Bad Guy Steve Doss - SnakeFX Caging

[Wiggles92]

I first met Steve Doss of SnakeFX Caging at the Pittsburgh Reptile Show & Sale on May 20, 2012. I purchased a used lizard cage that was made by him. I was very pleased with the quality of the cage, so I decided to order three more.

I sent Mr. Doss an email on June 3 stating that I was interested in purchasing a few more new lizard cages with locks, and I asked if it would be possible to pick them up at one of the Pittsburgh area reptile shows that month. Through a series of emails that day, we agreed upon a price for the cages ($216), and he said that he could have them for the next Pittsburgh Reptile Show & Sale on June 24. I sent the full payment on June 12. On June 20, I sent him an email to double-check that we were still good to go for the show that Sunday. He responded that his wife had just had surgery, so he had to cancel for that show; he also asked if we could meet up at the next one (July 29). I said that worked for me and that I hoped that his wife was recovering well & would feel better soon; I also inquired about having them shipped, if possible. I received no response to this email.

I sent Mr. Doss an email on July 23 to ask if we were still good to go for the upcoming show on July 29. I never received a response to that email, and he was not at the show.

On August 17, I sent Mr. Doss an email to him asking if he would be at the Pittsburgh Reptile Show & Sale on August 26 and if it would be possible to pick up my cages at some point soon as I needed them as soon as possible. I received no response to this email, so I decided to try to find a different contact method; I ended up locating him on Facebook & added him as a friend. On August 21, I sent him a message on Facebook asking for updates on my cages, and I stated that I wanted to pick them up as soon as possible. I received a response the same day from him, and he stated that he was having transmission trouble with his van and would not be attending the show; however, he said that he would send the cages to the show with one of two vendors (names will be withheld for now). I said that worked for me and asked that he let me know which vendor would have my cages on Sunday so that I knew which one to talk to. On August 25, I asked him via Facebook message which of the two vendors would have my cages at the show the next day; I received no response. I went to the show the next day, and I found that the one vendor did not have my cages because he was unable to pick them up due to being at another reptile show on the other side of PA the day before as well; to me, that sounded like this vendor was not contacted about the cages until the day before the show. The other vendor was not listed among the show's vendors or on the vendor "map" of the show, so I was unable to ascertain if they were at the show or not. Upon returning home, I messaged Mr. Doss to ask if we could get something worked out so that I would have my cages for certain at the next show; I received no response.

Earlier today, I sent him an email stating that the lack of communication was disappointing & unacceptable. I made it a point to say that I understood that things come up, but there is still no excuse to not respond to a customer in a timely manner; it should not take weeks or months to receive a response (if any at all). I concluded by stating that I wanted a full refund before next Thursday (September 20, 2012) and that I would be posting a thread to the BOI on FaunaClassifieds. I have yet to receive a response to my email.

I have saved all emails & messages from my conversations with Mr. Doss and am willing to post screen captures of all of the messages if need be. I can also provide proof of payment via a PayPal screen capture. It is worth noting that Mr. Doss has been on Facebook frequently since I added him as a friend & has been posting on there regularly; I can provide screen captures of his profile to prove that point. Lastly, I can provide proof that I attended the shows as I had won a free attendance for a few of the shows & the tickets I received had my name on it so I could potentially have the show organizers confirm that I attended these shows. Please note that I will cover up any personal information beyond my name & his name in any screen captures due to privacy concerns. I will post these screen captures in a separate post in this thread.

In conclusion, am I being unreasonable or is my request for a refund justified? I talked to some other people on this matter, and they agreed that there is no reason for the poor level of communication & delays.

 

[Focal]

Justified for sure. Did you send him a direct link to this thread? Hopefully, this can get worked out in a reasonable manner.

 

[Wiggles92]

Justified for sure. Did you send him a direct link to this thread? Hopefully, this can get worked out in a reasonable manner.

I will email him a direct link to this thread once I get these screen captures posted; I need to upload them to Photobucket so I can post them.

I do want to get this worked out in a reasonable manner as well.

 

[Wiggles92]

Email Screen Captures

 

[ballchick90]

Three months is far too long to wait on someone to follow through with their side of the deal. He had your money, he should have made time to meet you. I've met Steve at shows in Kentucky in the past, he seemed like a pretty good guy to deal with, easy to talk to. I'm curious what he has to say about this.

 

[Wiggles92]

Facebook Screen Captures

For privacy reasons, I blacked out the names of the two vendors as well as any other names besides his name & my name; I also blacked out any pictures that could be used to identify anyone.

 

[Wiggles92]

Three months is far too long to wait on someone to follow through with their side of the deal. He had your money, he should have made time to meet you. I've met Steve at shows in Kentucky in the past, he seemed like a pretty good guy to deal with, easy to talk to. I'm curious what he has to say about this.

Yes, he did seem like a great guy at the show that I met him at, so I didn't think anything of giving him some extra time to get something arranged after things came up. I was very glad to see that he put his family before the show, too, and chose to stay with his wife when she had surgery; I certainly don't think that someone should have to leave their loved ones during a time like that and was more than happy to give him some extra time.

 

[Wiggles92]

PayPal Transaction Screen Capture

Lastly, here's the PayPal transaction screen capture in which I blacked out my private information.

That's the last screen capture that I have; I have now posted all of the communication that I've had with him.

 

[Wiggles92]

I just sent him the direct link now that I've uploaded all of my screen captures of the conversations.

And for proof of that email:

I blacked out the names from my list of online contacts.

 

[Snake-Queen]

Steve is definitely in the wrong here, regardless of any personal issues, you should never ignore your customer. It rarely takes more than 5 minutes to respond to an email and now days most business people have a smart phone, tablet, etc to check their email on the fly. It is my opinion that Steve has no leg to stand on in this situation and needs to remedy his mistake asap, by refunding your money with an apology.

If all else fails, you can go to your bank and see if they will reverse the charges, as you never received a product.

 

[Anna34]

Many of us have families, personal issues, life in general. It is poor business to take funds of that amount from someone and have no regard for supplying him the purchased items. If he does not have "time" to ship out items bought, or even have Decent customer/buyer communication then he should go out of business. He should refund him in full, or send him the cages and refund at least 50% for the hassle and inconvenience. He is due at least that in my opinion. Either way, I definitely would not want to purchase from him after seeing this kind of transaction.

 

[Focal]

He was Kentucky Reptile Forums just a couple days ago. I'd probably post a thread there too:

http://www.kentuckyreptileexpo.com/forums/member.php?64-Snake-FX-Caging&

 

[Focal]

He was trying to trade cages for a GTP just a few weeks ago:

http://www.kentuckyreptileexpo.com/forums/showthread.php?1639-FS-Female-Green-Tree-Python&

 

[Focal]

Trying to trade more cages just 10 days ago:

http://www.kentuckyreptileexpo.com/forums/showthread.php?1688-Snake-Room-Inspiration&p=8833#post8833

 

[Focal]

I sent him a PM to his account on Fauna so he will remember he has one.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/member.php?u=11016

 

[RJBILBY]

He used to attend the Cin City Reptile Show every month since he is local to the Cincinnati area. He has not been vending there for the last couple months though.

 

[Wiggles92]

I forgot to upload those screen captures as attachments & was asked to do so by a mod, so here are those screen captures again. These are the same exact ones as the ones I posted earlier except that they're uploaded directly to FaunaClassifieds instead of PhotoBucket.

 

[Wiggles92]

More screen captures as attachments.

 

[Wiggles92]

Here's the rest of those screen captures as attachments.

 

[J. Mendrola]

In my experience, PayPal is good for NOTHING in circumstances such as this.. I would call PayPal, and ask to speak to the supervisor, of whoever answers your call, and then ask for their supervisor, and so on, until you get to speak with a executive supervisor, or as high up the chain-of-command as you can get.

Make it so much trouble for Paypal, that they simply refund your measly transaction (to them, at least), just to keep you quiet !

I always used prepaid Visa cards for transaction such as this, as Visa will at least usually get SOMETHING accomplished, if you have a failed transaction, such as this.. It usually takes them a while, as they have to provide written notices to both PayPal, AND the person who received the funds. It is also not uncommon for Visa to refund your purchase, albeit slightly less than you actually paid, due to "transaction fees"..

Since your debit card is through your bank, I'm not entirely sure what kind of odds you have.. USUALLY, the provider of your debit/credit card is pretty good about issuing you some kind of refund, although my experience has been limited to Mastercard and Visa (Visa primarily), in the past..

Though, your bank is likely to be able to get more done, that you yourself, simply calling PayPal, especially if it is a smaller, community bank, who actually cares about it's business/customer relationships (rare, I know).

The ONLY hurdle that I see, is PayPal, and this is why I HATE using PayPal.. If a vendor/manufacturer isn't set up to accept credit/debit card transactions directly, then they are not somebody that I want to do business with.. Meaning, that your bank (or whoever is your debit card provider) can only really go as far back as PayPal, to try and fight for your refund.. And, PayPal is known for being good for very little, when it comes to failed transaction complaints.

I'm interested.. Has ANYONE here ever received a refund from PayPal directly, after a failed transaction, such as in this case..?

Personally Ryan, I think your best bet is to dispute the charges through the provider of your debit card, rather than PayPal.. Although, I personally, would have been very aggressive in my calls to PayPal as well..

I am Ryan's Venomous Mentor, and President of The Pennsylvania Woodland Herpetological Society, as well Woodland Herpetological Research Institute. Although, we do not endorse, nor discredit any business, I am making a Presidential, override decision, to post a warning in the P.W.H.S. Director's Blog.

This way, ANYBODY that Googles "SnakeFX Cages", will be directed to this thread..

I do not know what kind of time-frame that Ryan is giving Steve, but if he is not refunded within a timely matter, I can PROMISE that SnakeFX Caging, will be no more.. At least within the Northeast, unless he starts selling under a different name, and changes his own, for that matter..

This is ridiculous.. As others have said, family issues are hard times for everybody, but it takes but five minutes to send an email, and the lack of communication pretty much speaks for itself..

I run the ONLY active herpetological society in the State, as well as one of VERY few research institutes in the Northeastern United States . I head the ONLY conservation programs in PA, regarding dozens of our endangered, native species and am also CITIES I Certified, which allows me to also work with internationally protected species, even those Critically Endangered.. I reach THOUSAND of herper per year, and hundreds within the research and zoological sector. I am also good friends with almost ALL of the show promoters in the State.

I offer this warning to Steve, or ANYBODY associated with "SnakeFX" Caging: Refund this transaction, or you will have NO further business in the Northeastern United States, and that. I can PROMISE you..