Is it safe to pay with money order?

[lefty13]

So after a month of bouncing back and forth between what new parrot to get. I have finally settle down and decided that a caique is the perfect bird for me and my family. Now my only problem is the guy that I'm buying from wants money order as payment. I've never done money order or cashier checks before so I'm new to this. He said the safest way will be money order through the post office. The breeder doesn't have a website or anything just frequent post on hoobly.com. I called and talked to him and email him for pictures so he seems legit. He goes by the name of cagheadquarters on hoobly. Had anybody deal with him before? He told me that he will email me reference of other people in minnesota who had deal with him that I can contact. He sounds trusting but I'm just nervous about money order since I've never used it before. Tell me what you guys think and if I have anything to worry about.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, you have plenty to worry about, unless you know this individual personally and TRUST him.

 

[SilverSage]

Where is he in MN? I personally would not be comfortable with that because it protects only him and not you at all. It guarantees him that he gets the money no matter what. I would only be ok with this if I had the bird already in my hands when I sent the payment. I suggest finding a different breeder. Hartman Aviaries, the ones who came out with the Aviator Harness, has caiques, and that is where I plan to get mine when the time comes. They have a stellar reputation, and are the only people in the world breeding for domestication. And their prices are decent. I would be a lot more comfortable with that than a stranger from MN.

 

[getwozzy]

From my experience in working in the banking industry for numerous years, this has scam written all over it IMHO.

He sounds like a backyard breeder or just a plain scammer- and trust me, they will sell you any story just to make money. It's sad and disgusting.

Paying with money orders for anything sight-unseen is a huge red flag. Since they're purchased with cash, they're guaranteed funds, but once you pop that check in the mail there's no going back. Your only recourse if something were to happen would be to file a report with the police...and if you're doing that across state lines makes it even harder.

I would pass on anything this guy has to offer and find a reputable breeder.

 

[lefty13]

Sorry for any misunderstanding. I'm located in mn he's in Florida. He sold to people in minnesota before and was going to give me their email for reference

 

[JerseyWendy]

Sorry for any misunderstanding. I'm located in mn he's in Florida. He sold to people in minnesota before and was going to give me their email for reference

Any scammer can provide you with a plethora of emails and email addresses. That still doesn't make him trustworthy.

 

[KimKim]

Why won't he do paypal? I wouldn't send the money order either. The Hartman Aviary was a good suggestion for a breeder, you should check them out

 

[JerseyWendy]

You can also check out birdbreeders.com There are numerous Caiques available at the moment, and I believe several of the breeders who have them listed are trustworthy.

I agree, PayPal is the way to go.

 

[SilverSage]

Oh I see. I still don't suggest it, it sounds very suspicious. I would suggest buying from someone with an aviary that is a registered business, which allows you to check and see if any complaints have been filed against them. Don't be afraid to ask about it, either. It is not hard to do, and is an indication of honest business dealings, because it means they are paying taxes on their sales as well. It is not hard to do. I did it before even acquiring most of my breeding stock. I want to know that the people I buy from are honest, hard working, above board people. If I have to buy sight unseen, I want to know that the breeder is well known and has a good rep. I would not go by references he provides, because you can't know if they are real or just his friends helping him scam, you know?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Tell the people with the no website [and want money orders ] To take a hike !! [unless you were to know them ]. Plenty of Caique breeders out there . Don't be afraid of shipping birds either . Ive gotten a few of mine that way . Check out these guys Caique Breeder - White bellied & Black headed Caiques - Brotogeris Parakeets - Shady Pines Aviary Excellent choice on your species [I have 3]

 

[Featheredsamurai]

No bueno. Never take a risk, go with a better known breeder! Someone who offers a 24 hour+ warranty that there birds are 100% healthy.

 

[lefty13]

So I won't be buying from him anymore. But out of curiosity I Google his phone number and it appeared on a lot of sites whether that's good or not but he also came up on avianbiotech which is the place I use to dna sex my birds. Also he has been register with hoobly for 8 years. Even if he turns out to be an honest breeder just using money order makes me don't want to buy. I ask why he doesn't use PayPal but his accent was really strong so I couldn't understand clearly why he doesn't use PayPal.

 

[getwozzy]

Hmmmm.... My guess is that he doesn't have the proper information to sign up for paypal- paypal requires you to add either a bank account or credit card to your profile in order to add/withdraw funds from your paypal account...so my guess is that he probably has neither of those. (Or he could simply just not want to use paypal)

Cashing money orders up to certain dollar amounts is fairly easy even if you don't have a bank account.

When you use PayPal or even your visa or MasterCard (debit or credit) they offer some sort of purchase protection along with the ability to dispute transactions.

 

[kalypso123]

These people are great breeders and ship. I had the pleasure of meeting them at a bird show and I am probably getting my nest bird there. They sell black capped and white bellied caiques. They are very reasonable.
Home Page

 

[jasper19]

ya sending money order or cash through the mail to someone you don't know in order to purchase something is like number 1 no no rule of buying things. So i would say no as well. There are legit people, and i myself have taken a risk like this...but really its not worth the risk.

 

[bonita]

Dear Lefty, I bought Emmy from a breeder and Paddy from a rescue. I paid for both with checks. I would be wary of anyone who insisted on a money order. Did he give a reason? Are you picking up the bird at time of payment? Then I wouldn't be terribly concerned. Still it doesn't feel right to me. Hope it helps! Bonita

 

[lefty13]

He says I can pay with check, money order, or cashier check and something else I couldn't understand because his accent was really strong. His reason is that he doesn't want to be scam which I should be the one who doesn't want to get scam. He's fine with checks but they just take longer to clear and it might bounce. I'm not buying from him anymore but if I were to deal with people like this would the better option be personal check? Just curious
It will be ship from florida to Minnesota

 

[Featheredsamurai]

When my friend bought his African raven he used a money order check. But this breeder is very well known, and has excellent reviews from a large amout of people. It's the Corvid ranch

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Plus birds are expensive !!! Your not getting around that [if its a deal beware]. Why not use a established breeder [I don't see a big difference in cost]. Then their are no worries.

 

[lefty13]

So I called the guy back and ask him about why he doesn't use PayPal. He told me that he did but that he was having problem with PayPal so he hasn't use it for awhile. But that if I was serious he can setup a new paypal account to do the transaction as long as I'm willing to pay the 3% fee. As a buyer I would rather pay a 3% fee and be protected rather then getting scam. But does paypal protect the buyer if you don't receive the product? I'm still not going to buy from him but in case someone else in the future run across his ad and had the same question or problem. I've talk to him sounds like an honest guy knows his stuff and I Google his phone number and it came up in a few Florida ads but it's just the payment issue that pushed me away from buying. I think if he offered paypal when I first contacted him I would had bought the baby right then. If he's an honest breeder he just needs to make a real website and better payment option
(I am going to buy my caique from Wings Aviary now)