looking for opinions

I just wanted some feed back to see what the majority would do in my case... I sold a pastel ball male to a guy. He gave me the shipping info to some company I assumed he works for them. I emailed him and asked why he wouldn't be around to accept the box and he said he drives a truck and would pick it up later that day. I shipped the snake and it was signed for by one of the employees at 9:59 AM. I received a call from the buyer at about 3:45 PM saying the box was empty!!!! It was a brand new box and he said he was the first to open it. I assured him the snake was in the box when it left. After talking on the phon for a short time I kept asking if he could tell if the tape had been removed and replaced. Finally he said it looks like the bottom of the box was messed with. I truly believe someone at that business took the snake before he came to get it. I know he doesn't want to lose the $1000.00 but neither do I. He even agreed to pay shipping to have the snake replaced by me. I think this whole thing is fishy but have no real proof. I already know what I'm going to do but wanted to see what others may do in this situation. I won't post his name so please don't ask. He gave me some references of others he purchased from so I'll contact them direct. I know this may be the wrong forum but this has never happened to me and I'm bummed about it. thanks in advance.. Ron Radloff

Ron.... There are some times when you just have to take a stand.... ONLY YOU KNOW if there WAS a snake in the box.... If you ARE SURE, then I would tell the buyer to file criminal theft charges with his local police.... I WOULD NOT REPLACE THE SNAKE!!.... You did everything you said you would do, and the box was signed for!....

He was not there to accept the delivery, and he KNEW that others' in his place of business would have "an idea" of what was going to be in the box.... He might have even mentioned it to some of his cohorts before delivery.... THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE, NOT YOU!.... ESPECIALLY when he said the bottom of the box appeared to be tampered with....

I have had this happen to my once, too.... I refused to fall for his scam, and I never heard from him again....

I don't buy it, and you shouldn't either!.... IMHO....

Neil

There should be a weight in the tracking as well... that should prove that the box was not empty when it shipped.... yes?

We got someone who tried scamming us the EXACT same way last year. We shipped to a business and he claimed that when he returned from driving a truck all day that he opened his package and it was empty. We simply told him since his package sat all day at his place of employment anyone could have tampered with it. We only guarantee shipments that are signed for by the intended receiver. We never heard from him again, I'm asuming that his "scam" didnt work and since he didnt raise much of a fuss or simply was not heard from after that he probably received his snake in reality and was trying to walk off with a freebie.

Sounds very fishy indeed..... be careful, I would not replace the snake if it were me....

Ron,

You need to provide the subject's name in the topic line of every BOI post. This is being locked to provide you the opportunity to copy and paste the text from this post into a correctly formatted one. If you do not wish to name the person, then it belongs in the General Business Discussion forum, not the BOI.

The original author of this thread apparently does not wish to name names within it. Therefore, this is a thread more appropriate to being placed within the General Discussions Forum, where it has now been moved to.

i agree with neil either its BS or it got snagged by employee's there. it should not be your fault either way. you did what you were suposed to do, have the shipper check the package weight and use that for proof the box was empty.

i honeslty would tell him he's s.o.l and tell him to call the cops and take it up with the place it was sent to......

Neil,
I agree with what you say but didn't want to come across as a bad guy here. I toyed with the idea of replacing the animal but feel like I'm being taken advantage of if I do.

Michelle,
The weight was on the box (one pound) but it was a hatchling ball so I don't know how much proof that would offer.


I did send an email informing the buyer that even though I hate to see him lose the money I don't feel like I did anything wrong. I passed on the info Neil suggested. I think deep down inside he knows someone snagged the snake on him. I doubt I've heard the end of this from the buyer.

Rich Z.
Thanks for moving this thread to the correct forum and emailing me with an explanation.
Ron Radloff

Ah... well.. shoot.

I wish you the best of luck then. Don't let yourself get taken.

I think your responsibility ends the moment the shipping company takes the box. As long as you properly packaged the snake! Which you probably did. Between your door and his door what happens is out of your hands. If it is a legitimate stealing he needs to make a police report on his end. That is all there is to it. You did your part. There is no possible way you are liable. If you wanted to be a nice guy and replace it that is your choice. Personally I believe this is a scam.