lovemymantisfriends
Well-known member
These are from Samantha Sanders. I ordered these last week. I have filed a claim with paypal for the first order (from May)
So disappointed
- Thread starter lovemymantisfriends
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Mantis Lady
Well-known member
Good you did that? Not giving you your wanted mantids is not getting money.
Predatorhousepet
Well-known member
Ok, I just wanted to be clear where they came from. I am glad you were finally able to find a reliable breeder to help you out. They are beautiful specimens!
Good luck with the claim, hopefully PayPal sides with you. I don't see why they wouldn't, you never received the order and the seller has had significant time to fill it but hasn't explained why it's so late.
Obviously you can see the difference in the time frame a good seller ships vs a bad one. Longer than a week is only acceptable when there is a high level communication with specific valid reasons for the delay. When all you get are a couple of vague unfulfilled promises in two months that's getting into scam territory, you are perfectly justified in asking for your money back.
Mantis Lady
Well-known member
Then this topic did its job: warning other people.
Predatorhousepet
Well-known member
It depends on the species but there are a couple of sellers that have a few praying mantises for $10 or under. Try MantidKingdom.com and Mantidsgalore.com
MantisGirl13
Well-known member
I am very glad that you saw this post! DON"T BUY FROM HIM!!!!! I agree with Predatorhousepet when she says that MantidKingdom.com and MantidsGalore.com have great low prices. Let us know who you end up buying from! What species are you looking for?
- MantisGirl13
Dude, you were spared from a terrible experience.
I've seen severally species ranging from 9$-10$ just this morning. Ghosts, Budwings and more on the sites that @Predatorhousepet suggested.
Good luck and many of us would like to know what you get.
mantidmomma
Well-known member
I didn't see this post until AFTER I ordered.
However, I filed with PayPal and now the wait begins. Here is my story with this seller......Seller posted in a FB group (he is an admin), that he had a $5 4th of July sale on Twig mantis (Pop spurca) and Golden Red armed mantis (Heirodula venosa). My youngest loves the look of the Golden Red armed mantis so we ordered 8 of them. I contacted him immediately on FB messenger to make sure he would send an ice pack and did I need to pay extra. I never heard back from him. I emailed and never got a reply. 12 days after ordering I read every last word on his website. It states that ONLY a signature express delivery is covered by the LAG. I sent an email to let him know I wanted a signature delivery and commented on the original post to let him know I had been trying to contact him. A few days later, I found this post.
I filed with PayPal for many reasons, but the biggest being I will not be available tor receive any packages for a few weeks and was worried they would ship to me during that time frame. When I ordered, I never thought that 3 weeks later I would still be waiting. Not only waiting, but with NO response or contact from the seller. This is even more aggravating because he has posted videos AND posted AGAIN about the sale on the above mentioned mantids.
Soooo, PayPal sent me an email a week ago telling me my refund would be available on the 23rd. On the 23rd, I received an email stating the sellers bank had declined the eCheck that was to be my refund. So I am again waiting. And have of knowing how long it will take. The seller did reply to PayPal that they were sorry for the delay but they were short handed. Sorry, that is not a viable excuse. If you have had time to post videos and post to gain more sales, you should make sure to stay in contact with those who have already ordered from you.
I am fairly certain I will eventually get my money back. My son is saddened by all of this though. He is HFA and trusts everyone. He has fallen in love with this species and we have had no luck in finding them and were ecstatic when we found them on sale. Now we are left to search again.
Thank you so much for posting about your experience. All of you. Had I not read this, I would likely have waited for a very long time as I try to see the best in people as well. My time to file for a refund could have come and gone and I would have been left with nothing.
For the record, this is only the 3rd purchase from a "large reputable website" I have made. 2 of those experiences were bad. The 3rd purchase was from Cheryl and our ghost from her are doing amazing! All but one of our other purchases have been from people we have connected with in this group. And all of those experiences have been good, if not great. I am truly grateful for this group in so many ways!!!
River Dane
Well-known member
I’m so sorry about your awful experience. There’s no reason the seller could upload content and still leave you hanging about your mantis after waiting weeks. Good luck with getting your money back! I’m sure PayPal will side with you if he still doesn’t ship soon. But I’m glad you were able to read this and take action when you did.
It’s a shame how many unreliable vendors became so large and lied their way into a “reputable” status. But if you’re still looking for H. venosa, I think there’s some available at PanTerraPets, and you can check her breeder feedback here.
The MantidForum is indeed probably one of the best and safest places for mantiskeepers to sell and buy from, and overall just get together to talk about mantids!
It’s a shame how many unreliable vendors became so large and lied their way into a “reputable” status. But if you’re still looking for H. venosa, I think there’s some available at PanTerraPets, and you can check her breeder feedback here.
The MantidForum is indeed probably one of the best and safest places for mantiskeepers to sell and buy from, and overall just get together to talk about mantids!
My H. venosa is from PanTerra and she's splendidly healthy and beautiful. If you're lucky you might get one from the same bloodline. ?
Chemz
Active member
So glad i saw this post, when I bought my first mantis I almost purchased from this seller.
Predatorhousepet
Well-known member
I am sorry your son was let down like that. I hope you are able to find his favorite mantis for him soon. Kevin supposedly has unusual colorations so finding a red armed venosa may be difficult. It looks like the most common variety is the golden armed venosa which I believe is what Panterrapets has but I would email her and ask to be sure.
It sounds like PayPal has already sided with you if they've tried to process the refund but his bank refused to process it. I'm guessing it's because the money was already withdrawn from the account so there was nothing to give you. Usually PayPal waits 30 days before releasing payment to the seller for this very reason but his account probably predates this policy. I am surprised that he still has a PayPal account after all these complaints.
What doesn't make sense is his excuse, if he is so short staffed that he needs extra time to catch up on orders why is he posting sale ads for new orders? The only reason I can think of is that he needs the money so badly he is pulling it out of the bank as soon as it's available then struggles to catch up on the orders as they pile up. Everytime he needs cash he posts a new sale ad, more orders come in and the cycle continues. I can sympathize being hard up for cash but getting it in this way is dishonest and scammy, especially if he completely ignores his customers attempts to contact him or if he does reply he strings them along with vague promises.
I am not saying this is true in his situation but I have seen this type of money seeking behavior and lack of remorse of getting it through dishonest means in drug addicts. They will lie to their own mother to get a fix nevermind a bunch of faceless strangers on the internet. Again I am not saying this is the case just that his behavior is reminiscent of it. He could just be a plain old con artist. I could understand if maybe he had gotten in over his head with too many orders and felt ashamed so he just started ignoring the problem but his posting new sales ads says otherwise as he is actively trying to get more people to send him money, damn the consequences. This has also apparently been going on for years, so the excuse that it's accidental or temporary doesn't hold up.
For anyone that has previously ordered from him and didn't get what you ordered you have up to 6 months to file a claim with PayPal...and even if it's been longer than that PayPal will probably still side with you if the order was never shipped and you explain the circumstances, it's worth a try anyway.
It sounds like PayPal has already sided with you if they've tried to process the refund but his bank refused to process it. I'm guessing it's because the money was already withdrawn from the account so there was nothing to give you. Usually PayPal waits 30 days before releasing payment to the seller for this very reason but his account probably predates this policy. I am surprised that he still has a PayPal account after all these complaints.
What doesn't make sense is his excuse, if he is so short staffed that he needs extra time to catch up on orders why is he posting sale ads for new orders? The only reason I can think of is that he needs the money so badly he is pulling it out of the bank as soon as it's available then struggles to catch up on the orders as they pile up. Everytime he needs cash he posts a new sale ad, more orders come in and the cycle continues. I can sympathize being hard up for cash but getting it in this way is dishonest and scammy, especially if he completely ignores his customers attempts to contact him or if he does reply he strings them along with vague promises.
I am not saying this is true in his situation but I have seen this type of money seeking behavior and lack of remorse of getting it through dishonest means in drug addicts. They will lie to their own mother to get a fix nevermind a bunch of faceless strangers on the internet. Again I am not saying this is the case just that his behavior is reminiscent of it. He could just be a plain old con artist. I could understand if maybe he had gotten in over his head with too many orders and felt ashamed so he just started ignoring the problem but his posting new sales ads says otherwise as he is actively trying to get more people to send him money, damn the consequences. This has also apparently been going on for years, so the excuse that it's accidental or temporary doesn't hold up.
For anyone that has previously ordered from him and didn't get what you ordered you have up to 6 months to file a claim with PayPal...and even if it's been longer than that PayPal will probably still side with you if the order was never shipped and you explain the circumstances, it's worth a try anyway.
