Bad Guy Avangel Reptiles- parasitic reptiles, and more

[favrielle]

I consider it highly inappropriate and am a little surprised that it has not been commented on a lot more.

Extremely inappropriate, not just because of the business relationship, but because she was 17, legally still a child/minor. There's a line you just don't cross, and he stomped right over it.

 

[Kristi23]

All of that sexual talk to someone you do business with.
That's disgusting.

I just sat and read through all the messages. I agree with you on that. If you want to flirt with a customer, do it after business is all done and you become friends. Otherwise it's super inappropriate. I would be pretty upset if I purchased from a breeder and he started talking like that.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

Extremely inappropriate, not just because of the business relationship, but because she was 17, legally still a child/minor. There's a line you just don't cross, and he stomped right over it.

The conversation felt a bit predatory to me.

If a guy is older than a gal and plays the "you sound so mature" card, it is a red flag in many cases.

Not sure about the legality, as different states have different standards for that sort of thing (I think).

 

[Kristi23]

The conversation felt a bit predatory to me.

If a guy is older than a gal and plays the "you sound so mature" card, it is a red flag in many cases.

Not sure about the legality, as different states have different standards for that sort of thing (I think).

I agree. It sounded creepy. And yes, each state has a different age and I'm not sure he did anything illegal. Just very wrong and inappropriate.

 

[favrielle]

I'm not saying he did something illegal, though with states setting their own age guidelines which vary widely, it's possible. Either way, anyone under 18 is a minor. And I've seen that sort of "conversational grooming" before, firsthand. Red flags everywhere.

Even if she'd been a 20-something year old woman instead of a 17yo girl, the conversation was not professional or appropriate. If a breeder with whom I was doing business started talking to me that way, I'd promptly be adding him/her to my "Do Not Do Business With!" list.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

No disagreement here.

 

[sapphira80]

Additionally, the flip flopping on whether he was a veteran or not is definitely weird to me. He claims to be a vet, then says he isn't, then goes back to saying he is. Flip-flopping should be for shoes and politicians only IMO (haha). I think we all agree with you on your dislike of his use of military service to excuse poor behavior as well.

This smells a little fishy to me too. I couldn't find my husband's DD214 to compare, but I know in the biggest blue spot on the DD214 pictured above is where they write whether you are honorably or dishonorably discharged, medals received, training, etc... So I don't know why that would be blacked out.



I don't know this guy from Adam, and have no clue his discharge circumstances are. I do know that using veteran status as a shield for bad behavior or as a pity party it's generally frowned upon by respectable veterans.



None of that is really the point anyway. There's no excuse for sending out sick animals. A respectable breeder that unintentionally sent out a sick animal, would be shocked, embarrassed and immediately try to make it right. By immediately jumping to damage control, spins and blaming tactics, I personally would assume that the seller knew it was sick when they sent it.

 

[snakesareawesome]

There used to be a special forces guy that came in and had me do work for him. I don't remember exactly what unit he was in but it was something pretty high level. Anyway one day he was at a bar around the corner from where I worked and this guy was telling all kinds of lies about being a war hero and he walked over, tapped the guy on the shoulder, said your a damn liar and knocked him out with one punch lol Sounds like this guy needs the same treatment

 

[NekoGeckos]

Hi, I haven't read every post in this conversation, but knowing Chaz I got the jist of it and I read all the important bits too.

When I saw the screenshots of those inappropriate messages he sent that girl, I started crying because I thought that those were shots of my conversations with him.

I was also a minor, he was 27 and I was 17 when we started talking. He gave me a lot of bad advice on breeding leopard geckos, including that its okay to breed females at 35 grams and that what people don't know won't upset them.
He told me a story about how he once killed one of his leopard geckos by sealing her in a container with rubbing alcohol for an hour and leaving for work.

About his military status, he told me he used to be a soldier and retired early because he sustained a spinal injury. He said he served for 4 years.

He always talked about how much older than me he was and how he was much more experienced than me. Not just in reptiles...

Me and him kinda started dating. He complimented me a lot, often just so I would send him nudes. Remember, I was 17. He also exposed himself to me over skype a few times, and when I told him he was creeping me out and I was going to start dating people for real, he sent me a dick pic, as a final goodbye.

Throughout our relationship, he continuously made plans to meet me in person. He asked me to take a train to Riverside so we could have relations. He sent me pictures of his family, talked about what our babies would look like, it was ridiculous. He always told me exactly what I wanted to hear, and acted self conscious so I would feel bad for him. It worked. I really liked him. But when I thought about the 10 year age difference between us, it began to creep me out and I eventually came to my senses.

But before ending it, a lot of things happened. First was I won his first armion contest, back when it was called avangel powder, and he still made me pay shipping for the product. He, who brags so much about making so many hundreds of dollars off his geckos can't even pay the $6 shipping for his girlfriend. That was the first red flag.

Eventually, when I would ask him for advice on my gecko's health, he would just tell me to use his powder and not to tell anyone they were sick. He said telling people would make people dislike me, and that's why he never posts about his animals being sick. BUT he always wanted me to promote that powder of his, even though it didn't help my geckos improve at all. I am still extremely annoyed at how frequently I see ads for this crud. It's basically just glorified multivitamins + rosemary. It smells horrible.

Anyway, that's my experience with Chaz. He's a cheapo, a pervert, and in my opinion, a very bad and dishonest business person and even worse influence for new breeders.

And this doesn't have much to do with anything, but Chaz and I started dating almost immediately after I got out of an abusive relationship, so I was extremely susceptible to this kind of flirtatious manipulation.

In case you don't believe me about my experience, here are a few things he said to me that might make others shudder.

"You've got a lot to grab on to"
"When I was your age a super hypo cost $200"
"I thought you loved me" via kik after I blocked his number

This was just to add to his character. I don't care if I get more hate mail or attempts to be silenced by him or his "employees" because I finally spoke up.

I'm sorry I don't have screenshots of our conversations. This was a year ago and I have since gotten a new phone and no longer use kik. I could see if the skype messages are still there but its unlikely they will be.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I am sorry to read of your experience, Darien, but it has been brave of you to come forward with your account. I am much dismayed by that kind of behavior.

 

[juliasara]

I'm glad you posted too! I also had a similar experience with chaz. I didn't date him tho. He did try to get me to fly to California to have relations with him. He offered me a free gecko at one point if I would leavey 12 year old here and buy a $600+ ticket to fly there. He most definitely plays the low self esteem card to get women to feel bad for him. The best way I can describe it is praying on women. I really think it turns him on. I would post some of the texts he sent me but they ate extremely inappropriate and by the time I sensored them there wouldn't be much left and I don't want to het an infraction for them! The complaints were kinda nice at first but they got creepy fast. I haven't wanted to post my experience with him because I was afraid he would attack me or try to make people not like me and I really hope one day to breed and sell on a larger scale. At this point I'm really not scared of him anymore and just want to make others aware of how he really is so he doesn't do the same things to others. He offered me a "job" selling armion and he would pay me in armion but I refused to push something on people that I don't believe in. I told him all I would be willing to do is share my experience with others but I wasn't going to lie. If anyone would like to see screen shots of some of the stuff he sent me I'd be happy to send them but like I said I don't think they are appropriate to post here.

 

[NekoGeckos]

I have stayed quiet so far because I have had several people spread rumors about me after I stood up to them before. I didn't want him to attack me either, but since it's already happened, I figured making it public would take some of the power away and I won't have to be afraid.

Also, there's a "business" that sells armion that is run by 14 year olds who steal pictures from Google. It's pretty obvious that they aren't professionals yet Chaz still lets them represent his products. That is a pretty irresponsible move in my opinion, especially given child labor laws which are in place for a reason.

 

[Lucille]

Also, there's a "business" that sells armion that is run by 14 year olds who steal pictures from Google

Could you please post a link to that business? It would be helpful so that readers know who/what they are dealing with and can make more informed choices.

 

[NekoGeckos]

Could you please post a link to that business? It would be helpful so that readers know who/what they are dealing with and can make more informed choices.

Oops, it would appear I spoke too soon. They were already run out of business.
Here is the website anyway in case anyone wants an explanation or to buy the domain. http://empirestatereptiles.com

 

[juliasara]

Is that the girl who was stealing pics then her father apologies for her? If so I can try to dig up some of the facebook posts about her a friend of mine made after I pointed out she was using her pictures and trying to sell geckos she didn't have.

 

[juliasara]

I think one of the names she was using was apple exotics. Same girl?

 

[NekoGeckos]

Is that the girl who was stealing pics then her father apologies for her? If so I can try to dig up some of the facebook posts about her a friend of mine made after I pointed out she was using her pictures and trying to sell geckos she didn't have.

No, this was a group of young boys in the new york area. I think I heard about that girl, since I've put to rest several impersonation accounts before, but these boys took it too far and even pretended to be adults at first. They hosted a lot of contests/giveaways, even one with avangel reptiles, and had an online radio show and everything. It was obvious for me that they were fakes but a lot of breeders like Chaz were supporting them for some reason. I assume mutual advertising purposes.

 

[juliasara]

Oh ok sounds like they jumped on the free advertising opportunity lol

 

[snakesareawesome]

Fly out and I'll give you a free gecko.... worst pickup line ever!

 

[TrippsGeckos]

No, this was a group of young boys in the new york area. I think I heard about that girl, since I've put to rest several impersonation accounts before, but these boys took it too far and even pretended to be adults at first. They hosted a lot of contests/giveaways, even one with avangel reptiles, and had an online radio show and everything. It was obvious for me that they were fakes but a lot of breeders like Chaz were supporting them for some reason. I assume mutual advertising purposes.

No, this was a group of young boys in the new york area. I think I heard about that girl, since I've put to rest several impersonation accounts before, but these boys took it too far and even pretended to be adults at first. They hosted a lot of contests/giveaways, even one with avangel reptiles, and had an online radio show and everything. It was obvious for me that they were fakes but a lot of breeders like Chaz were supporting them for some reason. I assume mutual advertising purposes.

I'd like to put in a statement on Chris Valeris, who apparently owns Empire State Reptiles . This kid started messaging me on Kik. At first, I would make small convo with him and then ignore him for days to weeks . He then asked for my old Instagram account, claiming that he wanted the follower count . I agreed to letting him have it after I cleaned it out and changed the info. At the time, it was finals month and I never ended up doing it. He soon began to comment on my pictures on Instagram and ask why I wasn't talking to him . I got pissed and told him to stop bothering me . About 3 weeks later , I was woken up to a call from New York. I answered it , for some odd reason. I was surprised to hear the voice of a possible 14 year old . He asked me if I was interested in coming to a expo in New York and that they would pay my full way. I then became suspicious and told him I would call him back later . I asked for his name and he said it was Jeff. I hung up and searched the number on Facebook and oddly enough, it registered under Chris Valeris . I then texted the number and asked for his name again, which he stated was Jeff. I sent him a screen shot of the Facebook profile coming up as Chris's and he said he was Chris's friend . I will happily provide screen shots of this incident.