Drew Lambeth- Curio Creatures
 

I really did not want to have to post this, but Drew has forced my hand.

In December 2009, my significant other and I decided to rehome some snakes we had purchased with breeding goals in mind that no longer fit with our plans. We went out of our way to select the very best homes for these animals, going so far as to turn down a few people we were not convinced would provide good homes. Our ad stated that we wanted good forever homes for our snakes and that we'd be picky about who they went to.

Drew was a friend on the forums and a local guy and we were elated that he was interested in two of our snakes- a hypo lav female for $125 and a ghost female* for $25. We were asking $25 for the ghost female because we had bought her from a Craigslist ad and did not know her breeding history, nor did we ever have a confirmed sex on her... i.e. she was NOT proven. We were upfront and honest about this as can be seen on our ad on the Insider's Forum at CornSnakes.com. If need be I can post a screen shot of that ad.

My inlaws live about 2-2.5 hours from Richmond, VA, which is where Drew lives, and we agreed to meet Drew at Port Royal, which was slightly out of our way, but closer for him. We took both snakes with us for a weekend visit a Christmas when it was very cold, heated them as best we could at my inlaws and left their house very early Sunday in order to make it to Port Royal to meet Drew. We arrived with about 15 minutes to spare at our meeting point. After 1/2 hour, I called Drew to see where he was, if he was close. He did not answer. Several minutes later he calls back and tells me he is "So sorry," he overslept and please for us not to think he is a flake. So we drive back home with the snakes after having gone out of our way to bring the snakes to him on a holiday weekend. I wanted to call off the deal right then, I was so angry, but Tara spoke with Drew that week and arranged to ship the snakes.

We shipped them down to Drew and all went well with the shipping. He seemed happy with the transaction. A few days later I get a message on Facebook that said he thought the ghost was a male. I said "That really sucks... she was sold to us as a female, and I'm sorry." He said "It's cool, I can find something to pair her with I'm sure." We didn't hear anything else about the transaction.

A few weeks go by and I happen to look at Drews website and he has the male ghost for sale. I was a little irritated by this because we had spoken to him as friends about our desire for a forever home for the snake, but I do acknowlege that once purchased the snake is his to do what he wants with.

That being said, I was even more angry that he had taken one of OUR photos from our ad to use to sell the snake he purchased for $25 for $125. We sent him a PM asking about the sale and he denied that it was our snake. When Tara pointed out that it was OUR photo, which is very distinct because of the background we use, he then became sulky and said he'd "take the ad down."

Now this weekend, my mother in law, who, as I said, lives near Richmond, happened to be browing Craigslist pet ads and found this and showed it to us when we came down, saying "Hey, isn't this your background in the photo? Is this snake yours?"

So yet again, for the third time, Drew has said one thing and done another. Our dealings with him have been fraught with lies, dishonesty and broken trust and I don't want anyone else to have this happen to them. If he cannot be trusted to not use other people's material without their permission, then his business dealings also cannot be trusted.

Here is Drew's ad:
http://richmond.craigslist.org/pet/1702970944.html

The photos on grey fur are our photos. I have the original copies of them and they are also still on my iHerp page for Demi, the snake in question.

I am including a screen shot of that ad in case he deletes it, along with a copy of the PMs we have sent back and forth since he initially used our photo to list the snake for sale. I am also including a link to our iHerp page for Demi that shows the original photos we took. We have sent him an email about it.

I want to state again, emphatically, that I do NOT begrudge him the fact that he is selling a now-extra male snake, even though I do feel that by doing so he went back on part of our sale terms, and that does affect the way I personally feel about him as an individual and as a former friend.

I fully understand that the snake is his to sell to whomever he wants, however he wants.

I would never have posted this if Drew hadn't stolen our photos to use in his sale of this snake, not once even, but TWICE without giving us due credit and against out wishes, as you can clearly see in the PMs.

http://www.iherp.com/HerpTrack/MyAni...AnimalID=15364

Have you made him aware of this thread. I'd love to hear his reasoning behind using stolen images

I will do so via PM at CornSnakes. We sent him an email through Craigslist asking why he is still trying to use our photos. He has not responded, but it's only been a bit over a day.

As one further note... I know that Craigslist is anonymous theoretically, but I know that this post was either by Drew or someone he knows, because the other photo in there is of the box we sent her in and the pink pillowcase she was wrapped in.

I am going to PM him now.

He should not be using your images. I had a similar experience recently when I sold someone a hognose snake and then when she decided to sell it about a year later she used my photo. Funny thing is that this person would throw a FIT if someone else did that to her (used one of her images without permission). LOL Anyway, there really is not much you can do about it except perhaps email Craigslist or wherever he is using the photo without your permission, to let them know, and email him again to demand he stop using your photo without permission.

However, judging by your pm's to him, it seems to me that you are most upset with the face that he is selling the snake at all. Frankly that's a bit hypocritical as you yourself did not give the snake a "forever home" because your breeding goals changed or whatever. Plans change, snakes get sold. It's a part of the hobby.

Kelli, you are free to believe whatever you want, as am I. I clearly stated in this post that I would not have posted here regarding him selling the snake had he not stolen and used our images to attempt to do so.

I'll state again, the snake is his to sell. The photos are NOT his to use. Therein lies my issue.

I agree with Kelli. :shrug01: On the surface, that's what you are saying, "it's about the pictures." However, it's quite odd, that you mentioned the pictures in the emails exactly ONE time, and the fact that you were upset about him selling the animal several times and even made a blotched attempt to pick up said animal.

I think you should be honest with yourself, you are ticked off that he didn't keep his word, and a little upset that he's using your pictures to help sell a snake that he promised to keep forever.:shrug01:

It may be all jumbled inside you and you may be justifying your anger..you are RIGHT to be upset about your pictures being used..but you (just from reading the emails) appear more upset about him selling the animal.

Let me say for the record, he should not be using pictures that do not belong to him to sell the animal. This technically could qualify as "misrepresentation" if the animal no longer looks like the image in the pics (weight loss, scars, illness, etc).

I have never dealt with Drew on a business level, and never will.

One experiance I had with him on a personal level made sure of that, and it happened before this incident did with Lauren and Tara. Let's just say that he does not seem especially choosy about the company he keeps.

I am actually not upset about this. Whippet is my GF, Tara, and yes, she was upset about that particular aspect of the deal because she felt that she had a verbal agreement with Drew that was not honored. I would never have brought that to the BOI, nor would Tara... that is something that is to be hashed out person to person.

I knew that posting the entire series of PMs would open us to criticism in this regards and I am fine with that. It is what it is, and I won't dispute that. The PMs, to me, show that Drew did use our image the first time, on his personal sight, and then attempted to lie about it and say it wasn't our snake photo. :shrug01: To me that speaks volumes about his character, and I felt others should have a chance to read and judge for themselves. As I said... take from it what you will.

Personally, once I put pictures up on the net, I consider them public property. If you don't want other people to use your pictures, the only way to ensure that they won't, is to not send them out or put them where everyone can see. Really it's not worth worrying about, JMHO.