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Should I pay shipping return for a sick animal?

M

mattc

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I am in need of some opinions. I bought a snake from a gentleman the other day. Described as healthy no problems at all. I pay 300 for the animal, recieve it, looks a bit rough, blood in the bag from its mouth. Looks like the beginning of mouth rot, snake is holding its mouth open excess mucous, teeth loose or falling out, etc. He will pay me the 300 back but I have to pay to ship it back which is 60$. He claims the animal was showing none of these signs when shipped, and for all practical purpose, I think he is sincere. I dont doubt he is an honest person as we have spoken about this at length and if he were not honest he would not have paid the 300 back. But he thinks I am out of my mind for not wanting to pay shipping, I offered to split it even. I don't want to point this person out as a bad guy I just need some different peoples input. thanks. I can post pictures of the animal later.
 
honestly it depends on the seller's TOS. if they have a refund policy that specifically says "minus shipping costs" then it's not the seller's responsibility. if they don't have a TOS that specifically states this, then it's more than likely considered on a case by case basis. you will find some sellers will refund, and some won't, but there is no standard answer. if the snake is showing mouth rot or infection, that's not something that happened overnight during shipping. if its an injury caused by the shipping, then it's unfortunate. without a TOS though, it's basically between you and the seller.
 
I personally don't feel that a buyer should be responsible for return shipping if they receive an animal in poor health (unless they were made aware of the condition, and they proceeded with that knowledge...but, in that case, there would be no justification for the return). My own terms state: Unless the return is due to a pre-existing health problem with the animal (proof may be requested), I will NOT refund shipping costs.

Many sellers do state that they will not pay shipping though; and, if this one does, you are subject to those terms (unless you can show that they were changed after your purchase).
Does the seller in question have his terms posted - either on a website, or in his ads?
 
I strongly disagree. If a sellers ships a visibly sick snake then he has broken his own terms of the sell. He agreed to provide you with a healthy animal and did not.

If the animal was injured during shipment and not sick that may be a different story. Some sellers will stick to a TOS and require you to foot the bill. Not exactly the best customer service to provide for someone. Actually, it's very bad customer service.

Any decent seller is going to agree to send you a healthy animal and guarantee arrival of such. Sellers fall back on their TOS for protection against abuse not to avoided taking responsibility for delivering in animal in poor condition.

People who do aren't looking to provide appropriate customer service.

You are the customer. You paid for a healthy animal shipped. You didn't receive such. You shouldn't be expected to ship an animal back and be out funds for a transactions you see nothing from. You did nothing wrong if all you stated is accurate.

Most sellers take responsibility for these type of situations and may find away to recoup the lost funds from the carrier. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. They don't put that responsibility on their customer if the customer has done nothing wrong.

Do you have pictures of the snake? How was the packaging? What shipper was used?
 
photos

picture attached no TOS. Seller claims snake rubbed nose raw during shipping, interior mouth red swollen, mouth was stuck shut today due to so much mucous.
 

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mattc said:
picture attached no TOS. Seller claims snake rubbed nose raw during shipping, interior mouth red swollen, mouth was stuck shut today due to so much mucous.
Click to expand...

This doesn't look like a "nose rub" to me?:shrug01:

I also agree with you not paying shipping to return it. I also want to comment that I think a seller putting "full refund minus shipping costs" should really not apply here because clearly the snake was not well when you received it. If the buyer is not happy with the appearance and wants to return the snake/reptile, then I can understand not wanting to refund shipping or pay for return shipping. But as others have said, this is a different situation.
 
Dennis Hultman said:
I strongly disagree was to post #2. Harald hadn't posted when I started my response. Sneaky guy.
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sorry if i wasn't clear. what i meant by that was that if it was indeed sick when the animal was shipped, then the TOS doesn't hold water. especially if the seller stated the animal was in good health. if the seller had a TOS like Harald's, then the issue would be between the seller and the buyer. in other words if the animal was sick when shipped, the seller should refund the entire amount. if the animal sustained damages while in shipment, then it would depend on the TOS. personally though if i shipped an animal and something happened during shipping, i would have no issues whatsoever refunding the price and shipping costs. however, if a customer just didn't like the color or wanted to back out, then my TOS clearly states that i will refund the amount minus shipping. i think the issue here is whether or not that is indeed mouth rot or an old wound, or it happened during shipping. that would need to be determined before deciding in my opinion.
 
oh, and my first post was based on the buyer's assumption that the seller was being truthful about the condition of the snake. hope that clears up what i was trying to get across.
 
You shouldnt have to pay for the return shipping, but you might want to... If you wait too long, this guy might tell you too bad and your stuck with a dead $300 snake :(
 
Well I paid. I am pretty angry about it, but I learned a lesson I will only purchase from established breeders in the future. This guy was stuck between a rock and a hard place and I was fortunate to get any money back.
 
mattc said:
Well I paid. I am pretty angry about it, but I learned a lesson I will only purchase from established breeders in the future. This guy was stuck between a rock and a hard place and I was fortunate to get any money back.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is time for a BOI thread to me. Even if it is just an info thread.
 
scaledverts said:
Sounds like it is time for a BOI thread to me. Even if it is just an info thread.
Click to expand...

I agree. That is clearly Ulcerative Stomatitis (Mouth rot) or a similiar mouth infection. That snake has been in that condition for some time, in my opinion.
 
I know it good to let other people know who to watch out for, but I really dont think this guy meant to do harm. I think the snake had an infection, his buddy offered him a few animals if he sold this female, he jumped on the opportunity. I dont think he noticed the snake was ill, What it looked like was the snake rubbed the bag pretty hard while in transport and this caused the primary infection to express itself. If that makes sense. If I see need to post in boi, I will, but right now I will let it go. thanks for all of your responses.
 
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