Top Shelf Exotics (Inquiry)

Originally Posted by Chameleon Company

We've had the following calamities run up the flagpole as excuses so far:

1) ice-age weather
2) personal illness
3) fire
4) careless employees (but not "the owner")
5) FedEx truck size
6) Staples slowness on ink-cartridge deliveries
7) ?

If I missed any, someone will fill me in. What's next .. dead Grandma's and flat tires ?

My dog ate the money

I remember the conversation but not when with Chris about the rack. I was told the T-stat fried open overheating the rack killing $100 - 150 k in co doms and hets. I do remember it was around the end of summer or so since these were supposed to be shipped to the folks complaining now . Last I heard from him about it the folks that prepayed were going to be notified of a delay due to the problem.

“Quotable quotes” from the BOI Reader’s Digest; it has been edited for content and modified to fit your screen :

who gives a i it had hookworms. The fact it was infeste with something IS NOT AN EXCUSE. IT WAS STILL OBVIOUSLY ILL AND IN NO CONDITION TO SHIP, AND IF YOU DID NOT NOTICE THIS FACT THAT MEANS YOU ARE EVEN WORSE THAN ALL OF US HAVE COME TO REALIZE YOU ARE! WHAT PART OF THIS DONT YOU UNDERSTAND? ARE YOU THAT SLOW? SERIOUSLY?!!!

An apology means nothing when it is bombarded with pathetic excuses. You screwed up, simple as that, why can't you admit to it?

Now, heres what I want you to do. Highlight the following italic text, print it out, stand in front of a mirror and say this over and over.......

You can do it, say it with me now.....

"I screwed up, I shipped an animal that was in no condition to ship, and I helped end its tortured miserable life. Hookworms or no hookworms it was still sick and I shipped it anyways. I knew this and I am sorry. Im sorry I keep making excuses, and I'm sorry I keep trying to change the subject. Im a miserable and I do not deserve to live nor own LIVE animals. I have alot to learn and I will no longer be an ignorant mindless twit. I will listen to constructive critism and I will no longer give out advice of any kind, NO ONE IN THIER RIGHT MIND SHOULD take advise from me, perhaps one day I will be worthly or re-joinng the community, but until then I will do my best ot be humble and admit to my wrongs. Please forgive me. "
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C. Johnson
Top Shelf Exotics
TSE Forums

One minor detail though, in the case at hand there was never even an excuse uttered.

Chris replied to my 16th email:

Chris/Pat/Glenn/Sybil,

Good Morning,
This is todays request for a refund of 1684.00 for the sick snakes that you shipped me. I have never received a response to the other 15 requests for refunds. The only conclusion I am able to come to is that you have committed a fraud, and that you have no intentions of meeting your commitments. I will pursue every avenue available to me on a local, state, & federal level to collect this debt.

Sincerely, Bob E.


On May 6, 2006, at 10:45 AM, C. Johnson wrote:

Good morning. I stated that I would be around again briefly this weekend and you were also informed that correspondence to the sales address would be blocked. You need only send correspondence to cjohnson@topshelfexotic.com as the others simply bounce here. Repeated emails will do nothing to further your cause when I am not able to view them at the rate of those with fauna addictions.
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To further explain what you apparently have ignored our financial accounts have been bouncing back and forth between locked and review status. And obviously paypal is locked, not limited access or restricted. Locked.
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Before anything can be corrected this must be corrected first and despite what a few people believe this process takes a bit of time.
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I am quite used to people thinking they apparently know everything, this type of behavior is quite typical on fauna and does not phase me. Considering what I have explained is continuously ignored and words are put into my mouth leading to ignorant assumptions I have no need or desire to contribute further unless I deem it necessary.
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Now to the specifics... In order to correct this mess we must have active financial banking accounts. The accounts themselves are locked and under review due to recent events. I would think this is more than obvious by now. I am left waiting for these banks to correct this matter. I have been supplying them with whatever they require as asked. They also must get in touch with PayPal to confirm information and such, I am not how long banks take to accomplish this but I am sure it is not very long.
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Once these accounts are brought back to an active status we must contact paypal in order to re-add these accounts as a funding source since they were removed once the accounts themselves were locked completely out of their system. After reviewing a post from another member I attempted to open another account to add one of the accounts just to confirm her statements and low and behold it was still locked out. I was hoping she was correct and it would allow me to expedite the process but I knew better.
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Instead of simply adding the accounts back into paypal through its interface they must be contacted directly via telephone. When adding through the interface I was prompted with a message stating that the accounts were individually restricted from being added to their system and provided with a toll free number in order to contact them regarding the aforementioned message. Its basically a back and forth game providing the banks and paypal whatever they require in order to get things back in order. Once everything is kosher the accounts must be added to paypal again. Two small deposits per account confirmed, and then funds transferred.
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You will also be required to return the specimens before any refund is issued. Any additional expenses encountered such as vet bills will be included as well, just shoot me over a copy of the report so I have it on hand. I am sure you probably sent this to the sales address but I do not have access to it at the present moment.
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As I said before this takes time, and it is not as easy as opening a new account. I wish it were as simple as most describe but unfortunately it is not. I have every intention of correcting these matters despite your rude and derogatory comments. Such comments do not expedite the process but you are more than welcome to continue as it will fall on deaf ears. If the comments and harassment continue I will be more than happy to allow you the pleasure of reading the forums while other members report their future refunds until I feel that you have matured. You may believe what you like but I am in no condition to deal with more complications than this issue has already presented. Of course they are well deserved, I am not denying that but dealing with children's games while my hands are tied is certainly not something I am about to deal with. If you were able to understand my position perhaps things would differ. My only concern at this point is my recovery and the correction of the issues which have been left for me to address.
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If you have any additional concerns please let me know. I apologize that this matter does take time to correct but as I stated above the process is a bit more complicated than you or I prefer. Hopefully this has helped explain the process and situation a bit better. The moment I have some type of update on the situation I will be sure to let everyone with pending claims know. Have a good weekend.
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C. Johnson



*Chris,
Let me explain to you how this is going to work. You are no longer some one that I trust, period. I am willing to ship the snakes to an intermediary to hold until I receive a postal money order or cashiers check. When I give this intermediary the go ahead he will send the snakes to you. No check, No snakes. This part of the transaction is non-negotiable, just consider it MY TOS. Because you have made an accusation that I was rude to a 10 yr. old girl on the phone, the fact that you called me ignorant, and the condescending nature of your emails, you will need to issue a personal apology to me on the Fauna Thread. This part of the transaction as well is non-negotiable. Your timetable is also unacceptable. I have been dealing with this since January and I am ready to be done with it, therefore I want a conclusion to this no later than Midnight Friday 5/12/06. How you come up with the funds in of no concern to me. Borrow from friends, relatives, sell your animals, I don't care. You have until 12 midnight tonight to accept the term outlined here, only then will I call off the Law Enforcement Agencies and the State and Federal Revenue Agencies. This will allow you to re-establish some credibility with these agencies and the customers that you have left holding the bag. You need to understand that you are no longer in the drivers seat on this. You must choose, but choose wisely. I will delay posting this on fauna until the midnight time-limit has passed.
Sincerely,
Bob England


On May 6, 2006, at 4:55 PM, C. Johnson wrote:

Yet again you have ignored what I have said. This is unfortunately becoming quite a habit. All the demands and threats you may come up with do not change the facts I included in my previous message to you. Until I am able to regain the ability to transfer or issue funds I am left waiting like everyone else. I also find your comment regarding “sell animals” quite unrealistic. Again you have chosen to ignore the fact that I have repeatedly told you that our accounts are locked, paypal included, which makes such deposits or fund acceptance impossible. Even if it were a possibility there is no point adding funds to locked or restricted accounts, before the funds could be accessed the same steps must take place. I ask that you please use a bit of common sense before making demands in the future as this is the last time I am repeating myself in response to you. Threats and demands to not alter or change the facts of the situation and what must be accomplished before I am able to proceed with the processing of claims and reimbursement. If this timeframe is unacceptable then I honestly do not know what to tell you. As I stated previously once I have new information all those awaiting such claims will be notified. I am truly sorry you are left waiting but as I have said numerous times now my hands are indeed tied until these matters are corrected. I have already explained this in detail, for reference you may read my previous message. If you would like I will be more than happy to forward my previous message to you again for your review.
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And regarding the “rude” remark, I was reporting what I was told. Accusing a child of lying when asking for contact information when she specifically states she does not know is quite rude in fact. Feel free to enlighten me to how you feel this is not rude and I’ll be happy to listen. And your comments regarding fauna do not concern me. Perhaps in the past I may have been concerned but I have greater priorities. I do not have the hours to spend arguing with people who are ignorant to facts and wish to base opinion on exaggerated assumptions. What is said on these forums or its aftermath is of no concern to me. I have more important things to tend too. *
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In regards to the intermediary for the transfer of specimens; this is not a problem. In fact I was going to suggest this. I also have no issue apologizing yet again. I have done so nearly a dozen times. What is once more?
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C. Johnson


Chris,
Is that a "No"? lol Maybe you need to reread my last email as well. I will only accept a cashiers check, or Postal Money Order, Paypal is out of the equation so I don't know why you keep bringing it up. And why is selling your personal breeder animals unrealistic? I thought you said that you would give the shirt off of your back to correct things? More Bluster and BS? As far as ignoring you, far from it Chris, you are definitely #1 on my radar. You just don't like the fact that you don't scare me with all your smarmy comments, and the fact that your BS excuses aren't working on me.

Again I will repeat this as you must have a problem with comprehension, YOU ARE NOT IN THE DRIVERS SEAT ANYMORE CHRIS, WE ARE. I am not threatening you Chris, I am making you a solemn promise "I will do everything legal to put you out of business". So interpret that as a threat if you wish. If I can't get you to meet your commitment to me with a refund, my second choice is to see you in jail, and every time I get one of your smarmy Pat/Glenn emails, or one of yours, I think I might like the second choice more.

Your explanation of the rude comment is untrue, I never ask the 10 year old for contact info, so the accusing her of lying is a falsehood, I did however ask her if I could talk to her mother, whom I did ask for contact info, and it was her that said to try your work number, because that is where you were. So now consider yourself enlightened. As I stated before I don't care where you get the money, sell blood, sell your condo, sell "Free Chris Johnson" t-shirts it doesn't seem to register with you that I couldn't care less where you get the money to meet your commitments. Since you don't care about fauna, I assume you are lifting my promise to hold off until midnight to post these emails?

Now back to business, We agree on using an intermediary, I have suggested Casey Hulse, Rich, Bobby Hill (Varnyard), whom do you suggest? We also agree on a personal apology from you on the Fauna thread, so the only issue left to resolve is time, and I have given you my opinion on that, and I still stand firm on that. 5/12/06 will be our 4 month anniversary, it seems appropriate. I will await your reply.
Sincerely, Bob England


On May 6, 2006, at 9:03 PM, C. Johnson wrote:


Again, fourth and final time. In order to issue funds to fund such a payment accounts must be corrected. Let me spell this out for you Robert since you are having such a tough time understanding it:
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LOCKED BANK ACCOUNTS / PAYPAL + THE NEED TO WITHDRAWAL FUNDS OR ISSUE PAYMENTS = NOT POSSIBLE UNTIL CORRECTED
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I also have no problem selling whatever I must in order to make sure everyone gets every red cent they are owed just as I stated. But in order to do this, that’s right Bob, one must have a way of accepting funds and then dispersing them. PayPal cannot be used to accept funds currently which is how I accept most payments. Direct bank wire and\or checks are possible to circumvent paypal but guess what Bob? That’s right… Then the same situation applies regarding the withdrawal or use of said funds. I have already stated this numerous times and yet you fail to understand its simplicity. I took the time to outline the exact steps I must take to rectify our current situation and thus far it has been an extraordinary waste of my time. If you fail to understand it there is really nothing more I can offer which will allow you to comprehend these matters. I have wasted enough time attempting to enlighten you to a very simple series of facts. You can continue ignoring them from here on out if you prefer as I am not explaining them to you again.
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And in reply to your continued threats….
They do not concern me Bob. Seriously, do you honestly think I care about business now? No. I told you my priorities are elsewhere. All I care about is correcting pending matters and my recovery. Nothing more. “Business” after all of this is corrected if it all will be halted indefinitely until I am able to return and personally oversee matters. I made a mistake once which will not repeat itself again. In a nutshell your threats mean nothing to me Bob. It still does not change what must be done in order to issue the refund you desire. Threats do nothing to hasten the situation, in fact I told you that I am perfectly willing to have you sit back in that drivers seat of yours and watch while our credibility is “earned back” as you so eloquently stated as refunds are issued and reported on your beloved fauna forums. Whatever authorities you wish to contact between now and the time accounts are corrected and I regain access will be told the very same. I am not in the least bit concerned as the authorities can easily verify this information if they desire. In fact it has already been done in regards to one particular case. You can either work with me to correct this issue or you can make things harder for the both of us. Since you have been nothing but difficult up until now and refuse to listen to logic I do not expect very much of you but I am always up for the stray surprise. Regardless my intentions to correct matters remain the same no matter what threats you make or action you take. I stated I would correct this mess and I fully intend on doing so no matter what I must do to make it happen. If the banks clear things up by your “Deadline” that would be fantastic. All the better! I am quite anxious to correct these matters just as you must be to see this situation come to an end. I honestly do not have the luxury to allow such stress currently and the sooner I can rid myself of these issues and set matters straight the better. I cannot part water nor can I change the policy of these financial institutions. And guess what Bob? Nor can you. Unless you’re a bank official in disguise I see you have no more say than I regarding the time it takes to review and correct these matters. But I could be wrong…. *If you’re able to either cross those t’s and dot those I’s faster feel free to lend a hand. Bob is waiting and so am I!
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As it stands now I’ve tossed a few faxes back and forth between PayPal and our Banks and I am awaiting notification from our banks regarding the lift of limitations. I have no problem providing your postal money order or cashiers check. Soon as the limitations on the bank accounts are lifted I can address your particular matter. Those waiting for funds through paypal will be dealt with once those accounts are reincorporated into paypal.
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Aside from the restraints which currently have my hands tied for the moment we are in agreement. Casey or Rich will suffice as intermediary for the exchange of animals when the time comes. The only issue which remains is your refusal to accept the fact that until I am able to access funds you are left waiting just like me. If I had the funds in hand to bypass banking and obtain a money order I would but I do not nor can I obtain such an amount until our accounts are back in order.
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Oh yes, and in regards to your comments to the child. I was told otherwise. Until recently (when told of your call) I have not spoken with then in quite some time, perhaps why your inquiry bothered the child in the first place. Neither of them would know if I were at work, home, McDonalds, or Disneyland. I was told you were told to contact the toll free number, not that I was “at work”. Regardless they were disturbed by whatever it was you said and perhaps exaggerated your part of the call. Frankly I do not know. All I have to go on is what I was told and considering your correspondence certainly shows you are more than capable of being quite rude and very ignorant you can see why it was not doubted. I simply suggested she seek harassment avenues if the matter repeated itself, she concurred and it was left at that. I certainly had no desire to deal with the matter any further. If you say that your comments were not directed to the child I will take your word for it. No harm no foul that I am aware of.
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I will respond to any further replies by Sunday evening. Monday afternoon at the latest. *Take care.
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C. Johnson

Chris,
Let me clear something up for you, it's not that I don't understand what you are trying to say, it's simply that I don't care. What makes you think that I have some need to hear about your financial woes, problems that you created, by avoiding straight answers to simple questions, the whole Pat/Glenn thing, all the BS excuses when people asked about when their animals would ship. These are all problems that you created. I realize that your delusional mindset prevents you from seeing the rest of us as nothing more than simpletons and idiots barely deserving of your contempt. Let me know how that works for you in prison. I developed my simple rules of life in the Marines, No better friend, no worse enemy. I showed you nothing but respect in all communications between us until you tried to screw me, at that point all bets were off. Your medical condition doesn't interest me at all, you can get all the free medical attention you want in prison. I don't care about any of your imaginary friends, all I care about is you meeting your commitments in a timely manner. I assume they have pawn shops in NY, You can sell your personal collection of reptiles, if you really wanted to you could raise the money, it's only $1684.00 + shipping. So instead of wasting time here writing these novellas, trying to blow smoke up my dress. Focus on getting the money to pay me back. Focus, Focus, Focus

PS, the part about you using Paypal "PayPal cannot be used to accept funds currently which is how I accept most payments." are you still trying to sell more sick animal, I got to hand it to you Chris, you still think people exist only for your profit and pleasure.


On May 6, 2006, at 10:09 PM, C. Johnson wrote:

I expected yet another reply ignorant to the facts I have given you and you have not let me down. Congratulations.
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I am not wasting any more time on you. When our accounts are in order you will be issued your refund after the animals have made safe arrival at an intermediary location and no sooner. You’ll know more when I know more and no sooner. If this is unacceptable I suggest you continue to cry on the shoulders of your fellow fauna patrons and stop wasting my time with threats that I could care less about. As I said before I am perfectly willing to supply whatever authorities the exact same information which can be easily verified. You are in no position to tell me otherwise and I am done listening to your threats. When you feel like conducting a mature conversation you may drop me a line. Until then, have a good evening.
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C. Johnson

Chris,
Ignorant = Someone who drops the soap in a prison shower
Bob E.

This concludes todays segment of "Take these handcuffs off of me, don't you know who I am?"

How lame. I don't know why he bothers even replying, as it is just more of his endless diarrhea of the mouth. To those of you who have decided that the best course of action is to put your foot on Chris's throat and keep it there until you either get restitution or there is nothing left to be had, I believe it not only the course of action most likely to succeed if success is possible, but also the deserved one.

I know exactly when the t-stat malfunction was. I saved that chat because a guy was going on about how Chris only cared about the money, and not the snakes. We were told it was $150K in animals, only one was still alive but badly burned and wasn't likely to make it, and it happened on 7/6/05. I'll post the part of the chat I have if you guys really want...but it really doesn't contain anything useful other than what I've already stated.

those e-mails are unreal... makes you wonder what color the sky is in his world. I love how he continues to explain his financial position...

Hey Bob,
Email Chris, and find out what visuals he has and would sell. Tell him he can make it total $2000 (wholesale) and ill send YOU payment (through a MO) after he ships me what i bought from him. I have a great reputation and excellent references (sutherlands , barker etc...) in the Ball Market, that he should not have a problem shipping to me first. So now Chris really wont have a Paypal excuse and we can see if he really has visuals, i know if it was me and someone offered to do this and i REALLY wanted to make good, i would jump at the chance...

If he agrees i will call you and him on 3 way and then put it all in writing... Lets see if he really wants to make good!

Originally Posted by nextworld3

Hey Bob,
Email Chris, and find out what visuals he has and would sell. Tell him he can make it total $2000 (wholesale) and ill send YOU payment (through a MO) after he ships me what i bought from him. I have a great reputation and excellent references (sutherlands , barker etc...) in the Ball Market, that he should not have a problem shipping to me first. So now Chris really wont have a Paypal excuse and we can see if he really has visuals, i know if it was me and someone offered to do this and i REALLY wanted to make good, i would jump at the chance...

If he agrees i will call you and him on 3 way and then put it all in writing... Lets see if he really wants to make good!

I emailed him your offer. When I mentioned that he could sell his breeders, he didn't seem to want to do it , it was easier for him to just talk about it.
I hear he has some nice hets, he would probably like to sell

Hi Bob,
well we will see what happens, It would have to be an awful lot of 800+ gram female hets for me even to consider it...