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Beware of Steve Weissman aka Santa Cruz Reptiles

Ooops, when I said this abut half-way through "For at least the second time, he is saying that Steve is lying, as is now Dr. Owens !!" , I meant "David and Dr. Owens".
 
Anything yet?

I have to say that I am surprised at how this seems to be turning out. I really thought there would be a response by Steve and some sort of resolution.
I dont' question the empty box, given the witness and weight etc. But I was looking for some explanation for it. Primarily because Steve didn't look like a scammer to me.
Now that there has been no response, no attempt at restitution, no anything, I am beginning to change my mind. $7500 is a good chunk of change but it hardly seems worth ruining your reputation over, especially when it appears you expect to continue in this business.
 
Wow...

I heard about this thread today and I’m shocked. For someone to do this to David Thomson, one of the nicest, honest, and most generous guys in reptiles, is a real shame.

Anyone who for one second thinks David would be on the wrong end of the deal is wholly misguided and has never met the man. I hope you get your snake back Dave, or some fitting legal resolution. This is a tough business to stay trusting in and situations like this really take some of the luster and enjoyment out of breeding.

-Randy May
www.NeoScales.com
 
If it were me and the shipper didn't want to come good on the deal I'd be contacting my local police and family lawyer to start legal proceedings.

Regards,
Corey Woods
 
Corey Woods said:
If it were me and the shipper didn't want to come good on the deal I'd be contacting my local police and family lawyer to start legal proceedings.

Regards,
Corey Woods
Click to expand...

I have a sneaking suspicion that's already happened. :)
 
Wow

Even if Steve DID ship the snake, hes a bad business man for shipping a snake without insulation to help PERVENT the box from crushing, without a heat pack and something to contain the snake in.

I hope this gets resolved soon.
 
This is just another sad event to tarnish our hobby. One more reason to buy from well respected breeders.
Click to expand...

I honestly hope I'm not coming off sounding like a jerk or anything, but I think it's safe to say that in all fairness to anyone reading this thread, I believe that's what he "was" in the eyes of many. Check out his site, his previous threads here on the BOI, etc...seemed fairly respected to me, and actually a very familiar name to most in the hobby over the years.

Not to get :>off_to<: and I hate to being picky, I do agree with you on this being "another sad event to tarnish the hobby", the whole "buy from respected breeders" thing I have a major problem with. There's a TON of very, very honest micro-breeders out there that IMHO are more than deserving. With the exception of a few, it seems that customer service, overall pricing, and quality of the animal(s) will generally match if not exceed in many cases, and like I said before, that's what this guy "was" anyways...a respected breeder. Just my thoughts.

:bolt01:
 
What a load!!

No styro lining, no heats packs, no deli cup or bag, and the package was sent from Cali to the mid west in frickin January............give me a break!!

This thread stinks to high heaven as does "Steve the one post wonder's" side of the story. One post.......... pffffffffftttt and the stench of his words are all that remaine.
 
Just my two cents here. I had a load of problems this week. I shipped out five boxes via fedex priority overnight service on monday. Three of the boxes were going out of state (Florida). Of the five boxes, Tuesday I got three calls saying that each shipment arrived doa. I pride myself on shipping with styro and heat/cold packs depending on temp. All the boxes arrived warm with the heat packs still warm.
Without a thought, I refunded money on two of the three shipments, the third wanted me to look for another snake.
This is how it should be done according to my terms of service. I lost hundreds of dollars. I know that this isn't the 7500 that this thread represents, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet. Steve says that He has plenty of extra males...so time to pony up and send one...no matter what the situation is.....It didn't get there....Whether it is your fault...one of your employees, or UPS' fault.
No if's and's or but's about it.
TOM
 
DavidThomson said:
On Saturday, January 8th, I received the package from UPS, but it felt extremely light. I decided to carefully cut the tape only on one side and then down the middle, just in case. Sure enough, I peeked inside and found that the box was completely empty, no styrofoam lining or snake.
Click to expand...


Im sorry , but i am a bit confused and maybe someone can help me out. you decided to cut the tape on one side and down the middle ....just in case...JUST IN CASE of what???? I am not sure what you were trying to be careful of , that you automatically decided to to cut the box that way.....
 
Fedawg said:
Im sorry , but i am a bit confused and maybe someone can help me out. you decided to cut the tape on one side and down the middle ....just in case...JUST IN CASE of what???? I am not sure what you were trying to be careful of , that you automatically decided to to cut the box that way.....
Click to expand...

On Saturday, January 8th, I received the package from UPS, but it felt extremely light. I decided to carefully cut the tape only on one side and then down the middle, just in case. Sure enough, I peeked inside and found that the box was completely empty, no styrofoam lining or snake.
Click to expand...

How are you confused? The first sentence of the paragraph YOU quoted explains why he was suspicious..... :rolleyes:
 
How does the package being extremely light make one want to cut it open a certain way?? how would it be bad if he just opened the box any other way???

Please explain
 
Fedawg said:
How does the package being extremely light make one want to cut it open a certain way?? how would it be bad if he just opened the box any other way???

Please explain
Click to expand...

If he suspected it was very light because there was no snake in the box, than he likely felt he may be getting scammed. Had he just ripped open the box like a 2 year old at Christmas, the seller could have said, "The snake, styro liner, heat packs and packing material were in the box when I shipped it, you must have removed them".

By only opening half the box to peek inside, it makes it difficult to believe that the contents were able to be removed without tearing the box up further.
 
Well , it looks like Steve is sayin that anyway. also , from looks of the box , i dont think you would have to "tear" it open from all directions to take out the snake and the styro lining . to me it doesnt seem right , reguardless of the weight of the box , that someone would only cut the box to "peek" inside to see what is in there because they thought they were being scammed .....If your scammed or not , it doesnt really matter how the box was open .....Also , why doesnt Dave contact UPS ?If he knew Steve was going to ship UPS , a carrier that doesnt allow snakes , why did he accept shipment through them of such value , knowing if anything happened there is know way to get money though them?......
 
Fedawg said:
Well , it looks like Steve is sayin that anyway. also , from looks of the box , i dont think you would have to "tear" it open from all directions to take out the snake and the styro lining . to me it doesnt seem right , reguardless of the weight of the box , that someone would only cut the box to "peek" inside to see what is in there because they thought they were being scammed .....If your scammed or not , it doesnt really matter how the box was open .....Also , why doesnt Dave contact UPS ?If he knew Steve was going to ship UPS , a carrier that doesnt allow snakes , why did he accept shipment through them of such value , knowing if anything happened there is know way to get money though them?......
Click to expand...

Did you read the entire thread, or just skim over the important parts? Seems you may have missed the part where it was stated that the box isn't one of those with the styrofoam sides, bottom and top inserts, but the molded styrofoam, almost impossible to get that out of half an opened box. And it absolutely matters how you open the box if you intend to use it as evidence in a civil/criminal case. "reguardless(sic) of the weight of the box" Are you kidding? So if you are expecting a box containing a snake that weighs 500g, packing materials, heat pack, etc... and it arrives weighing less than a pound that you aren't going to be suspicious? You typed that with a straight face?

As for UPS, that is the shippers responsibility to try and recover from them, considering he never fulfilled his obligation of a live delivery.

Regardless, you are entitled to your opinion, I'm not going to debate your interpretations of what may or may not have happened. To be honest it appears as though you have already decided to take the sellers side, I wonder do you guys know each other, friends, done business together, etc...?
 
You have a lot of questions Derek .. aka ... Fedawg ... so here's one for you

Derek poses this question:
Also , why doesnt Dave contact UPS ?If he knew Steve was going to ship UPS , a carrier that doesnt allow snakes , why did he accept shipment through them of such value , knowing if anything happened there is know way to get money though them?......
Click to expand...

Questions for you Derek:

1) If you were Dave, what would you have told UPS when you called them, and what would have been the reaction from UPS favorable to Dave?

2) Which carrier would you have chosen that would reimburse any entity for the empty box?

3) As for a carrier to "get money through them", which carrier would you have chosen that would reimburse the recipient? Every carrier that I know of reimburses the shipper, if the carrier is liable.

Here's an answer for you:
Dave suspected foul play. He did minimal tampering and cutting so as to preserve the evidence in the event there was an allegation that the box had been openned in transit. I can guarantee you that the police and shipper are very glad that Dave used some common sense. I can guarantee you that Steve is not very glad that Dave used common sense.
Anxiously awaiting your answers !
 
Chamco said:
Derek poses this question:


Questions for you Derek:

1) If you were Dave, what would you have told UPS when you called them, and what would have been the reaction from UPS favorable to Dave?

2) Which carrier would you have chosen that would reimburse any entity for the empty box?

3) As for a carrier to "get money through them", which carrier would you have chosen that would reimburse the recipient? Every carrier that I know of reimburses the shipper, if the carrier is liable.

Here's an answer for you:
Dave suspected foul play. He did minimal tampering and cutting so as to preserve the evidence in the event there was an allegation that the box had been openned in transit. I can guarantee you that the police and shipper are very glad that Dave used some common sense. I can guarantee you that Steve is not very glad that Dave used common sense.
Anxiously awaiting your answers !
Click to expand...



Answers:

1. Like i said above i would not have gone though UPS....But , I would at least call them and notify them of my situation , instead of AUTOMATICALLY throwing the blame on Steve. This is not saying that Steve didnt do what he is accused of , but in a situation like this , you have to explore all the likely possibilities.

2. There is no carrier that would reimburse full value of the snake. That is a given , you know that as well as i do. But for a $7500 snake , wouldnt you want to spend the extra $40 or so and have it sent Delta Dash ,so it didnt have to spend a much longer time in transit?

3. If the shipper was reimbursed , David would know about it by contacting the carrier , and would know whether the person he bought it from , has his money or not.

I am not here taking sides , but i am trying to explain what doesnt make sense.

In the very first post of this thread , David PILES up all of the evidence and detective work he has done. Explaining how he called ULINE , and how he "specially" opened the box.

Now , then a few posts later , Dr. Owens comes in and says he was there at the time when David recieved and opened the package......

So in davids first post , he is very specific on all he did , and all the proof he has that there was nothing in the box , YET FAILS to say that he also had an EYEWITNESS?????

I would think a reputable eyewitness would be something i would have let ppl know right off the bat.....
 
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