How often do people get ripped off on the different forums?

[tb144050]

I'm not silly enough to get ripped off (hope I don't jinx myself) because I am too paranoid about such things...but I just got a private message from someone who:

joined today
has 0 posts
wanted to sell me a gecko.

"No thanks bud"...

Just wanted to know how often predators lurk on the forums. Atleast I wasn't rude to: *edit: "him"*

 

[Olympus]

I'm sure there are a certain number of people who fall for scams yearly on most forums, but I couldn't tell you what that number might be. I moderate on a different reptile forum and I get very few cases yearly where people come to me with grievances about a deal gone wrong, although it's likely that people either don't want to admit it or go directly to Fauna.

What I do see more often isn't what you call a predator, but an established forum member that doesn't have ethical business practices. So it might be someone who flips animals for profit, so they spend very little time with them and if they arrive with infections or stress problems they'll plead it's not their issue to resolve. Or someone who sends you an animal but the animal isn't in the condition you hoped for, or may not even be the type/morph/locale you asked for, and will not under any circumstances refund your money or resolve the issue.

All in all, I've found most herpers to be lovely people to deal with but you always have your bad apples in any hobby. It's why it pays to do a background check on Fauna and Google, and search their post history on whatever forum they're a part of - you can tell a LOT about a person's husbandry standards and practices from what they post on a forum.

 

[acpart]

While there are unscrupulous sellers and scammers out there, there are also people who are kind of clueless about how to sell geckos. I can imagine a new breeder coming to a forum like this, reading some of the posts, choosing someone who posts a lot and sending a message to see if they want to buy a gecko. No, it doesn't make logical sense, but I've seen odder things. Let's give the guy the benefit of the doubt until we have some evidence.

Aliza

 

[tb144050]

While there are unscrupulous sellers and scammers out there, there are also people who are kind of clueless about how to sell geckos. I can imagine a new breeder coming to a forum like this, reading some of the posts, choosing someone who posts a lot and sending a message to see if they want to buy a gecko. No, it doesn't make logical sense, but I've seen odder things. Let's give the guy the benefit of the doubt until we have some evidence.

Aliza

Yeah, I wasn't "accusing" in my reply to him, and I edited my first post to remove the link. Just wanted a Mod to know "who" was doing "what" , and I wondered how often people scam. Thanks!

 

[Sasha2]

Ive bought quite a few different animals online and never been ripped off.
I did buy some geckos from a reputable breeder once that were sick with RIs.BUT they were wild caught and even with treatment died. It was really too late(after a few weeks of treating them) to get back to the breeder and with WC I think there is always a big risk.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I hope in this day and age that most folks would be looking for some information and/or credentials before handing over money to someone for anything, especially live animals. I haven't really heard of anyone getting ripped off around here by random private messages but would assume that the same percentage of people buying leopard geckos get ripped off as those buying other things around the internet. There are always a few people that are looking for the cheapest option and will go with the deal that sounds (and often is) too good to be true. As for this specific case I would think Aliza is on the right wave length and would wait for evidence

 

[LepoInc]

My biggest paranoia now is temperament and eating habits of reptiles I purchase. I received a Mack snow that I saved and saved for (I was broke living in Chicago) and he screamed and screamed at me (he was a few months old so it wasn't expected) and would never warm up to us. Never ate a thing. Biggest disappointment. I asked the breeder about his attitude and I got a reply, "I like them feisty".... So I just ask a million questions before I make purchases.

And also I'm sure you know, but never ever ever do anything through western union.


Jared Moore @ Lepo-Gecko

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I also moderate a local exotic forum here as well as a couple of facebook exotic groups and i must say, evil lurks everywhere as long as $£€¥ is concerned

 

[Treefolk]

How can anyone who is buying something be scammed?

*rips me off*
*reverses credit card transaction for a full refund*

Now, you can scam a seller this way.