Just passing this along to all those out there to continue to beware of this company!
A bit of the story... I responded to an ad on k.s. for a wc South Carolina locale male mole king @ the end of June. We corresponded back and forth and I was also informed that there would be the potential for some locale Eastern milks. Matter of fact, that they had just received them but would prefer to get them established prior to selling them. I expressed my interest and things genuinely seemed fine. Aside from a mistaken identity on their behalf (assuming we'd done business before) the communication was cordial and friendly and I made the mistake of letting my guard down.
Well I hear nothing until the middle of July when it's expressed to me that the male rhombomaculata I had sent the money for had escaped. She did offer me a qualified explanation and countered offering a refund or a credit (I assume) toward some coastal plains milks. Really not even assuming too much I decided to go ahead on the coastals. I was rather excited, unfortunately, and was quite willing to acquire some new temporalis. I really should have tried at least @ that point for a refund. Mind you no new mention of the easterns really should've tipped me off but oh well... I still went ahead and agreed.
After the weekend a curt, pointed email was my last contact with her. Telling me precisely that the male mole king had not resurfaced and that they were putting off a pest control service because of it... also that if I wanted the 'other' to tell them with absolution. I did immediately respond assuring her that I was still interested in the coastals... then again... and again. To no avail... after waiting a couple of weeks I frankly assumed the worst and as I was going out of town for the week I informed Amber that I would be leaving and a refund would be sufficient upon my return. Furthermore, that I would pursue a refund via USPS after the 30 day mandatory waiting period had been exhausted. As I sent them a postal money order via Express Service as I was to believe that the aforementioned eastern milks would be lumped in as a package sale and was waiting for some sort of total from them... never got one and to not miss on the male rhombo I just darted them the money for the original purchase on June 30th. Needless to say I feel a bit like an idiot for having done it... but it's funny how motivated you can get when something of particular reference to your collection comes into play!
I wish frankly that I had browsed the BOI a bit better beforehand but regardless the timing of my transaction did limit what I would have found out to some extent. Just the same after Amber had fallen off the earth I was able to go onto an online and find that if in fact there were sincere family issues being faced by both Amber and her partner Chuck that it would have been bizarre to log into myspace yet again... it was a bit frustrating. After having taken everything into consideration my passive, cautious approach to recovering my money had been retired and I am going to take some more proactive steps.
Just as well, today constitutes the final day of my 'vacation' and I have been casually waiting for a refund all day (not really)... it did not arrive (really). I will pass the buck to the post office now and let them sort it out for me. I will provide every email correspondence back and forth... also upon completing this post I will personally send Amber Diehl an email informing her of it's existence.
Oh yeah and p.s. I'm an idiot and spent too much time on this already... but I posted the emails in reverse order... rather obviously most recent to the very first. I suppose scrolling down to the bottom and reading up might be novel.
-----Original Message-----
From:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
To:
tricountyexotics@gmail.com
Sent: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 2:13 am
Subject: Still nothing...
Quote:
Fair enough -- the money order is dated 6/30. The post office has a mandatory 30 day period prior to launching their follow through. They require me to have the original money order stub w/ information as to whom it was sent. Basic stuff like name, and address... Also the receipt for the purchase. I have both... lol... hell I even have the freakin' receipt for the overnight service. Just figured you should be aware I have taken the time...
What's amusing is that you'll get another couple of days after the full time before I get back... sadly I have to go right back to work upon my return. Fortunate though that I work across the street from a post office... coincidentally the same one I purchased the money order from. So I think I'll go and sort it out swiftly. No sense in delaying things on my end. Though it would be ironic... haha.
You know, I'd originally assumed that there might be some sort of family illness or something or other came up. Figuring that every few days might be less invasive if you were dealing with something personal. Benefit of the doubt -- well yada yada yada... nothing. Still nothing. So I ask a couple of friends about your company. A buddy hints to give a search on fauna a shot... low and freakin' behold you pop up... lol... twice. In very recent times it seems. Man I wish I had gone ahead and searched for you but I tend to be trusting -- your demeanor in the emails you sent lead me to believe you were genuine... I'll take the hit. My mistake. Though one story does sound eerily similar.
Though even after reading through the posts I felt a bit bad... you know I did manage to find out that you very well could be dealing with a family issue. Figuring I'd just be patient and wait it out I really began to think little more... found myself bored and waiting on frozen mice to defrost and hey a thought! I'll pop onto myspace and see if, in fact, either of you logged in. You know the search only brought up your partner... lol... and wow what a shock. He logged in the same freakin' day! I'm not sure who to quote but someone replied in a post about you that logging into myspace prolly doesn't qualify as consistent behavior with any real family crisis. Hate to jump on the bandwagon but -- yeah it's kinda freakin' obvious actually. I know personally nothing takes my mind off the loss of a loved one like
filling out a survey or seeing I've I've been tagged in a photo! On second thought that's bit harsh of an analogy -- assuming the situation to be factual that is...
As for the notion of you actually sending me a full refund... errrr my money back. My roommate will keep an eye out for anything to me from SC and shoot me a line letting me know. It'd really be nice to get some good news while camping up in western NC. You know -- the smokies at dusk, a campfire and the satisfaction of knowing I'm not getting swindled.Sounds like one of those Visa commercials to me... lol. Just as well I'll clue you in... since you certainly won't be preoccupied by completing a transaction you may wanna go ahead and do some homework yourself on the policies inherent to using a postal money order. It's really pretty cool. It's really alot better than paypal...
So I feel like an idiot for having fallen for your disappearing act. Lesson learned... it's cases akin to these that slowly harden people to the notion of any sort of trust not just in our hobby, but really everywhere. It's cool though... at least I know I'll not ever have the pleasure of engaging in business with you again. Well really even for a first time actually... lmao. So with all sincerity hope things are going well... and that business picks up for you. Might want to assess your overall approach to the concept of commerce but in due time I feel like you'll get it down!
Thanks for the experience.
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
To:
tricountyexotics@gmail.com
Sent: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 1:07 pm
Subject: no updates at all....
Quote:
Well I have been waiting and the end of the month approaches. It's sorta peculiar to have gone this long without even a minor attempt at contact. Just as well, it's all a non-issue at this point. I am afraid I have to assume you are not planning on following through or following up whatsoever. That having been said I chose to pay with a postal money order for several reasons.... hopefully it'll not come to me needing to request a refund from the post office. I am going out of town for the remainder of this week, beginning on Wed and will not be back until after this upcoming weekend. As it's been the better part of a month I feel no remorse in saying you should not attempt to resolve it in any other way than to simply issue me a refund yourselves (The same manner and amount I sent it to you... in a postal money order) I will be pursuing other avenues to recover my money. Essentially if I have a letter from you re-paying me it'll all be dropped and no harm no foul... if that letter is not in my mail box when I return I will simply file a grievance and wait for the powers that be to re-secure my money for me.
I sincerely wish that it hadn't come to this but regretfully you've simply chosen to not respond any more. I was really hoping to have a smooth, mutually beneficial transaction. Regardless of any personal circumstances this has exceeded an acceptable passing of time and without any question you've had ample time to make good on your end of things. I'll refrain from any other commentary hoping to see a refund waiting for me when I return.
Regards,
Chris Nickelson
(727)776-6164
|
-----Original Message-----
From:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
To:
tricountyexotics@gmail.com
Sent: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 3:00 am
Subject: Curious...
Quote:
about any news at all Amber? This week is really about it -- I'm on vacation starting a week from Wed and will not return until the following week... I'm assuming you do not want to part with the coastals. That's fine... just please contact me concerning my payment...
Thanks,
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
To:
tricountyexotics@gmail.com
Sent: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 3:16 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey guys...
Just looking for any sort of update... though at this point I can assure you that if we do not manage to reach some sort of arrangment by the beginning of this upcoming week a refund will be my only recourse. I will be going out of town the weekend of the 25th and will be gone for well over a week and whichever way would like things to be situated by then.
Regards,
Chris Nickelson
|
-----Original Message-----
From:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
To:
tricountyexotics@gmail.com
Sent: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 1:07 pm
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey Amber,
Well I'd really need to actually know something about the 'other' before making any decision. For me temporalis and mole kings are interchangeable.... I have both so either works for me. That is in terms of me wanting them... anyhow I'm also going to be going on vacation at the end of this month so I need to get all my ducks in a row so to speak.
Did you happen to discover any locale data on the coastals? Any info at all? You know it's really actually sorta funny but very nice to hear that you're postponing the pest control guy... little things like that differentiate those of us who care of about the snakes and those in this business for the money! Anyhow I'm pretty easy going so just let me know what your plans are and if you can take a pic it'd be appreciated...
Have a good one Amber...
|
This was the
last email I received from Amber...
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 7:53 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Well your guy hasn't shown back up unfortunately. We're putting off the pest control guy.
If you want the other just let me know for sure.
Amber
|
On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 1:22 AM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey Amber...
Never heard back on the coastals... just checking in on things.
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:02 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Chris
That's what we're waiting for. Im almost positive though again he could surprise me that he is still in the house somewhere. Just a matter of time until he shows up or so I am hoping. If nothing soon than I am going to actively LOOK for him though he could be in any little nook.
The coastals I am not sure of the locale on but i will get back to you later today. They are so much prettier than the Easterns,lol. I won't sell anyone out from under you,no worries. The Coastals arent getting posted,or even offered to anyone else. we'd planned on keeping all of them. We may even be getting more. Not positive on that however. So definitely don't worry about that. Again I am so embarrassed and so sorry. We will make it up to you one way or another!
Amber
|
On Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 10:56 AM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey Amber...
Go figure! No worries I suppose... sh*t happens! I had a female N FL mole escape... she remained on the loose for about a month -- one day she literally just crawled up out of my couch. I really couldn' believe it, though her temperament has never been the same!
Anyhow I actually could be VERY interested in the coastal plains milks! What information do you have on them? Locale animals? WC or CB? Please let me know what you know on them -- now you've got me really curious! As for the eastern milks... go figure. They are so hit or miss --- tends to be very frustrating! Also... even though it's sarting to look like I may wind up with coastals instead of the mole king -- you he turn back up PLEASE still let me know. There's no need to waste $$$ posting an ad when I assure you'll I'll still be interested.
Thanks,
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 9:08 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Chris
I am so sorry. We have encountered a little bit of an issue with mr. mole king. He managed to somehow, we have no idea how he could have done it, escape his very locked cage 2 days ago. We have been hoping he turns up as he is in the house. We are completely shocked and cannot fathom how he did it but apparently mole kings are quite the escape artists.
The Eastern milks are problem feeders. we do have Coastal Milks if you'd be interested in those instead? We have 2 sub-adults and one juv. Unsexed but can definitely sex for you. In the meantime we are looking for your boy and hoping he turns up quickly. Let us know if you'd like a refund, an exchange or if you'd like to give it a little bit more. I am so sorry, this has never happened to us before except our first snake together (like 10 years ago) a ball python. Coincidentally back then I was scared of snakes, the Ball ended up in my shoe and i made Chuck come home from work to put it back,lol. My how things change,yesterday i was grabbing a coachwhip who had crawled into our mailbox during a storm to shed,lol.
Again I apologize chris. If you'd like feel free to give me a ring on my cell 803-614-1735 or home 843-462-2703
Amber
|
On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 3:16 AM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey Amber,
Just curious as to any status update on the mole king... it's been alittle while. Please get back to me -- hop all is well on your end.
Chris Nickelson
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:49 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey Chris
We got them, they all fed for us last night no problems there that's for sure. They are not the most vivid eastern milks but apparently common for their area. We just like to know snakes are feeding and don't have any issues before selling them. They are Letcher County KY locale. I'd have no problem combining shipping.
|
I did
not send the money order the next day as we were still in discussion about the eastern milks... the money order went out on June 30th via USPS Express Service...
On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 12:05 AM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Cool... the money order will be on it's way tomorrow... I'll also send it priority service so you can have a tracking number (delivery confirmation #) that tells you I at least sent you something... lol. By the way should it work out that the eastern milks have good weight and whatnot and you're comfortable sending them off w.o 'establishing' them yourselves let me know and I can get the other payment off to accomodate minimal shipping. Not trying to be pushy... just might be mutually convenient.
Thanks alot...
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 5:51 pm
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
|
lol thank god im not the only one! I will def let you know asap
|
On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 12:43 PM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
No worries at all! I did it last year... lol... felt like a jack*ss. I did, however, still manage to sell the guy some snakes though!! As for the easterns... I understand completely. Though I'll tell you this much -- if you have a county locale for KY or even a general area they're still sold! I work w/ alot of smaller milks and am used to getting them going... so after you guys hol back a pair please let me know and I can take them sight unseen. As for your gravid girl... what a nice score! Again though no worries at all... it's just amusing!
Thanks,
Chris Nickelson
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 1:49 am
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Chris
How embarrassing,lol. I obviously confused you with someone else,my profuse and very red cheeked apologies. Of course that does not affect the transaction at all and we still love meeting new folks. We will have the other Eastern Milks tomorrow but want to obviously ensure they are eating well etc. if you're still interested let me know, no rush on them. it's 2.2 btw though I think my husband Chuck may hold onto one of the pairs. Again-apologies and hope you love this guy-he's a beautiful snake.
Amber
|
On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 8:23 PM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey Amber... there might be some confusion. Though the eastern milk reference led be to believe we may have done business... as I am nuts about them and have animals from more than just a few locales. Just the same -- I know not who 'Al' is! Just fugured I'd let you be aware of it... hopefully it still leaves things unchanged transaction-wise...
Have a good one,
Chris Nickelson
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aim.com
Sent: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 7:47 pm
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey Chris
Yep no problem. I will definitely keep my eye open for a mate. Theyre awesome, this was my first real experience with one. Just not common to find at all.
Yes the eastern milks I will have to get back to you on locale, Chuck knows but I don't off the top of my head. Ill let you know, no they are part of a trade we did and will be for sale except for one pair we will keep. The female we JUST got Chris and lo and behold someone sold her to us gravid as can be at the Columbia SC show. We really don't know what to expect but are eager and will be a new one for us. Saw Al's Spotted Turtle book there, it's beautiful, job well done. Tell him Congrats from Chuck and I. $180 covers it.
Amber
|
On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 7:22 PM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey Amber,
Postal money is always preferred... glad we're on the same page w/ that! I'mgald I'll be getting him as well... I've kinda gotten the mole king bug so to speak. So if you ever run into any more hint hint... lol.
As for eastern milks -- without a shadow of a doubt I'm interested! KY locales coming??? Seriously good news! Where in particular...if you don't mind me asking? LOL.. and getting them for you or will have some available? Sorry for the onslaught of questions but e. milks are still my favorites. What about your clutch? Any info on her? Sorry I only paired one of mine up and she threw slugs... gotta live vicariously through others!
Thanks again for the time... The $180 covers it all right? I'm not 100% on that...
Just the same your money will be on it's way soon -- have a good one!
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.Sent: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 6:13 pm
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey Chris
Money order (postal preferred,moneygram,personal check with hold until clearing, whatever you prefer let me know. not sure if you still have the address but it's :
Amber diehl
122 Brown Loop
Harleyville,SC 29448
Yep Spartanburg,cool eh? I'm glad you're getting him. Still looking for Eastern Milks? Have some KY locales coming and have a gravid female waiting we're waiting on. 
Amber
|
On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 3:04 PM, <choicedrizzo@aim.com> wrote:
Quote:
Hey guys,
Great to hear you have locale data... Spartanburg, SC huh? I have nomoles from SC at all! Well he's sold! Let me know how you'd like him paid for...
Thanks,
Chris
|
-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Diehl <tricountyexotics@gmail.com>
To:
choicedrizzo@aol.com
Sent: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 2:07 pm
Subject: Re: Message about
: Adult male Mole King
Quote:
Hey Chris, It's Amber and Chuck, you and Al have purchased from us before. The Mole King is from Spartanburg,SC. He's a beautiful boy and appears smaller in the photos than he is. Let me know if you'd like to see more pics. Thanks,
Amber
|
On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 12:15 PM, <choicedrizzo@aol.com> wrote:
*************
NOTE: This message was sent to you via the Kingsnake.com Classifieds. If you feel this message is fraudulent or abusive please forward it to
classifieds@pethobbyist.com.
NOTE: DO NOT flag this message as SPAM/JUNK as your ability to receive legitimate messages from Kingsnake.com Classifieds may be compromised
*************
Quote:
Do you happen to have any locale data on the male mole king? I'm quite interested -- thanks alot for the time!
Chris
|
Please do take heed with Tricounty Exotics...
Regards,
Chris Nickelson
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