Bad Guy Francesco Munoz of MOC Reptiles

[Kodyr113]

For clarification's sake first, my name is Kody Ross.

I had a poor experience dealing with MOC Reptiles. I came across 1.1 Uroplatus Sameiti posted on their page online. I was immediately interested, and so I messaged them directly. I was told that the animals were still available, and after asking some questions about specifics, I began to make arrangement for the payment. Suddenly, I was told that the animals had already been bought. I had been in contact with them over the course of a day since they posted the animals for sale, and I was never once told that there was anyone being talked to about them, much less that they were apparently given preferential treatment. Without apology, I was told that two U. sikorae were instead available for me. After calming down, I tried to leave a fair, but honest review on their page, so that others might be aware of their business dealing beforehand. My review was promptly (within a few hours) deleted, and they instead had a falsified 5 star rating, with a single 4 star left as well. I have been up front with all I've done in regards to them, even telling them that I would instead be leaving my review here, where things are kept fair and honest. I will upload my records of the conversation, as well as my deleted review. In my *opinion*, selling an animal out from underneath an in-progress deal is extremely shady, as is removing a review so that no one knows of your poor business practices. Thank you all, for reading my warning about this company.

 

[snakesareawesome]

What you fail to understand is people constantly say they are purchasing "for sure" and then disappear never to be heard from again. As a result, the vast majority of sellers with any experience at all go with a money in hand policy. That is to say a deal is never done until you've actually paid and unless some reservation has been agreed upon those animals remain up for sale.

 

[Kodyr113]

I completely understand that. However, is there any legitimate reason that they couldn't have been up front with that information? Is there any reason to withhold that practice? The act of discussing a deal with multiple sellers is indeed common and understandable, but dishonesty about it comes across as sketchy. As I said, I will upload pictures of my experience here, but I must wait until I can do so on my computer. Stringing someone along is not acceptable, especially when the dealer is asked specifically that.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I completely understand that. However, is there any legitimate reason that they couldn't have been up front with that information? Is there any reason to withhold that practice? The act of discussing a deal with multiple sellers is indeed common and understandable, but dishonesty about it comes across as sketchy. As I said, I will upload pictures of my experience here, but I must wait until I can do so on my computer. Stringing someone along is not acceptable, especially when the dealer is asked specifically that.

It is the usual default whether stated or not for anyone experienced as a seller. Unless I am promised payment by a certain time and agree to that window or unless I outright say I am holding it for a person (and that rarely happens), then a buyer can come along and secure the animal while one or more prospective buyers are gathering information or gearing up to pay. Fortune really does favor the bold. It is also smart as a buyer to do one's research before a purchase, but those are the factors being played against one another if the object of desire is in demand. For add-ons, take your time. For project-critical purchases, being decisive tends to carry the day unless a person is fine with waiting for a nebulous later time for the next opportunity.

A person has a handmade vase on the shelf of the store portion of his/her artisanal workshop. One of a kind. A guy comes in daily to ask about it. He appreciates the vase. Appreciates its craftsmanship. Internally, he may be gearing up to buy it. Asks about the techniques employed on making said vase. Comes in to find the vase is not on the shelf later that day. Dismayed. Asks what happened. Gets told a buyer fancied its appearance and paid for it. Took it home as the natural consequence of buying it. The guy feels a sense of loss. Totally normal. The artist appreciates this, but it was not on the shelf only to be admired. It was on the shelf to sell. Everybody needs to eat. Admiration does not fill a bank account.

 

[Lucille]

I completely understand that. However, is there any legitimate reason that they couldn't have been up front with that information?

There are several legit reasons. The first and most obvious is that there may not have been any communications with the seller besides yours for the past days, it may be that someone showed interest and then purchased the critter within a few minutes late in the game.

The second, is that sometimes buyers feel that if they are told others are looking, that is just a ploy to make them buy.

Really, unless the seller specifically agreed to hold, or to hold with a deposit that was paid to him, or were fully paid for, there are no expectations that the critter is going to be held for you or that other possible customers need to be discussed.

 

[Lucille]

and they instead had a falsified 5 star rating, with a single 4 star left as well.

Can you please show proof of how you knew the rating was falsified?

 

[RaceSanchez]

In my Opinion, I don't see the justification for starting a thread on anyone let alone- Moc Reptiles. Inquires and animal sold are two entirely different situations! Things of this sort, happens all the time. Back and forth with different customers, answering questions, weather, payment method, shipping dates etc. etc. is part of the business- until the animal is sold!

This particular read/situation has happen to me several times. When i was told, the animal has sold, I was not upset because, I never sent payment. Unless i missed something on prior post's, I don't see how the animal was sold from underneath ya' = )

Mario.

 

[Snake-Queen]

How many messages back and forth are we talking about? Over what span of time?

Was this on their website with a purchase now option or FB?

 

[exoticsdr]

If I had a nickle for every time I took the time to ask just one more question before pulling the trigger and ended up losing a deal because someone else KNEW they wanted it worse than me. Unfortunately, you snooze, you lose.

 

[Bbcatcher]

I can understand the frustration; however, as the others have said, it is common practice. The phrase "money talks, and BS walks" applies in business. If there was not an agreement for them to wait until you were able to purchase the animals, can you blame them for selling the animals, after all they are a business and they do want to make money.

 

[Herpin Man]

I was told that the animals were still available, and after asking some questions about specifics, I began to make arrangement for the payment. Suddenly, I was told that the animals had already been bought.

Was there ever a point, between your asking questions and then making payment arrangements, when you said "I'll take them" and the seller responded "OK it's a deal", or something to that effect? In other words, did you verbally agree to buy them, and did the seller then verbally agree to wait for the payment?
If so, and if you sent the funds on or before the agreed upon time, then it sounds like you have a legitimate gripe.
If, on the other hand, you simply asked questions and then went about transferring the funds without clearly relaying your intentions to the seller, then it's simply a matter of somebody else getting them first. I've had that happen to me many times. While I'm mulling it over, or asking questions, somebody else is sending in their money. It's disappointing for sure, but those are the breaks. From the sellers perspective, they can't really be expected to turn away a certain sale in favor of an uncertain one.

 

[T Rex]

Snooze You Lose

You have no leg to stand on as it pertains to the loss of the purchase Kody. Sorry but if you snooze you lose and there are hundreds of thousands of people that can tell the same story. You do however have my attention and am anxiously awaiting for some evidence to support your allegation of tampering and modifying your rating. Please present some evidence. Other wise we are left with a possible fraudulent allegation perpetrated by Mr. Ross. I hope that's not the case. As previously requested, Tell us what happened

 

[chongorojo]

Yes, we all get the snooze you loose aspect. Nothing there, BUT deleting reviews vs commenting under them as to what actually happened is pretty shady imo.. so what no deal no review allowed? Thats the only part that stinks here other than the premature bad guy thread..imo

 

[Snake-Queen]

BUT deleting reviews vs commenting under them as to what actually happened is pretty shady imo.. so what no deal no review allowed? Thats the only part that stinks here other than the premature bad guy thread..imo

I am guessing they felt the review was unwarranted, as they had not done business with the OP. I would probably remove a review from someone I hadn't done business with.

 

[Kodyr113]

I'm sorry for no response, but as I said before, I need yo upload my pictures from my computer. I understand where many of you are coming from, but I still cannot say that I agree.

 

[Snake-Queen]

I'm sorry for no response, but as I said before, I need yo upload my pictures from my computer. I understand where many of you are coming from, but I still cannot say that I agree.

Posting attachments how to: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304671

 

[Kodyr113]

Thank you.

 

[Kodyr113]

Now that I've been able to get to my computer, here are the screenshots that I have. These first four are the messages between the MOC page and myself. I understand that many of you disagree with my assessment of the situation, and that's fine. I clarified at the end of my original post that, although my situation did in fact occur, my opinions are still my own. Regardless of what common practice may be, that doesn't make it a good practice in any way. Please feel free to look at my records of what happened, including upload after this post, and make your own decision. Although I haven't had a great experience, I'm aware that this is only my experience, and not necessarily what anyone else would go through. I originally made this thread simply as a means to inform other members of the hobby what happened in my case, solely in the interest of transparency. Thanks for sticking along with me, I suppose.

 

[Kodyr113]

These uploads are the rest of my screenshots. I have altered one (I drew a circle around the rating which was removed; prior to my screenshot, my 1 star review was visible here). I know that some of you will still disagree with my assessment, but I maintain that even though something may be a common practice, that doesn't necessarily make it a practice worth praise. I will maintain my standards of doing business with anyone, even within the hobby, because I feel that without customers holding businesses up to a standard, the customer will simply be stepped on as the businesses act in whatever way they like. Once again, thanks for sticking with me as I got to uploading these files, regardless of how you may feel about the situation.

 

[Kodyr113]

One last note before I forget: Thank you, Snake-Queen, for helping me figure out how to upload these files. I'm a bit of a klutz here, since I haven't been around long.