Sara Gatto, aka clarinet45, aka Mezclado Reptilia, not to be trusted

I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I've grown tired of the BS. This will be somewhat lengthy and, unfortunately, I didn't save the IM or chat conversations. (I do have the PayPal info, which states that the snake is for Sara, and a few PMs)

Several months ago, I had a number of conversations with Sara both in Fauna's chat, and on AIM. She told me about an adult female boa that she was hoping to acquire for a breeding project, but didn't think she would be able to raise the funds in time. The snake was cheap, and (for whatever reason) I was in a generous mood. I asked if the seller would accept PayPal, and when she confirmed that he would (actually, I believe the actual seller was a female, but the PayPal acct was that of her S.O.), I offered to front the money for the purchase. Sara offered to give me some of the future babies, which I declined (the offer to front the money was stupid enough, I wasn't going to hang my hopes of repayment on her success as a first time boa breeder...nor did I want to wait that long to find out if she would be true to her word). I asked her how long she thought she would need to pay me back, and she responded with a comment along the the lines of As long as I don't break my leg, or have a fire, I should definitely be able to pay you by November 1. I told her that I didn't want her to break her leg or set her apartment on fire on my account, so we would call it due on December 1 (2006).

On 10/4/2006, I made the $$ transfer to the seller - I am not attaching that here, as I see no reason to drag that person into this...if it is deemed important, I will send it to a 3rd party that can confirm the details. A few weeks later, I happened to ask Sara how the boa was doing - she told me that it was having some problems, and she was communicating with the seller in attempt to get a partial refund. She then suggested that I file a dispute/complaint with PayPal to try to get my money back (can't you just hear the alarms sounding, lol). I told her that I really couldn't do that - they had shipped the animal as promised, and it was the animal she expected...namely an adult female boa - PayPal would not refund my $$ because the 3rd party that received the "merchandise" was not happy with it. I also stated that I was not in any position to speak about the condition of the animal since I had never seen it. At that time, I asked her to send me pictures, and a detailed description of what the problems were - neither were received.

A short time later (sorry, I didn't save the IM communications, so I can't give specific dates), Sara asked for my mailing address - stating that she was doing a show that weekend and hoped to be able to pay me the following week. (Nothing) Then, she asked for my PayPal address - stating that she had a customer that wanted to use PayPal as the payment method, and she was just going to have him send me the money. (Nothing, again) Right at the end of November, she informed me that she had sent the money order & I should be receiving it soon. Needless to say, it never arrived. Mid-December I contacted her again, and informed her that I hadn't received the payment. Her response was to wonder why, to hope she had sent it to the correct address, and to say that she didn't have the money to send another m.o. so it would have to wait until she could either get a refund from the post office (she said she had the receipt) or come up with the money. About a week later, I asked her what the status was, and she told me that she had just mailed out the new money order. Below are the PMs that occured after the "2nd mailing" (in order):

Originally Posted by hhmoore
Not sure what the deal is, where you sent it, if you sent it (either time)...but I haven't received it. Pretty much no excuses...if it was on its way, it should have been here. Since I am in a rather foul mood anyway, I won't comment further at this time (though that side of me is convinced that now is the best time). If this is not resolved in the very near future, I will have to start making noise about it.

Originally posted by Clarinet45 (01-07-2007, 06:36 AM)
I'm sorry, i just got back into town and i saw the MO letter sitting in my outbox. meaning that it was never sent the second time. I was stupid and told you i put it out, when in fact i asked brad to put it out with bills and rent. which didn't happen. I put it out immediately. You're right, there are no excuses and I am incredibly sorry. if there is ever anything you need, just ask. Hopefully you will have it in your hand by this friday, if not earlier.
I'm sorry you are in a foul mood and i'm sorry for making it worst.

Classic - gotta love blaming the boyfriend...but at least she admitted that she didn't mail it.

Originally posted by hhmoore
Well, as of today (sat, 1/13), there is still no sign of it. I've run out of patience - though that is largely due to the fact that you have told me 3 times that the money is on its way...had you just contacted me and told me you were unable to send it, we could have tried to work out new arrangements (though I did give you a month longer than you said you needed, right off the bat). I'll give it a few days, mainly because of my schedule, but I will be posting somewhere on Fauna about this experience with you. Naturally, I will send you a link.

Now, I don't need to be told that sending the payment in the first place was a foolish move on my part - I knew that when I did it, and it has no bearing on Sara's responsibility to repay the money. What I have a problem with is that she apparently lied to me several times (I will say apparently, just on the chance that the USPS did misdeliver on 2 consecutive mailings...and wouldn't most people have verified the address if there was a problem with the initial mailing??). I think that most people that have dealt with me would agree that I am fairly easy going about incoming payments; and if Sara had a problem with making payment by the due date, all she needed to do was communicate that with me.
Sara, if you make good on this debt, I will happily post that information here. In the meantime, I have placed a negative vote on your GGC

Originally Posted by hhmoore

Sara, if you make good on this debt, I will happily post that information here. In the meantime, I have placed a negative vote on your GGC

Harald,

Even then it's too late. The leopard has shown her spots.

Sara,

Making good on this deal would be very beneficial to your future in this hobby/business. Or you can watch your reputation disappear.

That stinks, Harald.

Nothing disappoints me more than seeing someone get crapped on for trying to be a nice guy........at least a little honesty would have gone a long way.

Sorry to hear about this Harold.
She should be thankfull you helped her out and paid you early to show her gratitude.
Making you wait and coming up with all kinds of excuses not to pay you and asking you to file a paypal dispute is garbage.
You helped her out and now she is screwing you.
Not good at all.
I hope that now that you have brought this to the BOI, you will get reimbursed immediately.
Don't lose faith though. Their are still people out there who would appreciate the help and NOT screw you over. Unfortunately it appears that Sara is not one of them.
Good luck.

This is just sad. I have dealt with both Harald and Sara, both of them were awesome in those transactions. I just don't know why people have such a hard time doing the right thing. I don't think I will ever understand this.

Originally Posted by varnyard

This is just sad. I have dealt with both Harald and Sara, both of them were awesome in those transactions. I just don't know why people have such a hard time doing the right thing. I don't think I will ever understand this.

It is troublesome.

Especially with someone who up had been active in the Fauna community.

Recently even a moderator here has made the bad side of the BOI - is it no wonder we tend to be a skeptical lot?

I was waiting to cast my vote on Sara's GGC, but she has come and gone and we have heard nothing. It is also noteworthy that she was a fairly frequent visitor to chat in the evening and by all accounts has been absent for a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Scott Ashton

It is troublesome.

Especially with someone who up had been active in the Fauna community.

Recently even a moderator here has made the bad side of the BOI - is it no wonder we tend to be a skeptical lot?

I was waiting to cast my vote on Sara's GGC, but she has come and gone and we have heard nothing. It is also noteworthy that she was a fairly frequent visitor to chat in the evening and by all accounts has been absent for a few weeks.

Correct me if I am wrong but your image shows Sara last logged on 01-13-07 but this thread was created on 01-15-07. I think it is safe to assume she may not of seen it yet.

Bart

If she did, she was not logged in...but I have both emailed & PM'd the link to her

Originally Posted by bsharrah

Correct me if I am wrong but your image shows Sara last logged on 01-13-07 but this thread was created on 01-15-07. I think it is safe to assume she may not of seen it yet.

Bart

You're right.

I'm 2 days behind.

I can attest to what harald has said here.

Back in November or there about, Sara was talking to me on AIM/Faunas chat ( we used both) and she was just venting to me about how she had borrowed money from somone and needed to pay it back but couldnt because she had bills to pay and such.

I was considering helping her pay, at least a decent amount to keep her out of hot water. I figure hell why not, if i can afford it ill be doing two people good, and itll make myself feel better in the process! ( im going to be very wary with people on here now... ive seriously learned my lesson/s quick!)

At the time, i couldnt really afford it, once i did my math out. So i told her this. So that all ended there.

Later on in the month she said that everything had worked out when i asked about how things were going. She said she was able to get the money to cover everything. Due to some sales at the reptile show she Frequently goes to.

i still didn't know it was harald who she had borrowed from when we had talked together.. i did end up finding this information out just recently as he had never mentioned it before this time. I let him know in PMs what she had told me and what we discussed about the subject and letting him know her Phone Number and address that i had From when Sara and I had talked before the holidays, just so he could have it on hand if he did not recieve that information from her when she borrowed the money.

I have retracted my vote on her GGC and until she makes this right ( or dosnt) there will not be a vote from me ( or a negative vote) Sara was somone who was against this sort of thing Actively on these forums, and now everything is all turned upside down.

Sara, make it right.