Bad Guy Painted Reptile Lied for Money

[reptileguy112]

I recently bought a reptile from painted reptile and they gave me dramatically wrong info on it (which I believed) and when I figured out I was practically lied to to get my money I tried to get a refund and they changed the story 3 or 4 different times about why they wont give me a refund. Has anyone else bought from painted reptile? If so what was your experience. I give them an F on customer service. (this is an opinion)

 

[LauraB]

I've never heard of them, but more details might help. What did you order, what did you receive? Where was their ad?

What was their "dramatically wrong info" on whatever you paid for and expected? What were their 3 or 4 different excuses/stories?

If you have screen saves of texts/emails, etc. to post here, that would also be beneficial. Thanks.

 

[Dbz4246]

I've never heard of them, but more details might help. What did you order, what did you receive? Where was their ad?

What was their "dramatically wrong info" on whatever you paid for and expected? What were their 3 or 4 different excuses/stories?

If you have screen saves of texts/emails, etc. to post here, that would also be beneficial. Thanks.

Ditto, and what is the actual name of the person you dealt with?

 

[bcr229]

I came close to dealing with them once but they never responded to my inquiries so I purchased elsewhere.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=455033

OP if you have any proof - emails, texts, etc. - please post it.

 

[reptileguy112]

I don't know names of the people. It was at the sacramento reptile show and they told me this female jeweled lacerta I was buying would get 2.5 to 3 feet long (they only get about 16" but I believed them), they also told me that these are like bearded dragons and and very calm but what I read says they are skittish generally and should only be held briefly. I mainly was looking for a large reptile like a small monitor or a tegu but he told me it gets 2.5 to 3 feet so I got it.

 

[reptileguy112]

I emailed them an hour later with no response so I called them the next day (they were closed that time) and told them I got some false information about a reptile probably on accident and its not the reptile for me and I would like a refund. They told me they wouldn't do a refund because no one does refunds at the reptile shows and they aren't going to because everyone else isn't so I told them about how I got a male veiled from lll reptile and it turned out female so I DID get a refund and they changed there story to they wont do tax returns so I told them that I didnt get taxed, it was $75 flat and I have the receipt to prove it and they told me that everyone gets taxed and they dont believe me. Then they changed it to they cant do refunds at a reptile show if I already left because the people up front wont let outside reptiles inside (untrue, they let me bring in one of my nicest chameleons that same day) and basically thats it.

 

[RaceSanchez]

Every-time i deal with someone, I get first and last name and look for prior business deals. Also, i seal the deal with a phone call if need be.

I don't know names of the people. It was at the sacramento reptile show and they told me this female jeweled lacerta I was buying would get 2.5 to 3 feet long (they only get about 16" but I believed them), they also told me that these are like bearded dragons and and very calm but what I read says they are skittish generally and should only be held briefly. I mainly was looking for a large reptile like a small monitor or a tegu but he told me it gets 2.5 to 3 feet so I got it.

Did you do any research/homework on the animal you were inquiring about ?
Sound as if tho- you looked into it after the fact. To be honest, sound's like they told you what you wanted to hear. Not sure a refund would do any good !!! Looks to be a deal is a deal at any reptile show : /


M.

 

[Lucille]

If the people you spoke with were in fact employees , and if they were describing this lizard, and if you were misinformed, I agree that is not good.
It would be good to research critters ahead of time, next time.
You haven't said anything negative about the lizard's health, so it should be pretty easy to sell it.

 

[Lucille]

I sent them a link to this thread.

 

[reptileguy112]

I tell the same thing everyother day on chameleonforums so I dont know why I did it They told me the care is just like a bearded dragon and I knew how to care for a beardie so I bought it

 

[MissFirefly]

This does not excuse the incorrect information being provided but some vendors bring "helpers" to reptile shows that don't actually have first hand knowledge on the animals. That could be the case here but it still falls on the vendor to ensure customers are not being misled.

You stated you emailed and called them. Do you have a business card? If so, does that not have an individual's name on it?

 

[Lucille]

I don't know names of the people. It was at the sacramento reptile show and they told me this female jeweled lacerta I was buying would get 2.5 to 3 feet long (they only get about 16" but I believed them)

Googled jeweled lacertas, several sites say they grow to two feet, so both buyer and alleged seller seem to be wrong.

 

[Pasodama]

Googled jeweled lacertas, several sites say they grow to two feet, so both buyer and alleged seller seem to be wrong.

Which includes the length of the tail.
JLs will grow to be of a lesser length or on up to two feet (+/-).

....

 

[Lucille]

As I posted above, I sent Painted Reptile a link to this thread.
They replied to my email, I am posting the reply below:



Wow,

Thank you SOOOOOOOO much for sending me this link. This 11 year old kid is doing everything he can to make us look at fault for his impulse purchase at the expo. Even his dad did everything in his power to not have the kid buy the animal. I sat there repeatedly asking his dad if I should sell him the animal, as he clearly did not want the kid to buy it.

Not only is everything on this thread a lie, I gave him the animal for $60 not $75 (AND HAVE THE RECEIPT!) and the "call" he made was to our retail location which is Los Angeles, Ca over 400 miles away with a team that had no idea what is going on at the expo.

God, and the stuff about the info being wrong is so funny, he was so hell bent on buying the lizard that everything he was told he distorted to something that he wanted to hear. For example I told him Lacertas CAN grow up to 2 feet long. CAN!!!!! Which is not incorrect, and I told him that the LIGHTING was similar to a bearded dragon. MEANING THEY NEED UVB and BASKING LIGHTS. Also, when animal has a growth range of 16-24 inches how does the kid imply that they won't grow more then 16 inches? It seems like that number is being unfairly thrown around to prove his point.

The kid was never looking for a monitor, he was looking for a bearded dragon or a smaller lizard. Even his dad was telling him no to monitors and monitors were never discussed. Then he asked me if he could hold the Lacerta at home and I told him they were more squirmy and like to walk around and climb a lot more and ARE NOT AS LAZY AS BEARDIES, but in these exact words I told him "That there were two people walking around the expo this weekend holding their lacertas, so it is possible!!!!!!!" "SO IT IS POSSIBLE!" and there was!!! Someone with a nice melanistic lacerta and someone with a jeweled.

I did not lie to make a sale AS I EVEN GAVE IT TO HIM FOR $15 off because he was so hell bent on buying it and would not stop talking about $60 was all he had and he worked hard for his money.

Now going on to his email, the email he sent was at 7:35pm, 7:35!!!!!!! Not only is that about 2 hours and 35 minutes after the expo closed, but its about 4 hours and 35 minutes after he was in the expo. He was in the expo with his dad around 3:30pm. Even if he bought the animal right at 5:00 when the expo closed it still would not have been an hour after he bought the animal?!?!?! Not only was I eating and getting ready to go to sleep because I was working at an EXPO the next day but, the email was sent to an inquiry email where we get 1,000s of emails a day AFTER WE WERE CLOSED!!!!!! The email was not responded to because of that, plus the next day was Sunday and our online crew doesn't work on Sundays. We were still at the expo all day, the next day I would have gladly worked things out, but no one ever showed up. If I'm such a bad guy and ripped off an 11 year old kid, why wouldn't the dad be able to pay $10 for his kid, so his kid can get his hard earned money back?!?!?!?!

I have copied and pasted the email THE KID SENT ME below for you to see.

Name: Drake Erpelding
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 5309021970

Comment: Just about an hour ago, I left the reptile show with my new jeweled lacerta which is quite pricey compared to the $20 beardie I was going to buy. I decided to get this lacerta because the guy selling it to me told me that when this female gets older it will be 2.5 feet long and will be able to go places with me like a bearded dragon. Excited I bought her. After research I highly regret this purchase finding out she will only get about 16 inches, half the size i was told it would be. I also found out that they are lizards mostly for looks and should only be briefly handled very different than what I was told. That was almost all of my money I have about $10 left. I am expecting to get a refund when I spend the last of my money to enter the reptile show tomorrow. It was fed dubias, not stressed out, its hydrated, and I have the receipt as well as the original container. I am hoping that this negative experience does not happen again and I come home with a bearded dragon tomorrow and the rest of the money I am expectin to be refunded. (END EMAIL)


If you notice in his email he also talks about feeding the animal, within two hours after leaving the expo? Not only that, he was feeding Dubias within two hours to a large baby lacerta? WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HAPPENED WITH THE ANIMAL, so when he called our retail location in Los Angeles, CA my manager expressed concerns over it eating already, but still told him returns need to be worked out with me at the expo. The kid also then proceed to ask if him and his dad could drop if off at the shop at return it and the manager explained we were all the way in Los Angeles, ca and that it would be better at the expo.

In the email as well, the kid is claiming I said it will grow to 2.5 feet, but yet on fauna he said I told him it was 3 feet and similar to a monitor?!?!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: WE DO NOT CHARGE ANY TAX FOR ANYONE AT THE EXPOS!!! NO ONE DOES!!!!

I would love to see this kid post the $75 receipt as that is a complete STONE COLD LIE! A COMPLETE LIE. As, soon as I make the account I will post the picture of the receipt.

If this kid made a bad purchase then I would have been willing to work it out and take the animal back, but for him to distort the facts to make us look bad is entirely unfair.

I am really happy you sent me the link to this thread, I don't really deal with fauna, but I will be making an account immediately to talk with this kid. This is absurd!

Please share my email response, as someone else in the thread said we didn't respond over a savu inquiry.

As soon as I get our store opened and settled I will be replying to the thread.

 

[MissFirefly]

As I posted above, I sent Painted Reptile a link to this thread.
They replied to my email, I am posting the reply below:



Wow,

Thank you SOOOOOOOO much for sending me this link. This 11 year old kid is doing everything he can to make us look at fault for his impulse purchase at the expo. Even his dad did everything in his power to not have the kid buy the animal. I sat there repeatedly asking his dad if I should sell him the animal, as he clearly did not want the kid to buy it.

Not only is everything on this thread a lie, I gave him the animal for $60 not $75 (AND HAVE THE RECEIPT!) and the "call" he made was to our retail location which is Los Angeles, Ca over 400 miles away with a team that had no idea what is going on at the expo.

God, and the stuff about the info being wrong is so funny, he was so hell bent on buying the lizard that everything he was told he distorted to something that he wanted to hear. For example I told him Lacertas CAN grow up to 2 feet long. CAN!!!!! Which is not incorrect, and I told him that the LIGHTING was similar to a bearded dragon. MEANING THEY NEED UVB and BASKING LIGHTS. Also, when animal has a growth range of 16-24 inches how does the kid imply that they won't grow more then 16 inches? It seems like that number is being unfairly thrown around to prove his point.

The kid was never looking for a monitor, he was looking for a bearded dragon or a smaller lizard. Even his dad was telling him no to monitors and monitors were never discussed. Then he asked me if he could hold the Lacerta at home and I told him they were more squirmy and like to walk around and climb a lot more and ARE NOT AS LAZY AS BEARDIES, but in these exact words I told him "That there were two people walking around the expo this weekend holding their lacertas, so it is possible!!!!!!!" "SO IT IS POSSIBLE!" and there was!!! Someone with a nice melanistic lacerta and someone with a jeweled.

I did not lie to make a sale AS I EVEN GAVE IT TO HIM FOR $15 off because he was so hell bent on buying it and would not stop talking about $60 was all he had and he worked hard for his money.

Now going on to his email, the email he sent was at 7:35pm, 7:35!!!!!!! Not only is that about 2 hours and 35 minutes after the expo closed, but its about 4 hours and 35 minutes after he was in the expo. He was in the expo with his dad around 3:30pm. Even if he bought the animal right at 5:00 when the expo closed it still would not have been an hour after he bought the animal?!?!?! Not only was I eating and getting ready to go to sleep because I was working at an EXPO the next day but, the email was sent to an inquiry email where we get 1,000s of emails a day AFTER WE WERE CLOSED!!!!!! The email was not responded to because of that, plus the next day was Sunday and our online crew doesn't work on Sundays. We were still at the expo all day, the next day I would have gladly worked things out, but no one ever showed up. If I'm such a bad guy and ripped off an 11 year old kid, why wouldn't the dad be able to pay $10 for his kid, so his kid can get his hard earned money back?!?!?!?!

I have copied and pasted the email THE KID SENT ME below for you to see.

Name: Drake Erpelding
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 5309021970

Comment: Just about an hour ago, I left the reptile show with my new jeweled lacerta which is quite pricey compared to the $20 beardie I was going to buy. I decided to get this lacerta because the guy selling it to me told me that when this female gets older it will be 2.5 feet long and will be able to go places with me like a bearded dragon. Excited I bought her. After research I highly regret this purchase finding out she will only get about 16 inches, half the size i was told it would be. I also found out that they are lizards mostly for looks and should only be briefly handled very different than what I was told. That was almost all of my money I have about $10 left. I am expecting to get a refund when I spend the last of my money to enter the reptile show tomorrow. It was fed dubias, not stressed out, its hydrated, and I have the receipt as well as the original container. I am hoping that this negative experience does not happen again and I come home with a bearded dragon tomorrow and the rest of the money I am expectin to be refunded. (END EMAIL)


If you notice in his email he also talks about feeding the animal, within two hours after leaving the expo? Not only that, he was feeding Dubias within two hours to a large baby lacerta? WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HAPPENED WITH THE ANIMAL, so when he called our retail location in Los Angeles, CA my manager expressed concerns over it eating already, but still told him returns need to be worked out with me at the expo. The kid also then proceed to ask if him and his dad could drop if off at the shop at return it and the manager explained we were all the way in Los Angeles, ca and that it would be better at the expo.

In the email as well, the kid is claiming I said it will grow to 2.5 feet, but yet on fauna he said I told him it was 3 feet and similar to a monitor?!?!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: WE DO NOT CHARGE ANY TAX FOR ANYONE AT THE EXPOS!!! NO ONE DOES!!!!

I would love to see this kid post the $75 receipt as that is a complete STONE COLD LIE! A COMPLETE LIE. As, soon as I make the account I will post the picture of the receipt.

If this kid made a bad purchase then I would have been willing to work it out and take the animal back, but for him to distort the facts to make us look bad is entirely unfair.

I am really happy you sent me the link to this thread, I don't really deal with fauna, but I will be making an account immediately to talk with this kid. This is absurd!

Please share my email response, as someone else in the thread said we didn't respond over a savu inquiry.

As soon as I get our store opened and settled I will be replying to the thread.

That is rather enlightening BUT why didn't the seller refuse the sale? If this was a young kid not listening well with a father that wasn't keen on the purchase why get involved for a measly $60?

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Since the seller states they are in the process of making an account to share their side, probably would have been a good idea to wait and let them come post their statements imo.

 

[Guy Castro]

Happens so often. Here's a thought... Do a "FULL RESEARCH" of an animal before you make a purchase! Period! Knowledge beats all! Common sense is a beotch!

 

[Lucille]

I wonder if the buyer is really 11. Thought you had to be at least 13 to register here on Fauna.

 

[Lucille]

Since the seller states they are in the process of making an account to share their side, probably would have been a good idea to wait and let them come post their statements imo.

They sent further info, so I asked that they finish registration and post the pictures and receipts themselves.

 

[btmansfi]

I don't know names of the people. It was at the sacramento reptile show and they told me this female jeweled lacerta I was buying would get 2.5 to 3 feet long (they only get about 16" but I believed them), they also told me that these are like bearded dragons and and very calm but what I read says they are skittish generally and should only be held briefly. I mainly was looking for a large reptile like a small monitor or a tegu but he told me it gets 2.5 to 3 feet so I got it.

If you wanted a bearded dragon why did you buy a lacerta?

You clearly had no idea what a lacerta was, much less how to care for it, so why did you even buy it? The seller has since replied and said that they basically advised you against it yet you were persistent and bought it anyway.

The fact that you would start a bad guy thread over something like that speaks volumes about your maturity level.