The Serpentarium- Lodi, Ca

Originally Posted by rosebud945

I can understand why the buyer refused the refund and kept the snake if he thought that deciding on the refund meant that the snake would be put down. Whether Robert meant that the snake would automatically be euthanized if the buyer agreed to the refund and turned over the snake or not, the buyer seems to have genuinely thought that that was the case.

But Brandon, you do need to avoid exaggerating in a public forum, especially this one, because people do lie here all the time to persuade the people reading that their take on things is the right one.

Robert, if the snake was sick and Brandon wanted to keep it and treat it, why not a partial refund? Let him rescue buy it at a reduced cost basically and then get it healthy? Sellers do that all the time when they have compassion but don't want to lose everything they have in an animal. Just a thought.

I agree, however I do not want and or partial refund at this moment in time. My hygro-temp digital stopped working 3 days ago. I took it as a loss as well since I purchased it from Robert.

I do think I was a little haste earlier, to say things mean or not nice. I apologize for that. Thank you to who believe what I was trying to point out in all this.

Robert, how old were you in 1997?

reptile_jones,

I never quoted him a price for a captive bred Red Tail Green Rat Snake. I didn't know they existed as CB until today.

Brandon paid $99 to special order the snake on Sunday, August 5th. We are closed on Mondays, so the order was shipped on Tuesday, August 7th and arrived Wednesday, August 8th. Brandon called that Wednesday asking if it had arrived and I said yes and informed him of the two bumps over the phone. When he came in later that day to pick it up I immediately showed him the two bumps and allowed him to inspect the animal. He was happy with the snake and I told him to keep us posted on the bumps.

Friday, August 24th is when he came in demanding a full refund to pay for his vet bills (that don't exist) but wanted to keep the animal as well.


Rosebud,

I would gladly give Brandon a partial refund, but he has already stated that he does not want one. He doesn't want a full refund either.

Regards,

Robert Coral
The Serpentarium
www.SnakeMuseum.com

Originally Posted by Wilomn

Robert, how old were you in 1997?

Robert? You can answer other questions, but not this one?

I was 19.

Originally Posted by Wilomn

Robert? You can answer other questions, but not this one?

It seems pretty clear that Wes has a bias toward BGU or whatever they are called, and coversely, a bias against the Sperpetarium. It shows itself rather clearly and he appears to be putting a subjective spin on things to make the Seprentarium look bad. For example his post where he presents a very colored presentation of how he THINKS the whole transaction went down which based on presented evidence can only reflect his own imagination and prejudice and not the truth.

I think the OP is simply what you would call a very high maintenance customer. It seems that he was very demanding, stubborn and only willing to actually hear what he wanted to hear. Perhaps he is young, excited and naive and we cant begrudge him that but it is clear that this has resulted in a very large misunderstanding on his part, for instance the misunderstanding about the snake being a cb specimen. It seems clear and obvious that RObert would not tell him he was ordering a captive bred specimen if he was not even aware of their existence.

I guess I missed quite a bit.

First off I appreciate all that Naomi (GBU) has had to say. Unfortunately I am taking it with a grain of salt considering she is the competition and all.

Pretty much everything else has been covered but I do feel the need to point something else out.

Brandon, those scabs (or blisters) do not result because the snake is diseased nor are they necessarily the result of it being sick. No matter how knowledgeable GBU is they are not a vet so you honestly can't claim this snake to be diseased. Sorry but its the truth. If you really cared for this snake as much as you claim you do then stop being so negligent and get it the proper medical attention it needs. If you have a diagnosis by an actual vet then you can come on here and throw words like disease and sick around all you want. Until then you have proved nothing about Robert but you have definitely "painted" a terrible picture of yourself.

Originally Posted by TheSerpentarium

reptile_jones,

I never quoted him a price for a captive bred Red Tail Green Rat Snake. I didn't know they existed as CB until today.
Brandon paid $99 to special order the snake on Sunday, August 5th. We are closed on Mondays, so the order was shipped on Tuesday, August 7th and arrived Wednesday, August 8th. Brandon called that Wednesday asking if it had arrived and I said yes and informed him of the two bumps over the phone. When he came in later that day to pick it up I immediately showed him the two bumps and allowed him to inspect the animal. He was happy with the snake and I told him to keep us posted on the bumps.

Friday, August 24th is when he came in demanding a full refund to pay for his vet bills (that don't exist) but wanted to keep the animal as well.

Regards,

Robert Coral
The Serpentarium
www.SnakeMuseum.com

Interesting. I do remember you stating that earlier about not knowing of captive breeding of these snakes. So $99 is what you quoted him then. Would you be willing to share who your wholesaler was that you got the snake from?

Originally Posted by ronritzer

It seems pretty clear that Wes has a bias toward BGU or whatever they are called, and coversely, a bias against the Sperpetarium. It shows itself rather clearly and he appears to be putting a subjective spin on things to make the Seprentarium look bad. For example his post where he presents a very colored presentation of how he THINKS the whole transaction went down which based on presented evidence can only reflect his own imagination and prejudice and not the truth.

Those of us who live in California have heard the story about what happened to Bill Gillingham (the original owner of the Serpentarium) and his alleged treatment at the hands of Robert Coral. Before you assume that there is a hidden bias there, understand that the Gillingham-Coral story has made the rounds. Bill is a sweetheart of a guy, was held in the highest regard in this hobby and the allegations about how that transaction went down upset a lot of people in this hobby - especially on the Left Coast.

Now, what you allege is a bias is nothing more than giving people the benefit of the doubt based in reputation. I just laid out why some people have a gutload of heartburn with Coral. On the other hand, Sam and Naomi are also well-known out here as people with strong ethics, a strong passion for animals in general and a willingness to go out of their way to help people out.

As for the catfight between the OP and the Serpentairum - it's all "he said - she said". No written documentation, no receipts, just the word of the OP and Coral.

Coral acted as an agent in getting the OP a snake from an importer. An ill-advised moved considering the reputation of Gonyosoma. Robert was not forced at knife point to sell the OP a snake he didn't even have - he had to go to the trouble of contacting another snake breeder/importer and arranging that deal.

If Robert had reservations about selling the OP a gonyo, he could have easily stated that he did not have them and did not breed them. Claiming that he attempted to talk the OP out of buying one, then going to the hassle of arranging a deal through a third party does not jive. Bad on Coral.

If the OP wants to play Mother Teresa and rehabilitate this snake - well that's his choice. He was given the option of a refund and didn't take it.

In the end, if Coral offered him a refund the OP should have focused this saga into a "Robert Coral sold me a snake with 4 sores thread", posted the pics and let it lie. My issue with the Serpentarium in this soap opera is that they went out of there way to sell an imported gonyo (a species with a well-documented history of acclimation and importation issues) to someone that they could have easily turned down. Period.