trobeast
New member
Back in early March, the user "herpterra" on this forum, Mr. Jennings Daniel, was offering a LTC female whitelip python for $225 shipped. I pounced on the ad, after doing a basic check- he only had two posts about him here, but both were positive. He removed the ad shortly after he sold the snake.
I contacted him on my previous screen-name here, "fuzzworm." (I have since changed as I didn't use my legal name on that account, durr.)
I wanted to set up a payment plan for the snake, which the terms of sale on his website stated was fine. He agreed readily to a payment plan. I made an initial payment on March 5th.
I paid off the remaining balance on March 14th, and we arranged for the arrival date of my new snake. I was anxious about the exact date of arrival, as I work odd hours, and I wanted to be sure she'd arrive on one of my days off so that I'd be home in the morning to receive the package (this was to be my first "mail order" herp). It was to arrive on March 24th.
That morning, I waited, and waited ... and waited ... after 12 pm, and still no package, I sent him a slightly panicky e-mail. I got a response that evening:
This was a pretty big red flag I ignored, and I really regret it...
I was willing to forgive him; people make mistakes (though that is an awfully big mistake), and I still wanted the animal, but I was upset by what had happened. I asked for some reimbursement for my trouble, and J. Daniel agreed to send me an extra pair of leopard geckos, along with the snake, when he re-sent her out.
He said the snake was cold, but seemed otherwise all right, when he got it back, and stated he wanted to keep the snake for a few days before re-sending her, to make sure she was okay. I said that was fine, and asked if he thought a March 31st delivery might be okay.
He never responded to this question, so I assumed it was okay.
March 30th - due to the mistake the first time - I e-mailed him again and asked for a tracking number on the package. He responded that evening to let me know he was out of heat packs and couldn't send her that day.
March 31st, I get this:
At this time, my hard drive took a nosedive, and I had to have someone else reformat it for me. I got it back on April 8th.
I was a little disconcerted that J. Daniel had not attempted to contact me in the week I was 'missing,' but I shrugged it off. I finally responded to him, and stated I would prefer a full refund at this point.
I received no response for several days. During this time, I noted he had logged into his account here on FaunaClassifieds. April 13th, I sent him a PM here and another e-mail, stating that I felt I was being ignored and/or avoided, and I would like to at least know the status of my refund.
I filed a dispute against him with PayPal in an attempt to get my money back.
April 15th he responded, stating a family member of his had passed away, and that it was his fiance that was checking Fauna, not him. He said he'd refund me immediately.
April 21st, I received notice from PayPal that his payment had failed to clear. (Insufficient funds?!) He assured me he'd fix this ASAP.
April 28th, PayPal closed the dispute in my favour, and attempted to force a refund through his account. The refund again failed, due to insufficient funds in J. Daniel's account.
April 30th, I contacted him again to ask if he'd cleared the funds in his bank yet, or perhaps if he'd prefer to mail me a money order or cashier's check. No response.
May 6th, out of idiot desperation for some sort of reimbursement, I emailed asking if it'd be easier for him to just send me some animals after all.
Surprise, surprise - I received a response within 24 hours; in the e-mail it was claimed to be his fiance/wife "M. Daniel" responding to me. She apologized as J. Daniel had apparently suffered another death in the family and was out of town. She claimed she was unaware of the situation between J. Daniel and I, but she would be willing to work with me to settle this problem and send me something.
I explained the situation to her, and that I just wanted some kind of reimbursement - that I would prefer my money back, but if that was impossible, I'd be willing to accept animals of equivalent value.
May 9th, "M. Daniel" offered me:
To which I said:
I have not had any contact from J. Daniel or any possible affiliates thereof since May 9th. The last date I attempted to contact him was May 23.
During this entire ordeal, I have done my best to remain as civil and polite as possible, though this has been ... a pretty
frustrating situation. I doubt I'm ever going to see a cent of that money again, and I feel thoroughly cheated and quite furious ... I live in Las Vegas ... if I wanted to throw away $225, I could have gone to a casino, at least I'd get free cocktails...
In short, I can't help but feel J. Daniel is a scammer. And that's $225 I could have spent much better at a local shop on a real, live snake.
If anyone wants more documentation, I'd be delighted to provide screenshots of any/all PMs, e-mails and PayPal receipts.
-Meg Bergeron
I contacted him on my previous screen-name here, "fuzzworm." (I have since changed as I didn't use my legal name on that account, durr.)
I wanted to set up a payment plan for the snake, which the terms of sale on his website stated was fine. He agreed readily to a payment plan. I made an initial payment on March 5th.
I paid off the remaining balance on March 14th, and we arranged for the arrival date of my new snake. I was anxious about the exact date of arrival, as I work odd hours, and I wanted to be sure she'd arrive on one of my days off so that I'd be home in the morning to receive the package (this was to be my first "mail order" herp). It was to arrive on March 24th.
That morning, I waited, and waited ... and waited ... after 12 pm, and still no package, I sent him a slightly panicky e-mail. I got a response that evening:
This was a pretty big red flag I ignored, and I really regret it...
I was willing to forgive him; people make mistakes (though that is an awfully big mistake), and I still wanted the animal, but I was upset by what had happened. I asked for some reimbursement for my trouble, and J. Daniel agreed to send me an extra pair of leopard geckos, along with the snake, when he re-sent her out.
He said the snake was cold, but seemed otherwise all right, when he got it back, and stated he wanted to keep the snake for a few days before re-sending her, to make sure she was okay. I said that was fine, and asked if he thought a March 31st delivery might be okay.
He never responded to this question, so I assumed it was okay.
March 30th - due to the mistake the first time - I e-mailed him again and asked for a tracking number on the package. He responded that evening to let me know he was out of heat packs and couldn't send her that day.
March 31st, I get this:
At this time, my hard drive took a nosedive, and I had to have someone else reformat it for me. I got it back on April 8th.
I was a little disconcerted that J. Daniel had not attempted to contact me in the week I was 'missing,' but I shrugged it off. I finally responded to him, and stated I would prefer a full refund at this point.
I received no response for several days. During this time, I noted he had logged into his account here on FaunaClassifieds. April 13th, I sent him a PM here and another e-mail, stating that I felt I was being ignored and/or avoided, and I would like to at least know the status of my refund.
I filed a dispute against him with PayPal in an attempt to get my money back.
April 15th he responded, stating a family member of his had passed away, and that it was his fiance that was checking Fauna, not him. He said he'd refund me immediately.
April 21st, I received notice from PayPal that his payment had failed to clear. (Insufficient funds?!) He assured me he'd fix this ASAP.
April 28th, PayPal closed the dispute in my favour, and attempted to force a refund through his account. The refund again failed, due to insufficient funds in J. Daniel's account.
April 30th, I contacted him again to ask if he'd cleared the funds in his bank yet, or perhaps if he'd prefer to mail me a money order or cashier's check. No response.
May 6th, out of idiot desperation for some sort of reimbursement, I emailed asking if it'd be easier for him to just send me some animals after all.
Surprise, surprise - I received a response within 24 hours; in the e-mail it was claimed to be his fiance/wife "M. Daniel" responding to me. She apologized as J. Daniel had apparently suffered another death in the family and was out of town. She claimed she was unaware of the situation between J. Daniel and I, but she would be willing to work with me to settle this problem and send me something.
I explained the situation to her, and that I just wanted some kind of reimbursement - that I would prefer my money back, but if that was impossible, I'd be willing to accept animals of equivalent value.
May 9th, "M. Daniel" offered me:
To which I said:
I have not had any contact from J. Daniel or any possible affiliates thereof since May 9th. The last date I attempted to contact him was May 23.
During this entire ordeal, I have done my best to remain as civil and polite as possible, though this has been ... a pretty
frustrating situation. I doubt I'm ever going to see a cent of that money again, and I feel thoroughly cheated and quite furious ... I live in Las Vegas ... if I wanted to throw away $225, I could have gone to a casino, at least I'd get free cocktails...In short, I can't help but feel J. Daniel is a scammer. And that's $225 I could have spent much better at a local shop on a real, live snake.
If anyone wants more documentation, I'd be delighted to provide screenshots of any/all PMs, e-mails and PayPal receipts.
-Meg Bergeron
