VARNYARD...Mr.Bobby Hill

I'm gonna preface this by saying that I have really nothing positive to say about Bobby Hill. Although he and I have never met or even spoken a single word to each other he has taken many opportunities to bash me over the years. I tend to take these things with a grain of salt, however, so I consider his opinions a non-issue these days. His response in this thread is what I would expect from him.

With that said I just watched that video and its equally full of potential falsehoods and seems to be pure character assassination. First of all the insinuation that he does not have enough space to produce his claim of 500 Tegus is untrue. Technically one would only require 4 cages that are 8'x8' floor space each to produce 500. These cages would need to be optimized with cage furniture and have 1.3 animals in each. Large Chacoan B&W Tegus can lay upwards of 65 eggs. This is, however, an absolute best case scenario and would require the stars to align. Back when I worked with these tegus I had 63 adults and my best year was 514 babies.

This leads me to my second issue with the video. The claim that he does not breed these giant chaco tegus and instead imports them. I know that he is breeding them because I am nearly certain that his founding stock is my Chaco White Heads which were sold to several dealers when I began breaking up my collection from 2004-2006. I believe the exact animals (the best ones I had) went to Ben Siegel who then resold them. Although the names were changed these are the animals that they continue to import from Paraguay and are also collected from 2 seperate introduced colonies in Miami and Tampa respectively. The group that Ben Siegel purchased from me were very high white and aberrant examples of the Paraguayan Tegu. All Paraguayan Tegus reach the enormous sizes that Bobby Hill's attain.

Admittedly, I didn't find the context of those photos and video as nearly interesting as the possible motive and incentive the person must have had for going through the time and trouble to create them and post them.

This leads me to my second issue with the video. The claim that he does not breed these giant chaco tegus and instead imports them.

Since Bobby obviously cant handle an export deal - I dont think he'd be able to handle importing tegus either. So I dont think that statement in the pictures/video is true either.

However - I do know that he used to buy Tegus wholesale from Bert and resell them - though he had always told me that those all went to pet stores and would never go to his retail customers.. Maybe true, maybe not....

I defended bobby in this post on tegu talk but reading here how he responds to these threads I realize I was wrong to defend him. A quick Google search showed me anytime someone has a problem with the way he does things they get personally attacked. He is clearly not as good a person as I had though or hoped. Bobby, giving him back 500 is unethical and you know it. What he deserved is all his money back and an apology from you no matter who was responsible for the delay. You run a business and it is your obligation to be fair, honest, and polite to customers. The way you come off in these threads makes me wonder how you got this far. I realize I am nothing to you as we have never done business and I am just new to tegus. What I am is someone who can tell you anyone who has seen what I now have will never do business with you. I could never order one of your animals and have peace of mind. I was going to pre order two extremes from you in the near future and now have changed my mind because of the way you conduct yourself. This guy gave you well over a thousand dollars and you don't feel the need to defend your business and reputation with any proof whatsoever . He is owed proof, you gave him nothing for 850 dollars but excuses and harsh words. Everyone who says anything negative about you gets personally insulted and dismissed. The way you handled this situation is disgusting and although I would love to have a few of your animals I will never give you a cent. I can see now why so many people don't like you, you are a jerk. You are not a god because you breed tegus, and I don't respect you one bit. The fact you don't respond with anything but personal insults against everyone tells me you are not only a jerk but a liar. Defending your reputation by "feeding the trolls" is necessary at this point if you value your reputation. Give this guy his money back, he deserves more for dealing with your BS.

First of all I would like to thank the vast majority of the people who responded here especially those who gave helpful information about the fee's that apply and charges incurred.

I was refunded the sum of $500 after a years wait and my initial payment to Mr.Hill being $1350.

I am not pursuing this any further as to be honest I do not want any further dealings with Mr.Hill
This situation could have been completely avoided if Mr.Hill could only have firstly been honest and secondly taken the time to communicate the issue in private.

It is apparent that Mr.Hill has little to no regard for his customers and indeed his own reputation.

I seen Mr.Hill's own post on another forum with a picture of the Tegu I was getting I find this very amusing indeed as there was still no end in sight but yet he was holding this one "special" tegu for transport to me in Ireland.

In my humble opinion this is the one of the worst examples of customer relations I have ever seen.

Mr Hill I hope the $850 you still owe me was worth it.. In my experience you only get one chance with your reputation......


Thanks to all who put their name to this. Very much appreciated
Simon

Originally Posted by wford84

I defended bobby in this post on tegu talk but reading here how he responds to these threads I realize I was wrong to defend him. A quick Google search showed me anytime someone has a problem with the way he does things they get personally attacked. He is clearly not as good a person as I had though or hoped. Bobby, giving him back 500 is unethical and you know it. What he deserved is all his money back and an apology from you no matter who was responsible for the delay. You run a business and it is your obligation to be fair, honest, and polite to customers. The way you come off in these threads makes me wonder how you got this far. I realize I am nothing to you as we have never done business and I am just new to tegus. What I am is someone who can tell you anyone who has seen what I now have will never do business with you. I could never order one of your animals and have peace of mind. I was going to pre order two extremes from you in the near future and now have changed my mind because of the way you conduct yourself. This guy gave you well over a thousand dollars and you don't feel the need to defend your business and reputation with any proof whatsoever . He is owed proof, you gave him nothing for 850 dollars but excuses and harsh words. Everyone who says anything negative about you gets personally insulted and dismissed. The way you handled this situation is disgusting and although I would love to have a few of your animals I will never give you a cent. I can see now why so many people don't like you, you are a jerk. You are not a god because you breed tegus, and I don't respect you one bit. The fact you don't respond with anything but personal insults against everyone tells me you are not only a jerk but a liar. Defending your reputation by "feeding the trolls" is necessary at this point if you value your reputation. Give this guy his money back, he deserves more for dealing with your BS.

Another Customer lost for bobby hill.. Bad business 101..

Originally Posted by DaveyFig

Did Bobby change his location to "earth" in hopes that his account would be restricted or has it been like that for a while?

You are onto something!! As most have seen, the tactics used by Bobby are often used by scammers who post with the sole intention of being banned. They'll come on here, talk trash about the owner, various members and violate any rules they can so they are not awarded a chance to reply. Why? Because most of the time these bright indidviduals sink themselves and reveal details to their deception or they are aware of the people that will dig until they find the truth. This is why you will always see the response, "This will be my first and last post." What could these details be that would cause Bobby to run? I think you nailed that one too.

Originally Posted by DaveyFig

It almost seems like Bobby decided to keep the tegu because it was so nice, and just dragged Simon along until he gave up.

I've know for a fact bobby got his chacoan of Ben Siegel as he told me him self over the phone,as ive bought off bobby and sold to bobby and use to talk to him pretty often on the phone a couple of years back.I myself think bobby stock is good,as far as him he's shady and a know it all and loves to bash other breader for no reason.I agree 100% what most of the people are saying.I wouldnt buy any tegus off him as i think he's a shady.

He's super shady. He caused a huge rift in the tegu community back in the day. Talked trash about all the other breeders. And then proceeded to crown himself as "one of the biggest tegu breeders in the world". Well, considering that they can be farmed in large numbers, that's not any big feat. It's not like they're hard to breed. He claims that his tegus are "his" lines but they're really Ron's lines that Bobby just took credit for. His sole intention has been to try to become "famous". Well, looks like now he's going to be infamous instead. I do hope that he decides to do the right thing and give back the rest of your money though. Please keep us posted on any updates.
Ethan
Riverside Reptiles

Simon, I am sorry you had such a horrible experience. It speaks volumes that you are willing to give up $850 rather that continue dealing with this person. I hope it is some comfort to know how many people have (and will) read your story and avoid business with Bobby Hill entirely.