Need help with T&C section of website

[SquamishSerpents]

Mostly I'm just wondering, are these Terms & Conditions coming across as too harsh to potential buyers?

They were all enacted due to past experiences with difficult buyers. And quite frankly, I don't feel like having my time wasted by anybody else. I want to come across as professional, yet still firm in our Terms.

I'm sick and tired of people saying they will "for sure, absolutely 100% purchase a snake." Then weeks go by, no deposit is received, no contact from said person. I re-list the snake, and then all of a sudden they are able to answer my messages and ream me out for re-listing "their" snake. Well sorry, but it's not yours until you pay for it, and I want people to know that.

Also what ticks me off is showing up to make a delivery, and NOBODY is there. That was the very first, and the very last time we make any delivery without a deposit. It wasted our time, our gas money driving there (as we're not exactly centrally located in proximity to most of our buyers) and it needlessly stressed out the snake.

I also had another buyer who wanted a payment plan of 6 months, for a fairly low-valued snake. I told them "No I'm sorry we cannot do that, as by the time that 6 months rolls around, we will be losing money on said snake due to the cost of upkeep." Sorry, but I'm not feeding your snake for 6 months and not getting paid for it. And of course I'm not just going to stop feeding the snake because they refuse to pay the feeding cost, so I'm just not doing it.

Anyways. Here are the T&Cs copied from my website, just wanted to see what y'all think before I make the page live.

Deposits:

We require a 25% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit to hold any animals. Deposits are payable via Paypal, EMT, direct deposit, or cash. If you would like to reserve a snake, a deposit is required, NO EXCEPTIONS. If paying cash, please keep in mind The animal(s) is for sale until a deposit has been received. No deposit, no holds. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Payment Plans:

Payment plans are available at our discretion. These can be discussed to suit your needs. Longer payment plans may come with a fee.

Shipping:

4) Shipping is available via Reptile Express to anywhere in Canada, at buyer's expense. Expect this to be around $100 per shipment, though this can change at any given time based upon Reptile Express' rates.

Guarantee:

6) Sex of each animal is guaranteed unless otherwise stated. When you purchase an animal from Squamish Serpents, you will receive an invoice that contains photos of the exact animals purchased and will serve as proof of purchase and pattern identification should any problems arise in the future.

7) Each snake purchased from Squamish Serpents comes with a 60 day health guarantee, as long as your setup is correct. If you choose to house your snake with another, or others, this health guarantee is immediately void. It is our policy NOT to keep multiple snakes in one enclosure. We understand and respect that some keepers choose to cohabitate their snakes, though we personally do not condone it.

PLEASE NOTE: We reserve the right to refuse sale at our discretion.

If you feel there are any edits I should make, please let me know!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Your TOS are fine, you should see mine

The only thing I would say is the 60 days guarantee concerns me, that is a LONG time and a lot can happen in 60 days and if it does and did did something wrong they will not tell you and you will be on the hook.

Many people will guarantee live arrival and give a health guaranty anywhere between 3 to 7 days if even that.

When you have no control over how animal is being cared for it can be risky to provide such an extended guarantee.

[SquamishSerpents]

Good point Deborah and something that was brought up elsewhere!

I have changed that point to:

7) Each snake we sell is guaranteed to be mite/tick free, and healthy at the time of sale.

Still deciding weather I should leave the part about cohabitation or not.

[C&H Exotic Morphs]

I think they look pretty good since you changed the 60 day guarantee.
The only other thing I would suggest is your Payment Plan section. I personally would make it more black and white. Like 30 days for any purchase over $500, 60 days for any purchase over $1000 and 90 days for any purchase over $1500 or $2000. These numbers are just examples, but similar to what we plan on doing. You can always make exceptions if a customer is willing to accept any additional terms you have with the payment plan or if it's a customer you have past experiences with.
Again this is just my personal opinion.

[Kodieh]

Whoa whoa whoa, back off that 60 day. Regardless of whatever conditions you put in, people will goat you on it. Go MAYBE five days. At least live arrival and and a day after.

I've just seen too many things go wrong where people had an extended health warranty and got ate for it. People can kill animals in an instant, and don't think they won't try either.

[SquamishSerpents]

I did, thanks! I already made the changes above^^

[nimblykimbly]

I would remove the part about cohabitation. You can't control what new owners would potentially do, and if you state that then you give them a heads up to not disclose that info to you. It's unfortunate, but oftentimes dishonest people do things like that. If you feel strongly against it, you can say it casually somewhere else in your site, say if you create a husbandry page...?

The change to a shorter health guarantee is good. Think about it this way - if you are a good keeper and you sell (reptile) to a good keeper, there should be no health issues. I totally understand you wanting to stand behind your animals, though! But If you are a good keeper and you sell (reptile) to a bad keeper, you're giving them a 60 day window to possibly make the animal sick and then you are responsible for it. Not fair!

Also, it might only be my opinion, but I think the caps lock used so much is a little overwhelming. Maybe just say NO EXCEPTIONS at the end, and not need to have caps lock anywhere else? Any quasi-intelligent person can read the disclosure. The disclosure is there to clarify, and that's all it needs to do. it needs to only be short, sweet, and to the point.


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[SquamishSerpents]

Thanks for your thoughts, nimbly. I have decided to remove the cohabitation part as well and will re-word the beginning part about the "No Exceptions." Like I said I've just had so many yahoos to deal with, I'm fed up, lol. I should perhaps tone it down a bit though, don't want to scare anybody off!

I swear I don't bite...but my balls might!

[SquamishSerpents]

How about this? I kind of feel like the No exceptions should be emphasized though...what if I made it red? Or is that too in your face? I'm not sure why I'm having so much trouble with this, but I'm glad I asked!

We require a 25% non-refundable deposit to hold any animals. Deposits are payable via Paypal, EMT, direct deposit, or cash. If you would like to reserve a snake, a deposit is required. If paying cash, please keep in mind The animal(s) is for sale until a deposit has been received. No deposit, no holds. No exceptions.

[nimblykimbly]

Thanks for your thoughts, nimbly. I have decided to remove the cohabitation part as well and will re-word the beginning part about the "No Exceptions." Like I said I've just had so many yahoos to deal with, I'm fed up, lol. I should perhaps tone it down a bit though, don't want to scare anybody off!

I swear I don't bite...but my balls might!

I totally understand! First and foremost, you have to protect yourself and your animals just don't want to frighten off good, regular buyers, to include those who might be new to the hobby. I see no issues with putting 'no exceptions' in caps lock once, perhaps at the end of your deposit section. Or in red... That works too your TOS also sounds great, just remember - short, sweet, to the point if it gets too unnecessarily wordy, it sounds less professional.


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