Info Joe Damke: Don't waste your time.

I just wanted to warn everyone to beware if dealing with Joe Damke of the St. Louis area. Back in November Joe inquired about a couple of ball pythons I had for sale and we agree on a package deal that included 4 balls and a pair of hatchling kings at a great price. Since I knew of the name, I took Joe's word that he was good for the purchase and he asked me to hold the snakes for a couple of weeks while he was busy with work.

Fast forward to mid-December(12/15). I contacted Joe to see about a shipping date or a place we could meet since he is only 3 hours away. Joe asked me if I could wait a little longer, but no longer than 2 weeks. Joe called me on the phone and said work was extremely busy for him at the time, but he would be getting some time off for Christmas and the weeks after....Joe said "no more than two weeks".

Here we are in the second week of January and Joe tries putting me off more and more....and better yet, doesn't even get back to me. I've held these snakes for 6 weeks plus, missed out on selling the snakes, and I'm going to be traveling extensively within the next two weeks for an indefinite amount of time. After the serious lack of communication on Joe's part, and me doing everything in my power to seal the deal, I decided to sell the animals. At this point in time, I blame myself for attempting to work with him and be the good guy in this deal.

Now I sit with animals I could have sold to others that contacted me. To those that did, I apologize. If anyone has an inquiry from him, just be cautious, get a non-refundable deposit up front, and give a specified amount of time for payoff. The best thing to do would be to avoid JOE DAMKE all together. You will be wasting your time.

He also did this to a good friend of mine over the course of the last 2-3 months. If he wants to chime in he can.

Thanks for reading and good luck.
Brandon Osborne
Brandon Osborne Reptiles

What kind of an education is required

for you to understand that you dont hold anything unless they have paid or given you enough of a down payment to satisfy the arrangement. These have to be your terms , not his..

You would never be considered a bad guy for protecting your interests in any legal transaction.. Dont waste your time with promises unfulfilled... JERRY

Is it customary for a seller to hold an animal without payment or partial payment?

Customary is not really the term. All of us have done it at one time or another with varied results.

While I am not quite so cut and dried on the issue as Jerry, I no longer hold anything for someone I do not have an existing relationship with without a deposit.

Suncoast Herpetological said:

While I am not quite so cut and dried on the issue as Jerry, I no longer hold anything for someone I do not have an existing relationship with without a deposit.

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BINGO!!

Doesn't matter who it is, a persons name, word, whatever, is only as good as the deposit/payment they make in a timely fashion (as agreed in the terms of sale). No money, no holding, period.

At least you still have the animals, unlike some who have trusted a "name" to ship with out payment. Thanks for the heads up on the guy, but get those animals up for sale again!

Craig

I agree with you all. As I stated, it was my own fault for letting things drag on as long as they did. I just wanted to warn others of his actions. From what I have learned, he has burned a lot of bridges in the STL area lately.

Brandon Osborne

Dogboa said:

Doesn't matter who it is, a persons name, word, whatever, is only as good as the deposit/payment they make in a timely fashion (as agreed in the terms of sale). No money, no holding, period.

At least you still have the animals, unlike some who have trusted a "name" to ship with out payment. Thanks for the heads up on the guy, but get those animals up for sale again!

Craig

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I can't go that far, a persons word's value is directly related to past experiences with that person. If Shrap were to give me a ring and say "Hey, Rick I need some superworms because my colony isn't doing so hot, can I give you the cash a little later" I would do it in a heartbeat, it's similar to lending money as far as word vs risk factor but theirs something to be said for reputation and word, of course with word, to me I have to know the customer rather well before I'll take it at face value. If reputation and word were only as good as speed of payment the BOI would hold no weight as proof is often only circumstantial at best, leaving us to read between the lines.

The OP should have gotten a deposit for sure, lesson learned. As we all know these customers (to some degree) are far from rare, the higher end the animal the more of the breeders time people tend to like to waste

Tuxus, if we were to follow your example

then we better be prepared to loose money as well as a business associate if things dont work out.. I have no objections in sending any of my accounts that I have experience with on a reoccurring basis, an ordeer if they were to call and request a fruitfly shipment (as an example) without payment for whatever reason !

But in doing so, I always realize that there is a potential risk for a loss... I can certainly afford that, so it becomes a question of good will . Regardless of the item in question....

That is the bottom line. In most cases people who are honorable, do pay, and are appreciative of your service, but then you may find the one who has no intention of paying back.... In my situation the loss would be minimal, but it can be substantial when dealing with herps.. The answer is to have these potential buyers pay. If they cannot, then they would generally be unable to meet their obligations even when they get the funds to do so.... JERRY

KNOBTAIL said:

then we better be prepared to loose money as well as a business associate if things dont work out.. I have no objections in sending any of my accounts that I have experience with on a reoccurring basis, an ordeer if they were to call and request a fruitfly shipment (as an example) without payment for whatever reason !

But in doing so, I always realize that there is a potential risk for a loss... I can certainly afford that, so it becomes a question of good will . Regardless of the item in question....

That is the bottom line. In most cases people who are honorable, do pay, and are appreciative of your service, but then you may find the one who has no intention of paying back.... In my situation the loss would be minimal, but it can be substantial when dealing with herps.. The answer is to have these potential buyers pay. If they cannot, then they would generally be unable to meet their obligations even when they get the funds to do so.... JERRY

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I don't disagree, it is why I am picky about who I will do that for. In my case as in yours most of the time I wouldn't lose much. A little good will can often go a long way but at the same time it can get you burned. This is why I mentioned that I have to know the customer rather well before I'll take their word at face value and send an order before payment has been made. The point was not to imply that breeders should be sending animals out before payment but to explain that word and reputation play a vital roll in this industry, your previous experiences with a customer will tell you if you can trust their word, if no previous experiences exist than their is no reason to do so.The comment was more to:

Doesn't matter who it is, a persons name, word, whatever, is only as good as the deposit/payment they make in a timely fashion

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Personally I see my customers as more than a $ value, their word can be worth something without making payment right away such as in my above example, however re-reading the post I may have interpenetrated intentions wrong and missed the terms of sale part.

None the less I believe we are all pretty much on the same page.

I don't know Sammy, nor he I, but I would not presume to disrespect him by contacting him about an offering if I did not have the funds to pay him or offer a deposit if he were willing to offer terms. That would just be a waste of both our time. Bottom line, in business there should be no pretenses. That keeps things on an even keel and does not end up as a BOI post, leaving them for mostly devious representation or misrepresentation if you will.

Craig

Dogboa said:

I don't know Sammy, nor he I, but I would not presume to disrespect him by contacting him about an offering if I did not have the funds to pay him or offer a deposit if he were willing to offer terms. That would just be a waste of both our time. Bottom line, in business there should be no pretenses. That keeps things on an even keel and does not end up as a BOI post, leaving them for mostly devious representation or misrepresentation if you will.

Craig

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I agree Craig, I do know Sammy, I consider him a good friend hence why I used him as my example.