What is your recourse when the taxidermist commits fraud?

[BGH]

I have had a terrible experience with a South African taxidermist. I went on two safaris and sent him five animals via my PH team.

1. The giraffe bull's hide was destroyed in tanning, which the taxidermist refunded. But then he swapped my very large skull with a visibly broken and healed horn from fighting, for a smaller skull with perfect horns on my euromount and didn't tell me. I didn't see the skull swap until delivery.
2. He swapped my 29 3/4" Waterbuck bull for a 28" one and didn't tell me. I didn't see this swap until delivery either.
3. He swapped my kudu for another and this I caught before he shipped it, and I made him refund it and refused to ship it, made it very clear that I had no interest in paying for taxidermy of an animal I didn't hunt. He blamed my PH and claimed he'd skinned the animal wrong, then I asked him why he didn't ship the flatskin rug that he claimed my PH had skinned the kudu for and he admitted that he'd lost it.
4. My cape buffalo cow shoulder mount is mine at least. The hide tanning job is lousy though and it appears to be a fraction of the size that it should be.
5. Who knows if the euromounted impala bull's skull and hide are mine or not.

What really irks me is after I caught the kudu substitution before shipping and made it very clear that I would not accept any taxidermy that I didn't hunt, he had multiple opportunities to admit that he'd swapped the giraffe's skull and the waterbuck mount and didn't tell me. He didn't want to refund the money. So not only did I pay for taxidermy and not get my own animals, I incurred shipping costs.

If he were in America I could sue him, but not overseas like he is. Is there any kind of licensing guild or organization for taxidermists in South Africa where I can lodge a formal complaint?

Thank you.

 

[harden]

Nope, here is the south africa taxidermy association website..Nothing helpful for you
South africa professional hunters association ... http://phasa.co.za

 

[BRICKBURN]

Switching trophies and the finger pointing game.


TASA, is a voluntary association. You can try and complain. If they are not members, which is unlikely if they operate like you described, you are SOL.
http://www.t-a-s-a.co.za

You can lodge a complaint with the SAPS. It might make you fell better, but I doubt anything will come of it.

Fair warning report of who this knob is, so everyone can avoid him in future would be nice.

I forgot, tell the Outfitter and ask him how they are going to help you.

 

[Fire652]

Who was the taxidermist

 

[BnC 04]

As mentioned before, please post who this company is. Could save someone the same results...

 

[RogerHeintzman]

Did your PH offer to take you to the taxidermists studio before hand? You were going to save a lot of money having things done in Africa?
Same tune, different Violin!

 

[Buckdog]

Ok now before I offer my condolences for your stuff, there has been a lot of BS complaints on here of late SO PLEASE PONY UP THE
who, what when how where and why please!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Neale]

@BGH you need to provide all the facts and names or don't even worry about posting a complaint.
You need to use the forum to help other people as well. (Good or Bad expereinces).

 

[BRICKBURN]

@BGH you need to provide all the facts and names or don't even worry about posting a complaint. ....

He was just asked for information on any possible recourse.

I would appreciate knowing who this knob taxidermist is.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Name and shame I think unfortunately the best you can do at this point.

 

[Bhfs300]

Hi
Some of you that have been in here for four or five years may have seen these. In 2012 on my first safari I had my one shoulder mount done in SA. The taxidermist would not communicate with me I finally sent an email to the people I hunted with they forwarded it the the taxidermist and within a day he sent me a picture of my allmost completed shoulder mount. He was working on the ears had things holding everything in place. I didn't send back that the mount was looking the wrong direction. Since it had been over the time that it should have already been sent.
Several weeks later I got a call from him and when they were getting it ready to ship they saw it was looking the wrong way. He was very sorry for the mistake. He said they decided I should get some kind of a refund. They cut some money off the total price of the trophies.
I said I would rather have them shipped than have them take it apart and start over.
When the trophies arrived the ears on the Kudu were a mess. I don't know if this is like having the person in a restaurant spit in your food after you complain about something but it didn't look like the ears were messed up in the picture they sent.
When I showed the people I hunted with what the mount looked like they said they would get me a new cape and I could have it done again in the states.
After some thought I decided I would rather have the cape of the Kudu I shot since they are so different than pay to have it mounted again so I said thanks and kept what I had.
I think the point I am trying to get across is that they have you between a rock and a hard place. Yes I got a couple hundred dollars off on my bill but I got a mount that I have learned to live with.
I said I would not have another trophy done there!!!!
My next trip I had the trophy done here in the states and was very happy with the work that was done.
Morel of the story if you have a problem with work done in SA your only option is to pay to have it done again in the states if you can get another cape.
Sorry so long it must still bother me!

 

[Neale]

My appology, you are right, the OP was only asking a question and not lodging a complaint.
Still like to know who the taxidermist was?

 

[BGH]

I will be glad to provide more details AFTER I sort this out with the taxidermist and PH. If someone wants to believe this is a fake issue, they are welcome to go read other threads and ignore this one.

 

[BGH]

Hi
Some of you that have been in here for four or five years may have seen these. In 2012 on my first safari I had my one shoulder mount done in SA. The taxidermist would not communicate with me I finally sent an email to the people I hunted with they forwarded it the the taxidermist and within a day he sent me a picture of my allmost completed shoulder mount. He was working on the ears had things holding everything in place. I didn't send back that the mount was looking the wrong direction. Since it had been over the time that it should have already been sent.
Several weeks later I got a call from him and when they were getting it ready to ship they saw it was looking the wrong way. He was very sorry for the mistake. He said they decided I should get some kind of a refund. They cut some money off the total price of the trophies.
I said I would rather have them shipped than have them take it apart and start over.
When the trophies arrived the ears on the Kudu were a mess. I don't know if this is like having the person in a restaurant spit in your food after you complain about something but it didn't look like the ears were messed up in the picture they sent.
When I showed the people I hunted with what the mount looked like they said they would get me a new cape and I could have it done again in the states.
After some thought I decided I would rather have the cape of the Kudu I shot since they are so different than pay to have it mounted again so I said thanks and kept what I had.
I think the point I am trying to get across is that they have you between a rock and a hard place. Yes I got a couple hundred dollars off on my bill but I got a mount that I have learned to live with.
I said I would not have another trophy done there!!!!
My next trip I had the trophy done here in the states and was very happy with the work that was done.
Morel of the story if you have a problem with work done in SA your only option is to pay to have it done again in the states if you can get another cape.
Sorry so long it must still bother me!

No apologies needed, having just lost four out of five animals I can appreciate why this still bothers you. At least you got the cape of the animal you shot though.

 

[BGH]

Did your PH offer to take you to the taxidermists studio before hand? You were going to save a lot of money having things done in Africa?
Same tune, different Violin!

These were my first two hunts

Did your PH offer to take you to the taxidermists studio before hand? You were going to save a lot of money having things done in Africa?
Same tune, different Violin!

I'd never hunted before and thought this was how taxidermy was done, didn't know about "dip and ship." I will never taxidermy over there again though now that I know better, not after this.

 

[Savage Hunter]

I think when someone is asking questions and not naming the name of the company they had problems with, it's not a "slam thread", but an honest request of "What do I do?"

 

[BGH]

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[PARA45]

BGH, good luck to you. Sorry to hear of your misfortune with this taxidermist. Hopefully your PH will help you. If you don't get any assistance, please let us know who they are so we will not be screwed by them.

I was in your shoes with my mounts, and I feel your pain and your frustration. The work done was like if a 5 year old had done the stitching on my impala. Many of my mounts had hair missing, and just piss poor work. My taxidermist solution to my issue was for me to ship my mounts back to him so he can fix them, and then shipped them back, all on my dime. I'll tell you one thing, that if I ever go back to Africa I will have my animals mounted here in the US. Never again will I get screwed like this. If you look around here, these stories are not too uncommon. There are also professional and ethical taxidermists in Africa that will do outstanding work, and doing a search here or asking questions here will help you choose the right taxidermist.

 

[siml]

@BGH , sorry to hear about your misfortune. Would you mind posting photos of your waterbuck in the field and of the one you received?

 

[markferrigno]

Sorry to hear you got screwed.

I think it is worth repeating, don't get any taxidermy done in Africa. My PH in Namibia warned me before my first trip, saying whatever money you think you will save you will just spend trying to get it fixed in the US. He could make extra $$ going in cahoots with a local taxidermy studio but he is not interested in screwing folks over.

When I lived in Germany my taxidermist ALWAYS had mounts from SA/Namibia in there he was fixing for clients who tried to save a buck (or Euro) but having work done there. They ended paying 2x as much to have it done correctly............