Branden Vullo (gymped)- BEWARE

I did the trade because the money I would have received, after Dan sold the entire lot of roaches to a local distributor, would have really made a large impact on my current situation. My friend sells the roaches as I have no idea how to care for them and I do not have an outlet for them. He had them tentatively sold on April 24 or 25th (Can't remember if the guy was coming Friday or Saturday). If I implied this trade would solve my problems, I apologize. The $10,000-13,000 CASH I would've had, had Branden shipped the roaches he claimed he had and agreed to trade would have allowed me to catch up on bills, relieve stress, and most importantly allowed me to cut back on the OT and spend some extra time with my dad.

Wayne is a great guy, I have done business with him in the past and will do more in the future. Very honest business person and always goes out od his way to help others. I hope this gets resolved. If you have the ability to help him in anyway please do knowing that he would help you if he knew you needed it. There are a lot of shifty people in this business and we need to police them ourselves.i say that because I have been scammed out of a few thousand dollars asmall well and had no recourse. We have to hold these crooks accountable!

Is it possible to see a photo of the shipping box with both Branden's and Dan's names? Not just an anonymous box with a weight? How about a photo of the actual roaches shipped/received? Seems like if Dan took the time to take one of the weight, he would have taken photos of the contents.

I may have also missed it, but I didn't see in any of the screen shots where Branden claimed his brother stole the snakes (I apologize if I missed it).

You've been around a long time, Wayne, since 2006. You obviously are not a newb to the hobby or industry. It absolutely begs the question; if you did not initially want to do the trade or sell, and you are so broke; why would you even entertain a $10,000 trade with someone (I presume a stranger) without a written contract?

I am NOT trying to skewer you, Wayne. I'm only trying to understand this kind of high dollar, high stake trade without a written, signed contract by all 3 parties.

have 2 user names here.

Wallbanger26

and

Playboid

I don't recall why... I either lost the password to one or I started with Wallbanger26 and wanted to use Playboid instead... Just because I saw this was an issue in another thread

Yes, it would be because you initially joined in 2006 under the "Wallbanger26" user and then decided you wanted to be known as "Playboid" instead and even announced same.

As far as pictures of the box, if Dan has a better one I will ask him to post it. If you look closely, and TBH I haven't bothered to check myself, the zip code should match. Also, I believe the bottom number was the tracking number.

As far as a contract, I will admit I was an idiot. I should of done that. In my feeble defense, this was not the first transaction of this nature Branden and I have been a part of. The first one went well enough. Gave me the confidence to do this one. Even if I had a written contract, it wouldn't have mattered. I have what amounts to a contract as far as the court is concerned when he replied to the Facebook assessment which I posted. A contract would change nothing in this situation. As a matter of fact, and I'm still baffled by this, the sheriff that came to my home to take the report of theft told me that a contract, which he said I had as stated above in this paragraph, is why I can't go after him with criminal charges??? Idk the law. It makes no sense to me. I'm just repeating what the sheriff said.

The story that his brother stole the animals.... That I'm still looking to see if we have it typed. He begged that I wouldn't make that public. I fear, as I'm learning while going through this, there is no typed out portion stating that. The texts I have only go back until Thursday because I guess they auto deleted after so many; if anyone knows how to retrieve old messages on an iPhone 5 please inbox me.

Regardless of where the animals are, because IMHO I think Branden sold them, I don't think it matters. Bottom line, he won't return them. Branden even stated his brother only stole the clowns, and he won't return the others. He refuses to do anything except what HE wants to do. Send me adult roaches at $1 a piece or ship me installments of roaches at random dates, with random quantities, when it's convenient for him.

Oh yea, and when I said I didn't want to do the trade, which I don't recall where that is but I'm sure I said it, it was referring to one of 2 things:

1. I wish I didn't have to get rid of these animals. The clowns were huge parts of my future plans. The other animals could be worth so much more if I can zero in the genetic potential.

2. If I said it while negotiating, it was because saying I don't want t to get rid of them may drive the desire to do the deal.

Ultimately, I saw trading with Branden as the quickest way to get the most cash in one large deal. I also realize there are more questions that can be explored about why I did the trade from my replies. Again I'm just being completely open and honest. Let's just make sure we stay focused please. I don't see how my motives would change the fact Branden misled me and refuses to compensate me in any way. Which I strongly believe I have represented and proved thoroughly and completely. If I sold them because I wanted to buy the worlds largest pancake and it would cost me $10,000 to do so doesn't change the fact Branden screwed me. Right?

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I think Branden knows about this thread and is not responding. Brandon, it would be good to hear your account of what happened.

I am curious, and it is pertinent, to hear about the timeline of roach development, I am not familiar with how long the various stages last. Apparently the deal was discussed early in April, finalized in mid April, and the roach colony slated for this trade set aside for weeks prior to the completion of the snake shipment, the snakes being the payment for the roaches.
Was the molting into adults roaches which you did not want as part of the trade a foreseeable occurrence, and if so, is Branden's proposal to send shipments of nymphs as they become available actually a bona fide attempt to make good?

Sorry Yesterday was my birthday and I was out yesterday, my taptalk apparently did not let me know a BOI was started directed towards me. Now that I am aware that this has been done here, I can respond but as with on the other BOI that Wayne has attempted to slander me on, he has also threatened me with legal action. He does not want adults he only wants nymphs at his price and at his weight per 1000 so when shipments were made the number was scrutinized, I prefer to always do adults in large deals as I hand count each and every female so that there is no arguing the quantity received. There was no deception or stealing involved we have done deals in this past and as in this situation I am trying to help a financially stricken man in anyway possible but I am not willing bend over to his buddies every wish and demand as I was told before to send whatever nymphs I had and fill the rest in adults at our previous arrangements price. When the value you in adults exceeded value in nymphs they were not pleased. I believe this is our 3rd transaction together one of the priors being $14,000 in trade that went off fine. All that I can say is that, Wayne, if I was trying to scam you in any way shape or form I would have attempted to get much more valuable snakes and a much larger amount in trade, without having faith in your "possible" genetic paradox project. However, threatening me with legal action and telling me that my passport will be revoked and that I will be extradited to Will County to face trial is hardly as you called it " a handing of the olive branch". My reputation in all other prior transactions with Wayne and others speak for themselves. If it weren't for my interest in maintaining my reputation within this community I would not respond. Unfortunately, when I travel or am on the go during the day my taptalk does not always inform me so most of my responses will be when I have a computer handy. Apologies in advance for any delayed responses. This is about as much of our dirty laundry as I am willing to air out in public, Wayne has my number if he wishes to come to a amicable solution. Thank You everyone who shares common ground with us in this community, I hope this changes nothing with anyone I have already done business with and plan to do business with in the future. Enjoy the rest of your day!

I have tried to come to a solution. You claim you're "helping me"??? You can provide what you said you had. You won't return my animals. You want ME to take your adults at your price after I MADE IT EXTREMELY clear I didn't want them. I just don't understand what I have to do to get that through to you, if you didn't have the nymphs at the prices YOU AGREED ON at quantities to fill the agreement, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE THE DEAL!!! You're not helping me, YOU HANDCUFFED ME! Also, I never threatened you. I informed you of what I was told would happen IF I filed a lawsuit. AND I told you it's the last thing I wanted to do. So don't try and make it sound like this is in any way MY FAULT. You made a deal you couldn't fulfill and then expect ME to bend over to make it work. That's not how deals go. You need to return my animals, provide the roaches agreed to at prices you agreed to, or pay me the agreed value in cash. It's on you to fulfill your end of the agreement. It's not on me to take what you have.... That's called bait and switch.

Originally Posted by Gymped

I was told before to send whatever nymphs I had and fill the rest in adults at our previous arrangements price.

Originally Posted by Playboid

you didn't have the nymphs at the prices YOU AGREED ON at quantities to fill the agreement.

Each of you please write here what your version of what the deal actually was.
Also, no one has answered my question about the roach life timeline, the deal took some weeks, did y'all talk about the possibility that these roach nymphs would molt and become adults?

I explained the original and only agreed upon deal by all parties in the assessment on Facebook and I attached screenshots in my original posts.

Simply stated:
Branden was trading me roaches for ball pythons. I asked my friend Dan Aardsma if he could sell a large quantity of Dubia roaches to his distributor friend. Dan replied yes. I then asked Dan to broker the roach end of the deal with Branden, as I have extremely limited knowledge on roaches and Dan and Branden have done a previous deal together. They both knew each other and I saw no issues. Branden agreed to work with Dan on the roaches. They agreed Branden would receive

$15 for every 1000 small
$35 for every 1000 medium
$55 for every 1000 large
$75 for every 1000 X-Large

Attached in the original posts were screenshots of text messages. One of which Branden actually states the agreed upon prices. The only stipulation, NO ADULT ROACHES were wanted.

On April 15th, Branden informed me he and Dan agreed to terms on prices on roaches and he figured he had as much as $15,000 worth of roaches to trade, a combination of all of the 4 sizes at the agreed upon prices list above. As far as how many roaches of each size we would receive was at Branden's discretion. It didn't matter to us as long as it added up to the same value as the ball pythons.

Branden wanted 4 ball pythons. The value of the snakes was agreed to be $10,000 for
1.0 Killer Butter Clown
0.1 Pastel Clown
1.0 Emperor from My Masuku Project
0.1 Superblast

At that point the trade was complete. I was grateful, and I added a 0.1 Karma as a token of appreciation for past, current, and future deals. I also added a Queenbelly from my Masuku project as Branden showed great desire to acquire her. All I asked was Branden throw in whatever "extra" roaches he had after he counted out the $10,000. I told him I would like to see somewhere between $1000-3000 on top of the $10,000. He said no problem. I made it clear during our negotiations of value of the ball pythons, I wanted a quick, simple transaction. I did not want to be a part of something that had added stipulations or would drag on for weeks.

Branden requested I ship ASAP. I did so, shipping the same night the transaction was brokered. Branden agreed to ship the roaches Monday for Wednesday via USPS, which is his preferred method of shipping. Branden received my 6 animals, healthy and as described Thursday, April 16th. On Monday April 20th, I double checked if shipping was still a go and that's when the problems started. Branden said he couldn't ship because of overnight temps. My solution was simple, use same day Delta Dash. Branden was adamant about shipping cost being too high, I said I'd pay the difference in the 2 methods of shipping. I never received an exact count of the roaches, the box dimensions, or shipping quotes. By Wednesday, Branden informed me he could not ship because he simply did not have the roaches to fill the order. He said he would top off with adults, at $1 each. I said not acceptable, ship me back my snakes and when you produce what you claimed to have, we can talk then. Branden informed me my snakes were no longer in his possession and were unable to be returned. By Thursday, Branden's roach count went from as many as $15,000 in roaches available to a meager $2500 and that was at his normal sale price per 1000 per size, not at the agreed prices. Needless to say I lost my top. Branden's solution, I should take adults at $1 each. I said no. His second solution, coming April 26th, he could pay me in monthly shipments of roaches. I said no, that's exactly what I didn't want.

We have made no progress since. The only shipment of roaches we received was the $1100 lot he had left from the supposed $15,000 worth he had to trade, which was actually worth $181. Since then, I looked into legal remedies. I was informed of the procedure and it all sucks. It sucks for him and I the same. Lengthy and costly, but what other choice do I have? When I informed Branden of what I was told would happen, he stopped communication. He has since stated I threatened him and I am slandering his name, yet I do not see how I have done either.

Here's the bottomline. I don't want this to be like this. But Branden has it in his head, as he stated in his reply, he's "helping" me. I just don't see, no matter how you twist it, how ANYONE can consider what he's done/offered to do "help". He doesn't have my animals, which I could sell individually. He doesn't have the roaches he claimed to have, which were presold by Dan to his distributor (no cash exchanged hands, the distributor just said he would take everything we received). He refuses to compensate me the value in cash. He wants to ship adult roaches, which we do not want because we cannot wholesale them at his asking price. Branden wants us to "sell the adults in smaller lots, and we can make some good money". But when I suggested he just sell them himself and send me the cash, his reply was, "I don't sell small lots, I'm a wholesaler. It's not worth my time. I'm not hard up for cash." Literally that was his response, which I found insulting. He wants us to do the leg work for him. I didn't agree to be his employee. That was not part of the deal.

I hope this is what you were looking for Lucille. It is the exact same thing I originally posted. It's detailed, lengthy, and thorough. Not sure what else I can say.

Branden, if you read this I will not contact you by any other means other than an open forum like this. I want everything said to be open to the public. Not because I want to be difficult, but because I want them to see I am being more than reasonable in a search for a solution. Like I told you on the phone, you screwed up. You do not get to bully me into accepting your solutions. The 2 solutions you have are LITERALLY the exact 2 things I DID NOT WANT! My solution was simple, you claim you have everything but the 2 clown animals. SEND THEM BACK THEN! That leaves the $3500 Super Pastel Butter Clown and the $2500 Pastel Clown. $6000 should be more manageable, but not with 6000 adult female roaches. I cannot do anything with your adults females. You have too high of a value on them. I need whatever you have in the 4 agreed sizes at the agreed prices and then you should compensate me in cash for the difference. It's what's right and what's fair. You may have everything, the snakes, roaches and the money, but you don't have the right to bully me into your solutions just because I'm out everything at the moment. There's other ways to get what's mine. Being forced into your way isn't acceptable. I'm willing to work with you, but you need to accept this is all on you and you need to swallow the burden of making this right. I shouldn't feel I should take whatever you offer just because I'm scared I won't see anything.

Thanks again for your time, whoever reads this. Looking forward to Branden's response.

Originally Posted by Playboid

I have 2 user names here.

Wallbanger26

and

Playboid

I don't recall why... I either lost the password to one or I started with Wallbanger26 and wanted to use Playboid instead... Just because I saw this was an issue in another thread. Like I said, I have nothing to hide.

So as to not take this thread too much off topic, please contact me via PM or email about the above mentioned issue of dual member names.

But just for the benefit of everyone else not aware of the rules here, please note that each person is only allowed one member name on this site. One member name per person, and one person per member name. In cases of the above quoted post, when more than one member name is discovered, the policy is to merge the two (or more) accounts back into the oldest member account, UNLESS there is an overriding reason why this would not be in most people's best interests to do so. Such reasons would be, for instance, one particular member name of someone has gotten a lot of notoriety, and everyone would be best served keeping that handle intact for reference.

Sorry, but rules are rules...

If anyone would like to discuss this site policy further, please continue such discussion in the Feedback Forum where it would be more appropriate.