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Bad Guy BaseballBeardies AkA Mac Watkins

i received the dragon this afternoon... she definitel walks funny...her back legs are weird... ive heard of the term "swimmer" used in dog terms, and it is pretty much what i think of her.. so her name will probably be fishy...lol.... she is in shed and of course she pooped, right on my hand... and she also ate a couple of dubia and a baby superworm... im gonna try to fatten her up... ill try to post up pics and a thread to track her progress....
 
i received the dragon this afternoon... she definitel walks funny...her back legs are weird... ive heard of the term "swimmer" used in dog terms, and it is pretty much what i think of her.. so her name will probably be fishy...lol.... she is in shed and of course she pooped, right on my hand... and she also ate a couple of dubia and a baby superworm... im gonna try to fatten her up... ill try to post up pics and a thread to track her progress....

Glad to hear she made it through shipping and to you so well. Good luck with her!
 
Diana, she is doing well... eating dubia and baby supers, mustard greens and collard greens... i have been treating her for what i thinks is MBD.... ive been reading and reading and because of her lack of control of her back legs and because the base of her tail and legs were so thin, ive come to the conclusion of MBD.... she has actually been taking liquid calcium right from the syringe...and she seems to know how to drink out of the syringe...she seems smart.....lol.... like she knows what im tryin to do... she poops 2-3 times a day and eats plenty... so i think she will make a good recovery... as soon as i fine time, i will update yall with some pictures.... her tail is seems fuller..... thanks for asking.... take care....
 
Just thought I would share a bit of my recent experience with Mac Watkins. I am not making another BOI thread as I didn't lose any money but it is similar to the situation here.

Mac had a double het leather male posted when one of the folks in this thread posted the link the this BOI thread. I had told Mac I was interested in his male but told him, I would not complete the transaction until he addressed this thread.

Mac started to contact me after he replied here. We were working out a deal to arrange the transaction. There were a couple of red flags that made me uneasy with the whole deal which I will outline below. Mac asked for payment via paypal as a "gift" to avoid fees. This of course makes any chance on recouping cash after a scam impossible. The second was that he wanted to ship the animal via USPS. I had attempted to give him the link to SYR.com for a better shipping method which he disregarded.

When I was going send payment, the name on the paypal address was not Mac Watkins.

Against my better judgement, I was going to give Mac the benefit of the doubt. I told Mac that I would be sending payment on Feb. 15th. I would have sent payment earlier but my weather has been not acceptable for shipping. I got notice today from Mac that he sold the dragon to another buyer. When I asked him what happened to our agreement I got this:

Mac Watkins to me
show details Feb 4 (7 days ago)
Well I don't want to ship till the week following. It is to cold to ship and risk it. Let me know?

That was 7 days ago Mac. You are conducting business the same way you did that got you the BOI thread. Making a deal with one person then fishing other deals with other people is not ethical business. I am not telling you how to run you "business" as you can run it how you see fit. I am telling you that if you want to make it on Fauna, you have to be a trusted seller and you have not earned that title.
- Hide quoted text -

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 6:29 PM, Mac Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
Even if we did have an agreement I don't have to sell him to you. Who are you to tell me how to run a business. I could give him away if I wanted or I could keep even. Show me exactly were I say I agree to hold him for you till you pay. With many other people you see with a business they require a deposit to hold him. I didn't know you were expecting me to hold him.


On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 8:15 PM, Josh Davis <[email protected]> wrote:
I will be posting this in the BOI thread. We never had an agreement Mac? I have our entire email history saved. You can not do business like this and expect to make it on Fauna.

On Feb 10, 2011 6:11 PM, "Mac Watkins" <[email protected]> wrote:
> We never had an agreement on him except that I would send him on Tuesday
> when I got the money. I can't assure that your going to get a dragon unless
> you pay for him. I hate when this happens to me, it is just I need to sell
> all of my dragons. Goodluck finding dragons. I hope you understand.
>
>

>> On Feb 10, 2011 5:14 PM, "Mac Watkins" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > I am sorry but he has actually been sold. I hate when it happens this
>> way. I
>> > sell to who ever buys first.
>> >
>> > On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 5:40 PM, Mac Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Alright that sounds good. Sorry for all of the confusion that has been
>> >> happening. I will send Tuesday for Wednsday arrival.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 3:54 PM, Josh Davis <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> And that would be Tuesday the 15th. Will still need some heat packs of
>> >>> course but I think we will finally be able to complete the transaction.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Josh Davis <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> If that works, I will be sending you $215 via paypal on Tuesday
>> morning
>> >>>> (the $15 to cover paypal fees for not sending as a gift).
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 1:40 PM, Josh Davis <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>> Yes if possible as Monday is supposed to dip down a bit and Tues/Wed
>> are
>> >>>>> looking to be a bit warmer
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 1:39 PM, Mac Watkins <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>> Yes it would work. If I send him out here on Monday he will arrive
>> >>>>>> Tuesday. Where you wanting me to send him Tuesday and arrive on
>> Wednesday?
 
I sell my dragon to who ever buys him first. You said a week ago that you were going to pay for him. Yes I do offer my dragons to multiple people. There is no since in getting mad at me becuase you didn't buy him in time. I am not obligated to sell him to you because we were working out the shipping problem. I never said I was going to hold him for you. Just becuase you live in cold weather doesn't mean I should hold him for you. You shouldn't have wanted bearded dragons if you can't take them in yet. If you wanted me to hold him for you then why didn't you ask? The other people who bought him offered more money for him as well. I didn't want to really sell him to you for $200 but I was willing to because I just wanted a quick sale. Hints to why I didn't immeaditly reply to your question about if it was the right paypal address. I didn't want to back out becuase I already agreed so I said yes. You never replyed in time so it was to late to send him out. Plus it's not the smartest idea to send the money just hours before shipping. I was frustrated at this point so you weren't on my top priority to sell to. It seems like you are just mad at me becuase you didn't get the dragon. I mean posting "Buyer Beware" on my ads. I don't have to sell to anyone I don't want to. I am aloud to sell to whoever.
 
The other people who bought him offered more money for him as well. I didn't want to really sell him to you for $200 but I was willing to because I just wanted a quick sale. Hints to why I didn't immeaditly reply to your question about if it was the right paypal address. I didn't want to back out becuase I already agreed so I said yes.

While I agree that you can sell your animals to anyone who is willing to buy them (is that list shrinking yet?), backing out for a better price AFTER you agree is kinda sleazy. If you agree to something, you need to honor it.
 
While I agree that you can sell your animals to anyone who is willing to buy them (is that list shrinking yet?), backing out for a better price AFTER you agree is kinda sleazy. If you agree to something, you need to honor it.

:iagree:

But it appears to me that he was waiting on payment and the first to pay just happened to be a higher price.

Buyers have to realize that often (more times than not it seems) the "I'm sending the payment on XXX day" money never arrives. I see no problem with the policy of selling the animal to whoever pays first.

The whole "you are trying to sell your animal to multiple people at the same time" comment made earlier is just ridiculous. Negotiations very rarely take place one person at at time. If there are multiple people inquiring about an animal you would reply to each email in the order it was received and the first to pay gets the animal. I know others have a policy of you inquired first so you get first shot and that is another perfectly acceptable way to do business. HOWEVER, choosing to use the first to pay method is not bad business either in my opinion.

Also, in reference to asking paypal payments as a gift. What is wrong with this?:shrug01: As long as the buyer does not have to pay the fees, whats the big deal? Some sellers actually add a 3% fee for paypal transactions. Most people just take that fee as the cost of doing business but, again, choosing to try to avoid (or offset) the fee is not bad business either. It is something that may cost you business (add the fee to the cost that is), but that is something that each seller has to evaluate for themselves.
 
The only thing that concerns me about mac is his shipping practices... The bearded dragon that i rescued from him was shipped via usps....( i paid $40 + 250 dubia that i shipped) so it would be shipped via ups or fedex.... well i get home at 4:15 the day the dragon was supposed to arrive and there is a note in my mailbox saying "sorry we missed you" from the mailman... so i made it to the post office at 4:29 and they luckily had the package.... my thought is that if you are shipping a live animal overnight, use fedex or ups...much more reliable.... i think using usps as your shipper gives the impression of either being cheap or not caring very much... .. craig morel
 
Also, in reference to asking paypal payments as a gift. What is wrong with this?:shrug01: As long as the buyer does not have to pay the fees, whats the big deal? Some sellers actually add a 3% fee for paypal transactions. Most people just take that fee as the cost of doing business but, again, choosing to try to avoid (or offset) the fee is not bad business either. It is something that may cost you business (add the fee to the cost that is), but that is something that each seller has to evaluate for themselves.

As far as I understand it, you can't get a refund on money sent as a "gift", ever. You can't file a claim or request a chargeback. If the animal is never shipped, or is DOA, or is unhealthy, if you sent the funds as a "gift" you're SOL and PayPal won't do anything for you. It's a technique scammers sometimes use, so it makes some buyers worry. (I am *not* saying Mac is a scammer here -- just that some buyers consider someone wanting funds sent as a "gift" to be a red flag.)
 
As far as I understand it, you can't get a refund on money sent as a "gift", ever. You can't file a claim or request a chargeback. If the animal is never shipped, or is DOA, or is unhealthy, if you sent the funds as a "gift" you're SOL and PayPal won't do anything for you. It's a technique scammers sometimes use, so it makes some buyers worry. (I am *not* saying Mac is a scammer here -- just that some buyers consider someone wanting funds sent as a "gift" to be a red flag.)

Exactly! I'd pay the seller's fees before I'd send as a gift...and I walk whenever asked to pay the fees. Once I agree upon a price, don't expect me to add 3%...but now I'm venting about others!! lol

I also do not hold animals for someone without a 25% non-refundable deposit. I used to do it, thinking that I was being nice, but I ended up being a sucker and missing out on real sales.
 
Yes I totally respect the fact that he was first to come. He told me he was going to pay and then he never did. What would I do if it turns out that he backs out at the last second? That's why I do first pay first get. Then when I sell him to someone the guy gets totally mad. He sent me emails telling me about how he was going to post this and it would bring out who I truly am. I will put it on her tommorow but to me it sounded a like a threat. I offered him to buy as a gift or he could just send some extra money. Someone else told me to do it this way so I had no idea. Either way he said he was going to send extra money to cover paypal fine. Craig Fedex would cost me about $70 which no one who is buying a dragon wants to pay an Ups is allegal to ship. Atleast for me.
 
Craig Fedex would cost me about $70 which no one who is buying a dragon wants to pay an Ups is allegal to ship. Atleast for me.

Have you looked into using Ship Your Reptiles? They offer, essentially, discounted FedEx shipping. I've never seen a SYR quote over about $45 for something like a beardie, at least back when they were with UPS. I haven't gotten price quotes since they switched to FedEx, but they're still cheaper than going to FedEx directly.

It is legal, though, to ship lizards through UPS -- just not snakes.
 
As far as I understand it, you can't get a refund on money sent as a "gift", ever. You can't file a claim or request a chargeback. If the animal is never shipped, or is DOA, or is unhealthy, if you sent the funds as a "gift" you're SOL and PayPal won't do anything for you. It's a technique scammers sometimes use, so it makes some buyers worry. (I am *not* saying Mac is a scammer here -- just that some buyers consider someone wanting funds sent as a "gift" to be a red flag.)

Ah, I did not know that you could not get a refund if it was sent as a gift. I always use a credit card through paypal so I don't worry about that very much. In THAT case, I agree that this could be a red flag is someone has bad guy threads already posted! But because of my method of payment, I *personally* would not worry about it.

Also, I the reason that I choose to use a credit card through paypal is that even when I have sent a payment for "goods" they still told me I was SOL when I did not get the snakes!:ack2: Because the buyer protection only applies to ebay items! So we should all keep that in mind too.
 
Have you looked into using Ship Your Reptiles? They offer, essentially, discounted FedEx shipping. I've never seen a SYR quote over about $45 for something like a beardie, at least back when they were with UPS. I haven't gotten price quotes since they switched to FedEx, but they're still cheaper than going to FedEx directly.

It is legal, though, to ship lizards through UPS -- just not snakes.

their rates are higher than my rates. Better to get your own fedex account than rely on 3rd parties
 
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