Originally Posted by calebroad

Several months ago, Steven Brenner, who I feel is a reputable and honest reptile enthusiasts, became interested in one of my caramel 100% het snow turtles. Steven Brenner and I became good friends by phone and he said exactly what I needed to hear and I had no reason not to trust him. We openly agreed that I would send him my beautiful turtle, and later on, when his charcoal stuff hatched. He would send me charcoal turtles of equal value. He explained to me how huge and reputable he is in the reptile industry, so I felt honored to have a new contact, and I had absolutely no trust issues with Steven Brenner.

The trade Charcoal turtles could have been albino het, green het, charcoal, or whatever (same value). Anyway. I shipped off my turtle in good faith and with trust, since afterall, this guy has a reputation to protect, and its unlikely he would put the screws to me. Also I felt like him deceiving me, and then keeping my turtle was extremely unlikely.

He was happy with the turtle I sent and all was well. But as time went on, I started asking questions. And I began to hear from Steven Brenner less and less. There was always one reason after another from Steven, followed by another. I remained patient, even though this was obviously not panning out as agreed.

Over the past few months, I have called other people in the industry looking for advice on how to best handle this situation with the least drama as possible. Everyone said to keep my cool, and hope for the best. After several months had passed, I began trying to act firm with Steven, to in hopes that a resolution would draw closer. But he would immediately respond about how huge he is in the reptile industry and how I am not very well liked.

When I said that his huge reputation and my being "disliked" had no relevance to this deal, he stated that I had upset a moderator with whom I had never had any business dealings with before. Again, I just could not find relevance between this and the turtle deal. Anyway, it became one thing after another, Steven Brenner said that since I bought some charcoal turtles from another breeder, following our deal, it messed him up, but how? He could not explain how. Then he kept throwing out irrelevant comments that I simply could find no correlation to. Finally, as the third month of going in circles approached, I charged back about $400.00 through paypal, in desperate attempt to get back my stolen property, or at least, have an offer.

This made Steven Brenner mad, and just like with everything I say, he uses that as a justification for not completing the transaction. He promised if I would terminate the paypal chargebacks (they cannot be reopened) that he would send me a regular caramel and I was to just cut my losses.

Obviously, I wasnt happy, but I cancelled my chargebacks and agreed to accept the caramel by September 20th, and simply cut my losses. Afterall, I do not want the headache and hassle of any conflict.

September 20th came and went. Steven Brenner has a different explanation for every day of the week, and Steven Brenner has led me round and round and round. Eventually, I became upset after he continued to say "Chris, your not well liked", and the "he is huge in the reptile industry". My frustration boiled over and after three months, I suggested I would get the cops involved. Once again, he said my "threats" will ensure that I never see a penny, or my turtle. However, it was obvious that Steven Brenner was fishing for any kind of reaction from me, so that, no matter what I might say, he could throw it back in my face, and blame me for the theft, but also say "your not very well liked". But also he made other weird statements that caused me to believe this transaction was going to cost me huge.

So, I have laid out the facts here. Maybe I am not liked in the industry, and maybe Steven Brenner is so huge that he can steal a $4,000 turtle, and nobody will bat an eye.

But at the very least, I am sharing my story. No matter what Steven Brenner says, even if he says that I am the devil himself and that he the King of all reptile breeders. The fact still remains that I sent him the turtle, of which he acknowledges receipt, and he has offered me nothing, nada, zero, and he refused to put any timeline on anything. I feel very strongly I have been scammed. He will likely say that If I would not have done the BOI report, I would have gotten my turtles the next day, because that is the kind of stuff Steven Brenner has been saying for three months now.

I cannot judge Steven Brenner because I dont really know him. But we have done a transaction together, that has resulted, so far, in huge headache, anxiety, and the feeling of being cheated.

With any luck at all, Steven Brenner will make good on this deal, and we can part ways, and I personally would not do business with again. Also, I will admit that after three months of being led around in circles, I did become upset at times and demand the deal be completed. But regardless, Steven Brenner refuses to return my turtle, and no offer has been made to resolve the issue.

Im not placing judgement on anyone, but I have come to the BOI with a true transaction problem, and hopefully others can find this useful.

Chris Davis