Better Business Bureau Complaint filed in 2000

Mrs. Galpin advertises on the internet under the name India Ink Bengals. Yet when a check is made out, she says the bank will not recognize India Ink Bengals and she needs a personal check. She also had an odd demand for cash in our transactions. When we tried to pay for the kitten with a money order, both Mrs. Galpin and her sister accused us of forgery and counterfeit!!

About the same time the first letter to TIBCS was written, this letter was sent to the Washington State Better Business Bureau.

My sister and I have just recently concluded buiseness with Diane Galpin of IndiaInk Bengals, and I am somewhat concerned about the way that she conducted this buisness. She had told us that if we bought a kitten from her, we could get one of her adult "queens", or breeding cats, that she was retiring for free. However, right before we went to pick up the adult cat, she told us that we needed to pay her $92 before we could pick it up. She claimed it was to pay for the spay that she had preformed on the cat.

We paid, and also paid $200 down for the kitten. She would not accept a check for this $292 made out to IndiaInk Bengals, even tho that is how she advertises on the Internet. She was hesitant to take a check made out to herself and we ended up paying cash for this transaction. When we asked for a reciept, she told us we did not need one, but since we insisted, she handwrote that she recieved the above amount on a piece of notebook paper. Normally, this would be great, but I had excpected something more professional from a person who was supposidly running a buisness selling cats.

While there, we asked if how much shipping would be for the kitten, as we would not be able to return to WA and pick it up. She told us $100. As before, as the time to actually pay drew close, she raised the price. When asked why, she said that she had to get a health certificate and a carrier. While these are legitimate expenses, shouldn't they have been added into the quoted price? The shipping cost was now almost $200.

Again, she would not accept a check, even made out to her. It took us over 1/2 hour to convince her to take a money order, as we had wanted some kind of record for our account books, and did not feel comfortable paying again in cash. She insisted on cash only.

She did not send any kind of health certificate with the kitten, when we finally recieved it (which was another mess and hassle), and in fact recieved it with fleas, ear mites and underfed.

I do not want any compensation from her. In fact, I would rather not have to deal with her again, ever. However, her methods of conducting buisness concerned me. I wanted to bring it to your attention. Since I was not sure what the laws were when selling exotic animals, I did not know if she had to pay taxes on these sales and that was why the obsession over cash, or if I was just jumping to conclusions? I would feel better knowing that someone had been officially notified.

After the mess in 2003, I contacted several people in Washington state. Mrs. Galpin was not licensed to sell Bengals, nor was she licensed as a business in the city of Kennewick, Benton county or Washington state. It is always a good idea to do a background check on anyone you are planning on buying a companion from. Not only does this protect you, but it also prevents kitten or puppy mills.