Everyone's Opinion Is Needed!

First, I want to thank everyone who is going to give some input for my question.

I buy a het from Mr. A
The het was bought by Mr. A from Mr. B
Who is responsible for my transaction if the het turns out normal?

To me, if I buy from Mr. A, then Mr. A is responsible for the transaction, since I paid Mr. A, not Mr. B. It doesn't matter if Mr. B gives full guarantee, live time guarantee, pictures or microchips the animal, etc..., that transaction is between Mr. A and Mr. B. It's just a back-up information for my transaction. I cannot hold anything against Mr. B, since he didn't receive the money from me, and he didn't send the animal to me.

What do you think? Thanks.

I think both Mr. A & B are in trouble but try and get your money back from Mr. A.

The responsibility of selling you the 'hets' belongs to Mr A.
Mr. A should have been 100% sure he was selling you hets before he labeled them hets. That means he should have some documentation proving they are hets.
But if you are breeding hets for the same trait with two different lines [for that trait] you will get normal looking babies that carry both parents stuff. You might want to check your animals lineage

Mr A's the seller in your transaction. He's the one you have a beef with.

....if the het turns out normal?

First off, how do you KNOW positively that this animal is NOT het? How many times have you bred it and produced offspring.

I have purchased het animals before, and gotten all normals the first and second year, then FINALLY gotten what was expected on the third year. Mendellian genetics is just statistics and probabilities. There are NO absolutes. Realistically, when you breed hets together, it is possible that you will get anywhere from NONE to ALL homozygous animals.

If you are positive the animal is not het, at least talk to Mr. B about it and ask his take on the matter. If he can positively ID the animal and knows for a fact that it came from him, he may be able to consider the possibility that maybe he made a mistake. After all, this reflects on his reputation as well.

Bear in mind that there may be more behind the situation than is apparent.

As another "for instance", for a couple of years, I was breeding my Crimson corns and was real puzzled that I would breed Crimson to Crimson and get ALL, or some normal colored Miami phase in the clutches. I figured I had just screwed up and identified just a real nice brightly colored Miami Phase incorrectly as a Crimson. Turns out, there appears to be multiple Hypo genes floating around in that stock that I was not aware of. Of course that means that all bets are off when people are breeding Crimsons or het for Crimson that they got from me, and probably other people whose stock originated from me as well. Of course, on the flip side, I have been selling Miami Phase corns het for Crimson for YEARS that are likely double het for two different types of Hypomelanism.

Doodoo happens..... Everything in this stuff is not as cut and dried as we would like to think it is.

Just echoing the common sentiment.

Your transaction was with Mister A, he sold you an animal, he misrepresented it, intentionally or not.

Be certain to verify that the animal is not a het for the trait in question... very certain.

If Mister B is brought into it, it would have to be by Mister A. Unless there are guarantees that move with the snake for the duration of it's life, Mister B's only responsibility is to Mister A.

If it was unintentional, then it would be in the best interests of both A and B to work together to make the situation right, once the animal is identified as not carrying the genes it was represented to have, but the actual obligation lies only on the individual you made your purchase from.

John, could you define "het" for us. I'll assume for the moment you mean 100% het. Going by that definition, Rich is correct, even if you don't produce the desired homozygous recessive individuals, you do really have a legal leg to stand on.

Breeding a het to a homo. recessive should give you about 50% homo. recessive offspring (emphasis on should). But those are just statistics, nothing more. It is totally possible to get all phenotypically normal offspring.

I notice your name your screen name implies you may be working with boas, this makes things even more complicated. As you probably know there are different "strains" of albinism; in boas. So the het boa you buy may not be the "right" het. I seriously doubt with the numbers of albino boas being produced now that everyone who produces them knows exactly which "strain" they have. There are just too many.

Bottom line is - buying hets is risky - that's why it's cheaper to do so.

"Ditto" on what everyone else has said about making certain you have a non-het animal or that it is perhaps not just het for another strain of the desired trait. All of those considerations have to be taken into account before anything else can be started.

However, assuming that it is true that the animal you have purchased is not het for the strain for which you were told it was het, then, and only then, you should approach Mr. A to settle the issue. That sale he made with you had an implied contract for a delivery of goods (the genetics), and if he did not deliver those goods, then he is alone responsible. Granted, he may then go back to Mr. B for support or restitution, but that will have to be on him.

As an aside, I would make absolutely certain that you have some sort of a paper trail identifying the animal and your specific breeding trials all outlined, before I went to Mr. A, though. Even if he is the most honest person in the world and the most easy going, he will appreciate your professionalism. If he isn't, your case will just be that much more fortified.

Thanks to everyone who has input in this thread. The reason I started this thread because recently I have run into two situation:

1. I saw an ad for a double het for _ _ _ boa w/ a good deal from a perspective seller (Mr. A). I contacted him asking who's the original breeder and if he guarantee on the genetic. Mr. A said that he got her from Mr. B, who was not a big player in the market, and that's the reason why he let her go cheap because there is risk involved. Any problem is between me and Mr. B. I responsed to Mr. A that since I pay him and the snake was bought by me from him, Mr. A shall be hold responsible. Mr. A disagreed, and I just dropped the transaction, since he sounded rediculous to me.

2. I bought a het for piebald ball python from a trustworthy seller (Mr. A.) two weeks ago. She came receipt from Mr. B stated that she was microchipped and guarantee for life on her genetic. Then, I found out from this site Mr. B had some rap sheets on bad deals in the past. So I nailed and pounded Mr. A since I was nervous. After alot of "heat" exchanged, I decided to give Mr. B a benefit of the doubt. Also, Mr. A gave me his personal guarantee on top of Mr. B's guarantee, and said that he will make right to me if she turns out bogus.

I just want to find out if I am so skeptical, if I am wrong about who is responsible for my deal, because to me if I pay Mr. A, then I will go after him. Don't bother to send me to someone else. So again, I appreciate everyone. This site is very helpful to me.
P/s: When I said het, it means 100% het. Otherwise, I will said poss. het.

In both instances Mr. A is responsible.

As far as yor first situation.....
I can't believe Mr. A would tell you to take it up with Mr. B
Mr. A is responsible for the animals Mr. A sells