Shawn Olson...????

Hello,

I just wanted to let everyone know some of the facts about my situation and to give everyone a heads up if they ever contact him to do business.

On March 3rd I emailed Shawn Olson wanting to purchase a Yellow Ackie her posted up on a different forum.  We came to a price agreement as well, I let him know that I wouldn't be able to pay him in full for two weeks.  I asked if I could  provided him (that night via Paypal) with a deposit of $50.  He agree and I sent the money, he confirmed via email he received the money.  Two weeks later I was in a bind and emailed him to see if it was possible I could pay him in an additional two weeks, as well as, provide him with an additional $50 that day (I also offered to pay any additional Paypal fees if necessary).  He agreed again, On March 13th I sent him an additional $50 via Paypal.  On March 16th (Saturday) he emailed me to ask if he could send the animal to me the following Monday (3/18/02) or Tuesday (3/19/02)that I could pay him as we discussed (3/27/02).  I was okay with this and asked my wife to take a day off from work to accept the delivery.  This is where the trouble begins.  On Monday (3/18/02) night he emailed me to let me know that he had to pick his grandma up at the airport and might not be able to ship, but that he should be able to.  Needless to say he never did ship Monday (3/18/02) or Tuesday (3/19/02).
I continually emailed him to confirm shipping days, times, etc. and had a VERY DIFFICULT time getting a response from him.  
Finally after numerous emails he answered some basic questions about the animal (I had the info from his ad but inadvertantly deleted from my PC) but didn't respond to the shipping question(s).  Finally, he did respond to my shipping questions by typing "monday" in a reply.  What he meant was that he would ship the animal on Monday (3/25/02, a week after he said he originally would).  Well, again I have sent him email after email to confirm shipping but never recieved any response.  I also took the day off from work to wait, "Just In Case".  The last thing I want is to have a dead animal on my hands due to my stupidity.

At this point I have contacted Paypal to recover my funds based on the fact that I didn't receive the goods, have continually and done everything I can to contact the seller, and haven't received any response from the seller.

I am fairly new to the herping world (about 2 years) and haven't had to deal with issues like this so far.  It is VERY FRUSTRATING and makes me PRETTY ANGRY.  Though, as I have read through the BOI I can see I'm not alone.

I have all the email messages we sent back and forth, as well as, the Paypal transaction #'s, etc.  If necessary.  Plus, Shawn Olson goes by two email addresses that I know of: RedAckie@aol.com  &  xxreptiledudexx@aol.com

Lastly, I saw Shawn Olson post an inquiry about someone he was looking into in order to do business.  I guess inside I am laughing at the Irony.

Thanks for your opinions, eyes, and ears.
Joshua Ingram
ingramj@nyc.rr.com

This is to follow up with my situation.  I received a very polite and apologetic email from Shawn Olson.  He stated that he was having problems with his computer and wasn't able to access the Internet in order to email me back.  Plus, he did at this point provide me his phone number.  I called and had spoken to his mom and we are working out paying me back for the $100 I provided as a deposit.

Joshua Ingram

Hello,

I want to provide an update to this thread.  Shawn Olson has made good on our dealings by reimbursing me the $100 deposit I paid him.

Thanks Shawn, I appreciate you making good on the situation!!!!

Joshua Ingram
ingramj@nyc.rr.com