• 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 Lance Comstock aka Artvandalai

Well that was harder to decipher than my bosses handwriting! At least you're starting to provide some proof now. Not to be a PITA, but it would help a lot, for your benefit not ours, if you could provide copies of the MO's as well. It's easier to read if you start with the first email, not the last. So, this all started in July, and on the Monday after the 24th you made a payment of $220 on a total of a snake worth $435 all together with shipping. The payment was made by Money Order, which you sent by mail to the address you posted in your first post, I assume. Are you sure the MO even made it to the address you sent it to? You know there is a way to check and see if it was actually received, right? Did you do that back in July? The seller agreed to the payment plan, and told you the snake would be shipped on a day with proper temps immediately after your last payment. You never provided information as to when you made your second payment, if you did at all. (This is all just me trying to understand the situation correctly...nothing personal...)

I actually have a few more questions.
This Email is sent, apparently on July 24th, the same day that everything was decided by both parties that everything "sounds good".

eldiablokid said:
Hello Lance
Well I just wanted to let you know that I have filed formal charges with the Postal Inspector,Farmington Police and the FBI Internet Crime Unit for Theft By Deception,Mail Fraud and it is a Federal Offense because it crossed State Lines.
I am going to press all charges to the fullest extent against you and anyone else who had knowledge of your plans,I would suggest you call me,John 856-466-6429
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lance C" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 10:40:46 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: female boa (Camilla)
Click to expand...

Again, the headings to all the emails are all over the place. So unless YOU are "Lance C" sending the email to: [email protected] then the heading is in the wrong spot. I'm guessing that this heading belongs to the first post (or last email) that is lacking one. What date was THIS message sent?

eldiablokid said:
Hello Lance
I have been trying to call you,but your phone wont let me leave a message.Are you still shipping her out tomorrow(Tuesday,Sept 1).Please let me know or call me at 856-466-6429/856-697-9141,thanks John
----- Original Message -----
Click to expand...

Again, I hate guessing, especially in situations such as this, but if I WAS to then i'd have to say that this message was sent on the 31st of August? What happened from July 24th till August 31st? Only because I have nothing better to do with myself right now, I decided to look around for this guy. There are 3 "Lance Comstock" on both MySpace & Facebook. One of them lives in CA, and if you said the postal service told you he moved, it is pretty close to AZ. It's worth a shot, in my opinion.
 
Hello Maia
Sorry its so hard to understand,I am not that computer savvy!lol
Just to clarify he lived in Arkansas not Arizona,also he was supposed to ship on Tues. August 8.I will scan both MOs and yes I had them traced at 5 bucks each,they were both cashed in Farmington,Ark. Thanks John
 
If this is true I hate to hear that. We have a pretty small herper community here in Arkansas and it'd be a shame if someone was scamming people. Go visit herpsofarkansas.com and see if anyone there knows of this person. Maybe something legitimate happened or who knows. It's a place to start.
 
John ,
i know your ticked off bud but these guys are right , when you post stuff here on BOI you need to back everything up with proof ( emails, timelines , etc.. etc..) , dont flip on them ( i know the post was made a lil while back ) they are just trying to let you know what u need to do ..
its the rules when posting on the BOI .

and i'm looking forward to seeing you still on Sunday if all goes well on your end .
 
eldiablokid said:
Lance,you didnt think I would forget about you?Back to the top scumbag!!
Click to expand...

John,

Posting as you did above isn't going to make anything better. I understand your frustration but as difficult as it sounds you'll get a lot further being calm when dealing with this. Not to mention he hasn't logged in here since the end of July and may not even know this thread is here.

And not to bust your chops but I did notice that you did a inquiry on Lance or his screen name here at least (in the future you may want to include the person's name in the header too. It may have gotten you more of a response other than the Jerry Seindfield episode it produced) and received no positive feedback and you still went through with it. While I'm glad you used the BOI and "looked before you leaped" in a sense you negated that by going through with the deal without waiting to receive feedback about the person in question. I am in no way suggesting that you deserved to get screwed and I personally would like to see any and all scammers publically flogged. :yesnod:
 
Hello Shawn & Dave
I know I should try to be calm,but I work hard for my money!It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that this people can sleep with there selves at night!I really do appreciate all the help and comments from everyone!Sorry if I lash out sometimes,thanks John
 
Just filled out the formal paperwork for the Postal Insp. Office,will have to wait and see now.I will be pressing charges and will see them thru no matter what this person offers to do now!
 
eldiablokid said:
Scum floats to the top
Click to expand...

eldiablokid said:
Hello Shawn & Dave
I know I should try to be calm,but I work hard for my money!It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that this people can sleep with there selves at night!I really do appreciate all the help and comments from everyone!Sorry if I lash out sometimes,thanks John
Click to expand...

I think most if not all understand your anger, I would be pissed as well. Commenting like you have towards other members leaves me wondering what may be missing in your story...

You also posted you wonder why they guy hasn't defended himself, I do as well but maybe there is more going on we don't know about. If you attack members like DAND trying to help, I wonder, with your anger, could you have killed this guy and that's why he isn't here defending himself? You have said you want his nutt's :eek: (I kid of course) I don't think anyone here deserves insulting comments from you. (I understand you have said you're sorry)
 
Hello Scott
Your right,I will not be insulting people here anymore! I have already apologized and no I didnt kill anybody,lol,that would be to quick. I want him to suffer thru all legal options available! But I can promise you this,this person will be sorry for stealing from me!
 
eldiablokid said:
Hello Scott
Your right,I will not be insulting people here anymore! I have already apologized and no I didnt kill anybody,lol,that would be to quick. I want him to suffer thru all legal options available! But I can promise you this,this person will be sorry for stealing from me!
Click to expand...

Good luck with your case, I look forward to reading about what happens in the other end (Many can learn from this so I hope you post more info) but I'm sorry you have had to go through all this now and in the coming months as it will probably take some time.

Scott
 
Its frustrating to see anyone get scammed, but I was wondering why you would deal with a guys who handle is from a long going Sienfield joke, where Art Vandalai is a made up name Constanza uses to con people.

Most scammers I have run into are trickier than to use Imgonnatakeyourmoney@yahoo, or check out my snakes at scamu.com.

But the Art Vandalai is still kinda a no brainer.

Thanks
ben
 
bcherps said:
Its frustrating to see anyone get scammed, but I was wondering why you would deal with a guys who handle is from a long going Sienfield joke, where Art Vandalai is a made up name Constanza uses to con people.

Most scammers I have run into are trickier than to use Imgonnatakeyourmoney@yahoo, or check out my snakes at scamu.com.

But the Art Vandalai is still kinda a no brainer.

Thanks
ben
Click to expand...

He actually did an inquiry and received no feedback about the guy other than Siendfield trivia but he still went through with the deal. :notallthe

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145655&highlight=Artvandalai

Not excusing screwing someone but if someone shoots himself in the foot :shootfoot I'd have a hard time feeling sorry for him. :NoNo:
 
Yeap I agree.

Maybe it was the repeated beatings as a child, but I am kinda paranoid about a lot of stuff.

It has definately cost me some sales, and some deals but I have yet to be burned yet.

There is so many reputable dealers, and so many shows I have a hard time dealing with unheard of names, too good to be true deals, and anything that is slightly off.

But again, sorry to hear that someone got screwed. Although a few hundred dollars spent in the "school of internet reptile sales" is still cheaper than the 40k I spent on a degree I dont use now!!!!


thanks
ben
 
In My Defense... And I think its worthy

This is such a complicated matter, I am just going to start at the very beginning... way back in August. I sold John Romeo a large female boa, he sent me two money orders (which i deposited into my joint checking account), and I prepared to ship his snake. The weather turned bad, so we agreed to put it off until the weather cleared. I went on a five day camping trip with the guys, and when I returned home my girlfriend had moved out of the house, killed the lease, the utilities and our checking account. She even wiped out my Myspace, Facebook, and the like. I was not able to telephone John and let him know the situation because she had also canceled my phone plan. Five weeks later, when I was able to find contact information for him because he was threatening me in an email, I immediately wrote him back with my new phone number and have tried to maintain contact with him since then. I do not have that number any more either because of personal issues, and just this weekend I had to move my 34 year old self and three of my children in with my parents to try to get on top of my bill situation. If John would have given me the chance to explain to him why I was selling the rest of the collection, he would know that sending his snake to him is the absolute first priority I have with any amount of money I can bring in and I thought this would be the easiest way. Like I said, I just moved in with my parents to a totally new town and I don't have a job yet. I am absolutely not proud to be in this situation, and John will get his snake as soon as I can come up with the $180 to ship it, which I was hoping would be possible with the sale of one of the other snakes. But you all might note that the snake I sold John was not listed for resale. I was not trying to scam anyone, and I think if you check any other transactions I have had they have all been positive. By the way, I did contact John this morning and gave him my new phone number. He will get the snake and he will be more than pleased when he sees her, because I think she will be exactly what she was looking for.

Thanks everybody, and sorry John....
artvandalai
Lance Comstock
 
Continued Defense...

Also, I did not have a home computer after the move and the very first chance I had to go to the public library and get his info I did. I haven't once tried to dodge him purposefully, and thankfully my dad has a computer and an internet connection. And the artvandalai was just supposed to be an obscure Seinfeld reference, much like Fall Out Boy is to the Simpsons, not some ulterior motive super shady thing to be read that much into. LOL
 
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