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Bad Guy James/ Ember Gecko

S

Sgtflex

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So as a seasoned BP collector I decided to get into something new and set out for some super giant geckos. I came across ember gecko's site and found some animals I fell in love with.I contacted the owner directly and made the deposit.

I had one month to pay and plan. Let me note that I do not live in the USA but made arrangements with the airlines to fly to the USA to collect these animals and fly them back. I arranged my travels to collect this item and made a second payment on the animals. Making contact with the owner a little more than one week in advance to my flight he assured me he could make delivery to the fedex location on Friday so I could collect (my flight was set for sunday). The day of agreed shipment (thursday, seeing it was overnight) I made the last payment and the emailed the owner.

He emailed me back and said he is out of heat pads and can not ship until Monday. Now that was the first let down, after emailing a week+ in advance and planning delivery for a particular date you manage your supplies poorly and are unable to meet your obligations? Okay, after pleading for him to work out something (ask another local breeder or go to a packing center) we came to the decision that he could not ship.

Extremely disturbed and disappointed I asked for a refund, considering it was his fault and I am already out $400 in travel expenses (note I could sue him for my expenses) . Owner flat on refuses to refund me and tells me I have to take the geckos when he can deliver or he will hold them till whenever I am in the USA again (is he serious?).

I told him I am not returning to the USA again for a while ( I was just traveling for this purchase so I need the refund. He continues to refuse, despite his wrong doing and on top of it all puts the phone down in my ear. This man is truly unprofessional and does not know about business ethics, business/stock management or customer service.
 
Was he aware you were flying in and had a tight time frame for pickup?
 
Ezra, in your location you say that you live in the Bronx in NY. In your post you say you live abroad?
 
Hey, I live overseas but I usually stay in the Bronx when I do travel to the USA
 
You realize there are NYC health code issues with reptiles in the Bronx? And how exactly were you going to arrange this? Does your country permit imports, what is the procedure?
 
JButera said:
What's that have to do with it..you a mod now?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The fact that an incorrect location was listed may affect his credibility for some. I've notified Ember Geckos, I'm interested in their point of view as well.
 
I am not aware of the policies in the Bronx pertaining reptiles as I do not live or keep them there. From research and talking to my airline I am able to travel with them once they are in a suitable carrier and labeled well with heat packs. As for my country , I have a registered permit as a reptile handler which allows me to import.
 
Also, I need not prove my credibility to some one based on what my location says or where I am from. I did have a deal with them and I can show emails between us and if it was safe show paypal receipts. At the end of the day what matters is the case where my transaction and plans were affected by the seller's "lack of heat packs through poor planning even after we spoke via email and then the seller 1. refusing to refund me 2.being rude 3. hanging up on a customer and 4. not even trying to help or compensate for his mistake.
 
Sgtflex said:
Also, I need not prove my credibility to some one based on what my location says or where I am from. I did have a deal with them and I can show emails between us and if it was safe show paypal receipts. At the end of the day what matters is the case where my transaction and plans were affected by the seller's "lack of heat packs through poor planning even after we spoke via email and then the seller 1. refusing to refund me 2.being rude 3. hanging up on a customer and 4. not even trying to help or compensate for his mistake.
Click to expand...
Lucille's the self-appointed lawyer for sellers here. Others will come in your defense, but they'll want screenshots of the conversations.
 
I wouldn't take Lucille's comment as instantly siding with the seller. I wondered the same thing about the OPs location when I read their post. Using a fake address in a forums post could come off as trying to hide something. It could also be something innocent, like you've said it is. She's just asking the questions the rest of us wonder and don't necessarily take the time to ask. As far as her being the sellers "lawyer", she just comes off as knowledgeable to me. Sometimes you need someone playing devils advocate as it's hard to see the other side when you've been wronged or when you don't know the ins and outs of the business.

Either way, Lucille discussion aside! It sucks the arrangement fell through and I hope you get your money back! That sounds like a big disappointment and a pain in the butt to boot. I'd be upset too in your shoes, good luck and I hope it all works out.
 
I will screen shot all our emails tonight if required. It will not help me get my money back but just to prove my "credibility" as Lucille calls it. As of a few minutes ago the seller has offered to keep my animals until I have arrange other plans to collect them. The seller has also agreed to offer a "small credit" on another order to compensate but I already know it will will not even dent my $400 lost.

I am still very upset that I am $400 under because of the sellers inability to forecast his packaging requirements. What can you do but bitch on a forum where no one can help? I am not from the USA so going to the BBB or suing will probably cost me 100s of times that in travel expenses.
 
Also my "resolution" would depend on if I even care to do business with the seller again. It sucks, I just want my money back.
 
While some may not have an issue with the location thing, the mods will seeing that it's a site rule to have the correct location listed when posting here.
 
1) Lucille is an attorney in real life.

2) Lucille's questions are valid.

3) Having been in a position myself where a buyer made false claims I would also like to see proof before making any decisions.
 
Did you use Paypal? If so, depending on your time frame, there may be some hope. If all else fails and being refunded is not an option, can you have them shipped legally to your location?
 
Requesting additional information to provide evidence for a claim is generally a reasonable thing to do. Whether the information serves to bolster one claim or erode another does not matter as long as value is added. More data can make for more carefully evaluated decisions.

Inconsistencies, whether pertaining to location, the story relayed, or other things are indeed subject to discussion.

The above are seller/buyer-agnostic.

As for the location being inaccurate in a profile, it is very much a concern when it comes to the site.
 
I am not aware of what the OP would need to succeed in transporting the animals from the one location to another, but that is the OP's burden. Fine to question for a complete story and to evaluate the behavior of the buyer aside from the primary issue, but that is tangential to the transaction-centric complaint.

As it relates to the transaction, the seller's responsibility is to deliver the particular animal(s) in a particular condition to a particular place on a particular date. I can be understanding of "acts of God" stuff. Storms. Accidents. I can understand being short of some kind of shipping supply if a sale happens rapidly after posting an animal for sale. I know I have experienced an incorrect heat pack inventory assessment combined with a rapid sale and a shift in weather that was not desirable (and communication was key to set realistic expectations between myself and the buyer). Not ideal, but it can happen. However, if I had a protracted deal with something as high-gravity as a buyer being on a flight to get a deal done, I would make it a strong priority to be prepared and then some for the event for which the plan is well-known. That would mean having the heat pack and other supplies set aside well in advance so that something that simple is not a stumbling block for the defined process.

I am not sure what happened yet. We have not received the full communication stream as of this post.

If the OP's claims are accurate, then the seller would have invalidated the agreed-to plan and the onus would be on the seller to satisfy within reason. Since this involves international travel for the buyer, the simplest thing would be to provide a full refund to the buyer. Both sides would have already paid for loss of the deal via their respective inconveniences.
 
Personally, I don't think it was an error in planning on the seller's part. I'm more inclined to think that he saw an opportunity with a non US buyer.
Is there a reason, Ezra, that you have not initiated a claim with PayPal? Hopefully, you were not so foolish as to send payment as a gift.
 
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