Laura Mansfield/Rhachic of Good Life Herps

Have recently come across an issue in shipping, and it was suggested I post here to inquire about Laura Mansfield of Good Life Herps.
I would like to know if anyone has done business with Laura Mansfield and how that experience went.

Thank you.

Sabrina Crawford

I have done business with her. I met her locally, though the process went extremely smoothly. I bought a female mainland chahoua from her for a really decent price. I paid in several installments, which she was completely open to as well.

All in all I had a great experience with her. Do you mind sharing more details?

Kai

I am not home right now to give the full situation.I will do so asap.
Laura has requested that I also post her username from this forum which is Otlauram.

Originally Posted by SynPlus

I am not home right now to give the full situation.I will do so asap.
Laura has requested that I also post her username from this forum which is Otlauram.

For some reason I can not access my emails but I can give you the gist of the situation.

A trade of my books for her geckos were set up, I sent the books with a tracking number... upon arrival at her house the box was found to be torn up and a pair of pants and coffee grinds were in the box. I would have no problem with this if a picture of the box was sent within 20 minutes of arrival but it took over two hours because she had to leave (I don't have an exact time as my email is having problems but I will get it set up as soon as possible).

However for the time being I am giving her the benefit of the doubt.

I was not asked to send a photo in 20 min, nor was it a requirement during our trade agreement. I opened the box at 4:27 and called her immediately, at 5:08 she requested the photos and I explained I needed to go out (was late for an appointment), at 9:02 I emailed the photos. Yes, I did email the pictures hours later, but if it were an issue I feel I should have been told while we were talking for a half hour before I had to leave. We both immediately called USPS to file a claim because she did not request insurance on the package. I also emailed her her own photo of the books because she could not find it to assist her with her USPS claim. I have dropped the package with contents I received off at my local USPS branch as she requested. I also paid 20.00 shipping for a package that only cost her 11.00 and am not requesting the money back. I have offered a 25% discount on the animals she wanted in trade, which she has not responded to... I understand she is out the books, and I do feel bad, but I feel I was as timely with information and assistance as I could be. Our trade agreement was based on me receiving the books and her receiving the animals, if the animals die in transport I give a refund, if books disappear because of the USPS's incompetence in shipping...what am I suppose to do? I have not assumed she did not really send me the books, as she is questioning my honesty about receiving pants and coffee in their place. We are still awaiting a response from the USPS which may or may not be able to tell us how a package that weighed 10lbs when shipped out became a 2lb package upon arrival. Instead of awaiting this response from the USPS she has chosen to post an inquiry about my professionalism.

Email proof of the time and correspondence with Sabrina requesting photos and being concerned that ME not receiving the books makes her look questionable.

from Sabrina Crawford <synplus@hotmail.com>
to Laura Mansfield <otlauram@gmail.com>
date Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 5:08 PM
subject Re: book trade
mailed-by hotmail.com

hide details Aug 10 (8 days ago)

Thank you Laura.. I just hope the books are found and everything is fixed. This probably does not look good for me, trying to see it from your point of view. Take a picture of the taped up box and the contents. Thanks again.

I agree that, for now, Laura should be given the benifit of doubt.
These kinds of shipping mishaps happen more often than you may think.
Just for the record, the other day at work, we got a shipment in, and in the bottom of the box was a brand new child's shoe (just one), and a box that was addressed to someone else. In that box was someone's brand new blackberry cell phone that they had overnighted to them. Our box was not an overnight package, and I have no idea how those items got into our box, but they did.
We of course sent the items back, but it's a good thing we were honest. I bet those people were panicing about their phone.
But it made me think, what if that was someone's animal being shipped? That would have been terrible.
However, my point is, crazy thing happen in the mail, and in my experience USPS is one of the worst for stuff like that happening. I'm pretty sure Laura's not trying to scam you.
I would wait to hear from USPS, as it's probably just their mistake.

Hope this all works out.

Laura you are really getting worked up over something that was intended to be useful for the both of us. I'm sorry that you had to escalate it to this.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

[...]We both immediately called USPS to file a claim because she did not request insurance on the package.

To my defense, you had never requested insurance on your package

Originally Posted by Rhachic

I also emailed her her own photo of the books because she could not find it to assist her with her USPS claim.

I have the photos on my laptop, I had requested that she post them because they needed them sooner than I could get my laptop.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

I have dropped the package with contents I received off at my local USPS branch as she requested. I also paid 20.00 shipping for a package that only cost her 11.00 and am not requesting the money back.

Yes, this is true, but I did offer to give you the difference back.

From: Laura Mansfield
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 1:35 PM
To: Sabrina Crawford
Subject: Re: book trade


eh don't worry about it the geckos will probably be 40 anyway


On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 3:15 PM, Sabrina Crawford <synplus@hotmail.com> wrote:

This sounds good. Thank you for the email! I think the shipping cost may only be 16 dollars so if you would like I can give you back whatever isn't used.

I have offered a 25% discount on the animals she wanted in trade, which she has not responded to...

I simply do not have the money to pay for a gecko, and long story short two of those books were not mine. They totaled $40 in cost and now because I am not getting a gecko to give to them I have to pay the cost. Odd story, I know.. I know from now on with trades for books I am offering to trade/sell for a friend I will not be the middle man any longer.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

[...]if books disappear because of the USPS's incompetence in shipping...what am I suppose to do?

What happens if USPS does the same for the geckos and you were the one who sent the books first? I am not really sure how to go about dealing with this and my original post was only to inquire about your business, not to bring this up. Had I wanted to do that I would not have made an inquiry.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

I have not assumed she did not really send me the books, as she is questioning my honesty about receiving pants and coffee in their place.

Yes and after realizing this I did send you an apology.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

We are still awaiting a response from the USPS which may or may not be able to tell us how a package that weighed 10lbs when shipped out became a 2lb package upon arrival. Instead of awaiting this response from the USPS she has chosen to post an inquiry about my professionalism.

The only inquiry made was whether or not you have done good business or not. The only thing that was mentioned is our problem with USPS. As far as tracking whether the package dropped its weight, I was told it was possible to check it but I also received another call that they said they don't check weights at everyone point. I thought I had let you know but I guess I didn't, and I'm sorry about that. I have dealt with at least 3 different people from one office since this happened, not including the people AT the post office and the people from customer service.

Originally Posted by Rhachic

Email proof of the time and correspondence with Sabrina requesting photos and being concerned that ME not receiving the books makes her look questionable.

from Sabrina Crawford <synplus@hotmail.com>
to Laura Mansfield <otlauram@gmail.com>
date Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 5:08 PM
subject Re: book trade
mailed-by hotmail.com

hide details Aug 10 (8 days ago)

Thank you Laura.. I just hope the books are found and everything is fixed. This probably does not look good for me, trying to see it from your point of view. Take a picture of the taped up box and the contents. Thanks again.

Laura, I am not sure what you want me to say about this other than sorry for apologizing and trying to see things from your side? Apparently in this business you shouldn't try to do things like this....

The postal service is over paid and under worked..I have known people who worked them and it seems like they cant do anything to get fired..I think fed ex is the way to go with live animals anyways..On a side note about USPS..My buddy wanted to send his pistol back to the factory for some tweaking..According to the USPS website you can send them to the factory,disassembled,and not need a federal firearms license...None of the USP offices in our town would send it cause they said it was against the law to send a gun without a federal firearms license..Which is true if you are selling or trading a gun,but not for sending one back to the factory..After the manufacturer spoke with the post office here,they paid the shipping and had UPS come to his house and pick up it up...The driver wasnt surprised..He said it happends alot here...

Originally Posted by Jadenkisses

I agree that, for now, Laura should be given the benifit of doubt.
These kinds of shipping mishaps happen more often than you may think.
Just for the record, the other day at work, we got a shipment in, and in the bottom of the box was a brand new child's shoe (just one), and a box that was addressed to someone else. In that box was someone's brand new blackberry cell phone that they had overnighted to them. Our box was not an overnight package, and I have no idea how those items got into our box, but they did.
We of course sent the items back, but it's a good thing we were honest. I bet those people were panicing about their phone.
But it made me think, what if that was someone's animal being shipped? That would have been terrible.
However, my point is, crazy thing happen in the mail, and in my experience USPS is one of the worst for stuff like that happening. I'm pretty sure Laura's not trying to scam you.
I would wait to hear from USPS, as it's probably just their mistake.

Hope this all works out.

Unfortunately it wasn't a package mix up, it was a full on item replacement of sorts, almost as if someone took the books out and replaced them with something they had on hand. I was told I'd be calling back in two business days and it's been a while. All I wanted to do was get an inquiry but things like this have to escalate further than they need to I suppose. I am glad you got things settled and returned the phone - I am just hoping the same happens to the books. Laura still has the benefit of the doubt and I wish things didn't have to turn into this.

While I have not done a trade with Laura, I did purchase some geckos from her last October, and everything was smooth sailing. I got a great deal on some fantastic geckos. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from her again.

This sounds like a rough situation for everyone involved. I don't doubt that Sabrina shipped books, and I don't doubt that Laura recieved some sort of pants, and coffee. This sounds strange, but I can totally see it happening - where two boxes were damaged in transit, so the contents were taken out and the boxes repaired/replaced, and when repackaged they got mixed up and sent to the wrong people.

I used to work for UPS, and occassionally had to repackage damaged packages. Usually there were maybe 5-10 per shift that needed repackaging for whatever reason - inadequate tape, heavy contents shifting during transport damaged the box, condensation on the inside of the shipping container saturated the cardboard, etc. I never handled a box that's contents had come out of it, but I can see how easily it could happen. At UPS we had to log packages that had to be fixed/repaired/repackaged. I wonder if USPS has something similar?