What would you do ?

I really don't know where to begin here but I had something happen to me that has left me totally speechless ( which in it self is tough to do ) and I had to get this out to see if I was crazy or if this would bother anyone else. I am not going to mention names since there really was no wrong done here but anyway here goes nothing ........



Another breeder, whom we will call player " A " and myself are both in need of some new cages so we talked it over and I figured I could get the best price from the person I have been getting my cages from for the last 2 years or so, and after researching it a bit I was right so we decided to go through this person whom we will call dealer " A " .


When I called dealer " A " I was told I could no longer buy my cages through him because of the fact that his biggest customer who I also know does not want him to sell me anything and feels if I want something I should go to him instead of dealer " A " , We will call this person dealer " B " .


Now dealer " B " I have known a lot longer than dealer " A " but his prices were always much higher than dealer " A " so I went to dealer " A " for all my caging needs. Now dealer " B " owns and runs a large pet store and does a good business, and is probably dealer " A " best customer for cages and other items as well and spends a good deal of money with him on a regular basis.



I know this is getting a little confusing and I am sorry but I couldn't think of how to present this the right way ...... and I am trying make it as simple as possible ... REALLY !!!



Now the last time I bought cages from dealer "A " , dealer " B " found out about it while tlking to me at a local reptile show and never let on to me that he was mad, but let dealer "A " know he was furious about it, because dealer " B " felt like I was his customer so dealer " A " had to make it up to dealer " B " for selling to me ? Does this make any sense so far ? That's okay it still doesn't make sense to me either.


Now when I try and buy my cages from dealer "a " for myself and player "A " , dealer " A " tells me if i want cages that I have to buy them at an increased price so he can afford to make enough profit for himself and also enough to give dealer " B " a chunk of change to keep him happy . ( This gets better, keep reading ) Keep in mind that dealer " A " and " B " don't work together and dealer " B " is dealer " A " customer.



Now dealer " A " will also no longer sell to player " A " because he knows me and dealer " B " feels like if player " A " knows me then he should also have to buy from dealer " B " and dealer " A " will now only sell cages to player " A " under the same conditions as he would sell them to me, just because player " A " is a friend of mine. What kills me is that I have sent so many people to dealer " A " for caging and other stuff and they can buy from him with no problems .......



Another thing that I almost forgot to mention is dealer " A " has a website, and anyone can buy from his website and it doesn't matter who they are. Also after all the conversations that take place over a period of 2 1/2 weeks over these cages dealer " A " now tells me his prices are different and that he raised them 6-8 months ago , which is not true because I bought from during this time period and the price was the same as the website is as of today, so I know he is trying to make sure I don't get upset and his biggest customer dealer " B " is happy .



As things are turning out I am getting my cages from an out of state source now and dealer " A " and " B " can both kiss my big fat royal american business goodbye as well as future business and recommendations from myself and player " A " I will be paying almost as much as dealer " B " wanted to charge me which includes shipping charges as well. What really bothers me is that this whole situation is like some kind of idiotic nightmare. Bottom line is that we are getting our cages and even with shipping and freight we will be getting them for less than dealer " B " wanted to charge us.





Feel free to ask questions about this and if after reading this you feel the urge to shoot yourself in the head, PLEASE RESIST, at least until after the holidays anyway. Thank you for your patience.


Gary

Gary.... what the matter? You couldn't just make up 4 names?? Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice, maybe?? My brain is still spinning from trying to figure that out.... that's better than my crossword puzzles! I need an aspirin....

Whatever happened.... that really bites, man!

....Neil

I am sorry I was having trouble trying to figure out the best way to post it without naming names, because in reality no was was harmed ( just incredibly ticked off ) and no money was lost. I have known both these guys for awhile now and personally have nothing against either one of them but I sure don't agree with their business policies .


Gary

Gary I know how you feel. The local pet shop did the something similar to me. I usally purchase about 30 pinks and 10 mice a week from my local store. The other day I went in to buy them and the owner was waiting on another customer. The other customer bought 5 mice for a total of 3.75. That's .75 a piece.The thing that pi**ed me of was that I buy 40 mice(pinks mostly) and it cost me $40. I still can't figure that one out.I asked the owner why I had to pay a $1 a peice when the other person paid .75 a piece. The response was "you bought more mice,I need to make a profit somehow",needless to say I went elsewhere for my mice. Now I go to the other pet store and get the same amount for $20.

I know how you feel. I used to use the first store for all my needs.Now they don't get any of my bussiness.

sounds a bit like the mafia to me. forcing dealer "A" to charge a higher price and give dealer "B" a cut for protection.... errr.... continued business. i'd stay faaaaar away from that situation!

I feel you should post thier names.

If this is how they chose to run their businesses then there should be nothing wrong with you posting their info. Then if others feel it is wrong. They can make a choice to condone this type of behavior or not.

Because in all honesty dealer A should stand up for himself. Trust me if even a good customer told me who I could and could not sell to.

I would say see yeah later. The reasoning being I run my compny not anyone else. And if I chose to run it a certain way I would not care who knew.

So please post their info so we can all make our own choices.

Yeah that's it !!!!, kind of like Racketering ( hope I spelled that right ) . and it would be one thing if we were only getting one or two cages but between us we were getting 22 cages, possibly more if player " A " decided on getting an additional size as well. But maybe I am wrong but I believe being a breeder and being in the business, I would be awarded the same courtesies as other breeder/dealers and instead I actually get charged more ? , and I am not allowed to buy from who I want to buy from ? Like I said before ........ IDIOTIC !!!!!!


Gary

Many manufacturers will not sell retail so as to keep their distributors happy (or at least sell retail at a higher price than their distributors).

I think you made the correct decision in buying from another source as you never know when this manufacturer will do another slime manuever and leave you hanging.

I would also recommend putting the manufacturer's name out there for everyone to see so they can avoid dealing with him. You passed on referrals when he was dealing on the up and up, now it's time to do the same in reverse.

I apologize if this posts twice. This is my second attempt.

Your cage dealer was being squeezed for a kickback or lose the larger account. He gave you the conditions he would "allow" you to purchase from him. You declined and took your business elswhere. Your cage dealer now has a customer who can bully him again and again. You have a new cage dealer. The new cage dealer has a new customer. Be glad and move on.



James and Vickie Bryan

Well to tell the truth I bear no malice against either one since they will both never get another penny from either me or player " A " and in all reality it is their loss and not mine. But it does make you wonder how a customer can get away with telling someone who they can sell to ...... I would never put up with that, but then again I don't have any regular customers that money on my table either since I am only a lowly breeder, If I had a store and carried supplies that might change things a bit.

Gary