Repkyle, advertises on geckosunlimited

On May 21, 2009, I sent money via paypal to a repkyle (Kyle Vandermeer(sp?)), who advertised pachydactylus scutatus on geckosunlimited. I paid $205 shipped for a pair of geckos, and notified him that my days off were on Wednesdays, and that would be a good time to ship them to me.

The week I paid he was out of town, and could not ship, and that he would contact me next week to arrange shipping. I ended up conacting him (6/4), to find out if he indeed was back in town. He said he could ship the next week on Wednesday, to which I responded that this would be fine, that someone could be home Thursday morning to receive them.

I then contacted him Thursday (6/11) afternoon when they had not arrived yet, to see if he actually sent them, which he did not. He said that he had forgotten, that there were personal problems he had to deal with. Which I understand, these things happen. He told me next week he would have more time to ship, and I said that was fine, that I was home Wednesday.

I contacted him on Tuesday (6/16) to see if they were shipping that day. He responded that he wanted to ship them but didn't have time. So he said that he could ship them NEXT Tuesday.

So I contacted him again the NEXT Tuesday (6/23), and he responded that he will send them out next week "for sure," as he has shows to prepare for and take geckos to. He thanked me for being patient, and upgraded my shipping to FedEx.

I waited the next week until Thursday (7/2) afternoon, to see if they would arrive. I then contacted him, saying that it had been over a month since I paid for the geckos, and that he couldn't seem take the time to ship them to me. I requested my money back, since I had waited so long, and told him I would lbring it here.

He then responded.. Below is the text of this response, as it speaks for itself.

Hi Susan,
I understand your frustration. So I will excuse the threat. Not everyones lives opersate the same. What you call excuses happens to be what is happening in my life right now. I will get you your geckos. I have been around a long time and have no intention of stiffing anyone. I have been in contact with you the whole time. I have not dissapeared. So you can not say anything other than you have not received them yet. I was in SD from Thursday to Monday. And you say that is a lie. I konw most of the top gecko breeders in this country and over seas and they will tell you I do not lie. My collection consist of over 300 geckos. I only have so much time and to try to get them out on a specific day is tough for me. I will be in Las Vagas untill Monday. I will contact you then. As for a refund. I do not offer nor did I offer any sort of refund terms.
Best,

Kyle...

I then figured out how long it had been since I paid.. 42 days. Paypal gives you 45 days to file a dispute resolution, so I went ahead and filed one, putting a note with it saying that if I get the geckos next week, I would not escalate the claim, nor bring it here.

And yet another week goes by and no geckos, so I have now escalated the dispute in paypal to a claim, and posted here. More email transcripts are available if anyone wishes to see them.

Yeah, I think 42 days is long enough to wait ... and BS that he just won't refund your money.

He thanked me for being patient, and upgraded my shipping to FedEx.

Upgraded? How generous. He's in LA, right ... and shipping to MO. How WAS he going to ship before he "upgraded".

I only have so much time and to try to get them out on a specific day is tough for me.

Well, if you can't make time to ship them after they've been PAID FOR, then you obviously shouldn't be selling them until you have the time to ship. Simple as that.

Susan, please post any other relevant emails you have.

There are so many breeders and dealers who can provide you with quality service on this type of gecko... Its ridiculous.. If you paid by credit card, I would contact the card company and get the amount charged back !

I would certainly pursue PayPal vigorously because this guy is playing a game. Cut off any further communications.. JERRY

I have not communicated with him since the message he sent above. Paypal is now in the 'waiting for seller to respond' part of the dispute.

Laura, I would be happy to post all of the messages back and forth, but it is going to take me a little bit. They are in geckosunlimited's message system, and are kind of hard to sort and paste. I will work on it and post them when I can. I believe the shipping was for USPS Express prior to the 'upgrade.'

Didn't take as long as I thought. I will put the messages in quotes to try and keep it all easily understood. This is all the correspondence between us.

My first message was in response to an ad he had listing several pachydactylus species with various male/female/juvenile quantities. It listed the P. scutatus as being several juveniles. Now that I read it, I guess I did agree to USPS express, as long as the USPS website tool gave the guaranteed shipping of next day. I must have gotten it mixed up with FedEx somewhere.


5-14-2009
Me:

how close are your scutatus to being sexable?

Repkyle:

Hi,
The ones I posted are not sexable. I do have a couple of pairs available. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks...

Me:

How much is it for a pair?

Repkyle:

I will do 175+shipping of your choice. Let me know. Thanks..

Me:

Hm.. I should have looked at the care sheet better before asking you.. they get bigger than I thought they did! Do you have any sexable tigrinus? Those are about the right size for the tank I have.

Sorry about that

Repkyle:

Hi Susan,
I do not know what the care sheet said, but they are actually the same size as tigrinus. I have 2 sexable female tigrinus available now. They are both just about 90mm at adult size.
You can keep a pair in a tank as small a 5gal, 10gal would be a lot of room. Thanks..

5-21-09
Me:

Sorry I took so long to reply, I have been thinking about which ones I want. I do have a 5 gallon ready, it was meant for some tropiocolotes but that deal fell through. I'm not sure if the heat spot is warm enough though.. what is yours at?

Unless you have a male tigrinus to go with the females, I would like to get a pair of scutatus. I live at 63034, maybe you could tell me which shipping method is cheapest and best for the reptiles.

I also understand if they have all been sold, I did take quite some time to message you back (sorry).

Thank you!

Repkyle:

Hi,
No problem. The cheapest shipping method would be USPS. It is around 30 dollars. The temp is at 88-90 on the sand. I do still have a pair available. Let me know what you want to do.

Me:

That sounds good, I want the pair then. Could you check the usps website to see if the next day delivery for my zip code is guaranteed? (or give me yours and I'll check

Do you take paypal?

Repkyle:

Hi,
I checked the zip and it would be Expree mail overnight by 12:00. My Paypal is repkyle@gmail.com
When I receive the payment we can figure out shipping dates. Thanks again.

5-22-09
Me:

i sent payment earlier today, from @fishcrzy.com paypal account

Repkyle:

Hi,
I got the payment. I will be in San diego until next week. I will contact you to arrange shipping when I get back. Thanks again.

Me:

Ok, talk to you then.

6-03-09
Me:

I was wondering if you were back from san diego yet

6-04-09
Repkyle:

Yes,I am back. I can ship next week on Wed. That will be the only day I can ship next week. Or I can ship any day the following week. Or we can meet at the SD show if you are going. Let me know. Thanks...

Me:

I'm nowhere close to san diego so that won't work. But Wednesday shipping next week should be fine, someone should be home Thursday morning to receive them. You should still have my address from the paypal payment.

6-11-09
Me:

Hello, just wondering if you got my geckos shipped out yesterday? they haven't yet got here if so..

Repkyle:

Hi,
I am so sorry. I completely forgot. I have a lot of personal problems I am dealing with this week. I had mentioned I will have more time to ship next wee. That was why. I will get them out to you then. Sorry again. Thanks...

Me:

It's not a big deal I understand. If you could send them on Tuesday next week to arrive Wednesday.. I'll actually be home myself on Wednesday to receive them

I hope everything works out for you this week, in whatever it is you're dealing with.

6-16-09
Me:

Hello, I was wondering if you are still planning to ship my scutatus out today? I also wanted to let you know that the temps here tomorrow are supposed to be 90F, so you can plan your packing accordingly

6-17-09
Repkyle:

I wanted to ship today. I just did not have the time. I will have next week off so I can ship any day. I will send them out Tuesday if you still want that. Sorry for the delay.

Me:

Ok, tuesday is good. Wednesday is always my day off.

6-19-09
Me: (here's where I was confused about Fedex/USPS)

I was wondering if you could send it held at the fed ex location? I will be getting another package that I have to pick up that day, so might as well save them the bumping along in the hot delivery truck for 2 hours.

Here is my closest fed ex:
(address omitted)

6-23-09
Me:

Will you be sending them out today? Did you get my message about holding them at the fed ex location? Could you send the tracking number when you send them?

Repkyle:

Hi Susan,
Please by patient with me. I will send them out next week for sure. I have a lot on my plate right now. I am in the middle of trying to move and also get ready for the Super Sow this weekend. I am taking a bout 100 geckos withe me for the Show and also the Geckoni-Day on Friday. I am leaving on Thursday morning and need to get lots done before I can leave.
Also you had paid me for USPS shipping. I have been making you wait, so I will send them Fed-Ex for no extra cost. Thanks for your patience

Me:

Oh ok.

6-30-09
Me:

Hello, hope Gekkoni Day went good for you! Just seeing if you will be shipping my geckos today.. I don't really need fed ex, I think usps express is just fine.. it isn't quite as warm as it was here last week. I think one day it got nearly to 100 degrees!

7-02-09
Me:

It has been over a month since I paid for these geckos. Every week is a new excuse why you couldn't take an hour out of your day and pack and ship my animals, and another week has gone by where you PROMISED to ship them 'for sure'. Since you couldn't get them to me, I think I would rather just have my money back. Please refund my money in PayPal, or I will take this to faunaclassifieds BOI.

Repkyle:

Hi Susan,
I understand your frustration. So I will excuse the threat. Not everyones lives opersate the same. What you call excuses happens to be what is happening in my life right now. I will get you your geckos. I have been around a long time and have no intention of stiffing anyone. I have been in contact with you the whole time. I have not dissapeared. So you can not say anything other than you have not received them yet. I was in SD from Thursday to Monday. And you say that is a lie. I konw most of the top gecko breeders in this country and over seas and they will tell you I do not lie. My collection consist of over 300 geckos. I only have so much time and to try to get them out on a specific day is tough for me. I will be in Las Vagas untill Monday. I will contact you then. As for a refund. I do not offer nor did I offer any sort of refund terms.

I think after a month he should've volunteered to refund your money.
If he doesn't have enough time in the day to deal with his 300 geckos and shipping sold animals he needs to either cut back or stop selling.
One month is more then enough time, I don't think I could be as patient as you.

Get your money back from this loser as quickly as posible.. Its rather unusual that his priorities are a bit backwards, you paid him in advance, and he is concerned about a show ! Which did not even occur then.... His snare about covering the shipping via FedEx is only a stalling tactic. The guy is a thief !

Agreed.... there is no call for what he is doing.

I live 90 miles round trip from my FedEx terminal (the only place I will ship from) and I will go and drop off packages Monday-Wednesday.

This reeks of a stall tactic used by scammers. The "Im too busy and Im prepairing for a show" just does not cut it for me. You took my money... now ship my animals on the agreed upon date.

I understand that life gets in the way, but a month is plenty long enough to get an animal out the door. I had a customer purchase some animals from me and then asked me to hold them because they were going out of town on vacation. I gladly held onto them and we agreed upon the shipping date. Two days before shipping... I sent her an email letting her know that I hoped the vacation was a good one and that I would be shipping out on our agreed upon date.

Anyhow... Like someone had mentioned... I would also file a claim with your credit card company if you used one.

Thank you for your support everyone!

Southern Wolf: I used a bank account to pay through paypal, though I fully intend to file a claim with them if paypal can't get my money for me.

Originally Posted by Srakha

Thank you for your support everyone!

Southern Wolf: I used a bank account to pay through paypal, though I fully intend to file a claim with them if paypal can't get my money for me.

Personally... I would go ahead and talk to your bank. Mabye get the ball rolling. They may also have a time window you have to file in. If nothing else... maybe your bank can work with PayPal to resolve this.

Best of luck.