The Serpentarium- Lodi, Ca

Originally Posted by GBU Enterprises

He does not want a cent from the Serpentarium now. As soon as he heard Robert's response, he chose to forfeit the refund because he wanted to try to do the best he could for the animal. He made this post to make people aware that he was sold an animal that he special ordered as a captive bred and recieved a wild caught instead.

Naomi (or is it Sam, usually two people do not share one account) Why are you speaking for the OP?

He is not 'forfeiting' a refund. He chose not to return the snake. He asked for money for vet costs until it was pointed out that y'all are providing free help (which is very good of y'all).

Brandon calls on Christianity:

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

But, this is may just be the Christian side of me thinking, I know this kind of trait is not too common these days.

Then attacks the seller's honor:

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

It is apparent you know Robert, and feel obligated to defend his honor. Just to inform you, he has none. At this point your gonna need a bigger shovel.

Then goes for the gold:

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

Robert, just give me a 10 minute shopping spree and I will forgive you.

And makes a joke of it when called out:

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

Lol, it was worth a try haha

Originally Posted by bxjoon

All in all, I just hope the little guy makes it.

Me too.

One last time guys, try to understand. I asked for a refund before the snake was given to GBU to be cared for. I planned on going to a vet but gratefully GBU was kind enough to help for free, when the refund was denied. I was not going to give the snake to Robert after his commit of euthanizing the snake. Therefore I sought help with GBU. I was post pictures later, I'm working right now

I have a broken X-box 360, maybe Target will give me a refund for it to cover the repair bills. Im done looking at any of this. Ive made up my mind here.

Lucille,
The account is under GBU Enterprises. The business is owned by my husband and I. It's been listed like that since 2009.
Brandon brought the snake back to us to tell us what Robert had said and I told him THEN (this is after Brandon left the Serpentarium with the snake and with the intentions of never returning) that if he was willing I would try to help the snake. Him refusing the refund had nothing to do with getting any care from us. It was offered after he refused the refund.

Originally Posted by GBU Enterprises

Lucille,
The account is under GBU Enterprises. The business is owned by my husband and I. It's been listed like that since 2009.
Brandon brought the snake back to us to tell us what Robert had said and I told him THEN (this is after Brandon left the Serpentarium with the snake and with the intentions of never returning) that if he was willing I would try to help the snake. Him refusing the refund had nothing to do with getting any care from us. It was offered after he refused the refund.

It is very good of you to help the snake. When did you first see it after the buyer received it?

I remember when Brandon came into the shop for the first time. He told me he had just purchased a captive bred red tailed green rat from The Serpentaium. He asked me if it was normal for a captive bred animal to have red bumps on its body and I said no, that it could be either "blisters" from being kept in very poor conditions or it could be subcutaneous parasites which are not found in captive bred animals. We talked about his choice as this is his first snake. He said he had well researched their care, spent a lot of money for its habitat including a humidifying system and was also sold uvb and basking lights( which according to Freight Freitas as quoted from his website " I particularly prefer heat pads for babies and juveniles, as light bulbs can be very drying to the air, which could promote dehydration, as well as shedding issues.") and knew that a captive bred animal was the only way to go. He had a set idea in his mind to the type of snake he wanted and the Gonyosoma oxycephala fit the bill. I told him I would be more than happy to check it out, but at that time he wasn't concerned as he had been assured by Robert at the Serpentarium that it would resolve quickly.

He didn't think he needed pictures, he trusted Robert Coral.

He is a newbie with a good heart.

He brought the animal in on 8-24-2012. The pictures are the ones we took of him. There are blisters present over his back. There is scale rot scars to the ventrals with scars and some broken ribs present on its body. There has been some sort of injury? to the right aspect of the head where as the animal holds his mouth oddly. There was also a mild upper respiratory infection present. He asked us what to do and we told him he needs to return it. He came back rather quickly and told us that Robert said he was sorry he shouldn't have sold him the animal as captive bred and he would refund his money. Brandon had been caring for this animal for that last couple weeks and does genuinely care about it. So when he asked Robert what was going to happen to it and was told either returned to importer or euthanized he was upset. He asked that a refund be made to compensate for the additional care this Captive bred, now imported animal would need. When Robert told him he was a business man that he couldn't do that, he took the animal and brought it to us. If I as a business person,( and I have been told too many times i am not a good business person because I care to much) had sold an animal under those conditions I would have refunded him his money and given him the snake because of my mistake/dishonesty.

He is simply just some one who cares for his snake. Should he have accepted it initially. As seasoned reptile people we all know the answer to that is NO, but early in my career, or really it was my hobby at that time I had purchased some iffy animals with the hope of bringing them around. But I did not have the word of Robert Coral( from The Serpentarium - A Living Reptile Museum (est. 1989) Your TRUE Reptile Specialists! (which is in itself a lie because The Great Valley Serpentarium was established in 1989, not The Serpentariium, which was "acquired" from Bill aprox. 3 years ago.) ) saying it would get better soon. He is a newbie, he made the mistake of trusting.
It appalls me that people are accusing him of trying to get money out of Robert. When he left that shop with his animal he wanted nothing else to do with that establishment. He just wanted to inform people that he had special ordered a captive bred animal and received a wild caught import instead. The Serpentarium took advantage of his naivete and ignorance on how dark our industry can be.

We should be here for the newbies, we should be supportive of them, not crucify them because they try to go up against a larger establishment.
You have to excuse Brandon's sarcastic remark about the 10 minute shopping spree because he truly has no desire to ever enter that establishment again.

Here are the pictures

Originally Posted by GBU Enterprises

He didn't think he needed pictures, he trusted Robert Coral.


He brought the animal in on 8-24-2012. The pictures are the ones we took of him.

So he is admittedly inexperienced, and had the critter for two weeks before you saw it. It is possible that some of all this could be due to his lack of seasoned husbandry.

It is difficult to judge, because the seller said there were two bumps and there are obviously more, but it is possible there were fewer when Brandon first received the snake.

Originally Posted by GBU Enterprises

You have to excuse Brandon's sarcastic remark about the 10 minute shopping spree because he truly has no desire to ever enter that establishment again.

I have admiration and respect for you, that you are helping out. However, I do not excuse what Brandon said. He may have been upset, but if so, why would he ask for ten minutes to get more stuff from a place he never again wanted to enter?

Originally Posted by Brandonadam209

One last time guys, try to understand. I asked for a refund before the snake was given to GBU to be cared for. I planned on going to a vet but gratefully GBU was kind enough to help for free, when the refund was denied. I was not going to give the snake to Robert after his commit of euthanizing the snake. Therefore I sought help with GBU. I was post pictures later, I'm working right now

So if I'm understanding you correctly you where asking for a refund to cover future vet bills you thought you would incur while trying to save the snake correct? Think about that for a minute and put that same situation in any other retail transaction. If you bought a car and it had a problem would you go to the dealer and say okay lets make this right give me a refund I'll keep the car and I'll get the car fixed with the refund. Does that sound fair to the dealer? Heck even when you order a burger at McDonalds and they get it wrong they offer you a new burger and throw the old one away. Do you express your outrage that a cow died to make that burger and now it's been wasted? More than likely you don't even think about it. To be fair we must apply all our expectations equally and not hold one business to a standard we wouldn't hold others.

Also in my opinion euthanasia is not a bad thing. Sometimes it's for the better of the animal in question. If the disease is serious and the outlook dim why put the animal through such misery? In my opinion it might be better to put them down. I personally feel there are situations where euthanasia is actually the more humane course. So I also don't understand why such a suggestion would agitate you so much. Truth be told depending on the situation it may be the best course of action.

Also as many have pointed out you got fairly excited and insulting quick and in my experience that's not a the recourse of a Christian. Does not most religion support tolerance, understanding and forgiveness? Expressing ones dissatisfaction is one thing lowering one's self to insults is another.

That snake looks better than a lot of the freshly imported Gonoyosoma I have seen over the years.

Also as many have pointed out you got fairly excited and insulting quick and in my experience that's not a the recourse of a Christian. Does not most religion support tolerance, understanding and forgiveness? Expressing ones dissatisfaction is one thing lowering one's self to insults is another.

Uhhh......no, most religion does not. Do 'The Crusades' ring a bell? As much as I hate seeing the topic of religion brought into a business discussion regarding reptiles (especially Christianity, which has villified snakes for thousands of years), heres a very accurate depiction of how religions view each other:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55h1FO8V_3w

Back to topic....it sounds like the OP bite off more than he could chew, and tried to backtrack and recover funds from his goof up of choosing the wrong species to work with.

Remember that Brandon came in initially right after her got the snake from Robert. It was the first time he had come into our shop. I asked if he needed help, the usual shop stuff and he rather proudly starting talking about his new acquisition. How he had researched anything, bought everything that he read about a large enclosure, humidifying system and was then told he also needed uvb and a basking light which he also purchased at the Serpentarium (one of my pet peeves, selling customers products they don't need)
At that time he said there were red bumps on its body bit he was not concerned at all at that time because he trusted Robert.
I do not see a dishonest person in Brandon. I know both parties involved and don't trust Robert and in the couple weeks I've interact with Brandon I find him a caring and good person.