Jereme James (Heronboy) kept my $4,500 and threatened to donate, or already donated, the snakes I bought from him to an auction.
Although I've already posted a thread about Jereme James (Heronboy) of America's Finest Balls, that is now 13 pages long with over 7,300 views, I believe this condensed version is important for Fauna's BOI because there are people who are spending money with Jereme James (Heronboy) who have a right to know how he treats some of his customers.
In short, I purchased two adult snakes from Jereme James (Heronboy, America's Finest Balls) for $4,500. They were shipped to me from California on Monday, September 23, 2013 and the box was scanned in at the FedEx hub in Memphis, TN at 12:18 am on Tuesday, September 24, 2013, the day they were scheduled to arrive to my hub in Alabama. More than a week passed, with no snakes being delivered to me or a refund being issued, before I learned that the snakes I was supposed to receive were in a rescue facility in Arkansas where they stayed for about two weeks before being shipped back to Jereme on October 7th.
After repeated attempts to get a refund of my $4,500 from Jereme James (Heronboy), for snakes I never received, Jereme summed up his take on the matter with this comment, "Animals were mine, you purchased them, I delivered them to a carrier at which point relinquishing ownership of the animals" (page 3).
If that faulty logic wasn't alarming enough, Jereme left me with this ultimatum "I am extending the clock to begin today affording you 14 days to accept your property or it will be deemed abandoned at which point it will be donated to the upcoming USARK auction" (page 3).
I know some people have had a positive experience with him and I think that's great…I even took my chances to do business with him. So, please know that I am not asking for anyone to pick sides here, this isn't about a debate for me. I simply want to share my personal experience with Jereme James (Heronboy) who, I believe, cares more about winning some contest of wills than he does about taking care of his customers.
*The other thread includes all of the email correspondence that took place between Jereme James (Heronboy) and me; documenting the timeline of events, my repeated requests for a refund and, perhaps most importantly, Jereme James' attitude about taking my money and expressing, publicly, that this is a winning situation for him (page 7). I have also embedded links in this post to specific pages where I reference anything said by Jereme and linked the word "thread" to the original post I've referenced.
I don't blame Jereme James (Heronboy) for losing the shipment, but, his actions and choices, while the snakes were missing and since they were recovered from the rescue facility (that are available on a public forum, for everyone to see), have left me comfortable about bringing anything into my collection that may came from him.
Bottom line- the animals I purchased from Jereme James (Heronboy) were shipped back to him from the rescue facility, yet Jereme James has kept my $4,500.
How anyone could justify keeping another person's money like this is beyond me.
I can say this - if Jereme James (Heronboy) is selling snakes here on Fauna, then he's making money and if he's making money then he should be able to pay me back for the snakes I never received.
Thanks,
John Woolard