Greetings from Texas :)

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:42 pm

Hello to all

I am coming out of lurkdom to introduce myself and then ask for help, lol. My name is Cory and I'm in Austin, Texas. I'm a full-time mommy to our first baby girl, Cate. She just turned one and there are seriously some days that I miss my desk job. I'd like to be in an office again just so I could rest a bit

I've become quickly and heavily inflicted with multiple tank syndrome. It all started with one little betta several months ago and now I'm up to 6 tanks, my largest are 40 gal & 60 gal. My tastes in all animals have always been to the rare and unusual and so I find myself on your board lusting after Zebras.

I think I "may" have Zebras but I don't know yet. I've sent a deposit and have been patiently waiting for a couple weeks now and I'm starting to worry. I'm buying from a private person in Canada and I am told that customs is very tricky to get these guys through and takes awhile. Does anyone have experience bringing these guys into the US in 2005? I'm trying to stay positive and hope that I'm not getting ripped off. But I just feel more and more anxious as the days go by.

Any export/import info would definately be appreciated!

Dr. P · Post by **Dr. P** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:59 pm

Hi there Cory. Glad you found us weirdo's

I have never had fish delivered so I can't really help you but I am sure someone will be on soon to lend a hand. Just wanted to welcome you to the forum

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 12:43 am

Hi Cory and welcome to the forum

.

Sorry to hear that you are having problems getting your zebras. Living in the UK I can't offer any advice on Canadian customs. However a couple of our members live in Canada. Wandj one of our Canadian members posts here fairly regularly, perhaps you could drop her a PM to see what could be causing the hold up. Just a thought

Hope it all works out, keep us posted.

Adam

sid · Post by **sid** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:20 am

Hi Cory..............welcome to the forum.........have fun here ..and ask as much questions as you like girl ok

SanDiegoFishes · Post by **SanDiegoFishes** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:32 am

Welcome to the group. I hope all works out with your Canadian shipping. I have ordered fish from Canada before, but always from folks who are close to the Canadian/US border. They drive over and ship from the US side. Is the Canadian shipper a well known place (Like Oliver Lucanus?) of BelowWater. We might know who you are getting them from and help ease your mind.
Best, Barb

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 2:15 am

Hi Barb

I'm glad to hear that you have gotten fish from Canada before. At least I know that it is possible. No the shipper is not a well known place

, nor does he live near the border to drive them over. I found him on the Pleco Fanatics board, username Blurr. If you go to the plecofanatics board and look in the sale/wanted section you'll find his posts. It's not Oliver, I've spoken with Oliver before about some cichlids I was looking for.
The thing that kills me about this whole thing is that I was ready to buy from Aquabid for a set of six. He counter-offered with a better deal. I'm just worried sick about it. Hubby is not too pleased with me either

SanDiegoFishes wrote:Welcome to the group. I hope all works out with your Canadian shipping. I have ordered fish from Canada before, but always from folks who are close to the Canadian/US border. They drive over and ship from the US side. Is the Canadian shipper a well known place (Like Oliver Lucanus?) of BelowWater. We might know who you are getting them from and help ease your mind.
Best, Barb

SanDiegoFishes · Post by **SanDiegoFishes** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:09 am

Hi,
I have no idea who this person is. How did you pay for the plecos? If it was Paypal, you can probably get the money back. Also, you can go after someone using the USPS and perhaps even the Canadian Postal Service for mail fraud, if at any point they used the mail to cheat you (accepting monies). And of course, if you used credit card, you can request a charge back.
You should be able to retrieve your money. Have you paid this person in full, and what is their excuse for not shipping?
Best, Barb

SanDiegoFishes · Post by **SanDiegoFishes** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:11 am

PS You might want to post your import/export question on the AquaBid.com forums. Lots of people there with tons of shipping knowledge who can probably tell you down to the last detail what shipping from Canada to USA entails. You will get lots of answers, they are a good group

Best, Barb
AKA Woodle on AquaBid

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:31 am

Aha, good idea about asking on Aquabid. I always forget there are forums there too! Thank you for the advice.

I paid 60% down through Western Union. And the payment was made with a credit card. The remainder was to be paid upon delivery.

I'm always told just to wait a little while longer or "it will be next week". The reasons given are that Canadian customs are complicated and/or he needs to take time off from work to ship. I'm still hopeful but that hope is decreasing each day. I guess I'm too naive to trust so easily. I just figure I would never dream of scamming someone so surely nobody would scam me.

<sigh>

SanDiegoFishes wrote:PS You might want to post your import/export question on the AquaBid.com forums. Lots of people there with tons of shipping knowledge who can probably tell you down to the last detail what shipping from Canada to USA entails. You will get lots of answers, they are a good group
Best, Barb
AKA Woodle on AquaBid

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:56 pm

Hey ZCAT
Is the person you bought this from have an email of A1b55194@telus.net?? If you did i was talking to this person a couple months ago about 10 zebras for $1000 and he said he wouldn't take checks or paypal and would only take Western Union.....I thought that was pretty fishy and said forget....He than said ok I will sell them for $600 but paid in full.......I thought this was pretty wierd and just blew him off..later that day I PM Wandj (a member here) and she told me she got riped off by that same person so we both tried to get the address of this person....

If its not him forget this whole post...but I would suggest you call your credit card company and western union to see who picked up the cash and that you want your money back, because you shouldn't have to be stressed out because of this and there seems to be alot of zebras on aquabid right now that are in the US...
Jerms

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:09 pm

Damn! (sorry for cursing) but damn, damn, damn! It's him. I have a name and address that was given to Western Union for pick-up. If he had to show a valid form of ID then I got him. We are still in e-mail conversations/confrontations right now. I've given him a deadline of today to refund my money if he is going to break our deal, and deadline of Tuesday if he intends to go through with the deal.

Yes, Wandj and I just started PM'ing yesterday and found out we are dealing with the same person.

Now I'm really upset. Upset that I'm such an idiot for taking the deal and upset that I'm going to get ripped off. And sorry for these angry ramblings but if he rips me off and I do not get fish or money he is going to find out he messed with the wrong person. This kitty has claws when needed

jerms55555 wrote:Hey ZCAT
Is the person you bought this from have an email of A1b55194@telus.net?? If you did i was talking to this person a couple months ago about 10 zebras for $1000 and he said he wouldn't take checks or paypal and would only take Western Union.....I thought that was pretty fishy and said forget....He than said ok I will sell them for $600 but paid in full.......I thought this was pretty wierd and just blew him off..later that day I PM Wandj (a member here) and she told me she got riped off by that same person so we both tried to get the address of this person.... If its not him forget this whole post...but I would suggest you call your credit card company and western union to see who picked up the cash and that you want your money back, because you shouldn't have to be stressed out because of this and there seems to be alot of zebras on aquabid right now that are in the US...
Jerms

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:54 pm

That was one of the main reasons why I only wanted to pay with paypal or something with insurance......maybe something to think about next time.....sorry about this....but its not over yet he still hasn't totally riped you off ..YET...maybe he can still send the fish.....you never know....
If I were you try to play it cool and maybe find a debt collector near him so they can take care of it and report it to the police.

-Jerms

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 1:17 am

Hi zcat,

Any developments with regards to the zebras?

zcat · Post by **zcat** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:03 am

Not really unfortunately

I am told shipment may be this week so I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I've been told that before. So everyone please cross all fingers and toes for me

Adam wrote:Hi zcat,

Any developments with regards to the zebras?

SanDiegoFishes · Post by **SanDiegoFishes** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:40 pm

Anything happen??