GILBERT THOMPSON

Hello everyone I dropped by here to post a little experience I had with this fellow.This guy in my opinion is a total waste of time and effort.I'll explain why...
Couple weeks ago this dude emails and calls me wanting to purchase several k worth of animals from me, from box turtles to abberrant nelsoni's which I specialize in.He ask me what I am doing for the next few days and I told him I was planning on going collard lizard hunting ( something I do for fun and spare $&#036<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>, since the size of the deal was so "BIG" I decided to stay and meet him to do buisness.Well guess what , we made arrangements I cleared my day (since this would be close to a 5hr trip), well the dude never calls or anything, just leaves me hanging, I waited all day to no avail. no phone call, email ,nothin.
Well the next day I get a email appologizing and we talk on the phone and planned another meeting in the morning.We'll guess what the same thing happens.After many attempts to call and email him wondering whats going on I give up and decide to go online and search Kingsnake for some good deals and low and behold what do I find...adds that he placed while I was calling,emailing and waiting on his @$$.I thought that was extremly rude of him and just decided to let it be. I then get an email from him the next day sayin some "crazy stuff" had taken place and he'll get back with me.
A week later he calls again saying he's ready to meet me that night.I say o.k. and that I'll call before I leave, I told him that my car was down and I had to arrange to get someone to bring me. After all that guess what happens again, yup... stood up again. Not one call, email, nothin. Just an email the next day sayin he'll give me a call later. At this point I'm pretty ticked off..I can't believe anyone would be so inconsiderate to repeatedly treat a person like this. So I send him an email explaining that this is not cool and that ea. day he's done this , this has taken $$$ out of my pocket.He rudly sends me a email back stating because he's a mighty narcotics officer and he has to be ready to leave at a moments notice(..do I care..NO..his problems shouldn't affect me and should not affect how he chooses to keep his word), and that he won't bother me again.
So after putting me through all these changes, talking with him on the phone for hours, missing 2 days of hunting in which I average 50-70 collareds a day @ $10ea.(at least 1k out of my pocket), passing up other sales cause he reserved animals for purchase, this guy just blows me off..no appology or anything.I have been selling reptiles for close to a decade and I have never had anyone act so unprofessionally or treat me in this manner.I really expected much more from him, especially since he is an officer of the law and loves to post advice in this forum. But this goes to show that no matter the occupation, how much they talk and sound sincere,
people will be people.
Regards,
Justin Mitcham
wwpsdallas.tripod.com

justin
that kind of behaviour is worse then inconsiderate. the excuse of being a police officer is simply not good enough either. thanks for giving us the heads up!
why didnt he just buy the animals and send the money if he has such an unpredicatable schedule???
that problem is his and his alone..and certainly not yours nor should it become yours either..just as you said..i agree 100 percent.

Think of it this way. That's 50-70 collards a day that you won't be snatching from the wild to sell. I wouldn't waste that many days on someone but like i said i'm glad you did so those w.c. collards have at least another day to hide from you before you sell pillage their locale. Anyway wish you bad luck on your next rape the land trip for a buck...

You know Justin, I think the Window shopper epidemic has gotten worse this past year! &nbsp;Just yesterday I was talking with another breeder and we were saying the same thing. &nbsp;Twice we were taken for a ride by a guy named Christopher from "k and s reptiles" in suppossed trades. &nbsp;Twice in one week, both with different animals. &nbsp;The first time he wanted to trade and promised to have the animals shipped out in the morning , by the second day nothing. &nbsp;He blamed the lack of shipping on someone else and we closed the deal and we traded w/someone else! &nbsp;Then Just on wed we set up another trade for different animals and again nothiing, after he promised to have the animals sent out. &nbsp;After I e-mailed him telling him the situation was getting ridiculous he e-mailed me back rudely stating it was against his powers LOL! &nbsp;I think there has been a new hobby found! &nbsp;The hobby of wanting something, promising purchase/trade and then dissapearing. &nbsp;Or maybe it is just a game! &nbsp;It just sucks when you have to turn away other sales etc because you promised the animal/animals to someone else! &nbsp;Next time maybe you should tell him you will meet him! &nbsp;Or send them to your website which I always get sent to and that should be good enough! &nbsp;For the both of us goes the same saying. &nbsp;Screw me once shame on you, Screw me twice shame on ME! &nbsp;Blow him off you will recover! &nbsp;You always do!
Vic Machese
Exclusively Exotics <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Thanks for the heads up Justin. I received an email from Gilbert about some of my high end leopard geckos, I certainly won't get my hopes up about a big sale from him!

On another note, I wish you would leave the collards alone. I can understand herping for fun and perhaps capturing a pair or small group for captive breeding purposes (I have done this myself) but must you snatch 50-70 collards a day from their habitat? You have a lot of high end colubrids, make your money breeding them and leave the poor collards alone! Just my opinion.

I want to take this opportunity to state, As long as Justin has the required permits from the state and collects the legal amount of Collards allowed by law then there is nothing wrong with collecting them for re-sale. spam_I agree with not raping the wild, but that is why there are laws and limits set forth by the DNR in those states where the animals come from. What do you think would happen if non of the Collards were taken from the wild? would there be an overpopulation? Probably. spam_Also this thread was posted to inform others about this person and was not posted for an opportunity to jump on Justin for his business practices. spam_it is very unprofessional for you folks to try and tell him how to run his business when you really have nothing to say about it. spam_Just my thoughts ont his. spam_Also thanks Justin for the heads up on this Guy.

Well, to balance things here, I just had an extremely pleasant experience with Gilbert Thompson. &nbsp;
We spoke several times on the phone about some frilled dragons. &nbsp;He asked all of the right questions, explained his set ups (which he got together BEFORE making the purchase), and everything went extremely smoothly. &nbsp;Within one week, I was happy to ship out some cbb frillies that I felt were going to a very good home (which means a lot to me). &nbsp;He was also appreciative and did not try to hassle me on pricing (also a big relief these days).
I am sure he will get on this thread at some point. &nbsp;This does not sound like the knowledgeable, expedient customer that I dealt with. &nbsp;
I would not write him off. &nbsp;Things do come up. &nbsp;Besides, I'm sure an extra day at your facility to take care of animals and clean cages is not so terrible!
Dana

Thanks Rob for pointing that out, people seem to like to beat up on the collectors these day's , I guess it's just not politically correct anymore, I remember back when hundreds of people would flock here to hunt greybands and other reptiles, back then it was the thing to do and no-one cared.Today these same people bust my chops for collecting, and are the same ones who come running when I have a good deal on wildcaughts. Besides I'd say 50-75% of the animals I collect are sold on Kingsnake to other breeders who have the intention of breeding the animals I supply, it's not like I am selling these guys to Petco or anything.



Dana,
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed talking with Gilbert, he seemed like a very nice person, sincere and genuine. But his actions proved otherwise to me.

I apologize if anyone took what I said about the collards badly. It is just my opinion. I have met Justin and he is a nice fellow, i didn't mean what i said to be a personal attack on his business ethics, and I also apologize for posting off the topic. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me.

Further reading regarding similar situation

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/cgi-bin....;t=9736

Jackie Lapradd