The Reptile Masters, aka FL Reptiles... Bad Guys?

[Golden Gate Geckos]

On August 7, 2007 I placed an order for supplies with The Herp Masters, AKA FL Reptiles. I received the following order confirmation:

----- Original Message -----

From: Reptile Supplies and Exotic Animals

To: [email protected]

Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 10:34 AM

Subject: About Your Order: 1136

Thank You For Your Order Marcia McGuiness

Your Order Number Is: 1136
Date Of Order: 8/7/2007 1:35:00 PM
Order Status: New Order


Billing Information:

Golden Gate Geckos
Marcia McGuiness
[email protected]
925-755-3113
XXXX XXXXXXXXXX Drive
XXXXXXX, CA XXXXX
US

Payment Information:

Paid Via Credit Card
First Name: Marcia
Last Name: McGuiness
Card Type: Mastercard
Exp. Date (MMYY): XX/XX


Shipping Information:

Shipping Method: UPS Ground
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
Marcia McGuiness
XXXX XXXXXXXXXX Drive
XXXXXXX, CA XXXXX
US


Subtotal: $80.70

Tax: $0.00

S&H: $18.42

Final Total: $99.12

Click Here To Track Your Order Via MY ACCOUNT

I clicked the link to track my order several times, and was not able to come up with any tracking information. I then sent this email requesting the status of my order on 8/22/07, and then again on 8/23/07 with no response:

----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos

To: [email protected]

Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:07 AM

Subject: Help Me Petmaster!

Hello,

I am contacting you for the status of my order #1136.

Thank you,

Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos

To: [email protected]

Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 7:59 AM

Subject: Help Me Petmaster!

Hello,

Could you please give me the status of my order #1136 which was placed on 8/7/07?

Thank you,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

I made a telephone call to them on 8/24/07and only got a voice mail. I left a detailed message that I needed the status of my order. I have not received any response. On 8/28/07 I sent the following email, which came back as undeliverable:

----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos

To: Reptile Supplies and Exotic Animals

Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 12:51 PM

Subject: Re: About Your Order: 1136

Can someone PLEASE give me the status of this order? I have sent 2 emails, left a phone message, and have heard nothing. I really need these hides ASAP.

Thank you,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

I then sent this email directly to the list of email addresses from the "CONTACT" page of their website:

----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos

To: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected]

Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 5:48 PM

Subject: About Your Order: 1136

Can someone PLEASE have the courtesy to reply to this (my 4th) email and telephone call inquiring about the status of this order?

Thank you,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

This is the shipping policy taken directly from their website:

Shipping
Shipping Rates

Who Do we use to ship?
UPS, USPS, Fedx

How fast will my order be shipped?
We ship all instock orders within 48 hours. Usually we can ship out the same day on orders that are received by 2 PM EST

What if your out of what I ordered ?
In the case that we may be out of stock on the item you order, we will notify you, and place your order on backorder. Most backorders arrive back in stock within 2-4 days. If an item will be delayed beyond that time, we will notify you by e-mail. You may choose to keep the item on backorder, or cancel your order at any time.

Does anyone have any information on these guys? Or know a better way to reach them?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I just sent them this email:

----- Original Message -----
From: goldengategeckos
To: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 10:11 AM
Subject: FYI

I have not received ANY response from you regarding my numerous attempts to inquire about the status of my order#1136 that was placed on 8/7/07, so I have posted an inquiry on Fauna forums:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103407

If you do not have the professional courtesy to respond to this email, I am requesting that you cancel my order and refund my money immediately. If you do not refund my money, I will contact my bank's credit card company to investigate this transaction as a possible internet fraud.

Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

 

[Kingetula]

I see you used a Master Card. You have everything you need to dispute the charge and win. There is no reason for them not to contact you. No matter the reason the right thing to do is for the company to communicate with you.

As you stated some of your emails have been returned undeliverable, a glitch maybe but with no phone number listed on their site the fault is all on them.

You might be a mean old Gecko woman but you also are very patient. I would have called Master Card by now.

Good Luck

 

[Kingetula]

(Excuse me) I mean Mean old Gecko lady ;-)

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, I just got this auto response to the most recent email I sent:

----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 10:11 AM
Subject: Delivery failure


Message from thepetmasters.com.
Unable to deliver message to the following address(es).

<[email protected]>:
This user doesn't have a thepetmasters.com account ([email protected]) [0]

<[email protected]>:
This user doesn't have a thepetmasters.com account ([email protected]) [0]

<[email protected]>:
This user doesn't have a thepetmasters.com account ([email protected]) [0]

<[email protected]>:
This user doesn't have a thepetmasters.com account ([email protected]) [0]

--- Original message follows.

X-Originating-IP: [206.18.177.51]
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta103.biz.mail.mud.yahoo.com from=comcast.net; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
Received: from 206.18.177.51 (EHLO alnrmhc11.comcast.net) (206.18.177.51)
by mta103.biz.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:11:35 -0700
Received: from dude (c-76-21-98-189.hsd1.ca.comcast.net[76.21.98.189])
by comcast.net (alnrmhc11) with SMTP
id <20070830171134b1100r1g3je>; Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:11:34 +0000
Message-ID: <005e01c7eb28$cfa53b40$6401a8c0@DUDE>
From: "goldengategeckos" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>
Subject: FYI
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:11:29 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_005B_01C7EAEE.21FAF780"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_005B_01C7EAEE.21FAF780
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

I have not received ANY response from you regarding my numerous attempts =
to inquire about the status of my order#1136 that was placed on 8/7/07, =
so I have posted an inquiry on Fauna forums:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3D103407

If you do not have the professional courtesy to respond to this email, I =
am requesting that you cancel my order and refund my money immediately. =
If you do not refund my money, I will contact my bank's credit card =
company to investigate this transaction as a possible internet fraud.

Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com
http://

I think I may have been scammed. My Mastercard is actually my bank debit card.... do they handle it the same as a credit card if I file an investigation complaint?

 

[Dennis Hultman]

The site is registered under MonsterCommerce.com

Administrative and techinical contact info is

Stephanie Leffler
618-239-9246

[email protected]

Let them know of the fraud.

 

[Kingetula]

Both my banks do. Bank of America will make the funds available to me the next day well they investigate. It just depends on your banks policy but you should be protected and able to file a dispute.

I only have a debt card with bank of America so you should have no problem unless you have a crappy bank.

 

[Dennis Hultman]

This is the emails listed on their site
http://www.flreptiles.com/index.asp?PAGEACTION=CONTACTUS

Owner - Jim Hillis: [email protected]
Owner - Tiffany Hillis: [email protected]

Same email for this site

http://www.thepetmasters.com/

The Pet Masters
4266 South Hopkins Avenue
Titusville, Florida 32780 321 267-5955
[email protected]

 

[Kingetula]

I just called the number but no answer (Machine)

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, I called my bank and was told that debit cards do not have the same guarantees as a credit card in cases like this, even though it has the Mastercard logo. Basically, I was told I am SOL, so I went ahead and cancelled the card so no more charges could be made. Fortunately, my husband is a VP at that bank and has been there for 31 years... hopefully he can use hi clout to rattle a few cages.

All new email correspondence to The Pet Masters/FL Reptiles is coming back as non-existant/undeliverable. I just called them again and the voice mail message was Jim, so I left yet another message.

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Well, I called my bank and was told that debit cards do not have the same guarantees as a credit card in cases like this, even though it has the Mastercard logo. Basically, I was told I am SOL, so I went ahead and cancelled the card so no more charges could be made. Fortunately, my husband is a VP at that bank and has been there for 31 years... hopefully he can use hi clout to rattle a few cages.

All new email correspondence to The Pet Masters/FL Reptiles is coming back as non-existant/undeliverable. I just called them again and the voice mail message was Jim, so I left yet another message.

Well, here is his personal email address.

[email protected]

Hillis, James
Pet Masters
4266 S. Hopkins Ave
Titusville, Florida 32780
United States
3212675955 Fax --
[email protected]

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Thanks Dennis. I just sent him this email:

----- Original Message -----
From: goldengategeckos
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:41 PM
Subject: Order #1136


Hello Jim,

I have sent a dozen emails and called twice about the status of the order #1136 I placed on 8/7/07. I have yet to get a response. I have posted an inquiry on Fauna Forums in regard to this:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=540299

I either need my products, or a refund ASAP.

Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

 

[Dennis Hultman]

It seems pet masters is their storefront name. Anyone been there?

 

[KNOBTAIL]

debit or credit cards

dont let them bamboozle you. Call BankAmerica back and TELL them that you will not pay the disputed amount. Anything disputed should have no effect on your credit worthyness. Secondly , TELL them you want the amount in question CHARGED BACK and let them provide you with a confirmation # relating to your complaint. You should not have a problem, nor should YOU have to go to extreme measures when dealing with credit card scammers regardless of whether its a debit or credit card. JERRY

 

[Jim O]

Call BankAmerica back and TELL them that you will not pay the disputed amount. Anything disputed should have no effect on your credit worthyness. Secondly , TELL them you want the amount in question CHARGED BACK and let them provide you with a confirmation # relating to your complaint. You should not have a problem, nor should YOU have to go to extreme measures when dealing with credit card scammers regardless of whether its a debit or credit card. JERRY

Jerry, you evidently do not know the difference between a debit card and a credit card. When one uses a debit card the money comes directly out of their checking account. It's gone. No bill to pay. You can "TELL" them anything you want, but they already have the money. Using a debit card is essentially like writing a check. Once cashed the bank has no minimal liability provided the payee was the intended payee. So your advice is pretty much worthless in this case.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

When one uses a debit card the money comes directly out of their checking account. It's gone. No bill to pay. You can "TELL" them anything you want, but they already have the money. Using a debit card is essentially like writing a check. Once cashed the bank has no minimal liability provided the payee was the intended payee.

Exactly my problem.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I just sent this email to MonsterCommerce, their website administrator:

----- Original Message -----
From: goldengategeckos
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:42 PM
Subject: Possible internet fraud by one of your registered sites


Hello Stephanie,

I am having a problem with one of your registered websites, The Pet Masters aka FL Reptiles. This is their URL: http://www.thepetmasters.com/index.html

I placed an order from them on 8/7/07, received a confirmation, and my MasterCard was charged $99.12. I have yet to get any response from my numerous email inquiries and phone calls regarding the status of my order. The most recent email correspondence was returned to me as undeliverable.

I have posted an inquiry on an internet board which contains all the correspondence, so I would like to invite you to take a look at it and let me know if there is anything you can do to help me. Here is the link to that information: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=540338


Thank you very much,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, so much for that email:

----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:42 PM
Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)


This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

[email protected]

 

[dprince]

Marcia, I'm so sorry to hear of this. I'll tell you, makes me VERY leery to use my debit card.........I think I'll stick with my credit card. Sad.

I hope these scammers get what's coming to them.

 

[Kingetula]

Jerry, you evidently do not know the difference between a debit card and a credit card. When one uses a debit card the money comes directly out of their checking account. It's gone. No bill to pay. You can "TELL" them anything you want, but they already have the money. Using a debit card is essentially like writing a check. Once cashed the bank has no minimal liability provided the payee was the intended payee. So your advice is pretty much worthless in this case.

Not true.

First I don't think Mean Old Gecko Lady uses Bank of America, I brought up Bank of America because that is one of the banks I use.

For the past 8 months I have had an account with Bank of America and only use a debit card. There have been a few times that I have had an issue with my debit card and Bank of America refunds my money to my debit card (checking account) well they investigate. I think it comes down to what bank you use. I also use Navy Federal Credit Union and it's not as easy as Bank of America but can be done. (IMO it depends on the bank)