Big Apple Herpetological - Big Apple Herpetological is a dishonest business and it's President Steven Spitz is a devious liar!!! - Hauppauge, New York
Big Apple Herpetological, which is nothing more than an internet based boiler room operation, is a dishonest, deceptive, and fraudulent, reptile products supply business. The so-called "President" of this company, Steven Spitz, (who sometimes calls himself "Andy") believes that he is above the law, as he basically does whatever he wants, let the customer be damned!!!
He charges the combined 8.75% New York State/Suffolk County sales tax (the most expensive sales tax rate in the entire state) to all New York State residents, despite the fact that he should be charging the sales tax rate of the county that he is shipping to. For example, I live in Ulster County where the combined New York State and county sales tax is 8.25%. I should have been charged 8.25% sales tax, but I was actually charged the higher 8.75% sales tax. Therefore, I was overcharged by .5%! This may be a small amount, but it illustrates this company's contempt for the law.
Another example of this company's blatant disregard for the law is the fact that Big Apple Herpetological carelessly prints the customer's ENTIRE credit card number (with the expiation date included) on the shipping invoice. Not only is this practice illegal, but it is a breach of security, and creates an unnecessary risk of credit card fraud. Mr. Spitz, when told that this practice is illegal, says "so what?"!!!
Big Apple Herpetological/Andy/Steven Spitz overcharges inwitting customers for the most poorly made, lowest quality, reptile supplies and then tries to make it as difficult as possible if the customer wants to return the item or items. This company's return policies are ridiculous: First they make you call up to get approval for a "return authorization number", and IF they decide that they will let you return the item, they make you use the most expensive return shipping method possible. If they accept your return (after a nitpicking and arbitrary examination), they will deduct a "10% restocking fee" from the amount of the refund. Keep in mind that they will not refund the cost of the initial or return shipping.
If you are in the market for reptile supplies, save yourself a big headache and please don't patronize Big Apple Herpetological. You will be much better off dealing with your local pet store or a reputable and honest mail order company. Don't let Big Apple Herpetological and Steven Spitz rip you off!!!
Dennis
Saugerties, New York
U.S.A.
16 Updates & Rebuttals
James
Lindenhurst,New York,
U.S.A.
Steven Spitz is a pathological liar and a cowardly worm!
#17Consumer Comment
Fri, May 18, 2007
This guy Steven Spitz is a *&*& *&*& who has no idea what he's talking about. He is a pathological liar and a malicious d****e-bag who likes to post customer's personal information on the Ripoff Report.
Actions like his are opening up the customer to the possibility of Identity Theft! I'd like to tell this creep Spitz how I really feel about him by spitting in his face!!!
AVOID DOING BUSINESS WITH BIG APPLE HERPETOLOGICAL, INC. AND IT'S UNETHICAL SCUMBAG "PRESIDENT", STEVEN SPITZ!!!
Toni
Red Bank,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Hey Steven Spitz, you are a lying s-bag, and I'd like to spit in your ugly face!
#17Consumer Comment
Tue, November 28, 2006
Steven Spitz is a bottomfeeding lying lowlife scumbag, and I hope that this rat b*****d business goes bankrupt! Not only is he a despicable liar, but he malicious d****ebag who likes to post the personal information of his dissatified customers on the internet.
Toni
Red Bank,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Hey Steven Spitz, you are a lying s-bag, and I'd like to spit in your ugly face!
#17Consumer Comment
Tue, November 28, 2006
Steven Spitz is a bottomfeeding lying lowlife scumbag, and I hope that this rat b*****d business goes bankrupt! Not only is he a despicable liar, but he malicious d****ebag who likes to post the personal information of his dissatified customers on the internet.
Toni
Red Bank,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Hey Steven Spitz, you are a lying s-bag, and I'd like to spit in your ugly face!
#17Consumer Comment
Tue, November 28, 2006
Steven Spitz is a bottomfeeding lying lowlife scumbag, and I hope that this rat b*****d business goes bankrupt! Not only is he a despicable liar, but he malicious d****ebag who likes to post the personal information of his dissatified customers on the internet.
Mary
Middletown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Thanks, Ben
#17Consumer Comment
Thu, October 13, 2005
I did a little research on sales tax on internet sales. CLEAR AS MUD!
Your explanation was clear about having a physical presence in a particular state.
Seem like there is the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) coming down the pike.
Effective 10/1, 13 states have to comply. Once they sort out all the different taxing jurisdictions, it will be applied across the board.
From the info in the OP's complaint, Big Apple Herpetological did charge him too much sales tax.
Again, clear as mud!
Ben
Martinez,California,
U.S.A.
Mary
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Mary,
I am not familiar with the tax codes in NJ. I will be very honest here. I really dont know the tax codes for any state. While my business is doing well, we are still a small outfit with only 11 employees. We dont even have a full time accountant. Currently we have been using an accountant on a contract only basis. She has been the one to deal with this headache for several years. Only in the last 3 years have we had reps outside of CA. And only once before had we shown up on another states radar for taxes. That state being Arizona. When all the phone calls were made and all the sales figures were supplied to them, it was Arizona that told us we didnt have to pay their taxes since no rep resided there. So far no other state that we do business in (other than Texas or Florida of course) has raised a fuss.
But getting to the point of NJ, I would think that it IS up to the individual states. Perhaps if we started doing business in NJ (without a rep residing there), they may require us to use their tax codes regardless. New Jersey just may be a little more strict. So far no other state we do buisness in has required this of us, or even hinted at it.
So, in the end, I really dont know. It's been very confusing for me since this is a family business that I have taken over from my father about 3 years ago. I was a television engineer by trade for 15 years till my father retired (and Worldcom snuffed my old television job) and I needed to take control of the company. Neither of us were business majors. So we defer things like this to employees more suited (thus the tax accountant under contract).
Just an honest answer, for an honest question.
Ben
Martinez,California,
U.S.A.
Mary
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Mary,
I am not familiar with the tax codes in NJ. I will be very honest here. I really dont know the tax codes for any state. While my business is doing well, we are still a small outfit with only 11 employees. We dont even have a full time accountant. Currently we have been using an accountant on a contract only basis. She has been the one to deal with this headache for several years. Only in the last 3 years have we had reps outside of CA. And only once before had we shown up on another states radar for taxes. That state being Arizona. When all the phone calls were made and all the sales figures were supplied to them, it was Arizona that told us we didnt have to pay their taxes since no rep resided there. So far no other state that we do business in (other than Texas or Florida of course) has raised a fuss.
But getting to the point of NJ, I would think that it IS up to the individual states. Perhaps if we started doing business in NJ (without a rep residing there), they may require us to use their tax codes regardless. New Jersey just may be a little more strict. So far no other state we do buisness in has required this of us, or even hinted at it.
So, in the end, I really dont know. It's been very confusing for me since this is a family business that I have taken over from my father about 3 years ago. I was a television engineer by trade for 15 years till my father retired (and Worldcom snuffed my old television job) and I needed to take control of the company. Neither of us were business majors. So we defer things like this to employees more suited (thus the tax accountant under contract).
Just an honest answer, for an honest question.
Ben
Martinez,California,
U.S.A.
Mary
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Mary,
I am not familiar with the tax codes in NJ. I will be very honest here. I really dont know the tax codes for any state. While my business is doing well, we are still a small outfit with only 11 employees. We dont even have a full time accountant. Currently we have been using an accountant on a contract only basis. She has been the one to deal with this headache for several years. Only in the last 3 years have we had reps outside of CA. And only once before had we shown up on another states radar for taxes. That state being Arizona. When all the phone calls were made and all the sales figures were supplied to them, it was Arizona that told us we didnt have to pay their taxes since no rep resided there. So far no other state that we do business in (other than Texas or Florida of course) has raised a fuss.
But getting to the point of NJ, I would think that it IS up to the individual states. Perhaps if we started doing business in NJ (without a rep residing there), they may require us to use their tax codes regardless. New Jersey just may be a little more strict. So far no other state we do buisness in has required this of us, or even hinted at it.
So, in the end, I really dont know. It's been very confusing for me since this is a family business that I have taken over from my father about 3 years ago. I was a television engineer by trade for 15 years till my father retired (and Worldcom snuffed my old television job) and I needed to take control of the company. Neither of us were business majors. So we defer things like this to employees more suited (thus the tax accountant under contract).
Just an honest answer, for an honest question.
Ben
Martinez,California,
U.S.A.
Mary
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Mary,
I am not familiar with the tax codes in NJ. I will be very honest here. I really dont know the tax codes for any state. While my business is doing well, we are still a small outfit with only 11 employees. We dont even have a full time accountant. Currently we have been using an accountant on a contract only basis. She has been the one to deal with this headache for several years. Only in the last 3 years have we had reps outside of CA. And only once before had we shown up on another states radar for taxes. That state being Arizona. When all the phone calls were made and all the sales figures were supplied to them, it was Arizona that told us we didnt have to pay their taxes since no rep resided there. So far no other state that we do business in (other than Texas or Florida of course) has raised a fuss.
But getting to the point of NJ, I would think that it IS up to the individual states. Perhaps if we started doing business in NJ (without a rep residing there), they may require us to use their tax codes regardless. New Jersey just may be a little more strict. So far no other state we do buisness in has required this of us, or even hinted at it.
So, in the end, I really dont know. It's been very confusing for me since this is a family business that I have taken over from my father about 3 years ago. I was a television engineer by trade for 15 years till my father retired (and Worldcom snuffed my old television job) and I needed to take control of the company. Neither of us were business majors. So we defer things like this to employees more suited (thus the tax accountant under contract).
Just an honest answer, for an honest question.
Mary
Middletown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Tax question
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Ben - interesting! Thanks for the info.
Question for you - when I see something for sale (on TV for example), it often says "NJ residents add 6% sales tax".
The shipper is not located in NJ, they're in a state with a different sales tax rate.
How does that work?
Mary
Middletown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Tax question
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Ben - interesting! Thanks for the info.
Question for you - when I see something for sale (on TV for example), it often says "NJ residents add 6% sales tax".
The shipper is not located in NJ, they're in a state with a different sales tax rate.
How does that work?
Mary
Middletown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Tax question
#17Consumer Comment
Wed, October 12, 2005
Ben - interesting! Thanks for the info.
Question for you - when I see something for sale (on TV for example), it often says "NJ residents add 6% sales tax".
The shipper is not located in NJ, they're in a state with a different sales tax rate.
How does that work?
Ben
Martinez,California,
U.S.A.
Give....and take......
#17Consumer Comment
Tue, October 11, 2005
Well, what this guy did with the personal info is pretty low. I'll give you that. The guy seems like a real shmuck.
But on the taxes issue, I would tend to disagree. I own a business in California. We ship all around the west coast, and over state lines. The general rule for drop shipping products and taxes is this. Taxes are based on the point of sale. That "point" being our business location. So if a customer in Arizona purchases a product from us here in CA, and we ship it to them, then the point of sale is considered IN California, and thus gets CA taxes. I see no reason why this wouldnt apply to counties as well (as in your case).
Now we do have sales reps in several other states. Those particular states are the only other resale licenses we have. Once again a general rule applies here. If we have a sales rep that physically lives in another state, then we must apply the taxes of that state (or county, or town) to the purchase. Currently thats only Florida and Texas.
So in other words, if anyone buys things from us, and the ship-to is anywhere but Texas or Florida, then they get CA taxes tacked on. Texas customers get Texas taxes. And Florida gets Florida taxes. If I were to fire or lose my reps in those states then the point of sale returns to CA.
Mary
Middletown,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Sales tax
#17Consumer Comment
Tue, October 11, 2005
I think the return policy is reasonable.
I agree about posting your personal info.
If what you say is true about the sales tax, contact the NY State Department of Taxation.
They'll make his life MISERABLE!
Joseph H.
Plattsburgh,New York,
U.S.A.
Steven Spitz, you are absolutely despicable!
#17REBUTTAL Individual responds
Mon, October 10, 2005
As you can see from the rebuttal of Steven Spitz, the so-called "President" (what an ego this guy has) of Big Apple Herpetological, this guy has a lot of psychological problems.
For someone (especially a merchant who promises on his website that no personal information of his customers will be shared) to disclose the home address of another person on a publicly accessable website such as this is absolutely despicable!!!
Hey Steven, since you know where I live, why don't you have the guts to show up at my front door so I can knock your f*ing teeth out?!?!
Steven
Hauppauge,New York,
U.S.A.
Report Written by Joseph H. Erskine, Jr. residing at Plattsburgh, NY not the fictitious name and address entered.
#17REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, December 02, 2004
The customer in question, Joseph JR. who claims to be Dennis from Saugerties, NY actually resides at in Plattsburgh, NY 12901 with a separate shipping address of Staten Island, NY 10309.
This person wrote all 4 reports and 2 rebuttals on dates within a week of each other complaining about Big Apple Herpetological, Inc. The reports are unfounded and his rebuttals, all of the reports were written by him under assumed names and addresses show what type of person he is. We expect that he will write more reports or rebuttals under assumed names. However, please see our rebuttal under the 11/28/2004 report that Joseph H. Erskine, Jr. submitted.
Regards,
Steven Spitz
President
Big Apple Herpetological, Inc.
http://www.bigappleherp.com