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Bad business practices

V

veronica

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I know i probrably shouldnt even order gecko's over the winter months but let me just share an experience with you.
I bought 2 baby fat tails. First of all, I had no idea that the person I ordered it from was under investigation by the Feds. Due to this mans apparently large business dealing my shipment of these 2 babies was held up at the airborne substation. The man blamed airborne but they told us why it was being held. They were holding the packages for us to either show up and open them or for their inspectors to get there the next day. One of the babies was upside down and nearly dead.
This guy never even told me that he shipped them infact, he told a friend of mine the night before that he shipped my 2 lizards. He was talking to her trying to get her to buy a few. The next day she contacted me saying... hey i heard your getting your lizards today... I said no i wasnt that he had never called me or emailed me that he had shipped and didnt sent the tracking information. I then called this guy and he was at that time standing in the bank and said oh cool how do you like them? I said well i didnt know you were shipping...2nd of all.... when did you ship and when was i supposed to get them? and lastly... who is the carrier? He swore he had told me... I reminded him that he told someone else and if not for her i wouldnt have known. Since they were already a half hour late he said he would rush home and call airborne and track it for me and get right back to me. An hour later no call back or email. I called him several times and only got his voice mail. It wasnt till i dialed *67 that i got through. This puts your number on private so they cant see who is calling them. HE then says hey how do you like them? I replied.... I was waiting for you to get back to me with the tracking.... the guy had never called airborne like he said and in fact an hour and a half after the call to him while he was in the bank he didnt even have the tracking numbers ready for me... he had to get his girlfriend to look for them.!!!!!
Needless to say they were being held at the substation and my husband had to drive out to get them.

The next day the FBI contacted me asking me all about this guy and why I had sent him so much money via paypal. His dealings were not being reported as income and the FBI and IRS were after him for numerous offenses. He by the way sells on Kingsnakes.com I did notify kingsnakes but they have not done anything about his postings and in fact allow him to keep posting. Beware of someone who will not give a home address or home phone number to do business with him. This man uses just his cell phone. He is a wholesaler and does not breed animals. He posts adds on kingsnake using photos of animals most of which he doesnt have in stock but are used to bait people into calling him. If you want the animals he orders them from a local breeder or he gets them WC. Allot of the time hes baiting you in with his ads just to talk you into other animals.


Veronica Davidson
 
Hi Veronica,

Sorry to hear about your mis-fortune. Can you tell us who this
guy is and name he advertises under?? Might save alot of people
some headaches.
Hope the geckos make it!!
God Bless
Ben:)
 
Veronica.... We all appreciate the heads-up.... BUT.... it means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING if you don't tell us WHO THE HECK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT????
If you're going to bad-mouth someone.... at least have the guts to mention his name, email addy, and phone number, or you might as well not have even written this.... Ya know what I mean??

....Neil
 
Ditto--who is this person?
And why is the FBI investigating?
I understand the IRS--but that must mean that he also makes a decent amount of money doing this--otherwise the IRS doesnt usually bother for just a hobbiest.
Dana
 
Originally i mearly wanted to warn people to watch out who they deal with and to not only check them out but to listen to those bells and whistles that go off in your head when you feel something isnt right.
Since the guy is under investigation I just hope no one here tips him off.
He calls himself New World Exotics. His first name is Jon.
the FBI is watching him because he ships out of the west palm beach area. They are watching for illegaly imported animals as well as drugs.
They told me he brings in thousands of dollars a week and since i had just sent him allot of money thats why they called me. I invited them to my house to check out my animals if they wished but they said they spoke to airborne and the guy there who witnessed my husband opening the box and showing them the contence so there was no need.
 
I wanted to add that I did tell kingsnakes EVERYTHING i knew about this guy and what was said to me by him and the feds but they chose to let him continue to sell with them.
I guess to them money is money. You do have to pay to post on kingsnakes.com
I have noticed him posting on other classifieds as well but not here yet.
He likes to post animals that he has no intentions on selling just to get people to call him so he can talk them into buying other animals. He sells to allot of pets shops ... one i know of is in New York. So this guy gets around. YOu can understand why he is being watched. Shipped boxes out of west palm beach area in florida and not reporting an income certainly would tip off any authorities.
He had tried to presure a friend of mine into buying some geckos from his as well but when I told her what had happend to me and then that same day the Feds called me she decided not to.
No one likes presure tactics or a sneaky lying thief.
He is a wholesaler and buys from breeders then ups the price and sells online to make a profit. He doesnt have what he lists but he can get it for you... He takes orders then calls around for them and then ships them to you when he gets them in. So these animals are well traveled.
 
Florida is full of fantastic people, but it's full of POS's too. This is just one of many people who have set up illegal enterprises in Florida. I'm sure there's another out there right now under investigation from Florida...

So, glad I'm moving there in a week, lol.
jb
 
New World Exotics or Next World Exotics?

Can you please verify? There is a Jon Dvoretz at Next World Exotics that has been identified in a previous thread here already. Is this the same person?
 
YES that is the guy.
Untill i was called by the FBI i didnt know of he was under investigation.
had they not called me i would have only thought he was a pushy salesman.
 
THIS STORY SOUNDS

rather unusual. I cannot understand why the FBI and the IRS would be involved with a person selling Reptiles. Unless their is alot of other shady goings on. It does not even make sense for the big hullabaloo over examining 2 geckos at the airport. The whole things sounds ridiculous.

Just out of curiosity, did this person ship what you paid for? I can understand he may not be the brightest business man , but what are we talking about here. If anything he may be accused of a non caring attitude of dealing properly, but I think theirs more to this story then Reptiles when federal authorities get involved. I am also curious to know why did the FBI call, when normally these investigations are done not over the phone but in person.
A rather strange post to say the least. JERRY TRESSER
 
They were called in when the package he shipped looks fishy. Airborne said it didnt look right.. they didnt know what was in the box and called the authorities. They never elaberated on what was wrong with it or why. They simply held the package till we showed up to open it or till the inspecters would arrive the next day. My husband works for the USPS and if something doesnt look right they have the right to hold it and question it.
Like i said.. my husband opend it up right there at their substation.
I just got the call quizzing me about it and asking if I had other dealings with him....and no they dont always just show up at your door.
They got the report on the contents of the package after my husband opened it so there was no need for them to come to the house. I did offer to show them my reptiles if they questioned what I had.
The point of my post was to beware of who you deal with. Dealings over the internet are hard to trace. How do you get a persons qualifications or license varifications? how do you check their facilities? YOu take their word on it.
 
VERONICA

Can I safely say you initiated the sale. Did you not order these geckos from this person? What kind of licence are you concerned about. Most of the advertisers on Kingsnake are individuals ! You could have saved yourself alot of trouble by just buying what you needed from a pet shop . If Iam not mistaken, fat tailed geckos are quite common.

Now insofar as the FBI is concerned. Iam a bit confused here. Are you intimating that they have been following this persons movement prior to you dealing with him, or did the airline call the FBI because they thought the package was suspicious? Why would the airline concern themselves with this. Were the FBI present when your husband arrived? This whole thing seems a bit crazy. What exactly did this supplier do to you aside from not notifying you when he shipped. Did he rip you off in anyway? Did you loose any money? JERRY
 
Puzzling

The other puzzling thing is that apparently the FBI was asking why you had sent a lot of money to this guy? Two baby fat tails? How much was he selling them for in order to entice the curiosity of the feds?

Best regards.
 
I can say this, something does not sound right at all with this whole post. Why would you care about seeing this person license (or anyone else that is selling reptiles)? It is not your responsibility or concern. If you are purchasing an animal from a person or a company make no difference. Do you go into your local pet shop and ask to see their license? No you take it for granted. I have known of pet stores that have not had the correct license and no one questioned anything until they got caught doing something illegal. I can understand maybe the FBI being interested if there were possibly other illegal things going on with this company but that is up to the FBI to investigate.
Also I have never known of an FBI agent to contact someone over the phone about an investigation unless it was a follow up conversation after an initial in person meeting. In fact I use to be an agent with a Dept. of the Federal Government regarding Narcotics. This is not the protocol. They have to show you proof of who they are in order to question you about anything for an investigation. I say again something does not sound right with this. I am not saying you were not contacted by someone stating that they were with the FBI but rather I question the validity of their credentials (with no proof they are nothing more than a nobody) I have been investigated many times by different divisions of the Federal Government on many different occasions (security clearances and such) but that does not make me a bad person or make my sales of reptiles illegal. Until there is proof of any wrong doings with this company there is no need to spread false information about them.
How much money did you send to this company? baby Fat Tail Geckos are not high end priced animals (even Amelanistic Fat Tails)
 
ROB, I share your sentiments,

the whole thread is ridiculous. Aside from which, I agree with you and I pointed this out to Veronica about the FBI making phone calls instead of onsight visits. And where does the IRS come into this. From what I understand: she bought a pair of fatail geckos, that were shipped without her being provided information. She found out about the shipment through her girlfriend. The box looked suspicious when it arrived and the FBI was notified. The contents were examined by her husband, they took posession of the geckos, went home and received a call from the FBI, about the large amount of monies that went into paypal. Somewhere the IRS is involved. What a novel. JERRY

She has advised Kingsnake, is concerned about , facilities, licences, and is basically warning everybody about this person who is buying and reselling. I wonder if New World Exotics knows whats going on here.
 
I would have to agree and say that the story doesnt make a whole lot of sense as Veronica has portrayed it. Based on the fact that The FBI would call out of the blue and reveal to you that they're investigating someone for multiple offenses...just doesnt happen.
But I do know that if any carrier has justifiable suspicions on any package shipped through them, then they do hold the shipment pending investigation by either local or federal authorities depending on the urgency and circumstance of which they are holding the package.
For example, if the carrier feels that narcotics might be enclosed within the package, then the FBI or DEA would be called in based on the fact that its a federal offense to traffic narcotics via package carriers. Another example, if the carrier feels that the shipment might contain an item but can not identify its contents, then the local authorities would be called in to first identify the contents and then forward the findings to the respective federal agency.
Either way, I do know that the carrier and authorities do call to verify who you are, who shipped you the package, what the purpose of the shipment was, and what the contents of the shipment are. They also will either show up at your home with the package so it can be opened in your presence or they do have you come to the station and have the package opened there.
As for the telephone call revealing thir suspicions and even going as far as to revealing criminal offenses that person might or might not have committed...........JUST DOESNT HAPPEN !
 
Next World Exotics....

I just want to clarify a few things as all of this is making me very upset....

First, I am the store that Veronica is referring to in NY. And as far as Jon "getting around" even up here to us, is a good thing. As many pet stores up North here will tell you, in order for us to be able to carry alot of reptiles, snakes, etc. we need a wholesaler to buy them from. We have been dealing with Jon at Next World for some time and I have to say his business ethnics are awesome. He's is helpful and very professional and is always there for us. All of our reptiles have arrived in good health and with no problems. Everyone who has bought from us has agreed.

Second thing I would like to clarify. I have a few concerns of my own regarding this woman and her "friend" who was going to buy some crested geckos. Her friend, Donna, had contacted me asking about my crested I have for sale (which was purchased from Jon). After speaking with her and explaining what I had available she had mentioned that she had been in touch with Jon at Next World (not knowing that Jon and I knew each other). After I gave her my prices, she called Jon back and went back and forth trying to have us undercut each other. I spoke with Jon regarding this when we caught on as to what was really going on. And the finaly result is NOT that her friend didn't buy b/c of this whole supposed "FBI/IRS Incident" but rather that she did not have the money available to buy them and Jon nor I would not lower our prices. Finally she said she was asking her son for the money....ultimately could not afford to buy them.

Third....She said the FBI was called in due to a "suspicous" looking box. I am curious as to what is so suspicious. We have had numerous shipments delivered to us and have never been contacted by any government agency.


I can see posting to explain a concern about you feeling uncomfortable about shipping in winter months....but you should try calling the person you bought them from rather than telling the entire community that they are under investigation for DRUGS????

And as far as licenses...unless you are dealing with exotic mammals or endangered species, I know here in NY as Pet Store Owner, you need no special licensing.

You have to remember something. You are dealing with people's livelihood here. With this post of "suspicious packages" and "investigations for trafficing drugs and illegal reptiles" you are not only distroying a persons very good reputation, but you could also be destroying their lives. How do you think a persons family would feel getting a phone call from someone saying that their son's name is posted all over the net regarding drugs and illegal activity that isn't even true?
 
Oh, by the way...

And another thing I was wondering regarding the "suspicious package".....

Every box we have ever received from Jon has said in big bright red letter says "LIVE REPTILES".

I just assumed there was nothing suspicious about that and that it was quote self explanitory....

And here is an email from one of my customers who had bought a snake from us (One of Jon's snakes)

"Our snake arrived!!! on Wed. much to the joy of our son. He is 13 and loves snakes. We are all appreciating the snake's beauty. Thanks for the care info. We'll definitely refer others to Upstate! Many people don't realize they can purchase creatures online.
Thanks for this service.
Teresa Johnson "
 
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