Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

Stuart Marquis · Key Member Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 333

Hi

Not really a place to visit. But this person is definitely someone you want to avoid.

I bought a reptile rack from this person on Ebay last month. Not only did he let me down 3 times before the rack was actually delivered. But when it did arrive it had several bits missing (not least all of the heating equipment!) and to make matters worse it was a totally different rack than the one that was advertised on Ebay. I didn't realize this straight away because it was a flat-pack delivery, but on closer inspection it is totally different and looks nothing like the picture on the Ebay advert. The trays are only 7" deep instead of the 10" advertised, and the dimensions of the rack are totally different too!

Chris claims not to have a mobile phone (unlikely I know!) and is absolutely awful at getting back to his customers to let them know what is going on. It is now 1 week since I last managed to speak to Chris (butter wouldn't melt when you do finally get to speak on the phone). Needless to say, I have had to constantly chase him up and have left numerous messages with his girlfriend and Brian (a guy that helps with deliveries).

Brian was the last person I spoke to (yesterday). He told me that I was "doing everyones head in" by keeping on calling and then he hung up on me!!!

Chris has now left Ebay (3 negative comments in the last month, feedback rating of 66.7%), but be warned because he still advertises on Reptilekeeper

Take care and safe shopping!

Stuart

Stuart · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:31 pm Post subject:

Doesn't sound good!..
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SteveL · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:53 pm Post subject:

no thats not good at all.. cheers for the info, i dont think any one here will be rushing to use this guy !!! Evil or Very Mad

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Bloodboy2000 · Contributing Member Joined: 07 Apr 2006 Posts: 93

I may be wrong but about three years ago he setup a website with a load of Burmese python morphs on it and said he had them all and was hoping to breed, it never came about and it turned out to be a 13 year old lad.

Tom

Stuart Marquis · Key Member Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 333

Hello again,

I've had the all clear from the site administrators to post the full story so here goes;

Here's my story....

Just before Christmas 2006 I saw an ad for a reptile rack posted on Ebay. I bid for the rack but was out-bid in the last seconds of the auction so did not win. However, the following day I got an email from techie12345 (Chris's name on Ebay) saying that I could purchase a rack for my maximum bid price which was £490 (inc £40 P&P). Since I still felt that this was a good price I agreed.

I upgraded my paypal account in order to handle the larger transfer of funds and sent the money across to the paypal account that was linked to Chris's Ebay advert. However, I got a call from Chris saying that that was the wrong paypal account and that in any case he didn't really like using paypal as it took too long for funds to clear into his account. I insisted that I would only use paypal so I was given another paypal account to use. I sent across another £490 (the first £490 still being held up in the paypal system).

I received an email from Ebay/paypal on 16th January 2007 stating that cleared funds from the second transaction had reached Chris's paypal account. Chris confirmed this and delivery of the rack had been scheduled for 19th January 2007.

However, Chris canceled this delivery date because he claimed that his vehicle was off the road. A new delivery date was schedule for 29th January and I was told that it would be delivered by courier. I booked the 29th January off of work to take receipt of the rack but it never arrived. It was due to be delivered between 9am-5pm and I called and left a message with his girlfriend at 5.05pm for Chris to get back to me to explain what had happened. She told me Chris would be in at about 10pm and that he would call me then. At about 10.20pm I phoned back only to find out that Chris had come home and gone back out again (he doesn't have a mobile apparently). His girlfriend told me that he had left a message with the couriers to try and find out what had happened.

The first feedback that I had from Chris was via email (sent at 1.20am!) on Friday 31st January. Chris informed me that it wasn't actually a courier that had been scheduled to make the delivery, it was a mate of his that happened to do removals in the area and he had just run out of time to make the delivery. I protested stating that I had paid £40 for P&P and therefore expected it to be delivered in a professional manner.

At this stage what had upset and annoyed me the most is Chris's total lack of customer services. All it would have taken was a quick call to let me know what was going on, but instead I was left totally in the dark. When I confronted Chris about his lack of customer care he actually stated (and I still have the email transcript) that the reason that he hadn't contacted me about the failed delivery is that he'd had "more pressing concerns"!!!

A new delivery date was scheduled for Sunday 4th February and Chris was due to arrive at mine at about 8-9pm. However, on Saturday 3rd February Chris called to say that he had received another order from a person that lived pretty close to me and asked if he could deliver to us both on Monday 5th February. I informed Chris that this would be OK but that he would have to arrive at mine no earlier that 7pm as I didn't get home from work until this time and was not prepared to take another day off of work to sit in and wait for a delivery.

Chris arrived at mine at about 11.30pm (!!) on Monday 5th February and dropped off the rack (un-assembled) in the stair well of my block of flats (I'm on the 3rd floor). By the time I'd got all the bits up to the flat Chris had been gone for about 15 minutes.

The first thing that I noticed was the tubs. The rack that I had bought (as advertised on Ebay) had tubs which were 10" deep. However, these tubs were only 7" deep. The second thing I noticed, and this is the real killer, is that he hadn't delivered any of the heating equipment that was supposed to come with the unit. One of the wooden boards was also missing. (It is worth mentioning here that when I put the rack together a couple of days later it looked nothing like the picture on ebay and had totally different measurements. Not just different tray sizes, but the overall rack dimensions were different too. Put simply, it wasn't the rack advertised on ebay!).

At this point I phoned his girlfriend on the land-line (remember Chris doesn't have a mobile) and told her about the missing parts. She assured me that Chris would call me when he got home. She estimated that this would be about 2am. I told here that was fine and that I was expecting his call. He never called.

Chris called the following day (6th Feb) at about 6.30pm and told me that the missing parts must still be in the back of the car and that he would have them posted to me and that he would call in a day or two to confirm that they had been posted. By Thursday 8th February I'd had had no call so I left a message for Chris. To this day Chris has not returned any of my calls or emails.

However, I have had some feedback from a guy named Brian who helps Chris with the deliveries. I spoke to Brian on 11th February (Chris was out apparently) and Brian was extremely rude and unprofessional. He actually said that my calls and emails were "doing every-ones heads in". He then hung up on me!! Two hours later he called back to say that he had spoken to Chris and that the parts would be with me by the 13th or 14th February. Needless to say, the parts have not arrived and I have had not call or email from Chris.

I have tried to escalate this with Ebay but have been told that he has de-registered from Ebay (with 3 negative comments in the last month and a feedback rating of just 66.7% I might add). I have now made a claim with paypal. I will not get all of my money back but hopefully it will be enough to cover the heating equipment that I'm going to have to buy for the rack.

take care

Stuart

Scott W · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:06 pm Post subject:

sorry to read all that Stuart.

Anyone else had dealings with this guy then?
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

Stuart · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:35 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear how much you have been messed around mate..it must be frustrating to say the least,especially when they ignore calls etc..
I was going to buy a granite burm from this guy a few weeks back..makes you wonder what his animals are like.. Confused

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7109 · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject:

sorry for the foul language but they are complete Knuckle shufflers! right who's got a transit van and 6 decent size fellahs ill come . sorry to hear about the mess about matey shows how much people care about money if i was incharge i'd care more about taking his fingers not his wallet....! Evil or Very Mad

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argentine_boa · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:46 pm Post subject:

I have reserved a rack from this guy unfortunatly. It was supposed to be delivered on the 31st January, never arrived and it took days to get him on the phone. He claims that his UK supplier of tubs hasn't got any in stock so he had to order them from someone else. Now he has said he will deliver on the 25th because he is down in Devon. He also claims he cant call me because his landline is down so I have to call him on his partners mobile.
He has really bad customer service, now I am hoping tht the rack will come through in tact.

mike h · CaptiveBred Addict! Joined: 18 Mar 2006 Posts: 778

hi
he is no longer registered with ebay.
mike
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