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Bad Guy Mark Venhorst nearly ruined my business

R

rasleigh76

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I really don't know how anyone has had a good experience with Boamaster Mark Venhorst. We ordered two sets of his four foot bearded dragon cages with spacers, dividers, and screen tops on Nov. 17. We paid using paypal, got an invoice via email, automated of course, and that was all we heard from him. After hearing nothing at all from him for a week, we tried to contact him to check the status of our order. After three days of not answering or returning our calls and emails, Nov. 27, my wife finally got him on the phone. He told her that he had to order some parts and they had just come in. My wife and I both explained to him that we had a time crunch and we needed the order sent asap. He said he would get everything together and ship it Dec.3 or 4. Then we couldn't get a hold of him again. Dec.4 he sent me this:

I will let you know in am
Can't access now
Sorry I had 2 shows back to back and no time in between
When i got back in had to spend 2 days gettin all animals straight
We re good to go now
I will check on your order in am
Sorry for your experience
It is not typical


Thanks
mark Venhorst

I guess the shows slipped his mind when he spoke to my wife and he didn't have time to let us know even though we told him that if we didn't get our order in time we could lose all of the bearded dragons we had waiting to be shipped before the winter weather. Fortunately, this was not the case, but it did require more money on our part. I sent him a couple of emails letting him know that we did not appreciate his utter lack of professionalism....so he cancelled our order and sent us a refund. To the best of my knowledge, Mark made no effort to even start my order, yet his reason for cancelling was that he felt he could not make me happy. Unfortunately for Mark, the refund did not cover the expenses we incurred because of him nor did it cover the bulbs, domes, and fixtures I bought specifically for his cages that I will no longer need because the cages I'm getting now don't require them. I spent almost as much on supplies for those specific cages as I did for the cages themselves. No, Mark Venhorst is not a good guy. Good guys do not conduct business this way. But he will continue to do business this way until soomeone does something about it. If you've had similar problems with Boamaster, don't just look turn the other cheek, you can report him to the Better Business Bureau or even more effective, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer services. Thanks for taking the time to read this post and pass this on to everyone you know before this happens to them.

Rob Sleigh
 
Unfortunately, I don't see a bad guy here. When buying racks and large cages on the internet, there usually is a lead time that can be anywhere from a few days to two weeks. Reptile Basics has a notice of lead time, though they give that notice when ordering.

I understand it was almost three weeks, but honestly he got busy and made a mistake. It's unfortunate that you're out money on supplies that you no longer need, but perhaps you should shop around next time and arrange for cages to be there before committing to animals and buying supplies.
 
After reading your post, I don't understand - how did Mark Venhorst nearly ruin your business? Because you waited until you had animals on hold before you ordered caging?
Frankly, I think he took the appropriate avenue by simply refunding your money, regardless of where he was in the build process.
 
Id love to see the emails you sent him. It'd give a better idea what exactly you said to him. Based on your talk of the BBB and VA dept of Agr. Id might venture to say you werent exactly all that easy talk to. Just a sneaking suspicion..

Sometimes situations just arent worth getting into. Which (I would assume) would be why he just refunded your money and washed his hands of it.

Just my opinion though
 
You dodge a bullet. His wood cages have horrible fitment and are usually burnt wherever there is a cut. The little engraving he puts on them, falls apart if you so much as even touch them. The hindges and locks did not line up at all on mine and he even predrills these holes leaving you no room to do them right. I had to shave wood off of many of the doors so they would close and open properly. Even when stacked, some leave gaps and some fit tightly. You have to make sure you seal the seams with silicone or else urates will leak out of the cage. The hardware used to mount the plexiglass aren't made to stand normal humidity in an enclosure and rust up. Some of the wood is cut wrong so the grain has to be mounted wrong, leaving several enclosures looking like they are made from different wood and appear as if they are another color than the rest. The varnish on the wood is thin and cheap. A few look barely varnished and some started peeling just after a year. I can do this all day, but I think you get the point.
 
Planning is everything. Get cages in your home before you get critters.

Take down this ad of your, get the cages, then look for critters.

Forum: Bearded Dragons 12-05-2012, 09:43 AM
Replies: 0
[Wanted] Collector Quality Females
Views: 49
Posted By rasleigh76
Collector Quality Females

I'm looking for collector quality female bearded dragons over nine inches in length. If you have anything interesting, pm me or email me [email protected]. Thank you for your time- Rob
 
Really?

I see things much differently. The issue here is communication. None of this would have been an issue had Mark made some kind of effort to contact us. No, it is not okay as a business owner to take money for goods or services and then take care of your end when you feel like it. If things come up that's understandable. Let the customer know. From the time I give a business owner my money to the time the transaction is completed, I expect an open line of communication, during normal business hours anyway. If I have questions or concerns about my order I shouldn't have to hunt someone down to get answers. And you can't possibly believe that it's okay to leave work unfinished for days to go do other things without letting your customers know. What if someone was building your house and decided to take a vacation for a week? It would be okay with you if they didn't bother to tell you? No, I'm a business owner and I would never conduct business that way. All that aside, the guy told my wife the order would be shipped Dec. 3rd or 4th and when he sent the email, he didn't have any idea what the status of my order was. Communication, Communication, Communication! If I knew my cages would take longer, I could buy something to use in the interim. Why would I wait to buy supplies? I made arrangements to have someone build me cages, I paid for them, and then I bought what I needed for the cages, so that when they got here I could furnish them, heat them up, and have them ready. And as far as the dragons, I made my arrangements with them based on Mark telling my wife that the cages would ship on the 3rd or 4th. So, no, I covered my bases properly. The simple fact of the matter is that because Mark didn't call us to tell us that he needed to order parts, or that he was going to two shows back to back, or that he didn't get our order out when he said he would, he's in the wrong here. PERIOD!
 
I had cages, and now I have different cages. So, no, I'm good thanks. I think I'll leave it there. And I'm sorry if you honestly believe that it's okay to do business. We had everything set up to fall in to place. If Mark hadn't told us that the order would be on its way on the 3rd or 4th, or if the order had shipped when he said it would, there would be no issue here.
 
rasleigh76 said:
I see things much differently. The issue here is communication. None of this would have been an issue had Mark made some kind of effort to contact us. No, it is not okay as a business owner to take money for goods or services and then take care of your end when you feel like it. If things come up that's understandable. Let the customer know. From the time I give a business owner my money to the time the transaction is completed, I expect an open line of communication, during normal business hours anyway. If I have questions or concerns about my order I shouldn't have to hunt someone down to get answers. And you can't possibly believe that it's okay to leave work unfinished for days to go do other things without letting your customers know. What if someone was building your house and decided to take a vacation for a week? It would be okay with you if they didn't bother to tell you? No, I'm a business owner and I would never conduct business that way. All that aside, the guy told my wife the order would be shipped Dec. 3rd or 4th and when he sent the email, he didn't have any idea what the status of my order was. Communication, Communication, Communication! If I knew my cages would take longer, I could buy something to use in the interim. Why would I wait to buy supplies? I made arrangements to have someone build me cages, I paid for them, and then I bought what I needed for the cages, so that when they got here I could furnish them, heat them up, and have them ready. And as far as the dragons, I made my arrangements with them based on Mark telling my wife that the cages would ship on the 3rd or 4th. So, no, I covered my bases properly. The simple fact of the matter is that because Mark didn't call us to tell us that he needed to order parts, or that he was going to two shows back to back, or that he didn't get our order out when he said he would, he's in the wrong here. PERIOD!
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that if you didnt already have the animals in your possession you wouldnt have been quite as frantic to get EXACTLY when you needed them. Like its been stated a few times now, you get the housing together FIRST then take possession. Things happen. People forget. Deadlines dont get met ALL of the time. But if you hadnt bought your animals before your cages I would imagine you would be a lot more reasonable about the whole thing..
 
rasleigh76 said:
I see things much differently.
Click to expand...

That's fine, not everyone thinks the same way.

rasleigh76 said:
you can't possibly believe that it's okay to leave work unfinished for days to go do other things without letting your customers know.
Click to expand...
I sure don't. He dropped the ball, and that's not good business.



rasleigh76 said:
Why would I wait to buy supplies?
Click to expand...

Depends on your perspective. I love critters, and ordinarily, I'd plan for their safety and well being, so they would have a home to come home to. Cage delay happens more often than you think, and you would know that if you read a lot of BOI cage stories. I think one should plan with the critter's well being in mind.
 
If you look through Mark's history, or at the other Bad Guy threads at the bottom of this page, you'll notice Mark has a long history of poor customer service and treating customers crappy.
 
I disagree, when you pay someone for a service there is an expectation of a finished project as agreed upon. That's where your expectations should end. This is supposed to be a craftsman level product, I cannot speak on his behalf or for the quality, but these things take time. Rome wasn't built in a day? Don't keep all of your eggs in one basket?
 
I'm sorry, I come from a military family. I served honorably in the United States Marine Corps. I expect people to conduct business with a certain degree of professionalism. Name a business where it's okay to take someones money and then just disappear. Mark never once made contact with us. He never returned our calls. All communication was initiated by us. I guess it's easy to comment when it's not your money.
 
rasleigh76 said:
I'm sorry, I come from a military family. I served honorably in the United States Marine Corps. I expect people to conduct business with a certain degree of professionalism. Name a business where it's okay to take someones money and then just disappear. Mark never once made contact with us. He never returned our calls. All communication was initiated by us. I guess it's easy to comment when it's not your money.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, its not like he strung you along for months, or even weeks. Did he drop the ball by not getting them to you by the 4th? YES.. But really thats about it. And he sent an email saying what happened. But again, had you not put the cart before the horse it certainly wouldnt have been THAT big of a deal.
 
rasleigh76 said:
Name a business where it's okay to take someones money and then just disappear.
Click to expand...
It is not OK that this happened. You still have a responsibility to your plan for your critters, however.

rasleigh76 said:
guess it's easy to comment when it's not your money.
Click to expand...
Your stock just dropped way down with that ridiculously snide comment.
YOU brought the issue here, and apparently if the comments are not to your liking, you feel free to make snide remarks.
 
Again, sure you had a bad customer service experience. You're not out of money you paid to him, he did not flake and keep your money then run. He also didn't send you cages that failed in an indeterminate amount of time. You now have cages, animals won't go without, and you're on your way.

Basically you made this based on what ifs and almosts but not quites.
 
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