cahrens
Addicted
Well I didn't want to do this but here we go. I bought 2 boas from this individual on April 22nd of this year. 1 was an anery and the other was an albino supposedly het snow but with no paperwork. I saw his ad for the albino on Reptibid and contacted him through there. After several e-mails and a few phone calls we worked out the details and we were to meet for the sale.
John told me that the albino sometimes pushed out her vent a little when you first pick her up but that it goes right back in and he had it vet checked and the vet said it was fine. He also said that the albino "eats great" and has no problems whatsoever. When we met for the deal, John already had the snakes out and was handling them. The first thing I looked at was the vent area of the albino. It looked normal so I figured he was telling the truth about it only doing it when you first pick her up so I paid him and was on my way.
By the time I got home(15 minutes later) and took the albino out to put it in it's cage, I could see a very visible prolapse which got continuously worse for about an hour. It NEVER went back in. I e-mailed him the same night and asked about it. His reply was,
"She has done it ever since I have had her. I asked a question of a vet when I first got her and was told it ws nothing to worry about, so I never pursued it. She has always eaten and never had any problems evacuating."
I wrote John back on April 25th telling him that the prolapse never goes back in and that the animals aren't eating. He guaranteed me healthy eating animals and these weren't so I wanted to return them for a refund. His reply was,
"Chris,
If you are that concerned about the albino, I will take her back. As for the anery, she just ate about 8 days ago, so it could just be that with the travel and all she was not interested at this time. She is healthy and eating, as advertised. I am willing to refund $800 for the albino, which I think is fair and what we said in the deal. You can bring her to me on Saturday.
John"
He then called me and offered a full refund for both of the animals. He said he wasn't "like that" and he'd never try and rip someone off. He also offered me a partial refund of $500.00 to be used for vet bills and I was to keep both the snakes. I agreed to all 3 of the options and told him to pick whichever was easiest for him since he explained that he had lost his job and was short on cash.
That was the last I've heard from John. He doesn't answer his cell phone and when I call his house phone he has his kids answer and tell me he's not there and they don't know when he'll be back. I've left numerous messages via e-mail as well as telephone telling him that whichever option works best for him is fine with me. He obviously has no intention of making this right.
I contacted the Lakeland Police Dept. and spoke to an officer there numerous times. He verified that his last name is Lacorte and that he does live in Lakeland, however after several efforts to pursue criminal action on this it's been determined that it's a civil case. Unfortunately I don't have the time to pursue a civil case against him but I at least want to get his name out there so nobody else gets taken by this guy.
His name is John Lacorte. He lives in Lakeland, Florida. His e-mail address is [email protected] . His phone numbers are: cell 863-838-4596 home 863-619-5247.
I have all the e-mails between John and myself if anyone needs to see anything in particular. Nearly all of our correspondence was via e-mail so I have the proof if anyone is interested. This is mostly just to get his name out there and to let others know what a piece of crap this guy is and not to deal with him.
By the way, the albino died in the beginning of May. The anery is doing well.
If anyone has any questions or wants to see any of the e-mails you can post in here or e-mail me at [email protected] Thanks. -Chris Ahrens
John told me that the albino sometimes pushed out her vent a little when you first pick her up but that it goes right back in and he had it vet checked and the vet said it was fine. He also said that the albino "eats great" and has no problems whatsoever. When we met for the deal, John already had the snakes out and was handling them. The first thing I looked at was the vent area of the albino. It looked normal so I figured he was telling the truth about it only doing it when you first pick her up so I paid him and was on my way.
By the time I got home(15 minutes later) and took the albino out to put it in it's cage, I could see a very visible prolapse which got continuously worse for about an hour. It NEVER went back in. I e-mailed him the same night and asked about it. His reply was,
"She has done it ever since I have had her. I asked a question of a vet when I first got her and was told it ws nothing to worry about, so I never pursued it. She has always eaten and never had any problems evacuating."
I wrote John back on April 25th telling him that the prolapse never goes back in and that the animals aren't eating. He guaranteed me healthy eating animals and these weren't so I wanted to return them for a refund. His reply was,
"Chris,
If you are that concerned about the albino, I will take her back. As for the anery, she just ate about 8 days ago, so it could just be that with the travel and all she was not interested at this time. She is healthy and eating, as advertised. I am willing to refund $800 for the albino, which I think is fair and what we said in the deal. You can bring her to me on Saturday.
John"
He then called me and offered a full refund for both of the animals. He said he wasn't "like that" and he'd never try and rip someone off. He also offered me a partial refund of $500.00 to be used for vet bills and I was to keep both the snakes. I agreed to all 3 of the options and told him to pick whichever was easiest for him since he explained that he had lost his job and was short on cash.
That was the last I've heard from John. He doesn't answer his cell phone and when I call his house phone he has his kids answer and tell me he's not there and they don't know when he'll be back. I've left numerous messages via e-mail as well as telephone telling him that whichever option works best for him is fine with me. He obviously has no intention of making this right.
I contacted the Lakeland Police Dept. and spoke to an officer there numerous times. He verified that his last name is Lacorte and that he does live in Lakeland, however after several efforts to pursue criminal action on this it's been determined that it's a civil case. Unfortunately I don't have the time to pursue a civil case against him but I at least want to get his name out there so nobody else gets taken by this guy.
His name is John Lacorte. He lives in Lakeland, Florida. His e-mail address is [email protected] . His phone numbers are: cell 863-838-4596 home 863-619-5247.
I have all the e-mails between John and myself if anyone needs to see anything in particular. Nearly all of our correspondence was via e-mail so I have the proof if anyone is interested. This is mostly just to get his name out there and to let others know what a piece of crap this guy is and not to deal with him.
By the way, the albino died in the beginning of May. The anery is doing well.
If anyone has any questions or wants to see any of the e-mails you can post in here or e-mail me at [email protected] Thanks. -Chris Ahrens
