TurtleSales.com, TurtleSale.com Charged for more expensive item ordered but shipped cheaper item. Port Richey Florida

I placed on order with Turtlesale.com on 17 May 2009. I ordered: 1 large Western Painted Turtle (Male) @ $23.95 plus $6.95 for sexing, 1 juvenile Western Painted Turtle (Female) @ $23.95 plus $6.95 for sexing, and 1 juvenile Eastern Painted Turtle (Female) @ $49.95 plus $6.95 for sexing. The shipping cost was $52.84 for a total of $171.54. The error was made in that of the two juvenile turtles I received, both were Western Painted Turtles and both were male. The difference in the value of what I ordered and was charged for between one Eastern one Western Painted Turtle (not including the price of sexing) was $26.00.

Turtlesales.com does state, The customer will type male or female in the customer comment section of checkout. paying a sexing fee is not 100% assurance of sex, Turtlesale team members will do thier best to accomodate you (their spelling, grammar and punctuation, not mine). In the comments section, based on the confirmation email, I apparently made a mistake in identifying both of the juveniles as Western, however I did specify that both were to be female. The two juveniles that I received were of such age and size that the sex was obvious they were both males. I have a degree in zoology and have experience with Painted turtles. The bag in which the two juveniles were shipped was marked 2 WPT.

I had placed two previous orders with Turtlesale.com. The first was without a problem. My second order was for my niece's high school project. I ordered four baby painted turtles, two Eastern and two Western with one male and one female of each subspecies. At the age and size of the turtles I received it is not possible to determine sex with any accuracy, unfortunately, all four turned out to be males. That was the reason for this latest order for two female juveniles: one Eastern and one Western. I sent two emails to Turtlesales.com without receiving the courtesy of a reply. As I paid by MasterCard through PayPal, I filed a dispute and explained the situation. Turtlesale.com replied back with an apology for the error in sexing and offered to reimburse me for the cost of sexing the two juveniles. Turtlesale.com had obviously misunderstood the issue, therefore, I again restated the problem and I rejected the offer as I had not asked to be reimbursed for the cost of sexing, but only for the difference between the price of one Eastern and one Western, which totaled $26.00. Paypal then rejected and closed my dispute because their policy had to do with the delivery of goods and not what was delivered. This is not an issue of money but of principle. If TurtleSales.com had any integrity they would refund what is owed to me.

Thomas s
Lakewood, Washington
U.S.A.