The following synopsis can be confirmed with the included screen caps from facebook messages with Tucker M Wester:
I just had 4 weeks of my time wasted by Tucker M. Wester who claimed he intended on buying 5 green tree pythons from me. We agreed to a price of $17,500 for the group.
It was initially to be paid via Paypal divided into three payments. I sent three invoices on 6/02/15 to what he claimed was his Fiance's account (Should have been red flag #1, but after some facebook sleuthing, and asking other sellers it seemed as though he used this account regularly, so I went along with it). He then claimed to have attempted to pay them on 6/2. On 6/05 he contacted me saying that paypal had froze his account because of the large purchases, and said that he would send out a check. I recommended a Cashiers check at that time.He claimed to have mailed out the check on 6/08.
On 6/16 I still had received no check, so I asked him if he had sent it. He claimed that he had written the address down wrong on the envelope, and that it had been returned to him. He then sent me a picture of a personal check post dated 6/20(yet another huge red flag that I for some reason ignored) for the full amount agreed upon and said he was resending the check. At that time I asked outright "Is the check going to clear?" To which he replied yes, and that he was not wasting my time and was very serious about the animals, as well as saying he had recently got a lot of money in a settlement. And like an idiot I believed him.
I received the check on 6/19 and deposited it. My bank account at one point showed that the full amount was available, and I thought all was good. But today 6/26, It had all disappeared with a Not Sufficient Funds error, and I got charged 15$ from my bank for the error. I am extremely fortunate that the check bounced today (Friday the 26th) because I had scheduled to ship Monday the 29th....and I could have been out some very valuable animals if it had not been rejected until Monday or after...(I still don't understand why my bank showed that the full amount was available - not pending - completely available! then it was all gone). As soon as a sent my last message to him stating that the check had bounced, the deal was off, and that he had wasted my time, he promptly unfriended me and has not replied since.
I am not the only one who has had this experience with Tucker M. Wester either. Since all of this has gone down, one other seller has come forward to say that they had a similar experience. I will include a screen cap of that as well, but keep the person anonymous - so judge for yourself. My opinion is that he is trying to find someone to scam and get some free snakes out of it. So please be aware that I am not the only one he has done this to.
Stay safe out there,
Jason Wright
Messages with Tucker M Wester
Other seller who had the same issue