FRAUD ALERT: ERIC IVINS, SOUTH CENTRAL HERPETOLOGICAL

For the record, PayPal does not cover live animal purchases and usually will not honor claims filed in such circumstances.

That is in my experience.

Since SCH didn't answer paypal's emails, they have found this case in my favor and have issued me a refund.

Steve

Originally Posted by airtight_python

For the record, PayPal does not cover live animal purchases and usually will not honor claims filed in such circumstances.

That is in my experience.

You are partially correct. As noted in this thread PayPal will side with the buyer of a live animal purchase if the seller does not dispute the claim or if the animal was never shipped. The seller would have to provide a tracking number stating that the shipment was received. PayPal will not get involved with a transaction of a live animal if the claim is item received was not as described. So concerning live animal transactions as long as something was shipped that's as far as PayPal's protection goes, not the quality of the animal or whether it was live or dead upon receipt. But if the seller doesn't respond to a claim initiated by the buyer in a certain amount of time regardless of whether something was shipped or not PayPal will side with the buyer. Hope that makes sense.

Myself as others have found NO dispute, but also NO response.. so much for trying to resolve In person.. of course.. Pay pal will not step in in cases of "live animals DOA or in poor condition.. that IS NOT the topic.. but a simple FAILURE to deliver at all, or only partial order.. that IS within Paypals terms..

why no comment on what is the reason to accept payment and not fill a order, no comments about a year wait, and no funds for a refund.. .. why no comment about partial order then not resolving it ASAP??

May be 100% other factors.. still not good communication, or heck priority to pending customers and communication to them.. at least... does not anyone else find this weird??

I understand they were having health issues according to their facebook page but it would be nice to have some kind of response to emails or phone calls. They also said they were holding onto the animals until it was warm enough to ship them. My biggest question is, where are the animals?? Are they still taking care of them? Did they sell them off to someone else?

I haven't been able to get a hold of Eric Ivins. I had an email conversation going but it ended abruptly, a little after others were having difficulty. I filed a paypal dispute after sending warning emails. I got no response and paypal sided with me, presumably due to a lack of response on South Central Herpetological's part. If you are owed money or animals I would suggest you seek recourse because you may not get a response from them.

From their FB, some time ago ... again, buyer be aware. And beware.

There were also previous posts, prior to the April 7th post I underlined in red, relative to other problems besides health issues (electrical outages, phone failures, etc)

Not saying there was outright deception, but those kinds of unavoidable, unexpected problems can certainly impact a business where live animals are concerned.

If they continued to accept money for orders they could not fulfill, and have not reimbursed those customers, then they are surely guilty of theft, IMO.

Its time to sue. as I am not US based, I humbly ask members of this forum for advice as to be best way to go about this to recover $3,000 that was sent to Eric in May last year?

I'm sorry I can't offer more helpful advice, but if you have an attorney there in Lagos, you might consult him.

Originally Posted by opeters

Its time to sue. as I am not US based, I humbly ask members of this forum for advice as to be best way to go about this to recover $3,000 that was sent to Eric in May last year?

Step 1: Retain an attorney in Florida to write a "demand letter" to SCH for the $3,000 that is owed, with a deadline for some sort of response.
Step 2: If no response or you don't like the response, the attorney can file suit on your behalf. Note that while $3,000 is under the small claims limit, with attorney fees the case will probably go to the state circuit court.

Of course, if they have no money to pay, then hiring an attorney is simply throwing good money after bad.

You could also come to the US yourself and file in small claims and represent yourself... but I imagine airfare isn't cheap.