Dave Powell of Coluboids: Bad Guy!

On August 3rd, I sent an email to Dave Powell in response to his ad for 1.0 Het. Albino and 0.2 Albino African House Snakes. He promptly sent me pictures and we worked out that I would send him USPS Money Order. One half as a deposit would be sent Friday, August 4th and the rest would be sent on Monday, August 7th. There was a problem with the delivery of the first payment and it was returned to me on Monday, August 7th. I then sent the whole payment on Monday, August 7th and sent an email to Dave to notify him that I had a problem with the first payments delivery and that I had sent his Money Order via USPS Priority mail. I received a response from Dave asking why I had sent the payment priority rather than Express Mail. I replied that he had never specified what type of delivery he preferred and that I was sorry for the misunderstanding. On Wednesday, August 9th I received an email from Dave telling me that he “finally” got the Money Order, and that he would ship in the morning. The next day(Thursday, August 10th) Dave emailed me to notify me that he had shipped and the snakes would be here by 3 pm, but he did not give me a tracking number. I sent an email to say thank you and asked him if he had a tracking number. I never received a response. On August 11th the snakes arrived via USPS in an uninsulated box. I opened the box and one of the female Albino House Snakes was dead. I emailed Dave immediately to let him know that I was not happy that he had shipped my snakes illegally in an uninsulated box, and that one of the snakes was dead. I requested that he replace the dead female or refund the money for her. I sent another email on August 14th asking him to please get back to me so that we could settle the matter. I still haven't heard from him.

Sorry, forgot to include my name.
-Trevor Yehle

Never ceases to amaze me how scummy people are. Can you post all the emails btwn you? do you have pictures of the box and dead female? are the others doing OK? You should email him one last time to make him aware of this thread.

Here are the emails:

Originally Posted by Me

I am very interested your Albino House Snakes. Could you send me some pics?
Thanks,
Trevor Yehle

Originally Posted by Dave

Trevor,a few of the juvi pics came out too dark,look more like the adults.Dave

Originally Posted by me

Dave,
Thanks for the pics. They look great. It's $250 shipped for the trio, right? Do you take Postal Money Orders. If so, would it be possible for me to send you half tomorrow, and the other half on Monday. If not, I understand, and I can check back with you on Monday to see if they are still available and send the whole payment then.

Thanks,
Trevor

Originally Posted by Dave

Trevor,1/2 tomorrow & 1/2 on monday is fine with me,postal money order please!send to David Powell (Address omitted)Thanks.Dave

Originally Posted by Dave

Trevor,did you send out the 125.00 postal money order deposit for the trio of albino/het housesnakes?Dave

Originally Posted by Me

Yes I did. And I'll be sending the other $125 on Monday. Sorry I didn't email you to let you know earlier.
Thanks,
Trevor

Originally Posted by Dave

good show!no problem bud!

Originally Posted by Me

Well, something weird happened. I got the payment I sent to you, returned to me today. I'm not sure why, and at the post office, they weren't sure either. Sorry about the delay. But not to worry. I sent all of it today. This time I sent it priority mail, so it should be there in 2-3 days.
If you get the payment before Thursday, would you be able to ship Thursday? Friday is my day off, so that would be perfect for me. If not, I can make arrangments for delivery any other day. (address and phone number ommitted)

Originally Posted by Dave

why did you send it out priority vs. express as we agreeed on express??I was counting on that money asap not a week later as agreed...

Unfortunately, I did not save the email that I sent as a response. But in it I pointed out that it had never been stated how he wanted the payment, sorry for the misunderstanding, and that I hope that it gets there soon.

Originally Posted by Me

Dave,
Did the Money Order get there today?

-Trevor

Originally Posted by Dave

Trevor,finally got it,will ship out in am,keep ya posted.Dave

Originally Posted by Me

Dave,
Thanks for getting back to me. Again, sorry about the confusion and I hope it didn't cause too much trouble for you.

-Trevor

Originally Posted by Dave

email me when you get them.cheers.Dave[due by 3pm tomorrow]

That was the last email I received from Dave.
I also didn't save the email in which I said thanks for the update, and I asked him for a tracking number. After the snakes arrived, I sent him these emails.

Originally Posted by Me

Dave,
The House Snakes arrived today and I must say that I am rather unhappy. First of all, you used the U.S. Postal Service to ship live animals, which is not only illegal, but unsafe for the animals as the Postal Service does not gauranty next day delivery (even on Express Mail.)
Second, one of the Albinos was DOA. I would like to either receive a replacement, or a refund for that snake. If you'd like, I can send the dead snake back to you as proof.

Please get back to me ASAP on this matter,
-Trevor Yehle

Originally Posted by Me

Dave,
I am still waiting to hear back from you regarding how you would like to settle the matter of the DOA Albino African House Snake.

-Trevor Yehle

And I sent Dave this email about this thread.

Originally Posted by Me

Dave,
I posted a thread about our transaction the FaunaClassifieds BOI. It is still not to late to make things right.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...987#post420987

-Trevor Yehle

And here are the pics of the box that the snakes were shipped in.



And here is the DOA House Snake. I didn't get pics when it arrived, but I kept the snake frozen as evidence. I still have it.

It's really amazing what losers we have here in this hobby. What in his right mind would suggest that you can just ship snakes in a box, with no insulation?

Did you report him to USPS yet, Trevor?

Here's a direct excerpt from a "Blacklisted Companies" article I'm writing for our website. This is Dave's Powell's tribute.

Company: ColuBoids
Contact Person: Dave Powell

Website: None

Contact Number: Unknown

Contact E-mail: coluboids@aol.com

Date of Transaction: Fall 2005

Nature of Transaction: Trade deal with Jungle Gems Exotics which consisted of our 1.0 Licorice Phase Juvenile E. obsoleta plus 450.00 cash for his 1.2 Juvenile E. t. ridleyi.

Offense: In a trade deal with Jungle Gems Exotics, Dave Powell ILLEGALLY shipped three juvenile E. t. ridleyi via USPS overnight in a small un-insulated box with no packing materials other than deli cups. When confronted on this issue, Dave completely excused his actions and then proceeded to express dissatisfaction with the juvenile E. obsoleta (which was shipped appropriately by Jungle Gems Exotics via FedEx Priority Overnight at double the price), stating that it was neither the size nor pattern he was expecting. This was in spite of his having received multiple clear photos of not only the animal itself but of it feeding on pinkie mice for size reference. Dave did not express any dissatisfaction with the E. obsoleta until after our questioning his shipping practices.



All correspondence between Dave Powell and Jungle Gems Exotics is on file for interested parties.

Here are the other threads regarding Dave.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=60308
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=58704

I’m surprised that someone that has been around for so long and has received all positive feedback(until now) would ship in such away.

His user name on Fauna is DAV6969
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ber.php?u=1470

Well, I shouldn’t state that I’m “surprised.” I’m not really surprised by much anymore.

I'm thinking this guy and that lying little scumbag terry parks used to be partners or associates.

Bad bad bad.

He owes you a snake.

What is his current location?