I have some concerns about buying this bird online

[kaansahbaz]

Hi folks,

I just joined this forum to ask all your parrot masters opinion regarding to online transaction. I have never bought a pet online before, let alone a such beautiful and rare creature.

I found this lady online, messaged her via whatsapp, we chatted and she sent me some pictures of her eclectus, stating that he is 7 months old, which I certainly don't believe for few reasons.

1st of all is the beak color, 2nd of all is the iPhone photo date. You know I phone shows the dates of photos when they were taken, and her photos dated as 2012 and 2013.

On top of everything, she keeps asking for delivery address before I get answers to my questions.

She offered me the bird for 400 and 170 for delivery. Since I have no clue how things work out via delivery, She stated that delivery person will do the paperworks etc.

What are you thinking about this? Maybe I am too paranoid at this moment, And also please let me know where can I find the best bird for us?

Thank you for your time...

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Scam,dont do it .First is the price [to good to be true]. I live in NY and have had birds shipped . Try Bestbirds.com They are in Florida and are legit. Did a excellent job socializing my bird. Or check out the breeders on Birdbreeders.com . Birds are not cheap ,dont be taken.

 

[kaansahbaz]

Fsd Hand Reared Eclectus Parrots for Sale Ready Now is the ad where I found her, she has posted on multiple sites.

Thank you for your tip!.

 

[Maple128]

yup definitely a scam haha. With birds, anything that looks too good to be true, almost always is. A quick search of the number usually tells if its a scam, and after doing so, i found multiple scams under this number, breeders that have established sites, and don't sell off a anonymus sites is the best way to go.

 

[Shae26]

Whenever I find ads for pets online, I always make sure it's somewhere I can drive to pick the animal up and pay on collection, so that I can a) be sure it's not a scam and b) check out the animal's environment and living conditions before I purchase.

I too have found that, especially with large and expensive birds like Eclectus, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is. Ekkies are expensive and for good reason (especially if they're hand raised.. pain in the butt job that is) and every breeder I know never have any trouble selling their eclectus for full price. If an ekkie is advertised for a really cheap price, either there is something wrong with the bird, or it simply doesn't exist lol.

 

[JerseyWendy]

100% SCAM! Please do NOT send money, do NOT give out any more personal information and REPORT HER BUTT!!

Holy crap, it appears now the scam 'artists' even use phone apps to rip people off.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Scams now are also asking for your personal address so they can hand deliver your bird. DO NOT DO IT . Meet at a public place.

A few towns around me now have safe exchange sites set up. Local police monitor the site. If you call them ahead of time and let them know you will be at the site meeting someone they will be there to make sure things go right. Also a few people are helping to maintain the sites if the police can not attend .

 

[GracelynNBirds]

One of the things that was really weird to me was her grammar. You would think someone that if selling you something, and asking for your personal information would act more professional. Hmmm. :/

 

[lizard]

I feel like I spoke to someone similar when I was searching for a female eclectus. Same spiel about illness as the reason for rehoming and something about arranging for a drop off. Ages of the birds didn't match the pictures. I knew pretty much immediately it was a scam, but I drug it out so I could let her know she was a terrible person.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Regards the poor use of English I am suspicious that they may not even be in the same country?

 

[Kalel]

Trust your gut which it seems has already told you what you need to know. Anything that raises an eyebrow for me is something to avoid. I'm glad you came here before falling for her scam. To top it all off, if that was a legitimate good deal she would have locals lined up at her door and would not need to resort to shipping it.

 

[kaansahbaz]

My instincts told me not to go any further.

However what makes me believe this could be real, she said money will be collected during delivery. If the parrot isnt what I am expecting, I may just refuse to pay.

Regardless I moved away from this buyer

 

[plumsmum2005]

Probably best as you don't know what they are going to try to get you to buy - it could be stolen, ill or both.

You also dont know who is coming too, to your doorstep.

 

[Shae26]

Yeah, I wouldn't risk it. A scenario that runs through my head is you give them your address for delivery with a "payment on drop off" arrangement, but you never hear from them again or something "happens" and they can't deliver the bird to you. You move on with your life, meanwhile they are scoping your house and movements for a burglary.

I've heard of this happening a couple of times over the past couple years and it makes me extra wary of online deals.