crittercrazy
August, 9th, 2003, 07:31 PM
Warning! A Breeder in Texas is presently taking deposits for Southern Flying Squirrels and other exotic pets he cannot and will not deliver. Please beware of this person. This person is a complete and utter scam artist.
This person solely targets “newbies” in hopes that he can take their money and not send them their animal(s). Of course when confronted he methodically denies everything. He frequents the message boards, classifieds and other public forums. Such as http://www.Buybelowcost.com, http://www.pets-on-the-net.com, www.altpet.net, as well as many yahoo and msn groups. I’ve had e-mail upon e-mail from his customers asking me what do to when they get “ripped – off” by him. He spends time flaming other breeders as well; using anonymous and made up e-mails. He continues to do so publicly on several exotic pet classifieds, including http://www.exoticpets.com where he’ll flame anyone whom he thinks is in competition with him. On record, he also turned this author into the State Officials for selling Squirrels. He actually filed a formal complaint. It was merely a matter of spending time surrendering our paperwork for review but it was a form of harassment that this man apparently has time for instead of working on his own reputation. The matter has since been reviewed and dismissed. Anyone that is licensed should be willing to give out any and all license no for review. By the way, these companies and the author are both USDA and State Licensed. We publicly post our licenses on our website and surrender them for review to any potential or existing client. This person will not. If ANY breeder will not surrender their licenses - BUYER BEWARE! He apparently has much to hide given the fact that he has no confirmed e-mail address, profile or locations i.e. confirmed address. Remember, ask questions. Ask for verification.
Any breeder that is successful in his business will have in place a contract regarding the animal’s health guarantee, a refund or return policy and the responsibilities of the breeder. The breeder should be knowledgeable about the breed. Any reputable breeder should be forthcoming with anything, you as a buyer, need to know about the breed. We have seen no evidence of this in previous customer accounts or online through the classifieds. He says he does not: “promote exotic animals as "pets". Exotic animals should be raised and cared for by only experienced breeders. No one should ever use an exotic animal as a "what's hot" or a "status symbol". “ However, he frequents boards and classifieds advertising “exotic” pets for sale and advertises them as such. A reputable breeder should offer you some support with your new pet. I see no evidence in his advertisements, website or comments in any of the forums that he actually supplies any of these services.
Instead of spending so much time flaming other breeders he should concentrate his efforts in providing his clients with reputable sales and service.
I can provide links to prove his bad reputation from groups such as BBB, but I’m sure you get the point. Why is he still in business? One answer. People do not know how to take action or simply refuse to do so. If you get “ripped-off” here is what to do:
Okay so I got ripped off, what do I do now?
First determine whether it was just a bad deal or a complete rip-off cause once you start some of this there no turning back....
· Make copies of the advertisement on your local hard drive. Try to get a copy of the log file transcript that shows this users post
· Complain to the persons Internet Service Provider that the advertiser is posting fraudulent advertisements and ask the Internet Service Provider to terminate his account for violating it's Terms of Service Agreement
· File a complaint at FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center
· File a complaint at ScamBusters
· File a complaint on the National Fraud Information Center
· File a formal theft complaint with their local law enforcement authorities
· File a complaint at the Better Business Bureau
· Post a complaint on the pubic USENET forum Do NOT post them to private where the website may suffer liability because of your post.
· File a formal complaint with the US Postmaster General. (This works best if you sent the person a US Postal Service Money Order). Mail Fraud is a FEDERAL OFFENSE and there are lots of people in PRISON for committing MAIL FRAUD. If you sent your check/money order via US Postal Service to him and he accepted it congrats that’s mail fraud.
· File a complaint with the Webmaster at the site with the advertisement. Make sure to include the URL of the post and do it as soon as you know you've been scammed.
· Please include both your contact info and all the contact info of the individual or business you are complaining about.
This person solely targets “newbies” in hopes that he can take their money and not send them their animal(s). Of course when confronted he methodically denies everything. He frequents the message boards, classifieds and other public forums. Such as http://www.Buybelowcost.com, http://www.pets-on-the-net.com, www.altpet.net, as well as many yahoo and msn groups. I’ve had e-mail upon e-mail from his customers asking me what do to when they get “ripped – off” by him. He spends time flaming other breeders as well; using anonymous and made up e-mails. He continues to do so publicly on several exotic pet classifieds, including http://www.exoticpets.com where he’ll flame anyone whom he thinks is in competition with him. On record, he also turned this author into the State Officials for selling Squirrels. He actually filed a formal complaint. It was merely a matter of spending time surrendering our paperwork for review but it was a form of harassment that this man apparently has time for instead of working on his own reputation. The matter has since been reviewed and dismissed. Anyone that is licensed should be willing to give out any and all license no for review. By the way, these companies and the author are both USDA and State Licensed. We publicly post our licenses on our website and surrender them for review to any potential or existing client. This person will not. If ANY breeder will not surrender their licenses - BUYER BEWARE! He apparently has much to hide given the fact that he has no confirmed e-mail address, profile or locations i.e. confirmed address. Remember, ask questions. Ask for verification.
Any breeder that is successful in his business will have in place a contract regarding the animal’s health guarantee, a refund or return policy and the responsibilities of the breeder. The breeder should be knowledgeable about the breed. Any reputable breeder should be forthcoming with anything, you as a buyer, need to know about the breed. We have seen no evidence of this in previous customer accounts or online through the classifieds. He says he does not: “promote exotic animals as "pets". Exotic animals should be raised and cared for by only experienced breeders. No one should ever use an exotic animal as a "what's hot" or a "status symbol". “ However, he frequents boards and classifieds advertising “exotic” pets for sale and advertises them as such. A reputable breeder should offer you some support with your new pet. I see no evidence in his advertisements, website or comments in any of the forums that he actually supplies any of these services.
Instead of spending so much time flaming other breeders he should concentrate his efforts in providing his clients with reputable sales and service.
I can provide links to prove his bad reputation from groups such as BBB, but I’m sure you get the point. Why is he still in business? One answer. People do not know how to take action or simply refuse to do so. If you get “ripped-off” here is what to do:
Okay so I got ripped off, what do I do now?
First determine whether it was just a bad deal or a complete rip-off cause once you start some of this there no turning back....
· Make copies of the advertisement on your local hard drive. Try to get a copy of the log file transcript that shows this users post
· Complain to the persons Internet Service Provider that the advertiser is posting fraudulent advertisements and ask the Internet Service Provider to terminate his account for violating it's Terms of Service Agreement
· File a complaint at FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center
· File a complaint at ScamBusters
· File a complaint on the National Fraud Information Center
· File a formal theft complaint with their local law enforcement authorities
· File a complaint at the Better Business Bureau
· Post a complaint on the pubic USENET forum Do NOT post them to private where the website may suffer liability because of your post.
· File a formal complaint with the US Postmaster General. (This works best if you sent the person a US Postal Service Money Order). Mail Fraud is a FEDERAL OFFENSE and there are lots of people in PRISON for committing MAIL FRAUD. If you sent your check/money order via US Postal Service to him and he accepted it congrats that’s mail fraud.
· File a complaint with the Webmaster at the site with the advertisement. Make sure to include the URL of the post and do it as soon as you know you've been scammed.
· Please include both your contact info and all the contact info of the individual or business you are complaining about.