Inquiry - Jeff Schofield?

Anyone know this guy? I have an interest in thayeri and he is trying to sell some. He was very pushy with me, trying to get me to buy them sight unseen. I didn't appreciate his abrasive selling tactics, so, I called him a scam and told him I had no interest in purchasing any animals sight unseen. He became overwhelmingly deffensive, belittled me on several levels, of which, his favorite seems to be that "I am a no name punk". According to him, a person should just trust his word and buy snakes from him sight unseen because he has a very good reputation. And besides that, they are super nice animals, no tipping or anything. Of course, these are his claims and cannot be validated. For all I know, he may have some truly nice thayeri for sale???

Thanks,

Brad Alexander

Brad Alexander said:

According to him, a person should just trust his word and buy snakes from him sight unseen because he has a very good reputation.

Click to expand...

Uhh yeah...Those in the community with a "very good reputation" generally take pride in what they keep, breed and sell and have plenty of pics to show their animals off.

If you aren't worth the five minutes or so to take a few pics of animals for sale, why should the seller be worth the 30 seconds it take to paypal him your hard earned cash?

PM'ed you VIVID's website. They reank right up there at the top when it comes to Thayeri. Good luck :*)

I've heard the name somewhere, but where or why the name seems familiar I do not know. At any rate, by sight unseen do you mean not even some good photos? Because if so that would be ridiculous, there's a reason they are AKA variables, hello. I wouldn't buy any sight unseen either. Sounds like someone with an attitude, who I don't think I'd deal with, even if he is "famous". Welcome to Fauna and the BOI. How goes things in the desert?

Yeah, my point exactly and that's why I didn't trust him, made the assumption and told him so.

Desert? Well, I guess I am a little closer to the desert than you are. Everything is going well. I might head into the field tomarrow to see if any zonata visible. Of course, those are in the mountains though LOL.

Thanks for the reply guys,

Brad

Not With A 10 Foot Pole!!!!

I wouldn't touch him. There are a couple of threads on here (one of which I started) about Schofield, the self described "consummate biologist) He missrepresents his animals badly. He will send you a pic of one snake, and then send you another. He can't properly ID his snakes. If you dare complain, he goes off on you, and tells you that you don't know anything. He traded me some wc junk for nice animals. If you watch his ads, ( as I have) he is constantly going out of business because he is either leaving the country, or moving. Then the next month, he is back with a whole new lineup of animal lines he personally developed.

This Particular Ad...

Copied and Pasted below, has been running on ks for at least 3 months. This guy is great at finding new species! Too bad no one ever hears of them...

NEW PICS TAKEN TODAYI have been lucky enough to be the only one to find this isolated population and have been working for 10 years to establish it in captivity.They are a variant of the Eastern Milk but with such isolation they are very different.They are to Eastern milks what Outer Banks kings are to Eastern kings..Like many island situations,these milks have developed into 4'+MONSTERS and are the apex predator on this island(the locale will not be published due to population size a fragility).I have found several specimens over the years which are likely considered morphs(Anery,GREEN,etc)--but like many wc milks they can be difficult to establish by even the most experienced keeper.NOT FOR BEGINNERS.I have produced cb babies for the 2nd year in a row and even the babies are different....hatching out HUGE,the size of baby kings!!They only feed during a small window out of brumation and are off feed now,ready to go down.I am offering only 1 pr that include a 4'(!!)male and a cb05 female.Note that the pic of the anery and green arent for sale only the BIG one in my hand.For scale,I am 6'3"with big hands and that is 1 snake in my hand.I have had interest so I know these wont last.Be the first to get these rare snakes before the DNA tests come back...maybe they even become a new ssp...$500/male or $750/pr.PICS finally available by email only for all of you that have inquired,thanks for being patient.

thumbs down

I too have inquired about animals he has had up f/s and he was way to pushy,and could never provide pix. He's always to busy going to holland or somewhere so he says. I've seen him around for sometime. His ads are fishy,and talking to him seem funny to me too. There are many ppl out there with very nice thayeri,I could point you in the right direction if you are really wanting one. JMO but he does not seem to be trustworthy to me. He talks about reputation all I've heard about his was shady.

I'm not a Real biologist, but I play one in the field. . Seriously though, it's great to be credentialed(?) in the field you love, but doesn't call for, what seems to be a pattern of arrogance.

Bad Guy for sure

"Seriously though, it's great to be credentialed(?) in the field you love, but doesn't call for, what seems to be a pattern of arrogance."

As far as I have heard from about 8 different people he is not a biologist. I have asked about him a few times as he has either had interest in animals I have had or I had interest in his. I had the displeasure of buying from him this spring and have regretted it ever since.

I purchased a "Breeding Pair" of honduran milks from him that where nowhere near breeding size and where shipped in horrible conditions. Both milks where right at 30" and skinny when I got them. The male albino that I purchased now resides in my freezer. When he shipped them it was in March or April and he included no heat pack. Daytime high for New England (where he is) and for Chicago (me) where in the 50's and the lows at night
near freezing. The box had no insulation and the inside was newspaper. One of the two bags had a hole in it and the albino male was out in the box. The hole was a old one and when i brought this up to him he said hey things happen. I agree and this happened with another guy this year as well but that box was insulated heated and the tear in the bag was a fresh one that seemed to have happened when knotting. The other guy apologized and didn't tell me how ignorant I was. Jeff instead told me i was stupid for expecting a heat pack and was curious why I was upset at all.

Oh another thing he shipped the box next day by end of day instead of morning. Why to save a couple bucks??? All in all he is someone to be avoided. To put this in perspective I have had other "bad deals" but this is the first that I have posted on. I don't normally run to the BOI because for the most part all of my bad deals in the past have worked themselves out. With Jeff I don't have that faith in him. There is more to this but who needs more details??

Later Jason

Sorry forgot the last name thing. See i really don't post bad guy threads. LOl

Jason Hood

SnakesUnlimited said:

Sorry forgot the last name thing. See i really don't post bad guy threads. LOl

Jason Hood

Click to expand...

Actually, your name is already in the area to the left
<---------------- under your log in name and location and all that, so you are covered.

Jason

I am sorry that you had that experience, but I feel that it kind of vindicates me. I had a terrible experience with Jeff. It was what brought me to the BOI well over a year ago. Not only did he seriously missrepresent his animals, but the first time he shipped, the package was returned to him by DHL with a snake hanging outside of the package stuck to the tape. The second attempt was sent to the wrong address, got here a day late, and had animals loose in the box. Finally, after much debate, he agreed to send me a snake to make up for what he didn't send me. All I got was a dirty sock with a hole in it inside a tiny box. He thought that was funny! I brought it to the board and he was sarcastic through the whole thread. Several people (mostly from his area, who haven't been heard from since) backed him up, and he never did make it right. A number of members saw it my way also. I don't know how to link the thread here, but I posted a pic of one of the animals he sent me in our trade that was missidentified. He argued the point to insanity, and finally ended up saying he was the "expert" and no one else knew anything. Also, two of the animals he sent me died within 6 weeks. (the only adult snakes I have lost in years!) The thread turned out to be VERY long winded, and he never did make the deal right. He continues to this day on ks, in ads and forums to make incredible claims about his animals.

I think this the thread you are talking about. Hope this works.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42452&highlight=Jeff+Schofield

The actual exchange

Here is the set of the email exchanges Mr. Schofield and I had. Admittedly, I got to a point to where I thought hey, this guy is fanatical and I might as well enjoy the ride since he is getting so heated. At that point, I made a few childish jabs to go along with his.

For some reason, I do not have my first email to him, which was just me inquiring about the animals and pictures of them. Here is what followed.....

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From Mr. Schofield:

Brad, I have no pics.All I can tell you is that they are adult females and way better than average ones.no tipping at all. I sold one female last week sight unseen and the guy was totally happy.Can give you his info if you dont believe me,dont know what else to say,Jeff

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I felt this was a bit pushy, but I kindly declined to purchase his snakes and figured we were done.
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My response:

I'm sorry Jeff, it's not about believing you, it's about being wise with my money. I will not allow myself to purchase animals sight unseen. If you are interested in selling them to me, then you will have to find a way to get some pictures, certainly you have a friend that has a digital camera? Please, do not take this as being rude, I just cant buy a snake without seeing it first.

Best regards,

Brad Alexander

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Mr. Schofield decided it wasn't over and wanted to give it one more push. It seemed he was trying to convince me that his snakes were so great, that with photos, they would have been sold a long time ago.
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From Mr. Schofield:

Brad,believe me if I had pics they would have been gone a long time ago,Jeff

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With his response above, I decided that this guy was a bit too pushy and I'm just going to call it like I see it.
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My response:

Believe me, you are nothing more than a scam and a bad one at that.

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I can understand not taking any enjoyment in me saying he was a scam. But come on, to be honestly defensive is one thing, to take the route he took, one can only question his motives. And to think, it was an email exchange, not an open forum where he would feel the need to go overboard defending yourself.
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His response:

Hey,what the hell was that?? Calling me a SCAM?? I have been breeding for over 15 years there buddy,I suggest you get your facts straight before trying to confront me online or anywhere else. In fact I will forward the email I got from selling the one female thayeri missing from my list last week. Just to see who the SCAMmer is....J

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It seemed he was still trying to justify his lack of photos and maybe even still giving it a push to sell. He could have easily forged an email to make himself look better. His forwarded email (which I never received), would make no difference at all.
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My response:

Whatever man, your little forwarded email means nothing to me. Further more, I call it like I see it, if you don’t like it, oh well.

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This is where he really started getting crazy. I thought to myself, if this is the kind of guy he is, I doubt seriously people would want to do business with him. Maybe they should know about it?
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You call it as you see it? You dont see well I guess. I know you may be new at this,but if you have any problems feel free to ask anyone on kingsnake.com about me,my snakes or my reputation. In 15 years I have had maybe 2-3 customers that were not satisfied,and that is pretty good considering the Aholes I deal with daily from kingsnake. All the big milk breeders know me, and I have never ripped off or misrepresented anything. As stated, my snakes are being kept by a friend during my move. I do have a camera,but the animals are 2 hours away and I certainly would not drive there to take pictures for anyone,let alone you. I sell on reputation,so when you choose to poke at my character I poke back. Bottom line is I dont NEED to sell them, and they will always be worth the money I ask because I only deal with hi-end colubrids to begin with. Maybe you would be better off going to a show or maybe getting those UGLY thayeri that are for sale on kingsnake. I would rather not deal with someone who complains BEFORE they see the snakes anyways,Jeff

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He felt compelled to take it further than need be. He could not defend himself in a possitive way and that only strengthend my belief in him being a scam.
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My response:

You are extremely funny. Well, I’ll tell you what, you can take your supposed snakes and ………. You know the rest. In the mean time, I’ll leave you with this thought; your defensive posture speaks volumes, and I appreciate you confirming what I already knew. Oh, and only a fool would expect someone to purchase animals without seeing them first, beyond that, only a complete idiot would buy animals sight unseen.

Best regards

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This is where it just gets crazy. His supposed 2 degrees in Biology is a hoot too.
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From Mr. Schofield:

This isnt supposed to be funny. I have dealt with punks like you for years. You come and go like the wind,killing a lot of snakes in between. Maybe you get lucky and actually breed once or twice.....then watch out~! YOU KNOW EVERYTHING,lol. I have 2 degrees in biology and have worked in the field for over 10 years. I was doing this long before KINGSNAKE.com was even around. You found this site when? You have bred how many snakes? You have what in your collection? My point exactly.
Its your attitude after I had explained myself thoroughly that is indicative of your age or mental state. Who is Brad Alexander anyways? Why would I care? There have been literally HUNDREDS of "idiots" who have bought snakes from me online. Call me a fool or any name in the book, if you can read one. In this battle of wits I am afraid you are unarmed.J

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Really, I should have stopped there and let it go. But hey, this guy seems nuts and I want to see if he'll hang himself out to dry.
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My response:

Yes Jeff, you are great. Thanks for the laugh; maybe someday you’ll grow up a bit.

Best regards

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I have no idea where he is going with this now??? Just crazy it seems to me.
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From Mr. Schofield:

How old are you? If you are over 18 I would be very surprised. Maybe you have done some homework? Maybe you will be sent to your room without dessert if you dont.J

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My response:

The laughs never seem to end, please, continue to amuse me. It would be interesting to meet you in person. Something tells me you would not be so confrontational if I were standing anywhere near you. Since you insist on being so confrontational, I guess I should do some background on you.

I’ll lay this out nice and simple so you can understand. You insist you have extremely nice thayeri you want to sell, yet you will not prove it. You push and prod for me to purchase them from you, quote, “believe me, they are very nice, others have bought from me sight unseen and have been happy”. Given the pushy attitude and lack of proof that someone I do not know even has said snakes, I decide to consider you a scam. I still stand by this conclusion 100%. Upon my coming to this obvious conclusion, you prove just how correct I am by getting in my face in a very abrasive, condescending and defensive manner. With every continued email, I get closer and closer to doing something very REAL about your harassment and scandalous behavior.

I only hope you will continue to humor, yet enoy me enough to cause me to place multiple complaints against you with kingsnake and anyone else that will listen. Your gig is up, quit scamming people. And incidentally, if by some incredible chance you are not trying to scam people, all you need is proof, word is no longer an option in regards to internet sales.

Best regards

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He has now told me to go both to KS and to Fauna to check him out. So I did.
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From Mr. Schofield:

Listen, I have been selling on kingsnake longer than you have been out of diapers. If you know anything about these forums you should go to fauna and look me up. Most will come to my defense, but alas there are the 2-3 people that no one could please. I dont have to do anything, I dont even have to defend myself but I refuse to let some punk call me an idiot in this or any other world. I would like to meet you in person and take care of this. I am 6'3.,250 and I have a real job,white collar. I live south of Boston,MA..
GO ahead, email that guy I sent the thayeri to last week. He will tell you that it got there a day late, but that was due to a shipper error on DHL. It was packed well and despite heat problems in the area it was fine the 3rd day. He paid $200 sight unseen and is very happy with it. These are $300+ thayeri if I had pics. To me its just not worth the time. Someone will get a deal on them,but I would not ever sell to you. Further, I will forward your emails to some of the other dealers around and let them decide if they want to deal with you either. No one wants someone that complains AFTERWARDS(note you are complaining BEFORE),and you are complaining about something that is frankly none of your business. If you dont want them without pics, point taken. Now drop it.Jeff

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He wants me to drop it? He has the insults and exchange of words probably trippled or even better in our exchanges. Go figure. In this next response, I've decided that mildly ribbing him back is justified.
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My response:

The funny thing about all of this, and damn, I really cant stop laughing about it, is how BIG you claim to be in the herp "world", yet you do not even know me. I'm no punk and well respected within the herp community. You have no idea how deep of a hole you have dug yourself. I've only allowed it to continue out of pure fun. If you only knew....

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That's the bulk of it with a little more of the same BS from both of us. I cant imagine anyone wanting to do business with a guy like this. So, I thought it best for everyone to at least have access to such info. I want it clear that I do not claim to be innocent in all of this and it does take two. But how Mr. Schofield defends his lack of pictures, pushes for a sale, talks about how great he is and how nothing someone else is, should be the focus here.

Purchase from this guy at your own risk.

Brad Alexander

I still smell fish.

Jeff Schofield if you base your sells on your reputation like you stated that you do,Why do we see you run the same ads for so long? Reputation good or bad no one should buy an animal sight unseen,Especially from you if they do they might end up with just an empty old stinky gym sock like DAVID did. Or a box with a snake hanging out of it stuck to some tape. You said you should not have to drive 2 hrs away just to take pix. You should already have pix or be able to take them b4 posting your ad.(JMO). I see you are reading this thread I am anxiously awaiting to see what you have to say to the person that started this thread now that it has gone public & not just emails between the 2 of you. Try to remember Jeff just because you have never dealt with a person or seen their name around does not mean they are new to this. IMO your as fake as your claims to be a biologist in the 1st place!!!

I have to tell you Brad, while Schofield doesn't have a great reputation on the boards, you were pretty much out of line calling him a scammer based on the couple of e-mails you had exchanged. By further pushing his buttons and getting him fired up with no real purpose, other than your own entertainment, you have made yourself look pretty juvenile. You were better off keeping those e-mails to yourself...Personally, i probably wouldn't want to deal with either of you.

Sam, you are right, and I acknowledged that point. However, I still stand behind the focus of this issue. Thank you for your honest comment, it is sincerely appreciated.

Brad

Chris, I'm sorry you feel that way. I did not mean to "bait" him if that is how you see it. My opinion of his pushy nature still stands as what it is, my opinion. It is no less or better of an opinion than yours about me. You read it one way, I honestly read it another. As far as the "aggressor" goes, I did call him a scam, as I felt it important to call it like I saw it, between he and I at that point. From my view, he is the one that continually pressed forward with insult after insult. Again, I do not claim to be innocent here, I only ask that you factor this in and take notice of the point I'm trying to make. If your opinion of me is poor due to how you perceive me not liking the way Mr. Schofield dealt with me, than I guess I will just have to live with it. Further more, I want you to know that I honestly respect your opinion on this matter and I do hope to learn from it.

Thank you,

Brad Alexander

LMAO...
Thats why we should be more careful calling someone a scammer without proof
Just because you perceived him to be rude does NOT make him a scammer!
But IMO you did seem to be baiting him
And Not worthy of the BOI