I'm writing this BOI sadly about a customer who has broken my Terms of Service and fraudulently filed chargebacks on my paypal account. The customer in question is Jenn Blake of Shaky Tail Exotics.
A brief summary of what occurred ( expounded upon below in detail ) is that Jenn Blake purchased two crested geckos from me when shipping was not possible due to weather, I held them for her over the winter. When shipping time came around, Jenn refused shipment of her animals and asked for a refund. My terms of service ( which are agreed to by sending payment for any animal and which Jenn agreed to ) state that if you decide you no longer want your animals any amount sent becomes store credit. I do not do cash refunds. When I told this to Jenn, she filed a claim with paypal for the cost of one of the geckos, citing no items received after she refused shipment of her animals, and charged it out of my account. This is a blatant breach of my Terms of Service and I feel anyone doing business with her should be aware that she will not adhere to agreed to terms of service if she feels it does not suit her.
My transaction with Jenn Blake started on November 26, 2014. She purchased a surprise/mystery gecko from me for $100 + Shipping costs ( $45 ). I occasionally offer mystery geckos as animals which are normally valued from $150-$300. These are geckos who did not photograph well or who didn't fire up for photos when I was taking photos for sale ads. It's a nice way to grab a quality animal for cheaper than usual and particularly a nice deal for someone who already has a shipment coming. Jenn payed her balance promptly and everything was fine. Later ( February 19th ) she inquired about an animal named Blondie who I had listed for sale. Again she inquired if he was available and sent payment. Blondie was $200. Jenn then continued to be excited for her animals and contacted me from time to time to ask about shipping weather/her animals. Everything was fine and we waited until temps improved ( I'm located out of Wisconsin and the winter here is rather long and cold ) On April 23rd, I sent Jenn updated weights of her animals as she requested. She was happy to hear that her animals were doing well. We planned to ship her animals on Wednesday April 29th - unfortunately my car was not operable and I scheduled a FedEx pickup for my packages going out that day. My delivery driver showed up earlier than expected to pick up boxes before I had a chance to pack Jenn's box, and as such Jenn's animals did not get shipped on April 29th. I apologized to Jenn and asked her if Monday would be alright to ship out. She agreed.
On Monday at 4:21pm ( 10 minutes before I started packing my other outgoing shipments for the day ) Jenn contacted me and asked how old Blondie ( one of the animals she purchased ) was. She stated she would like to cancel her shipment and I replied before packaging her animals. Jenn then states that she would like a refund for her animals, I reply with "I'm sorry to hear that Jenn If you read my ToS though ( here and linked on my for sale page
https://www.facebook.com/notes/137702393080224/ ) I don't do refunds and any amount sent instead will be turned into credit if you decide you don't want your animals." My Terms of Service are clearly linked from my sale ad page and state that by sending payment you agree to them. They have not been modified for some time. The clause stating that if you don't want your animals anymore any sent funds become store credit has been my policy for some time. Jenn then states that she was not aware that the Duchess x Rufio Male ( Blondie ) had not gained weight for me in some time and she feels she was not informed about this. This is a false statement - I have owned Blondie ( the rufio x duchess male ) since it was a 1.5 gram animal and it's currently 16 grams. She then states " I was told that he had not gained for you in the entire time you've had him" which is another false statement. Jenn also will not answer me when I ask WHO told her this false information. She then asks further questions regarding the growth of this animal and I immediately and transparently respond to any questions.
It is not unusual for cresteds in my care to take up to 3 years to attain adult size - often the first 20 grams of weight for my animals take the longest. I am very open about my husbandry practices and when asked I do state that I personally don't often/regularly feed bugs. I would rather them grow steadily and slowly. Blondie was a slower grower BUT not exceptionally so in my colony. I have had animals his age weigh 2x as much and I have also had animals his same age weigh significantly less on the same feeding schedule. This growthrate is not at all unusual among crested keepers who do not feed bugs on a regular basis and in talking with several other breeders they have confirmed that they also have animals growing at the same rates when not fed bugs regularly. Blondie is currently 18 months old and weighs 16.8 grams. It is not super unusual for an animal of his age to be at this weight when not feeding regularly on extra protein in addition to the provided Pangea Complete diet. Not a fast grower by any means but when geckos will not take bugs/extra protein they tend to mature slowly. His body condition is good and he is a healthy animal, slower growthrate does not equate to a health issue.
Jenn states that this gecko ( Blondie ) shows a stunted growthrate that was not disclosed and that this makes my ToS invalid. I disagree on both accounts. The animal which she purchased, Blondie, was a holdback and growout of mine. He was an animal that I fully intended to keep as a breeder until I decided I had enough males. Because of this fact, as I do with all of my other future breeders, I publicly posted updates on him from the time I received him. In no way was I " hiding" the age of the animal or his growthrate. Update photos are publicly posted on my page with time stamps when I shot updated photos. He was listed for sale by name because he was a holdback of mine and his name was recognizable to several people who have followed my business page. This was not an animal with no public record. I have included screenshots of these updates. Furthermore, his growthrate in my experience is by no means stunted and he will ( just like all of my other geckos ) reach a normal adult size somewhere between 40-60 grams.
She also states that she assumed I regularly fed bugs to my animals - no where on my business page or in any of my posts do I imply this. I have never fed a bug regular diet to my cresteds simply because I don't have time to dole out bugs on a regular basis and my geckos have never grown in a concerning way without them. Jenn never asked any questions regarding the care of my animals before her purchase or during our transactions until this point. She never stated the lack of bugs was an issue for her or important to her gecko raising.
Jenn then states that she is going to file a charge back for items not received. I inform her that if she is uncomfortable with the size of her animals, I'm happy to hold them further until they reach weights that she is comfortable at. I also offer Jenn that she can apply her store credit to another animal - I have several full siblings to Blondie who hatched in late 2014 and are small unsexed babies. She refuses any alternatives and files a chargeback on my paypal account for $200 ( the cost of Blondie ) and then goes further asks for a refund on her other purchased animal and shipping. Again, my Terms of Service CLEARLY state "if you do not want your animal the money sent becomes credit" and Jenn breaches them by filing a chargeback when I inform her as such. Jenn then tells me that she is "willing to accept $245 as total repayment as it's only fair a 25% restocking fee be taken from the full amount." This is not at all how my terms of service are structured. My terms CLEARLY state any amount sent becomes credit if the buyer does not want their animals and Jenn is in blatant disregard of them. I have been completely transparent with Jenn and promptly answered any questions she had on her animals. She will not accept a substitute animal nor will she abide by the terms that she agreed to by sending money to me ( The Harlequin Hoard ) and instead has chosen to file a chargeback and now demand further refunds ( which I do not give when people change their mind about wanting an animal )
Currently I have filed a claim with paypal against her dispute/chargeback. She stated she did not receive items payed for, I sent paypal screenshots of her refusing shipment of her items and state that buyer has refused shipment and that my terms of service do not give cash refunds. I'm sad to post this BOI but it is a true Seller Beware situation - if this woman does not like your Terms of Service she will break them and file a chargeback when she doesn't want her animals.
In the following posts I will include screencaps of; my messages with Jenn which take place from The Harlequin Hoard business page, screenshots of Blondie's(the animal in questions) for sale ad AS WELL AS screenshots with dates of the update photos which I have publicly posted on my page of this animal, a screenshot of Jenn's chargeback claim on paypal, and a screenshot ( timestamped ) of my terms of service. I have blocked out Jenn's personal address in the screenshot of the chargeback. Jenn's name is listed as Kakistocracy on the paypal screenshots.
Jenn Black/Shaky Tail Exotics : Breach of Terms of Services/Fradulent Chargebacks
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