The Nerve of Some People!

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GreenOasis

Well-known member
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Sep 2, 2010
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Location
Claremore, Oklahoma
I just received this suspiciously whiney message from my "comment box" and an even more suspicious set of emails following my response. I thought I would share in case this person might be trying to scam anyone else. (Didn't post in the feedback area because I don't know if this person is a member on here or not, and it is also not a "seller", so...)

"You've just received a new submission to your contact form.


Name

Garrett Chang

Email

[email protected]

How did you find out about us?.Google or other search engine

1

Comment

Can you guys send me a free mantis of any type i really want one so bad please please please send me one here's my address so you can send it to me ____ tomcourt highlandsranch co.____ and do you do mail order"

So, I responded thus:

"Hello Garrett,

Yes, we do do mail order, however, we do not ship out "free samples" of mantises.

Please see the website for more details about shipping, if you decide to order.

Thanks!

-Carey Kurtz-

www.mantispets.com"

The next message I received from him was this:

"But how do I do mail order can I send out cash

Sent from my iPod"

Thinking that this was a kid I was dealing with (not uncommon), I tried giving a very simplistic response:

"Garrett,

We do not accept cash.

You must use the paypal shopping cart system and pay with either a credit card or a paypal account. Simply click on the button for each mantis species. If there is no button, that means that they are not available.

Thanks,

-Carey Kurtz-

www.mantispets.com"

This was the next response I got:

"And come on man why can't you send me one my son is sad because last time which was a week ago I bought a mantis from mantisplace.com and it came dead and they said no refund so he picked this website but since you guys said no to me and my son he's sad and crying a little bit because it was his b day present so he's sad

Sent from my iPod"

At this point, I was pretty livid with this person and began formulating my next (and final) response. Obviously, there are one of two things going on here, 1) He's a teenager, and a liar...probably a scammer, or 2) He is an adult who is used to "entitlement" and believes he has a legitimate reason to be able to request a free mantis from me because he is also raising his son to believe in "entitlement".

For your entertainment purposes only, I provide you with my (our) last response. (Hubby had to get in on in because it was just such a ridiculous scenario!):

"Garrett,

I am curious why you think that because you had a problem with Mantis Place, you think that WE should give you a free mantis? It costs me money to house, feed & breed these creatures. I spend no less than $100 a month to feed the mantids that I keep and sell and barely make enough back on them to cover my expenses...much less anything for the daily labor involved in caring for so many mantises. If you had a problem wtih Mantis Place, I suggest you take it up with the person who runs THAT site. Not us.

-Carey Kurtz-

www.mantispets.com

Garrett,

I am sorry to hear about your trouble with our competitor. We run a small home business and have 4 children that we are raising without help or assistance, therefore we cannot afford to send you something for free. I do not believe I have ever been so insulted as to have someone try to guilt me into giving them what we have worked so hard for. You should be ashamed of yourself for even asking, let alone trying to use emotions and pity to get what you want. I hope in the future you will set a better example for your son. Our country is falling apart because of those who work the system and expect handouts from others instead of paying their own way. If your child is starving, then by all means swallow your pride and ask for help, but seriously man, begging for a bug? You need to man up.

-Steve Kurtz-

www.mantispets.com"

I hope anyone out there who has a site or is building one in the future to sell mantids keeps an eye out for this person and doesn't give in to his requests! People like this should learn to EARN what they get instead of getting whatever they want ON DEMAND. Makes me so mad to think that after all the hard work & money *I* have put into my business & animals, this person thinks I should just GIVE him something...out of the blue...and because he had a problem, not with ME, but with *Rebecca* (which I can totally understand why she would refuse to refund this guy, because I'm betting that this is the sort of person who wanted her to ship Priority, but expected her to still guarantee live arrival, just because he/his kid are whiney!) :blink:

 
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Ha ha! If his zip is 80130, he is living in a house valued at between $345,000-400,000. It sound like a little boy --"please, please, please!" -- who tried a different tack when his first try failed. A for daring, F- for honesty. :D

 
Sorry to hear this Carey. It's sad that some fools use the anonymity of the 'net to do things they probably wouldn't try in-person. Based on the e-mail exchange, they're obviously wealthy enough to own an ipod but still begs for freebies!?

I think you and Steve were too kind to even bother replying. After their ridiculous guilt-laden response, I would have cheerfully ignored them, blocked their e-mail address, and not bothered giving them the time or satisfaction of a reply. That's one advantage to an e-mail based business exchange, you can just ignore/block the jerks and go about your way. :)

 
i hate these people who just think that it is their right to have whatever they want just handed to them because the sad thing is that a lot of people cave to these a**h***s and they usually DO get whatever they want by making a fuss and complaining and manipulating the nice people to give them whatever they want. A lot of people in my family do this and it makes me sick because they expect EVERYTHING and yet contribute NOTHING, so the family expects nothing of them, and makes me do all the work because they know i am the ONLY one who has any pride to do a good job and not complain. I watch my family BS just about everyone they meet into getting their way or having something done for them or given to them or getting out of doing something. its sad because they disgust me and bring everybody down and its hard to see that people can have such little respect for work and earning things on their own. if i got the message from the kid i woulda said "of course! i'll send it right away! what's your address?" so i could get his address and smack some sense into him if he were anywhere not too far to drive to. that's just me though. i !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :devil:HATE :devil: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lazy people who are greedy and feel the world owes them for whatever reason. like the new girl at work......... lets hope she gets fired. lazy, spoiled brat.

 
Hey Carey, can I have a dozen free Lineola's ;)

No...but seriously, here is my take on your little communication;

A) this person is serious

B) this person IS NOT from this country

C) this person is probably not in this country legally

D) this person is sucking off the system to get what they want for free because they think that's what

American's are supposed to do.

E) Beyond being able to compose a legible english sentence, this person has little education

F) this person is plain, old fashion, STUPID!

That's all :)

 
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Well, that's an imaginative take, Psychobunny! In fact, it is highly likely that Garrett is the son of Hellen K, and Steve F. Chang, both in their mid forties. On a scale of 1-7 for the cost of Colorado homes, theirs is in the 2 range, with 1 being the highest, so "illegal" or not, they are doing quite well for themselves.

Alas, the quality of an American's writing is not always a measure of his education and immigration status. I'm sure that you are a native-born American with an impeccable education, but I note three grammatical errors and one misspelled word in your post, though they may have been due to your indignation. When I read my old posts, I sometimes find the same thing. :D

 
Oh I agree! haha, Phil u kill me! This person I am not sure if customer of mine, but I do remember someone saying after a while of having a mantis it died, not upon arrival, but a few weeks later. From then on I have had a lot of emails from him. Most people know if a mantis dies I replace it. But not after having for a while. What a loon, glad he picked you, you have much more patience than I do! I was tired of his winny letters. ps, in the future, please ask person being wrote about if ok to post emails of that person. ;)

 
Rebecca,

I included this person's email, after much thought on the subject, just in case he decided to change his name (but was too lazy/ignorant to change his email address). I didn't figure it would make much sense to let people know to keep an eye out for this person, but then not give the information required to do that! I did, however, remove most of his address, out of consideration for their privacy. But...I may be signing them up for some interesting "free trial offer" magazines here soon! :p

I have had one or two other people that have tried to get me to replace dead nymphs or adults, days or weeks after they have received the mantids, and have politely responded that they are guaranteed for live ARRIVAL, not how long they will last afterwards, since I have no way of knowing how they were cared for.

I have also had to take it to the next level and guarantee only things that have shipped via Express, since I was starting to get some suspicious "DOAs" from Priority shipping (after what, nearly a year of shipping Priority with no problems?)

I hate having to be so cynical, but I just don't charge enough to be able to absorb those kinds of costs over & over again.

 
If this is the same person Rebecca is talking about, sounds like he is trolling HER! I wouldn't keep responding, so he's not getting far with me.

 
Steve Chang, the Brittany breeder?! (5951 Tom Ct Highlands Ranch)???!!! No WAY! LOL

Anyways, some people are just not good with pets or living things in general. Don't know what it is, like an unmagical touch. Anything they touch just dies...seriously...

Anyways, some of you have read my post on mantis warranty, and know my feelings towards certain type of people. But, this is a free country, and people do get away being guiltmongers, and most people do have a soft spot for these sort of things.

 
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yeppers, I looked it up, and it was Garrett! here is an email from him... one of many

Hi I just wanted to ask you of you can send me a free green mantis eggcase with a cup because I just don't trust any company about the egg case hatching so of you send me one and it hatchs I will be buying 27 of them for my class

Sent from my iPhone

and this one

From: Garrett <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: Egg case

To: "silverlinings" <[email protected]>

Date: Friday, September 16, 2011, 5:58 PM

But can you send me any mantis egg case In a cup please I really want one please

Sent from my iPhone

I finally put his email address in the spam bin then I guess he went to send love letters to Casey! :wub:

I also cked and from what I can find he has not ever ordered from me, starting in jan or feb of this year he started writing short emails, and I answered them, but he got worse as time went on, I don't have a lot of time, so when he wrote and told me his died, he acted like it was my fault, I never looked to see if it was, just assummed it was, turns out it was one of 3 he caught outside and decided I should replace it for him, he went on and on... poor fella! God Bless us every one!

Good luck Casey!

 
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Mark his email address as spam and move on. If he is doing this through pms onsite than place him on your ignore list. :tt2:

 
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