Luis Martinez...bad guy and thief.

I have been running several wanted ads for different types of animals. I was contacted by this Luis Martinez from New York about a female albino boa. We agreed on a price, spoke on the phone several times and I got his bank info in order to pay him for the animal via bank transfer.

Once he was paid for the animal, all communication ended. He will not answer his phone, won't return emails and most importantly, has not shipped my animal.

The phone number I have for him is apparently a cell phone, and there are a few hundred Luis Martinez that are listed in New York, NY.

The phone number I have is 646 529 6155 and my last contact with him was on July 15th.

I paid for an animal and have not recieved it. The "seller" is totally avoiding me and will not answer his phone or return a call. To my mind, that makes him a thief. He stole $1035.00 and will not return it.

Just a heads up if anyone out there is thinking of dealing with this guy, or is contacted by him. Do yourself a favor and avoid him (I very rarely if ever post a bad guy thread, but this is an outright theft in my mind, so I felt I have to warn others).

I forgot to mention that his email address is Bugzy170@aol.com.

Ya know, Jason.... it never ceases to amaze me that with ALL the Albino Boas that are being bred by very reputable breeders out there, you would try to buy one from someone that is totally unknown to you (or anybody else, probably), just to "save" a couple of hundred dollars....
All you would have had to do, is ASK ANY well-known dealer if they could get you one, and within days, you would have had what you wanted.... sure, you might have paid a little more than $1000, but you would have gotten your animal....
I hope you learned a valuable lesson here....

Neil

about the BOI before you gave a total stranger over $ 1, 000. you could have posted an inquiry. Your right this person is a thief, and actually its grand larceny. Try contacting his bank and see if you can get some information their or contact the precinct that he may reside in and see if you can get some help from some kind detective their.

Neil and Jerry,
I do know about the BOI. I have been a forums member since '02. I did do a search on the guy, came up blank. Also, I do alot of deals, some are with well known people, some are with unknown people. That is not the point. The point of this post is not to try to get my money back, it is to let others know about it. The point of this post is the next time someone does a search on this guy's name, it will not come up blank. They will be able to see his name, his email (at least the one he is using now) and his phone number.

This is one of the main reasons that I rarely post on the BOI. I post an experience to warn others about a thief, and I get criticized for it. Of course, from Neil I expect nothing else.

As to the legal issue, our bank has been notified, as has the "seller's" bank. The police have also been brought into it. Legal action is taking place, but that was not the point of this thread. I am not attempting to use the BOI to exert pressure on this "seller" to make things right, I simply want to make others aware of this person.

Jason,
Don't take what others say personal. Whoever lashes out at you for this deal gone bad is an idiot. You trusted in someone, and got burned. Now you just have to follow the necessary steps to recover your cash. Whisch I think you're already doing.

Jason, you've got mail.

Jason,

Sometimes we have to give an opportunity to other sellers. My recent purchase from a completely unknown (to the BOI) breeder went without a glitch. I'm not going to say that I was not nervous for a while but I took my chances on an order in excess of $700 and now I'm glad I did. Now I know there's another trustworthy seller out there for me and the rest to benefit from. If we only buy from known and trusted individuals how are we going to help out the ones that are starting in the business?

Don't let this sour experience discourage you. In your next purchase you may want to ask more questions until you feel comfortable. One of the first things I do with an unknown new seller is to do a reverse look-up and see if he is listed on the white pages. I know that nowadays people may want their privacy, but if they are not there they won't get my business. Just peace of mind...

Good luck to you!

Jason

The best course of action other than preferring charges will be to continue to contact his bank. I work for a bank in Florida and we take a very dim view of fraud being committed with one of our accounts.

Take the jibes some of the others have tossed at you with a grain of salt. It seems to me that Neil is the one who also advocates that no one ever ship first in a trade. He seems to have missed the point that no trades at all would happen if no one ever shipped first.

I appreciate the kind words. We are persuing the issue thru the banks and the local police.