Okay, I realize this is very old and I should have posted this earlier but this guy had a good reputation and then he disappeared from the net so I figured something happened to him. Well, now he is back posting ads so, here is my story. I've already resigned myself to not ever seeing my money or the snakes I paid for so I am just hoping to prevent others for making the same mistake. As usual, I have all the e-mails saved and can and will post them if needed but there are a lot.
Way back on December 16th of 2003, I contacted Mr. Beard (e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.mrbigzsnakes.com) about some rattlesnakes he had for sale. He replied that next morning and said he still had them. I PayPal-ed him $200 that very day. I asked him at my request to hold off shipping until after the holiday season which he agreed saying it as too cold in Ohio to ship anyway.
On the 29th of December, I e-mailed him and asked to setup a shipping time. He said that following Monday, the 5th of January 2004. There was some hiccups on my part. I asked if he could ship to another airport in the nearby state as it was closer but it was a protected species so cannot go through that state. My mistake... But I let him know and to ship to the airport in my state and asked him to let me know when he could ship.
I didn't hear from him so I e-mailed him again on the 11th of Jan. He got back to me and said it was still too cold. That's fine with me. Obviously, weather can be a big hinderance. Well, TWO months later, I e-mailed him again hoping the weather had warmed up enough to ship. I e-mailed him on the 29th of March and he replied on the 31st that he will ship that next week. Then, nothing. I didn't hear from him nor did I get anything shipped to me...
I sent Willy another e-mail on June 18th saying that I haven't heard from him and that I had been busy with work and herping. No response...
Then the funny stuff began. I saw an add on July 14th from Venom Central posting for some snakes for sale and thought it funny that it looked like Willy but he was posting under a different name. I had thought something happened to him so that is why he hasn't been online. Guess not... I replied to that ad and asked Willy again to ship. He replied two days later and said to call and setup a time to ship. If I recall correctly, I tried calling once but didn't get through.
Anyway, still nothing until July 27th when I get an e-mail from Willy. He said he would ship on Wednesday. I had just gotten back in town from a trip and I e-mailed him that any day he wanted to ship was fine. I just wanted my snakes. He didn't ship that Wednesday even though I had cleared my calender to make the 4.5 hour trip up to the airport! Nor did I hear from him. On the 29th of July, I sent him another e-mail asking why he didn't ship...
On the 30th, he replied asking me to call him as he wanted to talk to me about something. At this point, I was getting very fed up and sent several e-mails the next few days telling him to just ship and e-mail me the tracking number.
And of course, that is the last I heard of him... until now!
I saw on k.com that he posted two ads under Venom Central (http://www.venomcentral.com). Oh well... and people wonder why I prefer doing business over e-mail. It's only because crap like this happens and at least I have a log of what went on. So, it has been over 16 months since I sent my $200. I figured that I haven't seen it nor my snakes for that long that I won't see either again. Before anyone buys from Willy Beard, I would seriously advise them not to. I will be sending Willy an e-mail to let him know of this thread and we will see if he actually does anything to make things right.
Way back on December 16th of 2003, I contacted Mr. Beard (e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.mrbigzsnakes.com) about some rattlesnakes he had for sale. He replied that next morning and said he still had them. I PayPal-ed him $200 that very day. I asked him at my request to hold off shipping until after the holiday season which he agreed saying it as too cold in Ohio to ship anyway.
On the 29th of December, I e-mailed him and asked to setup a shipping time. He said that following Monday, the 5th of January 2004. There was some hiccups on my part. I asked if he could ship to another airport in the nearby state as it was closer but it was a protected species so cannot go through that state. My mistake... But I let him know and to ship to the airport in my state and asked him to let me know when he could ship.
I didn't hear from him so I e-mailed him again on the 11th of Jan. He got back to me and said it was still too cold. That's fine with me. Obviously, weather can be a big hinderance. Well, TWO months later, I e-mailed him again hoping the weather had warmed up enough to ship. I e-mailed him on the 29th of March and he replied on the 31st that he will ship that next week. Then, nothing. I didn't hear from him nor did I get anything shipped to me...
I sent Willy another e-mail on June 18th saying that I haven't heard from him and that I had been busy with work and herping. No response...
Then the funny stuff began. I saw an add on July 14th from Venom Central posting for some snakes for sale and thought it funny that it looked like Willy but he was posting under a different name. I had thought something happened to him so that is why he hasn't been online. Guess not... I replied to that ad and asked Willy again to ship. He replied two days later and said to call and setup a time to ship. If I recall correctly, I tried calling once but didn't get through.
Anyway, still nothing until July 27th when I get an e-mail from Willy. He said he would ship on Wednesday. I had just gotten back in town from a trip and I e-mailed him that any day he wanted to ship was fine. I just wanted my snakes. He didn't ship that Wednesday even though I had cleared my calender to make the 4.5 hour trip up to the airport! Nor did I hear from him. On the 29th of July, I sent him another e-mail asking why he didn't ship...
On the 30th, he replied asking me to call him as he wanted to talk to me about something. At this point, I was getting very fed up and sent several e-mails the next few days telling him to just ship and e-mail me the tracking number.
And of course, that is the last I heard of him... until now!
I saw on k.com that he posted two ads under Venom Central (http://www.venomcentral.com). Oh well... and people wonder why I prefer doing business over e-mail. It's only because crap like this happens and at least I have a log of what went on. So, it has been over 16 months since I sent my $200. I figured that I haven't seen it nor my snakes for that long that I won't see either again. Before anyone buys from Willy Beard, I would seriously advise them not to. I will be sending Willy an e-mail to let him know of this thread and we will see if he actually does anything to make things right.
