Jason Foster of Archdale North Carolina troubled buyer

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

OK everyone here is the situation. In February I picked up a couple of sub-adult Female Ball Pythons that looked very similar to pastels. One was sold to a customer here locally as it was the closer looking animal to a pastel and sold for $500. The second animal (a 700 gram Female) was sold to Jason Foster of Archdale NC for $300 including shipping. She was shipped on February 11 2004 and arrived at 9:39am on February 12 2004. When she arrived the buyer said she arrived and she was perfect in his e-mail to me. In the ad where she was purchased from it clearly stated that she had just arrived in country about 2 weeks prior and had eaten 1 live adult mouse for me. Now I have not heard from this person since that e-mail after she arrived until today. Now he is saying that the animal has not fed for him since he received it, and is saying that I sold him a sick snake and is basically wanting me to refund his money or send him another female that is feeding. He read the ad which clearly outlined our terms of sale at the time of his purchase. I do not feel that there is anything I should do about this specially after not hearing anything from him in 2+ months. He threatened that his friends told him to post it here on the BOI like he was trying to strong arm me into doing what he wanted. I appreciate any input from others on this situation.

 

[jenn]

I don't see where he has a case. He read the terms and said that she was fine when he first got her.
I wouldn't give him a sh*t! espeacially since he tryed the strong arm move. He is just trying to cause trouble.

 

[JungleHabitats]

Rob

I think you know what you need to do with this one ....
2+ months no contact???? wild caught???? well IMHO if he had stayed in contact with me from the onset and told me that it was not feeding etc and we stayed in close contact with me all along and it was a BOA lol i might would say i would do one of two things refund his money upon returning the snake to me to make sure it was healthy other then not feeding and get it feeding for him and return it but being its a BP we all know how stuborn they are even as a captive bred animal at times to get to eat .. so i would say he shot hiself in the foot by neglecting to keep you informed .


Noiw depending on the terms outlined in the sale ( i dont know what they were ) i would say he was more then likely out anyways just my opinion of it all .If everyone that complained 2 months later got there way it would put everyone out of this buisness .Beside you have no idea of the husbandry of the snake in his care that could have alot to do with the animals feeding or not .

 

[Sand&SunReptile]

My 2 cents...

I am lethal with posting my 2cents and pissing everyone off,
But I think you should just tell the guy, he has no case. You had the terms outlined, and you did everything you garunteed you would. He got the animals speedily, and has no case whatsoever.
I'd personally tell the guy to shove it.
Mike Fortier.

 

[The BoidSmith]

Rob,

Two months is way too much time. Particularly if he never attempted to contact you. I'm not sure how much experience this person has with WC ball pythons. How is he keeping her? Has he tried with other prey? Is he providing a hide spot? Temperature?

All CH female balls I got from Rob are healthy as can be and eating weekly non-stop (except when about to shed).

Regards.

 

[KNOBTAIL]

ROB, one of the reasons for having

TOS is to clearly protect and define the sale. You are not in business to sell animals and be married to these people. Their obligation must begin sometime, and their assumption that your liability is forever is somewhat ridiculous.

Unless he has some additonal proof that he encountered a problem from the beginning and notified you upon delivery, I would not loose any sleep over this one! JERRY

 

[DavidBeard]

I don't think you owe him anything Rob.

On a sidenote, I just don't understand the need to continue importing such a common species as Ball Pythons. The market is flooded with them....but thats just how I see it.

 

[The BoidSmith]

Rob,

One way or the other you can review with him what kind of husbandry he is providing. Ask him to tell you how he is housing the animal. That will give you an idea if there are any flaws there. In my opinion you are way beyond any guarantee and you are technically speaking not responsible. A different story though is trying to help this person with an animal that maybe is not being well cared for. Is he the kind of person that will try to handle the snake frequently? That's not for every ball python, some will tolerate it, some will stress tremendously, particularly if WC. Give him some hints even if he didn't ask for them. Maybe he will have to switch to live small gerbils, although expensive very often that does the trick provided the animal is left alone and all other environmental needs are taken care of.

Regards.

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

Thanks everyone for your input in this situation. Dan, well his first e-mail and subsequent e-mails after that regarding this situation have been very threatening and rude. He also blatantly called me a liar, bad business man, and now even stated that my Het animals are probably nothing more than W/C animals. To be honest, I will work with people that act in a professional manner but when someone starts out of the gate like this and continues I won't do a thing. To be honest he sounds like a child that is upset because he is not getting his way. Thanks again everyone for your input. Also in case anyone is wondering, I informed him that I was starting a thread on here regarding the situation and informed him to feel free to post on the thread as well.

 

[The BoidSmith]

Dan, well his first e-mail and subsequent e-mails after that regarding this situation have been very threatening and rude. He also blatantly called me a liar, bad business man, and now even stated that my Het animals are probably nothing more than W/C animals. To be honest, I will work with people that act in a professional manner but when someone starts out of the gate like this and continues I won't do a thing.

Rob,

Sorry to hear it had to happen that way. It is obvious he doesn't know you well enough.

Regards.

 

[KNOBTAIL]

sometimes, it does not pay, to

be a nice guy. I think Robs action is the best one to take. The animal business is a risky one. Even for those who know what they are doing. You cannot expect a continued responsibility from a sale. Somewhere the buyer must take the burden of insuring the animals wellbeing. Rob did not sell a "lifetime" guarantee on tech support for his sales. Within a reasonable period of time no one will complain about gathering information between seller and buyer. But this goes beyond the pale when accusations accompany the underlying features for the buyers inability to take care of what is now HIS! JERRY

 

[Lucille]

I would not hesitate to ask, even months after a sale, for advice or references to websites to help me, if I needed it. Everyone I have done business with here is courteous and knowledgeable and has been a great help to me. Some day, I will do the same for others.
But I feel responsibility for the animal is mine, once it is delivered in healthy condition.
I am sure that if this person had taken a courteous approach and asked help, no one would deny him advice. But IMHO rude people desrve just what they are likely to receive: nothing.

 

[Double "D" Reptiles]

He threatened that his friends told him to post it here on the BOI like he was trying to strong arm me into doing what he wanted. I appreciate any input from others on this situation.

Rob,
Suggest he go ahead and post it here and then see what the response to the situation is. Also, send him the link to this thread so that he has it in front of him before he continues.

Then, since I don't think you owe such a rude customer the time of day at this point, suggest that he make better use of his time at this site by utilizing the discussion forums to learn more about the ball python he purchased.

After that, politely blow him off and forget about it.

David

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

David,

He was informed of the thread in the beginning when I started it and told to feel free to post on it as he felt necessary.

 

[jiga2byte6871]

I would just like to say rob @ rk reptiles is a liar. He never told me she was a wild caught and he never said she had only eat once. He said she was feeding thats all he said. It is not uncommon for a ball python not to eat for a month. That is why I waited to contact rob. I have eleven other ball pythons two of which are wild caught. ALL ARE EATING. Except for the one rob sent me. I have tried to feed her rat pups , white mice , colored mice , gerbils , and a baby chick , live & dead. I wanted to try everything before complaining. Had I known she was a wild caught I never would have paid three hundred dollars for her thats all I am saying. I bought two wild caught from ba reptile for 160.00 same size as the one I got from rob and they are both eating. I think for three hundred dollars a person should be able to get a healthy normal ball python. How are you supposed to know a snake is not going to eat after you have only had her for 48 hours? What are you people saying if your snake does not eat in two days you send it back? I just wanted to give her a chance to eat so I waited.My mistake. Live and learn. I accept the fact I am out three hundred dollars. How long I waited has nothing to do with the fact rob did not tell me she was a wild caught and that she is not eating. How many other people has he sold snakes that would not eat? He told me she was a wild caught after I emailed him the other day and I told him thanks for the late update.

 

[Randy T.]

Jason, do you have any emails between yourself and Rob? If you do you should post them here. Also do you have the emails showing him stating it was a captive born? or misleading you to believe it was anything other then what it is? Not argueing just asking questions.


Later

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

Jason,

Thank you for posting on here. It is obvious that you do not read e-mails, read ads or listen to anyone. Here is a screen shot of the second e-mail that was sent you in response to my ad where she was posted. It clearly states that she had come in from Ghana and that she was from the WILD. I save all e-mails and keep them for my own records. As I said I am sorry that she is not feeding for you but I do not appreciate the type of attitude you have shown me and there is nothing I will do for you in this situation. If anyone else has any other questions please feel free to let me know about them.

 

[repfriend]

Rob said:

In the ad where she was purchased from it clearly stated that she had just arrived in country about 2 weeks prior and had eaten 1 live adult mouse for me.

in the screenshot of the email it says:

As for her age, we are not sure, as she arrived from Ghana in mid December

That email was from Feb 10th. Which would "imply" that you had that female for about 2 1/2 month, not 2 weeks prior to selling.

In WC it makes a big difference if you have them for a couple weeks or month, since in a couple of "month" you should be able to see whether they will feed relatively problemfree or not. Hence, did she eat one mouse in "2 weeks" or in "2 1/2 month"...???

Was she treated for parasites and or/with flagyl during either 2 weeks or is it 2 1/2 month?

Just wondering, as this difference in the timetable jumped out at me. I don't know either person in this thread, and perhaps this difference in the timetable was just a typo?

 

[jiga2byte6871]

I did not save any of the emails between rob and I. I did not think such would be needed. Rob was the first time I purchased online. Every word after will be sent ups is B.S. . His email screen shot is a lie. Besides I know rob screwed me. I know I am out three hundred dollars. The only reason I came to the BOI was to say buyer beware. Regardless of what anyone has to say about all this I feel I was ripped off. I was told by friends if you feel like you have have been wronged in any way report it to the BOI. So I have. You can either believe me or not. I have done nothing wrong all I did was purchase a bad snake. After reading all the posted replys most of you people here at BOI have made me feel like I am the one that screwed rob. I think this site is for sellers not buyers. This deal cost me three hundred dollars it did not cost rob a dime. I am the bad guy for complaining. You will not hear anymore from me on this subject. I give up. You win rob sorry I screwed you. I have learned from this mistake so it has not been a total lose. I will not make same mistake twice.

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

Ok, The animal arrived with a shipment in Mid December to a different importer than me. If I remember correctly I picked the animal up about 2 weeks prior to Jason purchasing it(the time frame that the animal was with me was clearly stated in the ad). In the time she was with me she ate 1 live adult mouse. We treated her for external parasites on arrival and treated her with pancur when she arrived with us for possible internal parasites. But even if she had been with me the entire time after she arrived into the US he was informed that she had eaten 1 time on a live adult mouse. Most W/C Balls take some time to start feeding regularly. If an animal I have for sale has not eaten for me I let the customer know. If an animal has eaten 1 time or multiple times I let the customer know. Everything that I can tell a customer is told to them about the animal.