Garret Smith ( Scammer )

Originally Posted by CalicoDragons

Hello All!

I don't know if it matters at this point since this thread has been going on for a while now. But I wanted to at least give my 2 cents into this matter. Over a year ago I saw an ad on fauna and contacted Garrett. I was interested in Pogona Barbara and he knew a gentlemen in Germany that had some for sale. Garrett was easy to talk with, explained everything and was upfront with me about the shipping/import/export issues involved. I send my payment and it was with a group of a few other buyers that were also shipping in iguana from the same german gentleman. It saved us on shipping cost which is always nice. Then the process started and I waited. Every once in a while we would chat and he would e-mail or text me an update. Never once did I feel unsure or concerned. He explained everything to me as we went along. After christmas and winter holidays ended the cities and german govt. were back up and running and they shipped out the Barbata, Garrett got them and sent pictures. And within an appropriate amount of time I got them shipped to me. They were larger then I thought they would be which was great. Both were very happy and healthy. Since then he has been a pleasant guy to chat with. I have been breeding dragons for over 11 years now and their are many dragon breeders across the US that know who I am. I strive for great customer service and love my dragons. Im sorry to hear that this issue arose with Mike, but as with everything in life and dealing with arguments in general their are always two sides to a story. I hope Mike and Garrett can work all this out and I hope fauna will aid them in that endeavor. The BOI has helped me out before in the past with getting a refund from a scammer. But from my opinion and my experience Garrett was not a scammer. That's all I can go by of course. Well that's my 2 cents and I hope all of you have a great day!
Thanks

Amy Moses
CalicoDragons.com

That's awesome that you had such a great experience! I am curious though, as to why you waited to post it on a thread where seemingly no one got what they bargained for, if anything at all. You posted a good guy thread in 2011. You posted a good guy thread on 8-25-2014 about Charles Shankin. My mistake, you called him a "great guy". You posted on the Bearded Dragons discussion forum inquiring about your Pagona Barbata and Mitcheli. No mention of Garret and not good guy post about your great experience with him. Just curious as to why. What was the "appropriate amount of time" you got them shipped to you? Was it over a year?

Originally Posted by Chris Kennard

I am curious though, as to why you waited to post it on a thread where seemingly no one got what they bargained for, if anything at all. You posted a good guy thread in 2011. You posted a good guy thread on 8-25-2014 about Charles Shankin. My mistake, you called him a "great guy". You posted on the Bearded Dragons discussion forum inquiring about your Pagona Barbata and Mitcheli. No mention of Garret and not good guy post about your great experience with him. Just curious as to why. What was the "appropriate amount of time" you got them shipped to you? Was it over a year?

Things that make you go Hmmm!

Your welcomed to go back and check up on my history with Fauna, I posted bad guys as well. I do what I feel is right and I believe that if I have had a good experience with someone I should let others know.
I only recently became aware of this thread from a customer who was looking for Barbata and read up on it and felt I should say my peace. Simple as that.
I paid for my dragons around Oct. and received them in Jan. So it was a 4 month wait which Garrett explained to me would happen. I do understand how that can make others nervous. And by no means do I think I would have been cool or collected if I had to wait a year but then again I was given a time frame and it was within that time so I didn't worry about it. I also did not have any financial situations pop up either so I was in no rush to either get my dragons or my money back.
I think the BOI is a great place where new and old hero ppl can check up on, report, or try to seek help in bad situations but honestly it should be between the two people involved. I was made aware that someone I had good dealings with was on the BOI as an aligned "bad" guy and I read the whole thing and wanted to help out since I have had direct involvement with Garrett in the past. Really other customers he has had should be the main source that aid others in deciding if he is in the wrong here.
Well that's my 3 cents I guess

Originally Posted by CalicoDragons

I paid for my dragons around Oct. and received them in Jan. So it was a 4 month wait which Garrett explained to me would happen.

That's great you received your pair of Bearded Dragons.

1 good transaction with Garrett, doesn't alleviate the bad transactions he created with others, to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Not calling you out or chastising you for dealing with him, just my 2 cents.

AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAQUE, he can't be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles

Originally Posted by Chris Kennard

That's awesome that you had such a great experience! I am curious though, as to why you waited to post it on a thread where seemingly no one got what they bargained for, if anything at all. You posted a good guy thread in 2011. You posted a good guy thread on 8-25-2014 about Charles Shankin. My mistake, you called him a "great guy". You posted on the Bearded Dragons discussion forum inquiring about your Pagona Barbata and Mitcheli. No mention of Garret and not good guy post about your great experience with him. Just curious as to why. What was the "appropriate amount of time" you got them shipped to you? Was it over a year?

You are ruining the spirit of the BOI, and your obsessive posting and conspiracy hunting has made this entire thread a joke. It's not your responsibility to attack literally every single person who posts an opinion in this thread that differs from yours. In fact I think the moderators should be reprimanding you for antagonizing those who are coming here to post there own first hand accounts. You are doing nothing but dissuading people from posting who might actually have useful input, simply because no one wants to have to be interrogated by some random obsessive on the internet.

You have no actual skin in this disagreement, and you have very clearly convoluted this thread with your own nonsense for so many pages that none of the original parties are even posting anymore. You need to step away from this thread.

If the OP has any sense and isn't making some things up himself, then there are very clear and straight forward ways for him to attempt to seek legal restitution. They are not great options, but that is how business in the real world works. As an adult, he is fully capable of, and fully responsible for, pursuing such options on his own and in the course of this thread has been given quite a bit of advice on how to proceed with that. At this point, the thread has served it's purpose of alerting the community, and now it's up to the parties involved to do the rest.

You are doing more harm than anything with you incessant bumping and attacking of anyone who dare post here, and I can guarantee that nothing you say here at this point will help the parties involved reach a conclusion.

You have essentially made this thread useless. Let these adults handle their business on their own from here, and if the OP doesn't pursue restitution on his own let it be his lesson to learn.

And for everyone's sake, stop antagonizing every single person who posts in this thread.

You've attacked at least three people that I can think of who've just come here to say they had a good experience with Garrett.... which is the point of the BOI...That is entirely inappropriate on your part. The tone you've taken with those posters including this last poster is completely accusatory, and downright rude. It is not up to you to harshly interrogate every person who has had good experiences, and that honestly has to stop.

The point has been made here. Let the parties involved handle their business, and let anyone who has questions about Garrett Smith search his name here and make their own conclusions. You're degrading the BOI beating this horse for so long.

Amy, I thank you for adding your experience here. Know that it is welcome and encouraged regardless of whether it does align or it does not align with someone else's individual experience. Readers should be able to draw their own conclusions from the range of experiences presented as well as any behavior by anyone offering relevant input for, against, or neutrally positioned.

Originally Posted by Jonathan M

You are ruining the spirit of the BOI, and your obsessive posting and conspiracy hunting has made this entire thread a joke. It's not your responsibility to attack literally every single person who posts an opinion in this thread that differs from yours. In fact I think the moderators should be reprimanding you for antagonizing those who are coming here to post there own first hand accounts. You are doing nothing but dissuading people from posting who might actually have useful input, simply because no one wants to have to be interrogated by some random obsessive on the internet.

You have no actual skin in this disagreement, and you have very clearly convoluted this thread with your own nonsense for so many pages that none of the original parties are even posting anymore. You need to step away from this thread.

If the OP has any sense and isn't making some things up himself, then there are very clear and straight forward ways for him to attempt to seek legal restitution. They are not great options, but that is how business in the real world works. As an adult, he is fully capable of, and fully responsible for, pursuing such options on his own and in the course of this thread has been given quite a bit of advice on how to proceed with that. At this point, the thread has served it's purpose of alerting the community, and now it's up to the parties involved to do the rest.

You are doing more harm than anything with you incessant bumping and attacking of anyone who dare post here, and I can guarantee that nothing you say here at this point will help the parties involved reach a conclusion.

You have essentially made this thread useless. Let these adults handle their business on their own from here, and if the OP doesn't pursue restitution on his own let it be his lesson to learn.

And for everyone's sake, stop antagonizing every single person who posts in this thread.

You've attacked at least three people that I can think of who've just come here to say they had a good experience with Garrett.... which is the point of the BOI...That is entirely inappropriate on your part. The tone you've taken with those posters including this last poster is completely accusatory, and downright rude. It is not up to you to harshly interrogate every person who has had good experiences, and that honestly has to stop.

The point has been made here. Let the parties involved handle their business, and let anyone who has questions about Garrett Smith search his name here and make their own conclusions. You're degrading the BOI beating this horse for so long.

Incessant "bumping" and "attacking. Is that what you took from my last post? So theatrical! Perhaps you could start a poll in an appropriate forum about how I am ruining the spirit of the BOI. In the meantime, find one thing I've said here and prove me wrong. Prove that I've dissuaded anyone from posting here. My post was quite civil. You perceived it as an attack. I've said it before...melodramatics don't work here. You're right about this thread serving it's purpose. I can't take any credit for that. The credit belongs to the scammer.

By the way, please show the last time I "bumped" this thread. Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Chris Kennard

By the way, please show the last time I "bumped" this thread. Thanks in advance.

I'm not interested in engaging you in yet another of your online battles in this thread, but since this last question is such a softball:
See post #1356..and #1357..and #1358...and #1359... one need not go back any further than a single page to see the needless bumping.

The bottom line is you are not being civil, you are not helping anyone at this point, you are not getting results, and you are being accusatory and hostile towards everyone who doesn't agree with you. Bumping this thread endlessly after the OP and all parties involved have been given all the pertinent advice they need to seek restitution is not helpful. This thread has been cluttered with so much nonsense that anyone who really wanted to form an opinion would be hard pressed to find any substance through so much bloat.

Attempting to bait people into continued argument and attacking people who've had positive experiences is not only worthless, it is rude and obnoxious. It absolutely needs to stop.

The BOI is here to actually help and inform people, and if posters like you are going to attack and accuse everyone who comes here with a different opinion than your own, then this place will lose it's effectiveness altogether. You are not the OP's legal counsel, you need not cross examine everyone who posts an alternate opinion.

I think you need to take a moment to reconsider an important sticky about Killing the Messenger.

Garret,
after reading those text messages there are 3 scenarios I have in mind about what happened.

1. You are a scammer (most likely)

2. YOU ARE A HORRIBLE SALESMAN! I mean Jesus, have you ever had a job in a retail sales store when you were a teenager? You made your customer feel nervous and doubt you, of course he backed out! You're like that scumbag who gets pot spotted and takes a year to pay it back hoping the person just gives up on it. You're shady as fuck man no one is ever going to trust you.

3. You're just incredibly stupid, and too high on meth to answer a text message involving a pretty large amount of money for the average joe.