Casey Smith. Buyer Backs Out, what do you guys think?

Seems like too many excuses to me, hours being cut at work, car payment his wife in hospital. I would keep it, or maybe tell him you'll put it towards another animal. Had he got a hold of you sooner being lenient would be reasonable but he held off the decision.

If it were me, I'd probably refund the $60 and write it off.

By your stated TOS on your website, you do not have to refund the deposit. Did he buy through the website?

By the emails/texts you posted, you did NOT state nonrefundable, therefor you should refund.

By the agreed terms, he did not pay his payments on time, while you did your part by holding the animals.

Either way you go, there's argument for refunding and arguments for not refunding. I agree with the "give me proof of the hospital stay" and refund the $60. But personally, like my first statement, $60 isn't worth the fuss and bother, and I'd just send it back and put him on my "Do not sell" list for the future. Things do come up in life, but once you pay a deposit, you usually do not think you can just get it back when you change your mind about buying the product.

Ahh, we posted at the same time!! He bought from the website with your TOS stating nonrefundable.

ALso, in the future, instead of a "bad guy" listing, you could use the discussion area instead of the BOI if you just wanted to ask opinions.

I didn't realize I could use the discussion area. Thanks and sorry about that.

Ive ran into this a few times. I give my customer one final warning "if I dont receive payment of "this" much by "this" time, I will be putting your reserved animals back up for sale and you will receive credit of what you have paid towards any animal I have for sale at any time except for reserved or sold animals obviously. I also let them know WHY this is happening.. I give the customer the exact date their last payment was due and how long I have "let it slide" because in most cases I do not take this action unless the customer misses payment by about a month. IMO this is the most professional way to handle these situations. Hope this help!

Originally Posted by Royality Ball Pythons

Ive ran into this a few times. I give my customer one final warning "if I dont receive payment of "this" much by "this" time, I will be putting your reserved animals back up for sale and you will receive credit of what you have paid towards any animal I have for sale at any time except for reserved or sold animals obviously. I also let them know WHY this is happening.. I give the customer the exact date their last payment was due and how long I have "let it slide" because in most cases I do not take this action unless the customer misses payment by about a month. IMO this is the most professional way to handle these situations. Hope this help!

This is an excellent solution that I have used myself. Professional and allows the buyer to recoup his loss in the future

Incidentally, for those who are harping on the fact that the email does not say "Non-Refundable".....who the Heck has ever been charged a refundable deposit to hold an animal? The whole concept of a deposit is to lock in the sale. If someone is offering a refundable deposit payment plan they really do not understand the concept of a deposit.

Originally Posted by Suncoast Herpetological

harping on the fact that the email does not say "Non-Refundable".

Good point (as usual) but I think maybe future emails could link to the TOS that says this, as the customer is actually requesting the deposit back.

It might be a bit classier to refer to the TOS than to say 'Whaddayoukidding, no ***ing way, bud'.

I know its a bit off topic but, after he asked if the blood was a boa or a python I would have returned 75 bucks so he could buy a book and educate himself about what he's even buying before he would get one of my animals.

If he doesn't even know what he's buying, you know he has no clue of the proper husbandry.

I think you had the right to do whatever you wanted regarding the refund, but I don't think you should be posting this guy's name and e-mail address on here with his e-mails. At this point you owe it to him to send him a link to this thread so he can tell his side. Not cool at all.

One more thing, I know it's not the sellers problem, but when someone doesn't know what kind of snake they're even buying it'd be a good idea to ask a few questions to try to find out if they're capable of taking care of it.

Originally Posted by Bobby Douglass

I think you had the right to do whatever you wanted regarding the refund, but I don't think you should be posting this guy's name and e-mail address on here with his e-mails. At this point you owe it to him to send him a link to this thread so he can tell his side. Not cool at all.

One more thing, I know it's not the sellers problem, but when someone doesn't know what kind of snake they're even buying it'd be a good idea to ask a few questions to try to find out if they're capable of taking care of it.

Why do you think this? Granted the thread should be an info thread, but other than that, why should his name and email not be posted?