• 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....

Nate Swanson - Swanees Exotics

WebSlave

It is what it is, but certainly not what it was.
Staff member
Staff
Joined
Feb 3, 2002
Messages
20,508
Reaction score
864
Points
113
Location
Crawfordville, FL
First let's list the identifying info to make certain of who is being referenced here.

The following info was gleaned from the public record registration info for his website of http://www.swaneesexotics.com

Nate Swanson
Swanees Exotics
17520 154th St SE
Monroe, WA 98272
+1.4252991694
[email protected]

Another email address used is [email protected]

Apparently this guy signed up for a Contributor membership on 02/21/08 6:49PM EST and paid the membership fee via PayPal. Since he posted two messages in the classifieds immediately after the membership was cleared

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108589

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108588

Text of the ads is as follows:

natimus said:
Swanee's exotics is growing and we need people in your area to collect reptiles

looking to find local reptiles and amphibians/wild caught.(legal)

top dollar paid

looking for salamanders,newts,geckos, frogs,toads,Tortoise and turtles. maybe some snakes wanted!
herp herps newts frog toad gecko lizard salamander snake

http://www.swaneesexotics.com

Those interested should email me at [email protected]
for further information, please withhold any negative feedback. I get enough from craigslist.

It is fairly obvious that his intent of having the membership was to post ads in the classifieds section of this site. As can be seen from the first link above, his solicitation for wild caught animals was NOT well recieved, regardless of the fact that he obviously was expecting as much.

natimus said:
Those interested should email me at [email protected]
for further information, please withhold any negative feedback. I get enough from craigslist.

Evidently he did not care for the reception, so proceeded to send me the following emails:

----- Original Message -----
From: Nate and Roma Swanson
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 5:23 PM
Subject: membership


I need someone to contact me ASAP, I have received nothing but harassment since I joined yesterday and I want my money back and no longer wish to be a member.

I had to send this to the spam email as I couldn’t find a "contact us" button to save my life...that makes it even more of a hassle

----- Original Message -----
From: nate swanson
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 1:12 AM
Subject: my new account


I've received nothing but grief since I started my account with your company.
I want my money back and I no longer wish to be a member

nate swanson

----- Original Message -----
From: nate swanson
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 1:12 AM
Subject: my new account


I've received nothing but grief since I started my account with your company.
I want my money back and I no longer wish to be a member

nate swanson

----- Original Message -----
From: Nate and Roma Swanson
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 9:31 PM
Subject: cancel my account and return my money


I have sent several emails to several email addresses, this will be the third I send to this address.



Return my money.

Cancel my account.



I require immediate resolution to this issue

Although it is my practice to NOT reply to emails of this nature, I did reply to the last one...

----- Original Message -----
From: WebSlave
To: Nate and Roma Swanson
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 10:00 PM
Subject: Re: cancel my account and return my money


Please tell me where you saw any sort of money back guarantee. Once you pay for a membership, you can either use it or not, as you wish. You apparentely posted ads on the site, which you could ONLY do with a paid membership, so you have consumated the deal. Sorry if you are not happy with things, but I suspect that has nothing really to do with me at all.

On 03/04/08 Nate Swanson opened up a dispute with PayPal over the $25 he paid for the Contributor membership fee to post his ads on this site. His claim is as follows:

From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/4/2008 14:59 PST
I don't know any other way to explain what's missing from your package, I have sent 13 emails complaining about the service of your product, noone has ever replied, as soon as my account was setup I had problems and received no help, then when i did post a classified I get flamed from everyone and badmouthed all over the place. your moderators wont even respond to me. i have asked since day 3 for you to cancel my account and return my money... unfortunately you leave me no choice

I will post my replies and his in sequence in the dispute discussion.

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/4/2008 16:08 PST
Mr. Swanson paid for a contributor membership on the site, which he has received. He also posted classified ads, which are only allowed for contributor level members. He most definitely has recieved what he has paid for. There is no expressed nor implied guarantee of satisfaction of use of the benefits of contributor membership, nor offer or refund if he refuses to use the benefits. Further, Mr. Swanson needs to be aware that if he continues in this pursuit of trying to reclaim his membership fee after the fact, he WILL be listed on the Board Of Inquiry as a bad guy to warn other members of the industry about doing business with him.
As for contacts, they were attempted, but it appears the Comcast is BLOCKING all emails originating from the faunaclassifieds.com server.

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/4/2008 16:39 PST
You do have the capability to lock ads you place so replies are inhibited. Some people don't like what you are advertising. From what you have posted, this wasn't unexpected by you, now was it? Just out of curiosity, why would you think I would want to get in the middle of every litte squabble on my site? You paid for a servive, received it, and utilized it. Results were not to your liking because of the response you got from your prospective target market. That's supposed to be MY fault? As for the Comcast problem, look in the feedback forum on the site where it is detailed. Matter of fact, I am now on DSL after having it installed yesterday so I can drop my Comcast account. The internet is just chock full of headaches, and this is simply one of them.
From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/4/2008 16:17 PST
fascinating! i will look into this further to see if i have any emails in my spam folder, but you would be the first to have this problem, what about the emails i sent from my yahoo account? or the emails I sent straight from your site? or the emails and messages i sent straight to your moderators? no one has responded to me. how about you remove my account and all of it's features and return half of my money? i no longer wish to use your service and I had no idea it was such an exclusive club where you could black ball me for having a valid complaint

From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/4/2008 22:43 PST
how about you remove my account and all of it's features and return half of my money? i no longer wish to use your service.

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/5/2008 08:01 PST
As I mentioned before, there is NO money back guarantee expressed nor implied when you paid for a Contributor membership on FaunaClassifieds.com. You have already stated HERE that you have, in fact, received what you paid for with that membership fee. I've fullfilled my end of the transaction. Your continuing with this claim, along with the statements you have made in this discourse, are plain evidence that you are engaging in fraud by claiming you did NOT receive the "product" you paid for. You posted ads on my site, which ONLY paid members can do, regardless of whether it is one ad or thousands of ads. You did, in fact, get what you paid for. It would be like me paying for a classified ad in the local newspaper, then after I had my merchandise exposed to the public as I had intended, going to the newspaper and trying to get my money back because I got a few crank calls in response to the ad. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way.

From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/6/2008 11:47 PST
http://www.reptirank.com/index.php?a=stats&u=221&all_reviews=1
and here i thought i had done something wrong and i was the only jackass that wanted my money back...
my money yes or no?
you would be glad to get rid of me for such a small fee.trust me

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/6/2008 12:36 PST
So now you are threatening me with harrassment? This will all become public record, you know?
You posted ads on the site solicition wild caught animals and people don't tend to like that. So you got upset over that sort of response. Again, how is that MY fault?

From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/6/2008 13:01 PST
my money yes or no?

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/6/2008 13:35 PST
Did you or did you not post classified ads on my site, which was the reason you became a Contributing member? You paid for this privilege, consumated the transaction, and now want your money back after the fact?

From Buyer: Nathaniel Swanson on 3/6/2008 14:51 PST
what is the answer to my question?

From Seller: FaunaClassifieds L.L.C. on 3/6/2008 15:39 PST
No.

From PayPal: PayPal on 3/6/2008 17:13 PST
Buyer escalated this dispute to a Claim.


Yes, I am fully aware of how PayPal will handle this case. The reason I allowed it to go this route was in order to give Mr. Swanson the opportunity to engage in fraud, in my opinion, by getting access to this site in order to post his classified ads and then claim he did not get what he paid for and then claim for a refund from PayPal with that lie (IMHO).

Since this is my only contact with Mr. Swanson in relation to his business practices and ethics, I am offering this as evidence of what YOU may possibly expect if you do business with him yourself. Your mileage may vary, of course..........
 
A trajedy for YOU perhaps...

Most of us do not like to see our native wildlife exploited. I for one, was glad to see the lack of overwhelming response to your requests. And people like you wonder why the laws pertaining to herps are getting stricter? :shootfoot
 
So Nate pays for a service, uses that service, and then wants money refunded.

I just love it when people expect us to protect them from their own stupidity.
 
yep

no hard feelings eh?
if it makes you feel better not one person responded to my post...positively that is...except for a guy from Africa, but you know how that works.

truth be told all the animals I have or have received lately are part of breeding projects.....yes I'm going to sell the anoles and green frogs, but I have a little tree hugger in me too.

I bought spotted turtles to breed them, not for a quick resale. all of you started somewhere
 
natimus said:
no hard feelings eh?
but I have a little tree hugger in me too.

I bought spotted turtles to breed them, not for a quick resale. all of you started somewhere

No argument there, but the APPEARANCE of exploitation does rile some of us old timers! I have no problem with the responsible taking from the wild, breeding them, and selling the offspring.
 
good point

agreed.

I know it looked bad, but no one gave me a chance to explain, I felt blackballed from the beginning.
 
All due respect, but you KNEW what kind of reaction you were likely to receive, and you stated as much in your ad. Then when you received that very response, you demanded your money back....in a somewhat less than proffesional manner I might add.

BTW, I thought those e-mails were rather self explanatory. Are we missing something?
 
natimus said:
agreed.

I know it looked bad, but no one gave me a chance to explain, I felt blackballed from the beginning.

Oh really? You didn't have any opportunity within the threads you posted in the classifieds section to explain? You DID post some replies to the people posting in one of them, now didn't you? So instead of explaining, you instead chose to reply in this manner:

natimus said:
and why Tim does that "set the tone" ?
perhaps if you knew the demand here in Washington you'd understand

Yeah, that sure sounds like you are intending to buy wild caughts for breeding projects to me........ Your list of desired animals CERTAINLY did largely encompass "breeding project quality" animals, I'm sure.

natimus said:
you're a douchebag, someone ought to tell you that to your face.

I paid good money so i could post here, why don't you complain to someone else.


p.s. you should move out of your moms house CHUCK!

Yes, another thoughtful reply trying to explain yourself. You DID pay money to post here, and you DID do that. Now you want your "good money" back after getting what you paid for. In my opinion, that is FRAUD. Certainly not a real good foot to start off this new business of yours on, now is it?

And last and most certainly least...

natimus said:
you are funny

So in the three days that elapsed since your first reply to your ad you could not seem to fit the time in edgewise to fully explain yourself? Instead you chose to come running to me to give you back your money because people here didn't fall all over themselves to ship anything and everything they can catch LOCALLY to you. Is that it? You are trying to hold ME responsible for your VERY likely poor choice of business model and fumbling approach to your target clientele.

Quite frankly and in my opinion, your truthfullness is HIGHLY suspect. You lied to PayPal about not receiving the services you paid for. Now you are trying to slip us this suspect excuse that you are planning on breeding, ahem...
natimus said:
looking for salamanders,newts,geckos, frogs,toads,Tortoise and turtles. maybe some snakes wanted!
herp herps newts frog toad gecko lizard salamander snake
and NOT buying them COMPLETELY and SOLELY for resale to the pet trade to make a quick buck.

Yep. I'll buy that....... :rolleyes:

Quite frankly, looking at the list of animals offered on your website, it looks to me that you are simply planning on buying from the importers and flipping them for a few bucks. Nothing really wrong with that, as lots of people are already doing it, but don't pretend to be something you are not, and think we will swallow it.

So whose wholesale lists did you copy YOUR list from? Or are those all animals you intend to breed yourself, just like the wild caught USA stuff you are trying to obtain through your ads here? ;)

From all of the evidence I have seen from you and about you so far, I SERIOUSLY DOUBT your story line.
 
personal info

Rich,

regardless of hurt feelings on either side, i would like you to please remove my personal information. I don't recall seeing anything when i signed up that implied it would be shared publicly.

at the very least please remove my home address and phone number as they are not on my website so the cross promotion is not as effective as i'd hope.

I would think this is fair to say the least.
 
Tortoises

Just out of curiousity, are there any tortoises in the US that can be legally taken from the wild? I am no expert, but I dont imagine that there are...

nate, take your little hissyfit elsewhere. You came here, looking for people to rape our native fauna for your own benefit. How did you expect us to react? This is a site that caters to animal lovers. We oust abusers! Ask bruce eisenmann about the not-so-warm-welcome that he got.

Are you done your whiney little tantrum yet?

your best friend,

Gino Beniquez
 
My feelings aren't hurt at all. In my opinion you are engaging in fraud by paying to place classified ads here, doing so, then going to PayPal to get your money back after the fact.

So, I can't see where I owe you any favors.

Besides, everything posted is public record anyway.... Your home address and phone number are easily found by checking your domain name record.
 
natimus said:
Rich,

regardless of hurt feelings on either side, i would like you to please remove my personal information. I don't recall seeing anything when i signed up that implied it would be shared publicly.

at the very least please remove my home address and phone number as they are not on my website so the cross promotion is not as effective as i'd hope.


no can do kiddo. When you registered that website domain YOU made that information publicly accessible to anyone who knows how to look it up on the net. Stop trying to blame Rich for your screw ups.
 
natimus said:
I don't recall seeing anything when i signed up that implied it would be shared publicly.

at the very least please remove my home address and phone number


And apparently you never bothered to read the rules of this particular forum.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8880

I expect I will get a number of requests from people asking me to delete some message that someone else has posted about them that is rather unflattering. Bear in mind that I cannot, and WILL not be a judge in these matters. Your word will carry no more weight than the other person's word, whether I know you personally or not. All of these types of requests will be refused, no matter how irate and threatening the request may be. As such, please note that I reserve the right to publish such email in the appropriate threads in this forum, as evidence of MY own dealings with YOU. Anyone sending me these types of messages, or of any other type, specifically give up the right or expectation that this correspondence will remain private, at my discretion. In such an instance, such correspondence will be considered as MY contribution to what is known about the parties involved in a dispute. The more abusive the correspondence, the greater the likelihood that you will see it published in this forum.
 
News Flash !

at the very least please remove my home address and phone number as they are not on my website so the cross promotion is not as effective as i'd hope.

Hey, Nate. Just so you know. Your domain registration is not the only public record of your name and address. It took all of 3 minutes to locate another public record, published as a matter of law in fact, with your name, address(es) and even your girlfriend/spouse's name. That would be the one at your countie's "news source" Herald Net ... the legal notices. Even though it's a couple years old, you can still check it out. So you see ... Rich hasn't broadcast anything that wasn't already out there and very easy to find.

I also liked your post/inquiry at AqualandPetsPlus .. hopefully you aren't using any of their photos on your website. And hopefully they won't be shipping you any "wild caught Iowa Tiger salamanders".

~ Laura Bolt
 
whatever you wanna call it!

Laura, Looks like he got some of them there Iowa Tiger Salamanders...maybe... or they could be Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) , or Mudpuppies (necturus sp.), or Neotenics (?), no, he's sure they are Ambystoma Tigrinum Mavortium but maybe they are Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum , he's not sure but he'll sell you as many as you want..... and keep in mind - a few have started to absorb their dreads already

Waterdogs , Axolotl , mudpuppy , Tiger Larvae , Neotenic or whatever you wanna call it! - Does he really think these are all the same animal?

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=14&de=604737
 
OMG, why did I have to open that link??
He has a Green (environmentally friendly) Page.
Robs the wild of animals that could be threatened or endangered then has a page claiming he is environmentally friendly because he uses used shipping supplies. :shrug01:
Is there any way this guy is not a fraud?
 
Jon C, evidently he does think that all those in his ad are the same animal! Even though one is from Mexico, one is not even a true salamander and "Ambystoma Tigrinum Mavortium" are two different species.

And they're neotenic as well? They're neotenic, but he'll sell you the "land phase" if you want. LMAO
Obviously he is clueless and clearly ignorant ... someone to avoid, for sure!
And yes, he's just a wildlife rapist, a fraud and cause for both a good laugh and then disdain. Someone to avoid and someone who should be watched by the proper authorities.

Do you suppose this is what "Waterdogs , Axolotl , mudpuppy , Tiger Larvae , Neotenic or whatever you wanna call it" look like when they don't absorb their dreads? Thanks Jon, for the link, the good catch and the fodder. :)
 

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