CHEAP for a w/c DeAlberts. To cheap, but then people seem desperate to move their animals lately, I dont know why now.

The price requested for the D'Alberts python shipped should have been the first red flag for Robert. After the usual questions about the animal's status, then the next and obvious one should have been which carrier was she going to use for shipping. It was obvious that for $100 shipped she was not going to use Delta.

During the cold months of the year questions with regards to the packaging and use of heat packs need to be addressed also. Try not to assume anything when a live animal is going to be shipped to you. That's the best approach to avoid uggly surprises in the future.

Good luck with the python!