Watch Out for Diana Mason

[The BoidSmith]

You can always learn something new! I guess I don't use their express services that often.

Regards,

 

[Ken Harbart]

Informing USPS of the illegal shipping will not result in any delay, as per USPS regulations. I am unable to cite the specific regulation at this time, but it can be found in the DMM (Domestic Mail Manual).

As others have stated, shipping snakes via USPS is a Federal crime, punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. Generally though, the Postmaster General will just send the sender and receiver a nastygramItems that I find to be disturbing:
1) The "I knew it was you" defense to telling someone else that the snake was still available.
2) Shipping the snake illegally.
3) Shipping via any method that didn't expressly guarantee overnight delivery.
4) Shipping on a Thursday.
5) Shipping during the holiday crunch.
6) I'm somewhat familiar with the "Hot Hands" brand of handwarmers, and do not feel that they're suitable for shipping live animals. To the best of my knowledge, the longest-lasting "Hot Hands" only lasts 18 hours, not 36.

 

[HerpMasters Inc.]

bad news

Whatever the outcome of the post office shipping, this girl is bad news. I have run into her before.

 

[Ron Billingsley]

D'Albert's Python

I don't know if you have any experise with D'Albert's , but they don't take the cold very well at all. They are known to die quickly when they are subject to cooler temps. A noted zoo lost their entire collection when they attempted to Hibernate theirs. I feel this animal will arrive DOA or close to it by the time you recieve it.
JMO

 

[BAREPAPABEAR]

I understand this and I'm feeling awfull about it!!! I just don't know who to change the outcome. I have informed Diana of the post here and she has not responded!! I doubt she will and I believe she will do nothing about this situation. I also believe that she has no reguard for any animal to put them through this . Everyone needs to know what type of business this lady does and be very careful with her.

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

Robert

Since you had the foresight to make payment through PayPal, you may have some recourse through them. I know this doesn't help the poor animal but if doing business like this is made unprofitable for the scam artists, a fair number of them tend to fade away.

 

[BAREPAPABEAR]

Thanks I hadn't thought of that. I just checked with paypal and they do have a fraud department. If things go bad,oops I mean worse I will file a claim with them and let them know what has happened. This might actually work.

 

[S_McDonnell]

Another possible clue

Hmmm this whole thing seems shady to me. But after reading this I noticed a wedding(?) ring on her left hand ring finger. I hope her husband doesn't find out about the boyfriend or his puppy...
Just my paranoid mind at work...

I hope you Python arrives alive. Please update us.

 

[BAREPAPABEAR]

I saw that yesterday!!!! BoY I WOULD BE MAD IF MY WIFE HAD A BOYFRIEND!!! Glad to see other people are observant also.

 

[Adam Block]

Well, who cares if she has a boyfriend, it's the snake issue I care about. The way I see it, there are four things you need to be happy for life.

1) A wealth woman
2) A woman who just can't get enough
3) An amazing looking woman
4) To be sure these three women NEVER meet!

As far as I know it's against policy to ship snakes USPS but I don't know of a law staiting you can't do it. It's just as against policy to ship them FedEx, UPS and AirBorn I think.

Adam Block

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

The difference Adam is that UPS and Fedex can only close your account. The USPS can fine you and/or shut off your mail delivery service. Don't laugh...does anyone remember Jerry Tubbs? As far as I know, he still drive 35 or 40 miles into town to pick up his mail. Illegal is not technically the correct word but it does violate Postal Regulations.

 

[Adam Block]

Okay I got ya, I didn't know as I've never tried it and I'm not overly fond of the USPS anyway. I try to use some other carrier when it's not too much more costly.

I know I saw a guy go into the PO with a box of swarmming bees and ship those a few months back. Of course, those would do a whole lot less harm then a corn snake so it's understandalbe why you can ship swarms of bees and not snakes.

Adam Block

 

[S_McDonnell]

Corn snake? Hmmm I think I missed something, Bee stings hurt worse that snake bites IMHO. This bite was from a very large Boid and it looked bad but hurt much less than a bee sting. Off topic but had to say it.

Did the Python arrive yet? You got me pacing for you now.

 

[BAREPAPABEAR]

Nope NO snake. Post office says it won't arrive until 3:01 pmk on Sunday afternoon... Still no word from Diana

 

[S_McDonnell]

Well it is a shame that things like this happen. It makes buying from the net a very scary proposition. Thank God for the BOI. I am sorry this happened to you, but perhaps it will help someone else. I was looking at the ad and noticed a post directing here. So some good may come of this yet.

 

[HerpVenue]

It makes buying from the net a very scary proposition.

Actually there are TONS of good people out there.
I would buy from any big breeder....just like I would buy from ALMOST any unknown person. Just gotta do research. And if research comes up empty....go with the gut feeling. I have never had anyone cheat me....call it luck or call it good research...I do not know. Also what I do. If the person I am buying from sounds relatively inexperienced. Not only do I instruct them on how to pack and ship.....I also send them the packing materials. It saves on a lot of headaches. I mean what would it look like If I bought from someone who was clearly clueless.....Then I complained about it. Well it falls back on me. I would say to myself "you knew the guy was clueless and you still bought."

okay did I just go off on a tangent. Or was it somehow helpful

 

[kim felts]

hi all

i did a trade with diana last year..one carpet for a redtail boa female..the snake arrived..was healthy was not a female but a male..
it worked out ok because i needed a male and the snake was very healthy and performed for me.
the packing left something to be desired but she overnighted it at the local mailbox place....so in my mind for a novice she came though like a champ..i dont think she knew how to sex snakes at that point so either way i wasent upset.

now..the white lipped python. i also wrote to her about it.
she told me another guy wanted her package deal and she would ask if he would release the white lipped so she could sell it to me..a few mins later she came back and told me it was mine.
since i always pay echeck and she could not get the cash fast enough to buy her boyfriend a present for christmas the deal didnt happen.

that is my experience with diana mason.

any questions feel free to ask or email me.

thanks
kim
ps..i told her as we were chatting about the white lipped that i did not want the snake sent that week because of the holidays..
i do remember from our first deal she has no pick up service in her area for ups or airborne..
not that it matters just some more info.

 

[BAREPAPABEAR]

Hi all.... good news!!!!!!!! The snake arrived today ALIVE!!!!! I am in california (family emergency) so I haven't seen him yet but my roomie says he was very cold!!! He is also missing a large portion of the head scales and may need vet attention.She also sent a juvie tremper albino leopard gecko and an adult male leopard gecko. My roomie has informed me that neither apear to has parasites BUT both are really skinny and he thinks she has just not fed them in weeks. So I am off to the vet with all of these animals on Monday and hope they will all survive. The moral of this story is BE CAREFUL with this lady!!!!! No one that has replyed here has had anything nice to say about her and even though I informed her about this post she has not tried to contact me or respond to this post!!!! Thank You for all the advise.

 

[ms_terese]

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Glad to hear they're all alive, and I hope you keep us posted on their progress.

As far as Diana, I had sent her a message when this thread first started informing her of the thread and telling her that she should explain the circumstances. Today I received the following reply:

I just don't care anymore. I did everything the guy asked me to and he just threw it all in my face. People have done this to me too many times and I've now quit the reptile business because of it. Thanks for telling me about the post though. I hope you had a merry christmas and will have a happy new year Diana

Not much in the way of explanation.

Good luck with the animals.

 

[kim felts]

hi

i got the same message and for whatever its worth i dont think she meant for things to turn out this way at all.

good luck with snakes..i hope it all turns out ok.

kim