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Inquiry Mike Souza

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BlakeWilsonRetics

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I'm trying to get a second opinion on where to go from here. I am genuinely confused by this mans reaction to what I thought was a very fair compromise.
I sold Mike Souza a pair of 2018 jungle carpet pythons. The day he recieved them I got a call from him telling me that he suspected the Male was actually a female from attempting to probe the snake. I had gotten the group of jungles from the breeder all individually labeled and sexed . I had no reason to doubt the breeders judgement and did not sex them myself when they came in, but was willing to 100% take responsibility for this mistake. I told this to Mike and told him that I would even cover shipping both ways for the returned snake and the replacement male. I texted mike after our phone conversation asking him to pop the snake because I was unsure probing was the best thing to do with such small animals. He agreed and said he would try. Today he told me that he is still unsure and would like me to send the replacement male on Tuesday and he will ship the original Male back to me on Wednesday. I was not comfortable with this for reasons I thought were obvious, but told him i would send the replacement as soon as I got the other snake back. At this point he completely lost his mind and started accusing me of trying to screw him over. I kept trying to assure him that was not the case. At the moment I am unsure what to do. The way he acts (as you can read from the text message screenshots) about not wanting that snake back even if I proved it was Male when it gets back is very concerning to me. Just looking for advice..
 

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I just sent Mike a message letting him know about this thread.

Perhaps with you both communicating on here together you can come up with a compromise. Honestly, it sounds like you both are the verge of working this out, a little push in the right direction and it will be resolved.
 
My only concern is if I get this snake back and pop it a Male I am out 2 separate shipping costs for absolutely no reason and he does not want that particular snake back under any circumstances which seems very questionable to me.
 
I still feel like if he trusted you enough to pay initially and expect you to ship, he could trust you to send the replacement male after shipping it back, especially after you offered to pay shipping both ways (a stand up thing to do). Personally, I wouldn’t ship a snake until I received the original one being returned in any situation aside from a close friend (which even then, I think that has likely spawned some posts on here). That isn’t the status quo in any market that I am aware of. As far as the worry of sending back the individual snake, none of them are identical. There are pictures seemingly available of the available snake, and the buyer having a picture of both snakes could easily prove the new male is in fact a different snake than the original. Hopefully the buyer accepts your offer
 
1.1 Carpet Pythons Blake Wilson/Mike Souza

Good Morning....here is the issue...I received a pair of JCP's from Blake. As always I sex the animals when I receive them. On this pair I probed first which is in my opinion the most reliable way. They both probed female for me and I immediately contacted Blake to advise him. He freely admitted that he himself had not sexed the animals prior to selling them to me and was going on the word of who he received them from. To me this was a red flag because I always sex the animals I sell prior to posting them on Fauna. He then asked me to try and pop them and I advised I was going to wait a few days due to the trauma this young snake had been put through in my attempt to probe it. (just shipped young snake going through that process is stressful and unbeknownst to me was in the blue, he shed the next morning) Blake had generously stated that he was willing to pay shipping both ways being he sent me the wrong sexed animal to start. I accepted this offer but advised Blake that even if he later states that this animal is a male I did not want that particular animal back because I've been in this business a long time and truly believe that animal is a female. That is when Blake started getting nervous of my reason's for not wanting that snake back, asking if I had hurt this animal. That's what made me a little angry as far as my text message. To me selling reptiles is all about the animal and the customer service...I would never hurt an animal in my care... but being this particular animal would have gone through much trauma...shipped twice or three times if sent back, the constant trauma to it's sexual organs whether by probe or popping, made me just not want that particular animal back, that and I still feel it's a female.
I am willing to work with Blake but I can't send the animal back until I receive a shipping label within the time frame I had mentioned to Blake yesterday. I even advised Blake that if for some reason he thinks I missed sexed his animal and felt it was a male that I would be willing to pay for his shipping one way but that I didn't want the same snake back that I feel is female. I hope all this makes sense.
I really don't think this is a matter for the BOI but here it is.
 
1.1 Carpet Pythons Blake Wilson/Mike Souza

Thanks Ryan...I really appreciate your support.
Mike
 
You have made me feel very uncomfortable by freaking out about me not shipping another before you returned the original. That was completely unnecessary and unprofessional. I have done nothing wrong here and you continue to speak to me like I'm trying to screw you over somehow. This absolutely needed to be brought here because obviously it calmed you down enough to act civil in this thread when you were less than so in our conversations

-Blake
 
Great, you both are here now. Both are being civil.

What is the next step to getting this resolved?

Blake, any reason that Mike couldn't get a different male from you?
 
Also it allows me to see that others can vouch for you and make me feel more comfortable with following through with the the replacement. Like I stated in our text conversations, I do not know you, there is absolutely every reason for me to be cautious especially with the way you reacted. Calling me a liar and you continue to call me incompetent for not sexing these animals myself makes me not want to help you at all. I never once hesitated to take your word and offer replacement immediately when you called. I was taking a blow on the 2 aditional shippings when I had already covered shipping for the original pair. I have a business to run and so I will always do what is right so I was willing to take the loss..Your attitude and childish behavior is what brought this here. And you can see that I did not post this as a bad guy thread. I do not think you are a bad guy, but I had my concerns with how you treated me. I simply was looking for some input from others that may or may not know of you. And I even asked you before posting here out of respect so we can get this squashed and you still continued to berate me when all I've done is be more than friendly.
 
Robert Walker said:
Great, you both are here now. Both are being civil.

What is the next step to getting this resolved?

Blake, any reason that Mike couldn't get a different male from you?
Click to expand...

No that is what I told him I would do. He has picked another Male out and I told him I would exchange it. But when I said for him to ship first he lost his mind and told me nevermind. That throws up so many red flags. Along with him telling me that even if it ends up being a Male when I get it that he doesnt want that snake because of the trauma? Another red flag. I posted this to my personal facebook page without showing his name or number for his privacy. Everyone agreed it seemed very fishy and told me to not do anything.
 
Mike, any reason you couldn't wait a week or two, let the snake mellow out (less trauma) and then ship him/her back to Blake 'first'.
Seems like he is ready to ship a different male, at his expense if you simply ship first. Can you do this?
 
Robert:
I would be more than happy to ship first as long as I am guaranteed that I will not receive this animal back...that was my whole contention. I will only ship back also as long as Blake either provides me with a shipping label or pays me through Paypal for me to make one. I will also guarantee to pay for the shipping of the new male back to me if Blake feels that his first animal sent to me is a male...if he determines it's a female then all the shipping is on him.

Blake I ship on Wednesday's for Thursday delivery....just FYI


Mike
 
Blake:

I can make this happen for this Wed 10/03 if you are willing to provide me with a shipping label or pay me to make one.
Mike
 
I am completely fine with that being the snake is in the same condition upon arrival that it was when I shipped it. I will sex the snake upon arrival and we will go from there. If there is no damage to the "Male" I sent you originally I will gladly send you the replacement Male 11 like we aggreed on the phone with picture proof that he is infact a Male.
 
snakeman236 said:
I am guaranteed that I will not receive this animal back...
Click to expand...
He has stated he would send a different one. With this now public, each person stands to come out a winner with this. I would post a picture of the animal in question here. This documents the snake with a time stamp.
snakeman236 said:
Blake:
I can make this happen for this Wed 10/03 if you are willing to provide me with a shipping label or pay me to make one.
Mike
Click to expand...
Perfect.
Blake, lets get that label/payment over to Mike and get this thing wrapped up.

You both are almost there.
 
it will be in better shape....it shed and has eaten....look forward to getting a true male.
Thanks Mike
 
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