Denise/Dion Straulea, Icy, [email protected]

This is quite the shame. I have had quite nasty experience with Denise and Dion (who is her underage son who normally is the one that contacts you). I bid on a 25 lot of ball's from them and sent the money when i won. First there was a little run around with them saying they didnt receive my overnighted money order in the express mail envelope. Ok mail CAN get lost its just rare. So they finally find the envelope, and cash the MO. I received the package 2 days later. First let me tell you that i spoke with Dion over the phone (his nickname is Icy) who stated to me that he only actually had 23. He would refund me the difference and ship it with the animals. Well when i received the animals, there were ONLY 21 in the box, and NO money. Ok, i get them out of the box, which had styro in it but no heat or ice pack, 2 pillow cases and thats it. But the temps were fairly perfect for shipping. So i start picking through them, out of the 21, 5 had skin blister disease(necrosis dermatitis from what i've read), 1 of the 5 has a broken back, 1 has an RI = 6 snakes in SEVERE condition, the other 15 were emaciated and dehydrated beyond belief, skin hanging off of them like it was 5 sizes to big for them. I contacted Denise via phone immediately, and was given the story "They werent like that when i sent them" I explained to her that this could not have happened in shipping no matter what. She asked what i wanted, and since i gave the benefit of the doubt thinking maybe they didnt know (which is quite impossible but im too much of a trusting person) i asked for a refund for 10 animals, that 4 i didnt have in the first place, and 6 are dead or dying. Denise stated she immediately went to the post office and sent a money order certified mail for the amount we agreed. She gave me a number that was on the label which is in USPS's records online. We will see if it get's to me or if its a crock of sh**. Since that time 1 more has died that didnt look like it was in bad shape, 1 is extremely lethargic on the brink of death and 2 are now showing symptoms of RI. I have a bad feeling i will possibly end up with 8 or 9 animals that i can do anything with. IF THAT! Now since i have realized, by reading another thread on Reptileauction.com's feedback forum which i will post the link at the end of this message, that denise and dion(icy) are repeat offenders with the same situation, I believe a full refund is in order. Now i have to aquire vet bills to try and save the one's that are savable, and I'll be damned if im sending these animals back to live in a place they are not properly taken care of or even give 2 sh**'s about. I'll be contacting Denise via phone by the end of the day to discuss this.

Now with this situation that im posting the link to, Denise tried placing blame on the buyer just to lift the weight from HER shoulders, How heroic!

http://www.reptiforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=652&page=1&pp=10

So often this seems to be the case with ball pythons lately. It is a very sad shame that people just see these (often imported) animals as a quick way to turn a buck with absolutely no regard for the actual welfare of the animals involved. Just curious, were these two pillers of the reptile community advertising these Ball pythons as captive bred? Did they say if they were feeding? Did they gaurantee health? Could you possibly provide some e-mails, or a copy of their ad? The more info that you can provide the better. That being said, they sound like the type of people that I personally would not waste my time or money on (and that's putting it mildly).

Most of our communication was via phone, but the emails that we did send back and forth are enclosed. I was told if i had any problems with them that i would receive a refund. Now i have less than half of the animals that are alive and not dying. Im not even sure how long those will be alive. They were advertised as captive hatched, some were eating, some were not. I cannot produce a link to the auction since it seems to be gone, its only in my won auctions on that site. Can't produce a picture of it either cause im illiterate when it comes to pictures.



[email protected] wrote:
yes they are all garunteed i was just saying like even if theres only like one dead i will still give you your money back for it. did you send the money today?? thanks icy
>
> From: Christopher Altizer
> Date: 2005/07/11 Mon PM 10:46:37 EDT
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Re: snakes
>
> Well, if more than 1 or 2 arrive dead? It has happened to me before and others in the business, I need to make sure my money is properly secured here. Thank you
>
> Chris Altizer
>
> [email protected] wrote:
> hey, i do garuntee live arrival if there is PROOF if 1 or 2 arrive dead i will refund you your money for the dead ones. thank you
> >
> > From: Christopher Altizer
> > Date: 2005/07/11 Mon PM 10:19:59 EDT
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: Re: Re: snakes
> >
> > Chris Altizer
> > 126 W Inca St.
> > Aberdeen, MD 21001
> > 443-504-8697
> > 443-307-6845
> >
> > [email protected] wrote:
> > hey, i guess you won the bid on 25 baby ball pythons, well heres where to send the money to and who to make it out to DION STRAULEA 10097 CLEARY BLVD. # 357 PLANTATIOM, FL 33324 here my phone number if you need it (954)473-8927 so how soon can you send the money out?? please let me know. thank you very much icy

> > >
> > > From: Christopher Altizer
> > > Date: 2005/07/10 Sun PM 02:23:13 EDT
> > > To: [email protected]
> > > Subject: Re: Re: snakes
> > >
> > > As soon as you want me to. You give the word the money will be in the mail. I would need a phone number for my records, along with an address to ship the MO to. Hope to hear from you soon.
> > >
> > > Thanks for your time
> > >
> > > Chris Altizer
> > >
> > > [email protected] wrote:
> > > hey, there will be males and females dont worry. so when are you gonna send the money order out?? just wondering. thank you icy
> > > >
> > > > From: Christopher Altizer
> > > > Date: 2005/07/10 Sun AM 02:15:18 EDT
> > > > To: [email protected]
> > > > Subject: Re: snakes
> > > >
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > I was just making sure you still had this lot of BP's. Are they a mixture of male and females or are they going to be all males or all females?
> > > >
> > > > Thank you
> > > > Chris Altizer
> > > >
> > > > [email protected] wrote:
> > > > hey, well if you want them then bid on them your looking at the ones that you have to bid on right?? thanks icy
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------------------
> > > > Sell on Yahoo! Auctions - No fees. Bid on great items.

Unfortunately, in the world of ball pythons "captive hatched" usually (99% of the time) means Imports...

In the e-mails, "Icy" seems a lot more concerned about when he is going to get his money than actually answering your questions with any thought. Take a look here at his responses:

"yes they are all garunteed i was just saying like even if theres only like one dead i will still give you your money back for it. did you send the money today?? thanks icy"


"hey, i guess you won the bid on 25 baby ball pythons, well heres where to send the money to and who to make it out to DION STRAULEA 10097 CLEARY BLVD. # 357 PLANTATIOM, FL 33324 here my phone number if you need it (954)473-8927 so how soon can you send the money out?? please let me know. thank you very much icy"

"hey, there will be males and females dont worry. so when are you gonna send the money order out?? just wondering. thank you icy"

The feel I am getting is more like: ya ya ya, sure, right, whatever you need to hear, So when are you sending the money?

There is nothing wrong with inquiring as to when the buyer has shipped payment, but he seems to be very urgent in knowing when he is getting the money. He seems to be very rushed in his responses and I personally would not deal with him just by his tone alone. He just seems very shady, and he certainly turned out to be didn't he.

Hey Icy, what ever happende to the 25 BPs? What did some did on you before you shipped? Is that you were in such a big hurry to get paid? You just were scared that every second that went by would mean more of your profit margin going down the toilet. That is quite apparent from your responses now isn't it? I have a suggestion. Try breeding something instead of selling dying imported crap that you have NO idea how to take care of. It seems that you and your mother are both nothing but 2 bit hustlers.

They've received quite an extensive email from me regarding this. They have 2 choices, #1- Refund me the total purchase price, since these animals were supposed to be healthy. I explained i wont be sending them back due to 2 reasons #1a-I dont believe they will be taken proper care of #1b-i dont believe they will survive another shipping episode.

The 2nd choice they have is for me to file charges with the FBI's internet fraud division, to call there local SPCA and Fish, Game and WIldlife division, and to file a claim with the Post office since i paid with a postal money order and didnt receive what was advertised. We'll see how they respond.

This has Ray Strickland stamped all over it if you ask me. The wording of the emails, and the address someone sent me the other is very suspicious. I know for a fact that ol Way Way has people "selling" animals for him, and this wouldn't suprise me a bit if it was him AGAIN!

I have a pending complaint against the same people for the exact same thing, I ordered and paid for ten healthy CH females that arrived inflicted with necrosis dermatitis (skin blister disease), emaciated, dehydrated and packed-shipped illegally through US mail.

Yeh Briar, The link at the end of my first post in this thread is the link to reptileauction.com about the BS she put you through.

I read the initial thread that she started you on the Reptibid feedback forum, and because of a few negative threads on you here and other reasons that you and I both know, I was almost fooled by Denise's act. However, it seems that you were scammed, as was Chris, and that just sucks! Critical Bill (Chuck) did a good job catching her/them in their lies on that other site. I will also say it was most commendable of you to try to educate these scammers on how they could improve their husbandry. These people are to be avoided at all costs, and I reccommend that everyone make themselves familiar with the threads involving them and their bad behaviour on the other site also.

"I read the initial thread that she started you on the Reptibid feedback forum"

I was referring to William.

Sorry for the late update, I gave her till thursday night to contact me and contacted a ton of places today. Seems this is a civil matter, although i did place a complaint with www.ic3.gov. Not sure what else i can do, i'd love to make this woman's life a living hell to be honest. There was NO reason to send these animals to me, no reason to have the auction up, and no reason why she cannot refund me my money except for the fact she's a scammer. (Yeh this sounds good coming from me, except for the fact that im trying to fix my situation)

I called this lady AT least 70 times over this past week. Everytime they hung up on me i called back immediately, every time i got no response and it kept ringing i called back immediately, everytime it was busy i called back until it wasnt. I sent 3 or 4 lengthy emails and have received NO response back in anyway shape or form.

Those with more knowledge of the legal roads i can take, please post your input and advice. If she would have just called me and gave me any form of agreement, even if it was weeks away, i would have relaxed. BUT she hasnt even contacted me. And has blatantly refused my calls and ignored me.

Chris

You should report these people to every known law enforcement agency in the state that the transactioned originated from. I think Jackie posted all of the info in the other thread, page 4 post # 40.

I've said it before and I will say it again, Law enforcement does read these forums, but with federal financial cut backs and fewer field agents, they sometimes need to be pointed in the right direction.

On a different note, my eyes teared up reading about the condition of those animals and the manner in which they were assumed to be kept. Bodies stacked on bodies sound like miniature Holocaust survivors, and it truly makes me sick!! I stopped working in shops because of the poor condition and treatment of imports. I do realize that this is big business, but when compassion, humanity, and plain old human decency is lost to the old mighty dollar.............There is a place in hell waiting for them!!