• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Bad Guy FRAUD ALERT: ERIC IVINS, SOUTH CENTRAL HERPETOLOGICAL

opeters said:
The next step now is clearly legal action.
Click to expand...

I'd hurry it up just in case there is a bankruptcy filing in the horizon. Not saying there is, but with more people coming forward with tales of critters not sent, if it were me I'd get started sooner rather than later trying to retrieve funds.
 
I'm not worried about the money. I use pay pal all the time and they always cover any transactions that go wrong. Like this one :angry:

This guy Eric claims to be sick with a pinch nerve on his neck. Funny thing is that this didn't stop him from taking my money....
 
As a Update, I have received a e-mail from SCH today... The did state they do have the animals and can ship.. long story short version, the nuts and bolts are, Current concerns on their end,, not shipping.. They have worries that if they ship before the case is closed, I could still dispute and they would be out the animals and the payment.. So understandably don't want to ship before the case is resolved,, Sadly I too have concerns that if I now close the dispute, I do not have any other options to retrieve my money if indeed they don't..
We have a breakdown in communication, breakdown in trust and even expectations really only offers a stalemate..

The only solution that does not involve risk or a leap of faith is a refund. as such I have asked for at this time.. and I will update as things change..
 
Amanda,

I think at this point, you have done your share of trust and risk taking.
they have failed on their end, They should send the animals and they should now take the risk and trust you.. if you recieve the animals before the dispute ends, you can close it at that point. if not !! sending him $$ back is easy... let's see how they like being in the dark and take risk..

i"ve seen this happen on other forums, where once the trust is gone, the only way people will do business with someone and bad dealings is if things are shipped out first... one need to rebuild is reputation... not an easy thing to do.

in this case, i would certainly not close the dispute.. if yoy get the refund then find a more reliable seller. if they want your business then they should step up to the plate and ship them out... your word is worth more than theirs.
 
misthold said:
As a Update, I have received a e-mail from SCH today... The did state they do have the animals and can ship.. long story short version, the nuts and bolts are, Current concerns on their end,, not shipping.. They have worries that if they ship before the case is closed, I could still dispute and they would be out the animals and the payment.. So understandably don't want to ship before the case is resolved,, Sadly I too have concerns that if I now close the dispute, I do not have any other options to retrieve my money if indeed they don't..
We have a breakdown in communication, breakdown in trust and even expectations really only offers a stalemate..

The only solution that does not involve risk or a leap of faith is a refund. as such I have asked for at this time.. and I will update as things change..
Click to expand...

Good move. I have seen that go bad more than once.
 
LauraB said:
Eric has used the same photos, year after year ... sales ad after sales ad ... for whatever species he's trying to sell.

How many times over the last few years have I seen that same shot of the pretty blue lizard in the back of that pick-up truck?
(And, yeah ... I apologize to the "blue lizard" folks, but hopefully, you've seen the ads and know of what I speak and will forgive me for not remembering what lizard it actually is.)

That is why, Jordan/ Gecko Geek, you can't get and will not get true, current photos of animals Eric claims to have for sale. Eric does not have them.
Click to expand...


That makes perfect sense as to why it took him 3 weeks to get pictures of the animals, always using the " I'm busy" excuse..I know what it's like to be busy, I own my own business as well and work 12-14 hour days 5 days straight so i'm not a stranger to being busy, but even I have time to take a couple pictures and email them off for someone who wants to give me money :yesnod:

In my time here on this forum I have seen many BOI threads, this one seems all to familiar..I hope all of you get your money back or animals, and that this is truly just a severe misunderstanding..
 
the gecko geek said:
That makes perfect sense as to why it took him 3 weeks to get pictures of the animals, always using the " I'm busy" excuse..I know what it's like to be busy, I own my own business as well and work 12-14 hour days 5 days straight so i'm not a stranger to being busy, but even I have time to take a couple pictures and email them off for someone who wants to give me money
Click to expand...

I agree. The reason I'm busy is because I'm constantly doing things I need to do. If you tell people you are "too busy" to do it all the time, then you shouldn't really be that busy. Maybe it was "I'm busy...getting caught up on The Bachelor"
 
LauraB said:
Eric has used the same photos, year after year ... sales ad after sales ad ... for whatever species he's trying to sell.

How many times over the last few years have I seen that same shot of the pretty blue lizard in the back of that pick-up truck?
(And, yeah ... I apologize to the "blue lizard" folks, but hopefully, you've seen the ads and know of what I speak and will forgive me for not remembering what lizard it actually is.)

That is why, Jordan/ Gecko Geek, you can't get and will not get true, current photos of animals Eric claims to have for sale. Eric does not have them.

And from the turn this thread has taken, it appears he also does not actually have in his possession the animals he has advertised and sold to trusting customers in the recent past.

And he's been here viewing this thread at least twice without responding?

Shameful and very telling. 'Nuff said.
Click to expand...

Are we sure of the underlined part?

I have asked for photos before of animals listed for something like $800 when I was ready to immediately buy if I liked what photos would show, but was met with a response that there would be no individual photos provided at the time.

I simply assumed at the time that he was more interested in keeping the animals than getting paid for them (or maybe the tortoises were afraid he would steal their souls).

:shrug01:
 
nickolasanastasiou said:
Are we sure of the underlined part?

I have asked for photos before of animals listed for something like $800 when I was ready to immediately buy if I liked what photos would show, but was met with a response that there would be no individual photos provided at the time.

I simply assumed at the time that he was more interested in keeping the animals than getting paid for them (or maybe the tortoises were afraid he would steal their souls).

:shrug01:
Click to expand...

That very well could be the case, but when I asked for specific genders and if he could point out which animals where which I was met with the response of they all have color swings and don't always look like they do in the pics. Which is fine and accurate to some degree, but I still wanted to know which animals were which as some had regen tails and I tend to stay away from those...not that there is anything wrong with that but I just like the original tails..
typically though in the reptile world if you have pics up you are selling those animals..if the animal you receive is not the animal pictured most people tend to get irritated by that..otherwise there would be no need to put a button on this forum to upload pics. we would just state the common and scientific name of the animals and people could google what the animal looks like..but in this hobby people tend to look for the eye grabbing or abnormal looking animals..If you have a picture of an albino ball python in an ad for sale but are selling normal ball pythons the buyer is going to be very upset..
 
misthold said:
As a Update, I have received a e-mail from SCH today... The did state they do have the animals and can ship.. long story short version, the nuts and bolts are, Current concerns on their end,, not shipping.. They have worries that if they ship before the case is closed, I could still dispute and they would be out the animals and the payment.. So understandably don't want to ship before the case is resolved,, Sadly I too have concerns that if I now close the dispute, I do not have any other options to retrieve my money if indeed they don't..
We have a breakdown in communication, breakdown in trust and even expectations really only offers a stalemate..

The only solution that does not involve risk or a leap of faith is a refund. as such I have asked for at this time.. and I will update as things change..
Click to expand...

FWIW - Once a dispute has been closed it can not be reopened. This is a possible tactic used by sellers to get you to close the dispute, and then, when they do not send shipment, you lose buyer protection and its no longer something they will have to worry about. Breakdown of trust or not. I would highly suggest you do not close a dispute. Follow it through, and if he ships, as has been suggested, pay the money back.
 
Actually the seller is still protected regardless of the buyer opening a dispute. If the seller ships and the buyer tries to escalate it to a claim the seller can fight it simply by providing the tracking number. Opening a dispute doesn't mean the buyer can do whatever they want. When a dispute is open both sides are able to state their cases and if either one seller or buyer feels the need to escalate it to a claim they can regardless of who opened up the dispute. So the excuse Eric gave is BS, he still has as much protection as he did before he went off the radar neglecting his obligations, open dispute or closed. You never close a dispute until you're satisfied and have received what you paid for. If he waits long enough Paypal will escalate it to a claim and then favor with the buyer if he still refuses to ship. But DO NOT close the dispute until you have your animals or refund!!!
 
chazzz said:
But DO NOT close the dispute until you have your animals or refund!!!
Click to expand...


I wholeheartedly agree.

I would demand they either ship the animals or refund my money immediately, inform them that is the only way the dispute will be closed.

The more buyers that come out, the more familiar this becomes.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would NOT refuse the animals, I really was serious when I purchased them..

I don't plan to close it, don't plan to screw SCH either.. But it IS a legitimate concern.. on both sides.. If the issue is resolved I will post all info.. why I did post the update.. Not to imply that they where pulling a tactic but to accept their concerns.. only fair..

I just they did not have them.. :(
 
opps sorry just wish they do not have their "concerns" over shipping and I push it further trying to get the animals and not pay....
 
back on topic however as much as I am kind of at a loss.. I posted my current dilemma only to point out no may not be a scam, but also a personal experience to animals ordered not shipped.. and want to be honest about some concerns and experiences, and a update as I had said they had not contacted me.. now have.. we have had some others chime in.. but....

Has the OP who started this thread gotten any reposes as of yet to the delays? the insufficient funds?? only fair.. right?
My intention was never to take over the OP thread.. just say hey.. I also have some issues, don't discount and give the vendor a chance to reply...

sadly not sure why nothing yet.... :(
 
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