• 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 Paul Prunier - SCAMMER

MCMB

MCMB

Victoria@MCMB
Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
66
Reaction score
5
Points
0
Location
Reno, NV
I'm extremely disappointed in myself for sending money before receiving pictures and positive proof.

I looked up Paul Prunier before I sent payment and came up with 1 negative review and 1 positive BOI where the user had a good transaction.
Here are the links:
The bad: http://www..net/industry-watchdog/49477-paul-prunier-p-pythons.html
The good: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=244768

I decided to reserve judgement and take a chance by giving him the benefit of the doubt (I think I was just dazzled by the paradox albino he had for sale!)
I sent Paul Prunier $430 for a female paradox albino ball python.
I then asked for pictures of the albino with a timestamp/my name somewhere in the picture. Paul told me he was at work, which I understand, and that he would send me pictures of the albino when he got home.
After getting the go-around and doing some nosing around, I finally admitted to myself that I had fallen for a scam.

--------

I'm posting our transactions. I'd love for everyone to weigh in with what they think.
With that being said, let me apologize in advance for the long post.

---------

My fiance, Nick Burgener (MCMB-2) belongs to a facebook group called "Ball Python Classifieds". Many of the posts are from professional breeders because the group requires that all members selling be willing to ship in the US as well.

March 16th
Nick called me over to show me an ad on the "Ball Python Classifieds" group that Paul Prunier had posted selling a female paradox albino and a female kingpin. The ad has since been taken down but from what I recall, there were 2 pictures of the albino and 1 of the kingpin. The pictures were of a freshly hatched albino with a listed weight of 98 grams. I don't remember the weight of the kingpin. The asking prices were $450 and $300 plus shipping. The ad was posted March 15th.

Nick contacted Paul for more pictures but never received a reply.


March 17th
Nick never got a reply and other people had shown interest in the albino with Paul putting it on hold and taking it off hold a short while later, saying that the buyer didn't have enough money. I contacted him on facebook to let him know I was for sure interested and he texted me a couple hours later while I was at work.

I've posted the texts below (I'm sorry about the screenshots! I have an older phone!)
Dt11tl7.png


I didn't hear anymore from him that night. Paul's ad said that he was shipping out of Putnam, Connecticut, which is about 3 hours ahead of Reno, Nevada, so I assumed he was asleep. I sent the payment about an hour after I got off work.

Here's my receipt.
***http://i.imgur.com/KUliyyk.png

I stayed up pretty late (It was St. Patty's after all!) and at some point I wanted to see pictures of the albino girl again. I went back to the "Ball Python Classifieds" only to find that Paul's ad had been deleted. I wasn't sure if he deleted it because the albino was spoken for, but I found it a little weird because he deleted the whole post - albino and kingpin.

I saw that he had a new post up. It was dated for March 15th, so I wasn't sure if he just edited his old post and replaced the pictures.
***http://i.imgur.com/NxLR8RK.png

I also noticed that Paul had been a member for over a year. I reasoned that if he were a scammer, he would have been found out already. So I wasn't very concerned at this point.
***http://i.imgur.com/Ct2EefS.png


March 18th
I woke up around 9:30 am (noon in CT) and hadn't heard from him yet, which worried me a little, so I sent him a text.
EirFTUC.png



I was looking around on facebook, when I came across this picture on his profile.
***http://i.imgur.com/PHsxHVl.png
Now I was concerned because his ad showed pictures of a newly hatched out ball python and he stated the weight at 98 grams! It was clearly much older and it seemed to me like he had already sold it!

I contacted him again around 2:30 pm (now 5:30 in CT) because I still hadn't heard from him at this point. No texts and no pictures. Up until this point, he had been replying to me pretty quickly. I sent him a message on facebook as well.
I still hadn't heard back at 5 pm, so I gave him a call - it went straight to voicemail. Nick called and it went to voicemail as well. Nick, being the gentleman he is, decided to keep calling Paul. This time the calls rang for the full duration.

Minutes later, I got a text from his phone from his wife, Amy Prunier.
6ggHo9n.png

These are the attachments she sent. The first and last pictures are the ones he used in his ad.
***http://i.imgur.com/rwNzXnr.jpg
***http://i.imgur.com/I2kPgp2.jpg
***http://i.imgur.com/HW0jPSw.jpg

I never heard back at all. No texts or call. After Amy Prunier texted me, I noticed that Paul's ad on "Ball Python Classifieds" had been completely deleted.

I checked facebook again around 9 pm and noticed that Paul had been posting and sharing things on facebook an hour earlier (11 pm in CT). I went to check my facebook messages to see if he had seen/read my message yet, but I couldn't find the original message I had sent him. That's when I realized I must have sent that initial message from Nick's facebook account.

When I used Nick's facebook account to see whether or not I really had accidentally used his account, I found that Paul had blocked Nick! Nick could no longer reply/message Paul. When Nick searched for him, he no longer popped up in the search (whereas I could still search and pull up Paul Prunier from my own account).
***http://i.imgur.com/vzDg2Op.png

That cinched it for me and I called my bank to to start a claim. I also opened a dispute in paypal. I can't elevate it to a claim until March 24th though.
If anyone has any advice on what I can do in the meantime, it would be greatly appreciated!!
 
He has pics of a female paradox albino on his facebook page. He states on Feb 27th that "Wish I kept this girl. Seen one like her but not exactly for sale for 25k". It seems that this animal had been sold/traded/whatever 3 weeks prior to your transaction. Did you or Nick not look at his FB page?
 
Oh, and I am very sorry to hear about your situation! File a chargeback with your credit card ASAP!
 
Here is a screenshot. Sorry I know its against the BOI terms to not imbed photos. Maybe someone else can help me?
Screenshot%203.png
 
I was the one who initially messaged him, but when he wouldn't respond with more photos I realized it seemed shady and decided against it. Victoria contacted him anyway and sent payment without me knowing. This is her learning experience :)
 
What I found strange was that he blocked me on facebook even though the only facebook message sent from my account was the one where I asked for pictures. Probably was worried I would go off on him after I found out he scammed my fiancee lol.
 
dieselfan said:
He has pics of a female paradox albino on his facebook page. He states on Feb 27th that "Wish I kept this girl. Seen one like her but not exactly for sale for 25k". It seems that this animal had been sold/traded/whatever 3 weeks prior to your transaction. Did you or Nick not look at his FB page?
Click to expand...

I saw this exact picture, unfortunately, after I had already sent payment :(
I've already linked to the screenshot in my initial post.
I had looked at his profile, but I didn't go far enough to see that post unfortunately.
 
Thank you april. I think I got it. MCMB I hope paypal or your bank sorts you quick!
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot (3).jpg
    Screenshot (3).jpg
    150.1 KB · Views: 826
MCMB said:
That cinched it for me and I called my bank to to start a claim. I also opened a dispute in paypal. I can't elevate it to a claim until March 24th though.
If anyone has any advice on what I can do in the meantime, it would be greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

Starting a dispute/claim is the best thing you could have done.
Do not cancel the dispute/claim and do escalate it, unless you get the BP in your hands (not that I think you will get it), no matter what Paul says &/or promises.

BTW Paul's account/profile, here on Fauna, is:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/member.php?u=87627
 
MCMB said:
I'm extremely disappointed in myself for sending money before receiving pictures and positive proof.

I looked up Paul Prunier before I sent payment and came up with 1 negative review and 1 positive BOI where the user had a good transaction.
Here are the links:
The bad: http://www..net/industry-watchdog/49477-paul-prunier-p-pythons.html
The good: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=244768
Click to expand...

I put a link on his profile to a older BOI thread back in 2013

Here are a few bad guy threads here on this site.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450825

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450374

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450798
 
Pasodama said:
Starting a dispute/claim is the best thing you could have done.
Do not cancel the dispute/claim and do escalate it, unless you get the BP in your hands (not that I think you will get it), no matter what Paul says &/or promises.

BTW Paul's account/profile, here on Fauna, is:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/member.php?u=87627
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'm not expecting to receive anything or hear from him. It seems his m.o. is to cut off all contact after receiving payment.
I'm just a little nervous because I've heard of other users having trouble getting refunded through paypal.
 
Thanks for the links everyone! Hopefully having all these links in one place will help anyone thinking about dealing with him in the future.

I really did try to look up information on him before I dealt with him, but for some reason I none of these links came up for me. :shrug01:
 
MCMB said:
I'm just a little nervous because I've heard of other users having trouble getting refunded through paypal.
Click to expand...

You should get a refund, from Paypal, because you paid for an item that was not received and the "seller" stopped communications, with you, etc.
Primarily because of non-receipt.

Paypal does not like to get into the middle of (or doing anything about) a dispute over animals (i.e. quality, condition, illness, mites, etc.) but non-receipt is a whole different matter.

I wish you the best of luck with everything.

----
 
Pasodama said:
You should get a refund, from Paypal, because you paid for an item that was not received and the "seller" stopped communications, with you, etc.
Primarily because of non-receipt.

Paypal does not like to get into the middle of (or doing anything about) a dispute over animals (i.e. quality, condition, illness, mites, etc.) but non-receipt is a whole different matter.

I wish you the best of luck with everything.

----
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter. If it's said it's a live animal they will not give you a refund no matter what. I've seen several people saw they paid for a live animal and even though it was never shipped paypal denied it just because it was a live animal.
 
I think if you will look through the BOI you will see that there have been people who have received a refund for non receipt of a critter, so my advice is to go ahead and elevate to a claim on March 24.
 
ElexisOrtiz said:
Doesn't matter. If it's said it's a live animal they will not give you a refund no matter what. I've seen several people saw they paid for a live animal and even though it was never shipped paypal denied it just because it was a live animal.
Click to expand...

This simply isn't true. Someone who's been around the BOI long enough will have seen many, many instances of claims that involved no tracking # and no item shipped are almost always decided in the BUYER'S favor, live animal or no. The "live animal" thing only is a liability if an animal arrives dead or damaged... in those cases, yes, PayPal doesn't care and cites their live animal clause. But if you can prove that the item was never shipped in the first place, they should find in your favor.
 
Mister Internet said:
This simply isn't true. Someone who's been around the BOI long enough will have seen many, many instances of claims that involved no tracking # and no item shipped are almost always decided in the BUYER'S favor, live animal or no. The "live animal" thing only is a liability if an animal arrives dead or damaged... in those cases, yes, PayPal doesn't care and cites their live animal clause. But if you can prove that the item was never shipped in the first place, they should find in your favor.
Click to expand...
Every time I've heard of or seen someone tell paypal they bought a snake or lizard etc and that it never shipped paypal still said they don't cover live animals and closed it out.
 
BillZ said:
I would like to hear first hand from the buyer(s), with details, regarding that claim. I have never heard of paypal denying a claim for refund when the item has never shipped regardless of what the item is as long as everything else was handled properly (not paid as friend, within time frame, etc.).
Click to expand...
Yea because I remember all those names months after of seeing it. Most of the groups I saw it in I'm no longer part of either.
 
I think a discussion of Paypal policy may be going far afield. There appears to be disagreement with whether Paypal will help in this situation, I think everyone would agree that whether or not one thinks the liferaft will work, if you are drowning you should climb up on it. Go ahead and escalate on the 24th. Maybe start a thread in business for the debate about live critters.
 
Back
Top