N.E.R.D.

Hey everyone,
I was perusing through the kingsnake website a few weeks ago and I saw a banner ad that said something to the effect of a Valentines day special, I clicked it and off to the N.E.R.D. website I went.
this is the url for what I was checking out:
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/Sale.html  or click here:N.E.R.D.'s sale page

Anyway, I saw that they had guyana red tail boas for $150 and I thought to myself, N.E.R.D. is known for having the best of the best, maybe I should see what they have to go with the outstanding female I recently purchased.  So, I emailed Kevin asking for pictures of his guyana red tail boas.  He emailed me back and this was his entire email, copied and pasted: "are you seriously interested? Kev"    that was it.  5 words, no pics.  I decided to continue with this just in case it was a situation where he was pressed for time and he really wasn't trying to come off as rude or unappreciate of my business.  I wrote him back stating very specifically what I was looking for and even included a link to pics of the animal I received a few weeks prior from another person and stated that I was looking for something as exceptional or better from him.  I never heard back from him.  The more I thought about it, I concluded that his one and only email I received from him was probably quite indicitive of his business dealings and attitude and I posted a question on kingsnake about why dealers don't invest more time in their inquiries and then I received email from 10 or so people inquiring as to who the breeder was that treated me in this manner.  I told them (I didn't want to publicly post any slanderous material on kingsnake and be in violation of the policies so I didn't post the name and said I would share the name through email if anyone was interested) it was Kevin @ N.E.R.D. and they stated their experiences with him.  I emailed him back telling him what I had heard about him (not mentioning any names except for the one person who spoke quite highly of him) and that I would never purchase an animal from him.  So that brings me here.
The purpose of this post isn't to bash so much as it is to inquire of you, have you had a similar experience with Kevin @ N.E.R.D.?  I have spoken with 10 people (plus the people on kingsnake who didn't know who I was speaking of but were told the situation) and only one stood up for him saying that he had excellent customer service many times.  The other 9 or so spoke very negatively about him and two even used the very same explicit word to describe his personality, A-hole (except it wasn't the politically correct version of the word).  One said he was only interested in quick sales and most said they would never deal with him.  Ever.  Period.  As the person who received the great customer service from him said, if he doesn't have time to reply to his inquiries, he needs to find another way to make a living because every inquiry is a possible sale.  So, are we, the people I spoke with through email and I, in the minority here?
Thanks so very much,
Jonathan Brady

By the way, if you would prefer not to post on this public forum your past dealings with Kevin because he is such a well known person, that is fine.  You are more than welcome to send an email to me letting me know of your experience.  I will not share the email with anyone nor will I speak of the email or any specific situation that may identify you.
email me by clicking here ==>[email protected]

Okay, here's my opinion of Kevin-
  But first I want to expain how I know him! I live in Northern Mass and am about a fourty five minute drive from NERD. I have been to his facilitys many times. I first met Kevin in 92 while he was delivering Balls to a pet store. At that time we spoke at length and he seemed a bright and enthusiastic individual who wanted to start this great awesome reptile business. I did not see him again until after his business was a reality.
   Although he knows and loves his reptiles, and is probably a brilliant breeder, he is very burned out.
    I won't go there any more. I feel that he has treated me like I am in his way. I don't think he realy values his "small" customers. He has even hung up on me on the phone when I called with questions about a snake I purchased from him. He is always too busy and always seems in a rush. He doesn't want to deal with anybody who isn't going to spend alot of money there. (At least these are my impressions.)
  There have been times when I have visited there and he has been pleasant and informative. I think these are the times I just happened to catch him in a good mood and he wasn't "busy."
   Too many times I have been treated rudely though. I don't want to bring my business to someone who may or may not be angry if he thinks I'm wasteing his time.
   Kevin McCurly of NERD has excellent animals, but P*** Poor customer service.

That's very sad to hear! ANYONE can have nice animals....but it's the CUSTOMER SERVICE that's the MOST important thing in a reptile (or ANY) business that deals with the public! If Kevin doesn't want the "little guy"...I'll take ALL his "throw-aways" and show them what customer service is ALL ABOUT!! So, Kev....just give them MY phone number, and I'll take it from there! <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>....Neil

No problems here.  I emailed Kevin early last year asking if he had any male ambon retics available.  He emailed me back stating he had a number and if I had anything in particular I was looking for to just give him a call.  I called him we talked about 15 minutes about this that and the other and a week later I received and absolutely GORGEOUS Ambon yellowhead retic from him.  No problems, he was very curtious.  I know he is an extremely busy person and I can see where some delays may occur but I really have never had any problems with getting answers to any of my numerous email inquiries of him.
Thanks again Kev, keep the wild BP's coming !!!
Tony

Like Heather I also live near NERD and have had many visits and dealings with Kevin and his staff. I've gone there to buy 60 hr. heat packs right from their facility and have been charged $2 each one week and $4 each two weeks later. A few weeks after that I was told they didn't even have any! Imagine a place doing the volume of business that NERD does not having any heat packs in the dead of Winter? Come on, give me a break! I have quite a lot of respect for Kevin and his business but he needs to get back to treating everyone like they're important because they ARE! I feel his business would quadruple if he and his staff had a little more compassion and interest for the PEOPLE in this business and not just the REPTILES. Kevin can be and deep down is a great guy but I think he's just plain burnt out from his demanding schedule and workload. I think he should take a step back to revisit and appreciate who put him where he is....THE CUSTOMER! Take this advice Kevin and you'll have no need for Valentine's Day sales.

Good customer Service will keep you in business longer than most anything else.  When some of these people in the herp world, like many others in many other businesses, get 'big and popular", they sometimes forget how they got there!  Without customers, big spenders or litttle, you have no business.  I have e-mailed some larger breeders of different types of herps and have had mixed success comunicating with them.  In my opinion, if they don't have enough time to talk to me, I don't have enough time to buy from them.  That's my motto, try it, you'll like it.

i am gonna have to agree

though his  animal i bought from him was  in fact very nice  
i have to say differently about his customer service
when i spoke with him  he wasnt  very responsive
he gave short  answers lto my ?'s   and it seemed like i was bothering him
but in fact i did go ahead and purchase  the animal
i see him and his select crew  at shows  very often   i am in the north eastern area  and to speak to him in person is  as about  pleasureable  as speaking to him on the phone
he has the attitude that if your not flashing cash   for his animals   then he dont have time for you  ...
i will deffinitly agree  CUSTOMER SERVICE IS TOP PRIORITY  !!!!!!!!!!!     EVEN TO THE LITTLE GUY  

like i said  
N.E.R.D.   has  some very nice animals    , but   i wish his   people  skills were  more refined  but they  are to be   given a  2nd   thought  ....

sorry kevin and the rest of you guys   but    its true   ur attitude really bites  twords the little guy    , might want to think about it and  rethink some more
" CAUSE WE ALL  WERE LITTLE GUYS  WHEN WE STARTED OUT   "   how would u have felt if it was you that was having to write stuff about someone  like what u are seeing here  ...

ROOM FOR THOUGHT !!!!!!!


SHAWN SKILLINGS

well I for one thought Kevin was very nice when I  talked to him..it was very busy at the time and I was put on hold a few times put he was very nice and very helpful with everythign i had questions with..he even took the time to look thru some of the snakes I was intersted in and actually describe the snakes as best he could over the phone...he picked a beautiful specimen for me and it wasnt even the most most expensive one....overall i was Very impressed with the way he dealt with me an I will be doing more business with im in the very near future...


Chris Gibson

I for one never done buisness with him and probally never will, I used to live out east and saw him at many shows and like someone above said if your not waving cash or credit cards in there face, all the 3 or 4 of them behind his table wanna do is sit there and talk amongst themselves and not be bothered, i dont understand how they do so well at the shows, he always has alot of really cool looking morphs on his table and its a shame because if I ever had them money theres one or two I would buy in a heart beat, if he didnt treat people that way jmo Jason Swe!gart

ok, you're right mickey, i appologize to everyone.  i'll let it be.

--post edited--

jonathan brady

Im sorry, but this is a bit exessive in my opinon.

I agree he may have been a bit nicer to you in the email responce, but as Kev said, when you get hundreds of emails a day, sometimes you do get short on replies. Also as Kev said people are taken more seriously when they are willing to call. Granted people say they have had bad experiences calling kev, but thats business. You dont like the guy, nuff said. I mean you expect him to hire more employees to answer emails, yet everyone else wants a top of the line animal at rock bottom prices. Both cant always happen.

Im not trying to stick up for Kev completely, but you do have to see his side. If you dont like the way he conducts his business, fine dont buy from him. You even went so far as to use this forum to post how poor his customer relations are. That should be enough. You can complain about his customer skill, but his animals are quality and in my book I would rather deal with an a hole any day then a con artist.

Something to think about

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles
Omaha NE

I bought some high-end amazon tree boas from Kev a couple of years ago that were all very nice and healthy -- and I might add packed for cold weather very excellently..no reused boxes here!  He used a pristeen cardboard-covered,very heavy duty styro box, bigger than most of the typical tropical fish boxes with a 40hr. heat pak that was still very warm upon arrival.  I consider him very no nonsense and very professional guy to deal with and I would deal with him again if he has something I really want.
   I remember his initial email to my inquiries were very short...things like " oh yeah, that male is wierd! let me know if you want him".  After I first bought a male I called him on the phone about another pair and he told me flat out that he doesn't respond to alot of email inquiries and that I should always call him.  
  Well it turned out that I didn't have all the funds for the pair I wanted and Kevin said "No problem, just send me a couple of hundred deposit and I'll hold them for you. They're yours!"  I thought that was very nice of him to hold a couple of very desireable snakes for a customer he had barely ever dealt with before!
John Hedger

I went there a few times.. I buy my mice and rats there.. The workers there show me around and even let me touch the 18ft 200lb anaconda.. They are very nice when Im there.. Scott and Dan(no longer work there) but they gave me so much extra mice and rats for free and that kept me comming back for more.. Unfortiately they were fired(no breeding certain things) and I dont get as much as I use to on the frozen feeders.. I bought a couple of stripped tiger retics there that were great.. Kevin is usually very bussy and it must be stressfull taking care of snakes that are producing offspring worth thousands.. Everyone has bad days, but I agree, every big bussiness should care about the little guy with $50 to spend, not just setting up high end sales.. I would go back there anytime(after I get my license back, lol)

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ReticDog @ Mar. 03 2002,21:48)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I went there a few times.. I buy my mice and rats there.. The workers there show me around and even let me touch the 18ft 200lb anaconda.. They are very nice when Im there.. Scott and Dan(no longer work there) but they gave me so much extra mice and rats for free and that kept me comming back for more.. Unfortiately they were fired(no breeding certain things) and I dont get as much as I use to on the frozen feeders.. I bought a couple of stripped tiger retics there that were great.. Kevin is usually very bussy and it must be stressfull taking care of snakes that are producing offspring worth thousands.. Everyone has bad days, but I agree, every big bussiness should care about the little guy with $50 to spend, not just setting up high end sales.. I would go back there anytime(after I get my license back, lol)</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
I just purchased a few high end pythons and boas from Kevin.
I was Very happy with the animals sent! I keep and breed over 1000 animals nyself and are very busy.Sometimes people need to use common sense.During peek breeding season ? Do not call Kevin and ask why the ball python you got at the reptile swap won`t eat.Maybe try to research on your own or Buy a good book. Kevin and have had this talk. If you read a book maybe you would find that a hide box or more heat would help. You can also go back and use the book for other things.   thanks jim

I know Kevin, I have dealt with him for 10 years or so.

I remember my first call(s) to him were about one animal and very frequent and pestering, yet he had patience with me. Once you know Kevin, you are not put off by his 'attitude' as some here call it. At anyone time Kevin is responsible for more animals than many of us will see in a lifetime(or 10). I'm not making excuses for him, but I learned to not take it personally when I would call and say who I was and once in awhile he'd say 'gotta go call back in 20 minutes *click*'.

I've never purchased anything from NERD (Though of course I have heard of the place and seen his web-site)  But I have a question about this thread.  Am I understanding correctly that breeders prefer to recieve phone calls than e-mail inquiries?  Why?  Yesterday when I wanted to contact Damion Wyatt and ask about the ball pythons I have now ordered I had the choice of using the phone or the e-mail as both were available.  My thought was, and I guess still is, that a breeder is a very busy person and a telephone call demands imediate attention where as an e-mail can be reveiwed and responded too as time permits.  Seems to me an e-mail would be the more polite way to make a general inquiry, and a telephone call would be to close the deal.  Thats exactly what I did when I purchased from Serpenco last year.  And again yesterday I e-mailed Wyatt my proposal to put a deposit on the snakes I wanted and have him hold them until I could take delivery.  The e-mail would have given him time to think about it if he wanted where as a phone call would have put him on the spot.  Well, he didn't think about it long, but once his desision was made he telephoned me to close the deal.  (I prefered him telephoning me, not so that I didn't have to pay the phone bill, but so that he could call when it would be convenient for him).

Just seems to me calling a breeder out of the blue without initial introduction and inquiry through e-mail would be rude.

"My thought was, and I guess still is, that a breeder is a very busy person and a telephone call demands imediate attention where as an e-mail can be reveiwed and responded too as time permits."

NAIL ON THE HEAD so to speak.  <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>  If only more business would learn this fact it would streamline their customerservice workflow. With a phone call you have to stop what you are doing and answer the ONE phone call, then regroup and restart whatever you were doing. With Email you can process them one after the other in a more efficient manner. You also have written proof of the prices you offered and the agreements you made. That would solve about 40% of the threads concerning "he's too busy".

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">With Email you can process them one after the other in a more efficient manner. You also have written proof of the prices you offered and the agreements you made. </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Exactly!  That's why I always list only my email for people to get in touch with me and tell them to send a phone number so I can call them if I need to.  Hey, it is the future of business, might as well accept it now.   <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

I called NERD last year sometime with some questions about something they had for sale. It wasn't Kevin that I spoke with, but he was rude. He made it seem like I was bothering him, and he made a very obvious effort to talk down to me. However, they had what I wanted. I just got tired of dealing with a person who tried to make the customer feel dumb for asking a question. So I cancelled my order and went with another company. At first, I thought that the guy I was speaking with at NERD might have been in a bad mood. After reading some of these posts, it seems as though this is the way of doing business for these guys.
I don't care how great the prices or animals are, I won't deal with left handed insults.

my 2 cents