Ballpythonbakery
New member
I've been out of the reptile community for almost 10 years now and just recently decided to get back into it and focus mostly on ball pythons. That being said I actually forgot about this area of the internet.
I contacted Frank at CBN about an ad on KS for an albino female. I asked him if he had more because I was looking for groups of things I want to avoid spending too much of the budget on shipping expenses in new acquisitions. Frank called me (as I understand he does not like texts) and he replied he had 2 yearling females for sale. We agreed on price shipped and waited for Monday to . (This week)
Shipment arrives. Box is crisp and looks untattered. I note that in pen it is written " live harmless reptile 1 python regius." It has a single piece of tape to both sides closing the flaps tightly and the fed ex label covers the top tape.
I go out to my truck and open the box to be polite of others in the fed ex center and pry away the lid of foam insulation. The heat pack taped neatly inside folded newspaper to the lid. First bag comes out, is obviously recycled as it says "Frank and a different morph with sex listed". I pop the zip tie and pull out a nice looking albino as described (I've not confirmed sex yet) and go to the second bag.
Low and behold the second bag has no snake. This bag still has the zip tie and is also marked "Frank and a differing morph with gender and date" which again I assume is a recycle as well. I immediately check the box for loose snake to no avail and inspect the bag finding a quarter size rip in the seam of the bag.
I also immediately email and text Frank to let him know that there is an issue. A short while later he calls and we coverse about the issue. He asks if the box looks like it's been opened and resealed and I reply that it has not. He then asks if there is any holes in the box and I reply that there is not. He speculates that maybe a fed ex employee may have taken a snake and I reply that it does not appear to have been tampered with. He then asks me if there is a hole in the bag and I say yes.
I then ask him if he wants to call fed ex and he denies it and says this sort of thing has happened before and no one loses but the seller. I tell him I've never had a problem.
Frank then tells me he will refund me one snake. He does refund me the money for one which is fine.
Now... I'm at a loss for what happened in this transaction. Being that I was NOT there when he packaged I don't know anything on his end. I SUSPECT that he didn't have a second female or sold it to someone else. I could be completely off tilt thinking this but receiving one snake seems odd. I've only had one bad experience with shipping by a newer breeder that I bought az mountain kingsnakes from and he cooked them with heat packs.
So the moral of the story is that this transaction seems off and while I'm not out any money over it after he refunded the cash but I still feel the transaction wasn't up and up. The snake I did receive looks healthy and as advertised but I still don't feel right about the missing second one. I won't say Frank cheated but I probably won't purchase from him again just to stay out of awkward situations.
Yes I realize that some could say I may have just said I didn't get it and I have no way to prove my end either but Frank did pay up quickly without much protest.
I guess I'll just say note to buyers: buyer beware and make sure you cover your bets. I won't say anything outright negative because this is such an odd experience. I also posted this because as a basically new guy back in the business I want my name to have no stigma associated with any wrong doing. This entire post is a tale of how we should all be cautious in our dealings regardless of whom we are dealing with.
I contacted Frank at CBN about an ad on KS for an albino female. I asked him if he had more because I was looking for groups of things I want to avoid spending too much of the budget on shipping expenses in new acquisitions. Frank called me (as I understand he does not like texts) and he replied he had 2 yearling females for sale. We agreed on price shipped and waited for Monday to . (This week)
Shipment arrives. Box is crisp and looks untattered. I note that in pen it is written " live harmless reptile 1 python regius." It has a single piece of tape to both sides closing the flaps tightly and the fed ex label covers the top tape.
I go out to my truck and open the box to be polite of others in the fed ex center and pry away the lid of foam insulation. The heat pack taped neatly inside folded newspaper to the lid. First bag comes out, is obviously recycled as it says "Frank and a different morph with sex listed". I pop the zip tie and pull out a nice looking albino as described (I've not confirmed sex yet) and go to the second bag.
Low and behold the second bag has no snake. This bag still has the zip tie and is also marked "Frank and a differing morph with gender and date" which again I assume is a recycle as well. I immediately check the box for loose snake to no avail and inspect the bag finding a quarter size rip in the seam of the bag.
I also immediately email and text Frank to let him know that there is an issue. A short while later he calls and we coverse about the issue. He asks if the box looks like it's been opened and resealed and I reply that it has not. He then asks if there is any holes in the box and I reply that there is not. He speculates that maybe a fed ex employee may have taken a snake and I reply that it does not appear to have been tampered with. He then asks me if there is a hole in the bag and I say yes.
I then ask him if he wants to call fed ex and he denies it and says this sort of thing has happened before and no one loses but the seller. I tell him I've never had a problem.
Frank then tells me he will refund me one snake. He does refund me the money for one which is fine.
Now... I'm at a loss for what happened in this transaction. Being that I was NOT there when he packaged I don't know anything on his end. I SUSPECT that he didn't have a second female or sold it to someone else. I could be completely off tilt thinking this but receiving one snake seems odd. I've only had one bad experience with shipping by a newer breeder that I bought az mountain kingsnakes from and he cooked them with heat packs.
So the moral of the story is that this transaction seems off and while I'm not out any money over it after he refunded the cash but I still feel the transaction wasn't up and up. The snake I did receive looks healthy and as advertised but I still don't feel right about the missing second one. I won't say Frank cheated but I probably won't purchase from him again just to stay out of awkward situations.
Yes I realize that some could say I may have just said I didn't get it and I have no way to prove my end either but Frank did pay up quickly without much protest.
I guess I'll just say note to buyers: buyer beware and make sure you cover your bets. I won't say anything outright negative because this is such an odd experience. I also posted this because as a basically new guy back in the business I want my name to have no stigma associated with any wrong doing. This entire post is a tale of how we should all be cautious in our dealings regardless of whom we are dealing with.
