Janda Exotics Exotic pets, Janda Exotics, Texas, Ashley Duncan, Kinkajou, animal San Marcos Texas
Buyer Beware...
Ashley Duncan is out to make a quick buck!
First off, I would like to accept the fact I see my fault as a buyer in this expensive life-lesson. I should have done far more extensive research before this opportunity arose... but I wanted to warn others before they make the same mistake I did and being unfairly robbed of a large sum of money…
A couple months ago my husband and I went through a long process of adopting 2 baby kinkajous from Ashley Duncan, owner of Janda Exotics in San Marcos, Texas. Ashley came across as very sweet, replaying to emails, sending baby pictures of the Kinkajous...
We had to provide a $1,000 deposit over the phone for the babies if we wanted the Kinkajous to put on hold as they would "go quickly." So we did.
My husband and I discovered during this process that it is in fact NOT LEGAL to house the animals in Washington State; and we would never have been able to pick the Kinkajous up at the airport due to law... We wanted to cancel the adoption.
I understand that her website stated that the deposit is non-refundable; however we obtained no receipt and no signed contract on either side…
On the sellers website it is stated:
“Since every state, city, county and even certain home owners associations all have different laws and guidelines for owning pets there is no way for us to know the laws in your area. It is your responsibility to find out if you need a permit or if you are allowed to have the animals in your home. A good place to check is your state USDA office which can be found here, just follow the link and click on your state: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/area_offices/ ** We will NOT knowingly ship animals into illegal states or countries**
As her website states "We will NOT knowingly ship animals into illegal states or countries", has the link on her site of those appropriate areas... You would think as a respective seller she would check before taking our money. Ashley is most-likely WELL aware of state laws. She deals with it on a daily basis through her buisiness (I should have taken better steps to avoid this.) According to the Washington State Department of Wildlife and Agriculture the Kinkajous would have been shipped back to the breeder. This leads me to believe that Ashley knowingly took our money when we would not have been able to complete the transaction or recive the babies from the beginning.
This intent may not be true. However regardless of Ashley’s intent, financially Ashley was out nothing. The babies weren’t even ready to be shipped for weeks due to age and were most likely sold later at full value to a new buyer.
I sent Ashley an email asking her to contact me about the matter and her “friendly” emails simply got short to “no refunds.”
I felt tricked and foolish.
Chase was able to get our money back temporarily, through Small Claims. It was wrong for Janda Exotics to keep our money with no contract and wrong for her to sell them to us in the first place because of State Laws.
A couple weeks later we got a letter, Ashley complained the money was not ours and took it back out of our account…
I’m accepting the fact of this life-lesson, I feel bad we gained nothing and lost so much, all of no loss to her. What a jerk.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Denise
Adkins,Texas,
USA
Happy customer
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, February 01, 2017
I was looking on the internet to find Janda's exotics because I am wanting to purchase another sugar glider. The first thing that pops up on the Google search engine when I typed in Janda's exotics was this complaint on the Rip Off website. I was completely shocked to see a complaint filed against this company. I have purchased 4 sugar gliders from Ashley (Janda's exotics). The complainant is right about one thing. Ashley is a very nice lady. I don't know Ashley personally. I met her when I found her company online and saw that she was only @ 30 miles from me. I have met her in person. She is such a sweet lady. She clearly cares about the animals and the people who are wanting to be pet owners. Her animals are very healthy and very well taken care of.
The facility is spotless. She spends countless hours with the animals. This is not your typical breeder where all they care about is breeding the animals and making money. Ashley personally works with all the animals so that they are use to humans handling them. I won't buy from anyone else. All my animals are tame and healthy. Ashley goes out of her way to help the customers. It really hurts me that a complaint has been made against Janda's Exotics simply because they stand behind their non-refundable deposit policy that is "clearly" written on their website. It is very common for a company to require a deposit that is non-refundable. People, Please don't try to destroy a company's reputation for your mistake. Take it as a lesson learned and move on.
Jen
Georgia,USA
WOW!
#4General Comment
Thu, January 28, 2016
I ran across this site while googling and researching Kinkajous due to a news story I saw this morning where a woman woke up with one cuddled up next to her in bed-turned out to be a neighbors pet that got out and it was just a silly story. I'd never heard of these cute little things so I got curious as to how they are as pets, if they are kept as pets without hurting their population in the wild, if they would make a good fit for me as a pet and I also looked up the state laws to see if my state allowed me to have one as a pet seeing as it's an exotic animal. Your complaint was directly under the first video I saw pop up on google so I decided to read it. The lady in the video (who owns the business that your complaint is about) seems to really love and care for her animals.
When I read your complaint about this woman not refunding your money after she had placed 2 of her babies on hold for you all I could think was WOW!!! In your complaint - you said you had full knowledge BEFORE HAND that once an animal is placed on hold that her company does NOT give refunds...yet you went out of your way to give this woman a terrible review because you later found out that you could not keep these animals as pets in your state.. Are you so incredibly lazy that you think others should do your research for you!? Do rules simply not apply to you? What a self centered person you must be! I don't understand this level of entitlement you seem to have.
For example- I'm not even seriously thinking about getting another pet-I was just curious about these animals this morning when I googled them - yet I somehow I did way more research on them in my 2 min Google search that you did before putting a large deposit down -knowing it non refundable. A non refundable deposit is not a new concept. It protects the seller from people like you who back out of business deals at the last min and covers their costs when they do. Anyway, in short: WOW! I was actually embarrassed for you reading your complaint about this woman because she did nothing wrong-you did. And it's probably for the best that you didn't end up getting these animals seeing as you can't seem to follow simple instruction or do your own research.
Ashley
San Marcos,Texas,
USA
Customer Responsibility
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, March 06, 2015
Firstly, I will mention that every states laws on exotic animal ownership can change yearly. As stated and quoted above in the complaint, it is the buyers resposibility to ensure that where you live will allow your selected animal. This is posted in plain 14+ point font on my website, I am not trying to scam or hide anything from anyone, I even include a link to help you get started on your search. I take offense to the statement that I took someone's money maliciously, that is absolutley not true, by not completing the sale I had to re-advertise for several weeks and educate another two clients on care, raising and upkeep of the babies (something I provide for the LIFE of the animals). I have many, many happy customers who did thier research ahead of time, I don't see why I should receive criticism because someone did not. Since this complaint I have required my potential clients to look into their state, city, county, HOA laws, rules and ordinaces regarding exotic ownership. This is not my responsibility.