Can a breeder refuse a refund?

[SCWood]

My friend just bought a champagne for $110 about 5 days ago. She woke up this morning to find her dead and her heart was broken. Naturally, she reached out to the seller. However , the seller said she can only have half of the money back (ONLY in pay pal, even though she paid cash) or another snake and all she has to offer is a Dessert and an Orange Ghost, genes she is not interested in. Frankly, she doesn't seem to care that my friends heart is broken. (Yes, she did QT!) We know she has more snakes that are worth the $110 l, but she refuses to offer them, only offering the less expensive morphs that are about half the worth. According to my friend, the snake was 2 years old and only 250g! What would you do?

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[Kokorobosoi]

Do they have a site? And does that site talk about refunds or anything?

[SCWood]

Do they have a site? And does that site talk about refunds or anything?

No its a local breeder to her

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[MarkS]

Unless the breeder had a specific written guarantee you're probably out of luck and lucky to be getting even a partial refund. Many breeders will guarantee live arrival, but since they can't control how the animal will be kept, and there are so many things that can go wrong, few will make any guarantees after delivery.

As far as it being a 250g 2 year old animal, personally I would not have bought it in the first place.

[SCWood]

Unless the breeder had a specific written guarantee you're probably out of luck and lucky to be getting even a partial refund. Many breeders will guarantee live arrival, but since they can't control how the animal will be kept, and there are so many things that can go wrong, few will make any guarantees after delivery.

As far as it being a 250g 2 year old animal, personally I would not have bought it in the first place.

She didn't know. She was told a completely different size and when she got her she noticed how small she was and weighed her. She was also never handled and so my friend is convinced stress played a huge part in the death

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[JoshSloane]

Five days is a long time for any breeder to even consider a refund, so your friend is extremely lucky she is getting half back. At 250g and 2 years that sounds like a sickly animal that shouldn't have been purchased in the first place. Proving that the animal had a preexisting condition before sale would be difficult, costly and time consuming.

If your friend wants to she can start a thread on the BOI portion of Faunaclassifieds to air complaints and receive feedback.

[gaitedappy]

I would just accept the half back and never do business with that breeder again.

[SmoothScales]

As far as it being a 250g 2 year old animal, personally I would not have bought it in the first place.

I feel for your friend, but I have to agree with this. I've got little ones less than 4 months old that size. Unfortunately, without some sort of health guarantee or similar from the seller/breeder there's little you can do. Is a necropsy planned? Beyond openly conversing with the seller and breeder, you could also post on the BOI and various FB inquiry groups. If this person is passing off unhealthy snakes, potential buyers should be warned.

[Hannahshissyfix]

I would just accept the half back and never do business with that breeder again.

This is probably her best option! It's sad but I'd take it as a learning experience and now she'll know not to buy an animal from someone like that. Saying one size, getting another and it being so underweight for supposedly being 2 are such big red flags.

[Kokorobosoi]

Had to run to the store, but it looks like you got good advice. That's where I was going when I asked about a site with written guarantees. This just sounds iffy all the way around. Consider it a lesson learned. What I do with a reptile I'm not too knowledgeable on, is I treat it like buying a car. I bring a "mechanic" with me. (Someone who knows better). I've never been told I couldn't have someone more knowledgeable check the animal. The people I've bought from were glad I had a teacher instead of winging it. Maybe you can help your friend find a animal to replace the other one?