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sale gone bad... opinions needed

V

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ok heres the problem... i sold [email protected]{ron radloff} 1 male durango mountain gopher snake...im a buisy person and asked my girlfriend to ship for me now i told her to use heat packs an astyrofoam box ... unfortunatly she only got the first half right.... and the snake died....i didnt get to talk to ron till last night while i was getting read to leave for work... he told me that it had died i asked him to pack the dead snake in a plastic bag filled with salt and ship it priority [4 dollars]and that when it arrives i would refund him... i then started to write that i could replace the snake and that that would be easier...but any one who has aol knows how big of a pain it is to get booted off while sending something apperantly it didnt go thrw and i also didnt get to see what he was writing.....well wheni got home this morning from worki had a e-mail from him... i couldnt reply right at that second becuase my keyboard stoppedworking..[spillt coffee in it] i drove all over till i found a place with a keyboard that has usb ports and once i did i replied.....well he went a head and shipped the snake.. overnight threw fed-ex becuase from what i got repliedbecuase the salt would have dried it up an limited any decomposing.....basically the problem is thisi dont feeli should have to refund him for sending the snake back threw fed ex.... but i did say that i would give him 4.00 towards it pluss replace the snake and now im being threatend example: first he said hell go to the boi i replied with


take it to the boi....and when the snake arrives ill send its replacement along with 4.00.... i to have all the e-mails.... im a fair person..... im not trying to rip you off... you should havewaitd for a reply from me... instead you chose to go ahead an do what you did ... if i said its only going to cost 4.00 and that didnt sound right to you you should have waited to find out who i wanted you to send it back with

HE REPLIED WITH

no your not a fair person... at all.. you misshipped the snake and NOW its my fault.. I have your IM saying when you recieve the snake you'll send back my MONEY.. NOT SNAKE... MONEY. you had several emails asking how to ship and you didn't respond to any of them so I shipped the same way you did!! This will go to the board because your dead wrong!!! everyone whose anyone knows me so I'm sure they'll pay attention.. then I'll contact your fed ex office and file a claim.. opps, not supossed to ship snakes that way, darn.. not your lucky day is it..

NOW HERES THE THING I REPLIED ON WHO TO SHIP IT WITH ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WAIT A LIL BIT....ALSO MY IM DIDNT GO THREW SO HE IDNT SEE THE PART ABOUT HOW IT WOULD BE EASYER FOR ME TO REPLACE IT..... WHAT EXACTLY DO OUS THIK I SHOULD DO?......
 
Since you admit that you (or your girlfriend) made the mistake I think you should pay the refund plus his fed ex shipping charges.
If I shipped a snake that died enroute because of my poor packaging I would not require the customer to ship it back to me. What's wrong with a photo that clearly shows the snake is dead?
I just think it's out of line to ask a customer to package up a carcass and go to the post office to ship it back to you. Obviously there was a miscommunication between you two or I'm sure he would not have paid to ship by Fed Ex.

You'll lose some money on the deal but you'll come out looking like someone who took responsibility for his mistakes and did the right thing. Just consider it an expensive lesson...package your own reptiles next time.

I'm not saying you're a bad guy...we all make mistakes. It's your actions after the mistake that will define your character.

Chris Raden
 
Sorry, boss.... in my opinion, you owe him for the FedEx shipping charges, along with the replacement snake.... sent back to him (also) at YOUR expense....
Whatever your problem was with your computer, it wasn't his fault, and you had some miscommunications along the way, to boot!! He had to get the dead snake back to you somehow?, and that's the way he chose.... Unfortunately, you're stuck with that decision....

Next time.... it takes TEN MINUTES to pack a box and get it ready for shipping! Instead of letting your girlfriend pack an animal.... get off your butt and YOU do it....

If you do it right the FIRST time.... you'll NEVER have to do it AGAIN!!... you dig???

....Neil
 
Hello James,
Seems to me that it was your girlfriends fault for sending the snake out in the wrong manner. Wasnt your customer's fault that the snake died because of poor packaging. I think you should pay shipping all the way around in order to make it right. Put yourself in the other guy's shoes, he purchased a animal you had for sale believing that it would be as described, shipped in the correct packaging and in a timely matter. Regardless of how he decided to ship it back to you, it was your or your girlfriends fault that your end of the deal wasnt fulfilled.
 
i understand were you are all coming from... but all he had to do was waitfor a reply. [iwould have waited]...and i dont feel asking some one to send the body back is a bad idea ive had to do it with international dragon breeders andc i think thats a great idea so i have been doing it since....... well thanks to some of the replies.... i guess i will refund the fed-ex... costs and send it with the replacement
 
Hi James....not really sure what to say because I have never had a snake die.
But if one died I would ship a replacement or refund with shipping on me. As for shipping the dead snake back to me.....well I would opt for pictures instead. Because I would not want to foot the shpping bill back to me and I am sure the customer won't either.

On second thought.....it was really not his fault that your computer went on the fritz. So go ahead and take care of shipping and call the spent money as...uuummm... good publicity.

Because what you do here will pretty much show people wether they want to deal with you or not. Because if your computer was fine and he still shipped fed ex...it is his problem and he foots the bill. But since the problem was with your computer on your end....Well you know

Good luck to you.
 
Ritchie you took the words right out of my mouth!:D I agree totally! It was't his fault that the computer died.:(

Good luck to you!

---------
Kim Lewis
 
James
remember the old saying' when you want something done right do it yourself ' That stands here
You can't blame this on yourgirl-friend [this was your deal remember]
But paying all shipping charges and sending a replacement is the easy way out;)
 
im not blaming my g/f.... i simply stated a fact also..... i did say in my reply that im going to refund the shipping and replace it.... its just a few replies above this one ....thanks to everyone who replied

Please put your FULL name in every message you post on the BOI. Thanks........ WebSlave.
Click to expand...
 
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My 2 cents(all I can afford)

After more than a year of dealings with James, I must say I have had nothing but quality transactions. He is very fair, loyal, and most importantly, he is a professional. I was completely impressed with his packaging methods, especially since I was smoked by some other guys who's name won't be mentioned.

In fact when Jame's package arrived, I was like, "Wow, so this is how it is supposed to be done."

Since that first box arrived, James has been my one & only man when it comes to critters. He is knowlegable & really cares about his animals. It was interesting when he would not ship certain animals to me until he was sure that they were eating and healthy.

I am sure neither James or his customer Ron wanted the snake to die, and this made things get complicated. The shipping error was his fault & James wants to rectify this error. Also, give his girl a break. My woman made me get rid of most of my tanks all together. Thank god I can hide my addiction behind the disguise of educating my students. (Muahahahahaha!!!)

You cannot fault James for wanting to have proof that this snake died. We all know how many jerks are out there that try to burn people that are out there busting their butts. Google images will easily supply a dead snake photo.

Anyway, Ron should get his entire shipping $ back and get the animal replaced. Even though there is obviously some miscommunication going on & some hastey decisions being made, I have faith that good business practice will prevail & James will satisfy yet another customer.

So, ship the guy his snake & give him back his shipping money. He should be pleased with that. If he is just being uncooperative, which it seems he might be, be the better man & give it all back. You will earn the respect & interest of many potential customers who will happily deal with someone who is concerned with their best interest.
 
I don't see anyone questioning whether James is a good guy. He seems to be owning up to his mistake and that's nice to see once in a while.

I did a search on Google for "dead durango mountain kingsnake photo" and wasn't able to find any (I got a Grateful Dead website when I searched under MSN (LOL). All he would have to do is put the dead snake on a piece of paper that says "here's the dead snake James". Kingsnakes don't play dead :)

James is certainly entitled to run his business however he pleases. I would just be a little disgusted if I was a customer that had just opened up a dead snake and had the seller tell me to package it up and ship it back to me to prove it's dead. It's just an inconvenience to impose on your customer for something that wasn't his fault.

James, I commend you for handling the situation correctly. (Check out some of the recent sellers on the BOI who have shot themselves in the foot with their behavior after their mistakes.) People tend to be very forgiving when someone works to correct their mistake.
Good luck,
Chris Raden
 
James, I personaly would send the refund that Ron asked for, and cover the cost to ship the dead snake back. And as everyone has already stated, its not his fault for your computer crashing.
Just what I would do personally if in your shoes. Im not doggin you in any way, and I think you did the right thing by offering another to replace the dead, but I feel if Ron wants a refund, a refund Ron shall get.
 
dead mex pine

I'm the guy (Ron Radloff) that had the problem with James Parks. James IM'd me letting me know he posted the our situation here. James also said he will honor the shipping fees. I sent James 3 pics of the dead snake but he insisted I pack the snake in salt and send it priority for $4.00. I asked him who I should use to send the snake back, not once but twice with no response. I did recieve an email from him with his address between those requests for the $4.00 shipper. Since he shipped via Fed Ex I just figured I would use them also. Being Thursday I wanted to get the snake shipped for Friday arrival. I had no idea he was thinking 2 to 3 days travel time. The pics I took were definately proof enough.. heck I can't teach a snake to play dead in a few short hours. To the guy that had good experiences with James, I have no doubt he is a good business person but we all have bad days. I live in Wisconsin and told James to be sure and use heat packs. He actually didn't ship the first day because he had to get shipping supplies. The box arrived crushed by Fed Ex, it measured 8 x 8 x 8.. no insulation other than styro peanuts and 2 tiny heat packs 2 x3 inch size. I will try to include a pic of the snake. I actually would preferred James didn't post this. I did tell I would but that was in hopes of him co-operating. I would have continued to try and work it out directly with him. I thank everyone for their responses and hope you don't think bad of James. He did after all post this and agree to do the right thing. Thanks again... Ron Radloff
 

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to set the record straight for a quick second the snake arrived alive..... and its a durango mountain GOPHER snake....in my defense i was told it was very cold... any one out there find a garter out of hibernation on a slight warm winter day it wont move much at all....so to be sure i asked for it to be shipped back...im not the only person out there that asks this....though there arent many but if you been burnt as many time as i have im sure you would consider it...and if thats something youd never ask of a customer....then you have a hell of a lot more faith in mankind then i do
james parks
 
Hey, I just wanted to state that I did a trade with James last year and I was pretty satisfied.
James might not remember, but we traded some oddball Eastern Hogs to him for some Terrapins. I was very happy with the deal and would be happy to do business with James again.
 
So let me see if I have this right?

Ron paid for a snake in good faith.

He also paid to have the snake shipped by you.

You didn't ship the snake, your girlfriend did.

Snake died due to EXTREEMLY poor shipping.

You weren't happy with a few pictures.

You wanted it shipped back paid by you.

Now you wanna worry about the cost of shipping back to you?

The way I see it is not only should you do whatever it takes to make Ron happy but you should be ashamed for having shipped an animal with so much neglect it caused the death of the animal. I would have avoided this post at all cost just so people didn't see how poorly I shipped and the fact that I would trust somebody else to do it.

You wanted the snake back for WHATEVER reason, you pay the shipping cost. I dead snake can't be shipped through the USPS, have you lost your mind? The order would be out of control.

Point here is to buck up and do what you need to make Ron happy. I know AOL, your Girlfriend, Keyboard and blah blah blah but at somepoint you're going to have to account for trusting somebody else to ship, choosing the poorest ISP and drinking around your keyboard. Good luck Ron..

The black sheep (dog),
Adam Block
 
well sorry to hear about this james but hey $%#&happens ya'know? live&learn as they say,,youve shown your a "goodguy" by acknowledging the "wrong" and making it "right" and having delt w/you in past myself i know this must have been an accident,for all my shipments were very well packed and very healthy well represented animals as well ,,,,, thomas davis T&S reptile farm
 
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