My experience with Reptile Basics / Cold Blood Novelties

Both my room-mate and I have dealt with Frank several times. At every interaction he is extremely polite, and goes out of his way to help us and make sure we are satisfied. I have no comment for the current situation. I just wanted to post my experience buying from Frank. I would purchase from him anytime.

Jordan Jernigan

wow, we went to being cops???
i could not care less....are you intersted in my history? i didn't think so....
frank, in "my" opinion, is not good for this hobby. Wes made his point, you defend Frank, and seem to speak for him, not sure why he cannot represent himself...must be the NY Cop thing....whatever that is.....
Frank is bad
Rich...i have no idea
Chris Brown....one of the better people in our hobby
Thanks again for the BOI....we all speak
mike

Well looks like Mike wanted a reply from me so he mike you now have my defense. S I will star with you. Mike states I was arrogant but yet he still purchased what he says is an amazing animal from me I think that says it all.
Lets get back to Wesley the phone calls started Monday last he wanted to know if I had a female to pair up with the male I said I had a pattern-less that was het for albino and would he mail photos Wesley tells me he does not have a computer but to conceder both animals sold and will call me with payment that night. Monday night comes and goes no call from Wesley. Tues comes he calls and once again he says he will call later that evening and once again NO call now its weds I inform him I do not like shipping on Weds for Thursday as it is too close to the weekend but he insists and makes it clear no leave the package free of any writing advertising its contents. I make a shipping label while I have Wesley on the phone and ask him for an e-mail addy so the tracking # would get to him once again he states he has no computer so I tell him the # over the phone here is the best part its about 1 pm est and not even 10 minutes later he calls me up telling me the tracking # is invalid. I explain to him that at this point it is nothing but a label and will not get into the UPS system until later that evening when it is scanned by UPS. Later that evening I call him back after seeing I missed a few calls from him he was very apologetic to the point now I was curious to his messages after getting off the phone with him assuring that he would have the animals by 1030 Thurs morning I listened to 3 messages the language was actually very foul and his threats were numerous I immediately called him back and told him I did not want any of his business and told him to send me the animals back for a full refund.
Once again he apologized and started telling me about prior experiences so I gave him the benefit of doubt and waited till he received the animals. Another call was place no telling me he was not happy with the animals and AGAIN I SAID SEND THEM BACK and yet again he refused but said if I offer a discount he would keep them. I declined to offer any discount and told him either keep the animals or send them back once again he had a few choice words for me made a few more threats and he we are now in THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

Frank, did you knowingly send a snake with a kink and not disclose that information to the buyer? That a very large kink, hard to miss.

Now I did not send a snake with a kink and at this time I am starting to think the pic was taken of a different animal. Besides wesley and mike and mike dont count becouse in his own words the snake he got from me is awsome look at everyone elses POSITIVE feedback
Thanks everyone
Frank

Oh, Frank .... Mike does count, I did not say anything about the quality of the animal being poor....you do not even know me, everything that i stated is absolutely true...I responded the day your ad hit kingsnake, I called you, as your ads always state "phone calls take priority"...you said to me, on the day your ad was posted, I am to busy at the show, call me when it is over and i will let you know what i have available. after the show i called you...as you asked me to....and your response was..... i am way to busy to inventory those animals....when i get to columbus you can see what i have.....
that is horrible service, i offered to paypal you asap for the desired animals.....
you list them on kingsnake, cannot take time during the weekend, which i understand, then the following week have no time to fill an order (i was going to paypal you that day, and pickup in columbus).
i had no intention of purchasing anything from you at columbus, you had a nice female at a very good price so i purchased it. your snake (at least the one i bought) was fine.
it is YOU, not the snake, that i have no use for.......
you are arrogant....in my opinion, bad for the hobby....
mike
ps, glad to see you finally step up for yourself

Hi,

Rich from reptile basics is as good as they come. I have ordered numerous husbandry supplies from him and he really know his stuff. Recently I just bought some flex watt for an incubator and Rich must have spent 20 minutes on the phone going over some details I was not sure about. When I need anything dealing with reptile husbandry he is the first guy I call. I have net met or talked with anyone that had anything but to give high marks for Rich's customer service and support.

Thanks Rich,
Bill Rubin

Frank,
I would deal with ANYONE, in person. Even you again. When I can see the snake that I am purchasing eye to eye, as well as the snake I am buying from, eye to eye, I can make sound decisions, without any type of fear. Face to face is the only way to deal with some people. I am only here, letting people read my opinion, so if they try to make a purchase from you they have the opinion of someone that has had first hand experience with you. from there it is up to them. i look forward to seeing you in ohio again. i will be sure to introduce myself and say hi.
thanks again for the BOI, it is a powerful tool!
mike

First off, I've ordered from Rich on several occasions, and have never been disappointed in the least. I've ordered flexwatt and other husbandry items over the post year or two, and they always ship extremely fast (usually the day i order them) and are always very well packed. The rack I recently bought was shipped in the time frame that I was told it would be, arrived in great condition, and is great.

That said, I've never dealt with Frank or his snakes. I will, however, say that those two pics posted leave much to be desired as proof. A blurry pic of the supposed underfed animal, and just a tail shot of the supposed kinked one.

"IF" those are in fact the animals shipped, then why not send them back? The buyer was immediately offered this option, and declined. Why? Because in HIS opinion the snakes are in no condition to be sent back? And yet he's demanding a discount in the form of partial refund? I'm sorry, but that just smells like a scam. If I buy animals that are not up to my standards, I'd be inclined to ship them back and get my money back. I've taken in snakes locally as rescues, nursed them back to health, and then found good homes for them. If I buy a snake with the intention of breeding it or keeping it as a pet, and it's in poor health, I'd be shipping it back and taking my business elsewhere. I'm not in the business of rescuing animals from neglectful breeders.

Sorry, but it just doesn't smell right on the buyer's end for me, especially without better proof of the snakes and their condition. Just sounds like he wants to get some money back. Just my $.02.

I believe a good resolution was offered here and both parties named agreed to refund upon return of the snakes. Demanding a credit and threatening people over the phone makes you a less desirable person to sell an animal to. I think the B.O.I. works both ways, your last antagonistic remark was enough for me.