• Responding to email notices you receive.
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  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

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    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Bad Guy Garret Smith ( Scammer )

Hey tom, as of today nothing . I been MIA due to health issues i been dealing with since October gone through several treatments and still am going through several treatments weekly and i need to avoid as much stress as possible reason i fell off the grid.
I think i been more than patient with garret but like always it's just more false promises to buy time i have accepted my loss since the stress hes caused me and will continue to cause doesn't benefit my or my family's health at all. I have asked for several refunds or payments and like always he refuses.

Mike,
Truly sorry to hear your not doing well, you have been, and always will be, in our prayers! Get well soon!

Garrett has lied, over, and over and over, and over again, can you say SOCIOPATH.......

It should be Sooooo OBVIOUS by now, he's NOT paying anyone back, PERIOD, can you say, CON-MAN.....

Can't stress it enough, AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAGUE, he CAN'T be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles


 
Chris. You are good at calling people names and making up things. But when asked 2 simple questions you have nothing to say? This is what I expected from you.

1. How is this a scam?
2. How am I a bad guy?

Garrett

Perhaps now you could answer two questions. How is this not a scam? How are you not a bad guy? Well over a year. Proof of nothing. No lizards. And no money. AVOID GARRETT SMITH LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
 
Michael,
Hope you're feeling better!

Curious, any progress with Garrett??

Here's some food for thought, Michael Russo some time ago posted, about a deal he had, and mentions the way he was going to proceed through legal means.

"
This afternoon I met with an officer from the Nassau County Police Department and I am now working directly with a detective from the Computer Crime Division who is helping me proceed with filing charges against Mr. Tummons for Attempted Grand Larceny"

Granted his money was returned through PayPal, and he no longer had a case.

You didn't use PayPal, and to date Garrett Smith has not returned your funds. My point, it won't cost you 1 red cent to contact the Detectives with the Computer Crime Division in your county, and or HIS county.

Your deal with Garrett Smith, IMO, is NOT Attempted Grand Larceny, It IS Grand Larceny, Internet Fraud, & Theft by Deception.

Michael, if I had one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel, and Garrett owed me $6500, I'd be at his front door so fast it would make his head spin.

Can't stress it enough, AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAGUE, he CAN'T be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles



 
Nicely put Lynn, but futile. Unfortunately. There are too many missing pieces of this puzzle and they've been hidden by some of his victims. In post #1400, Mike said he needs to avoid as much stress as possible. I would think that there would linger a greater stress, via pressure at home, from letting his lack of action allow Garret to walk away with $6,500 of his (?) money that is surely missed when facing hardships regarding medical expenses and every day bills. The weight on Mike's shoulder is not of his own doing, but of his not doing. Perhaps money is no object to him, which might explain his other statement in post #1400, "I have accepted my loss". This is the only time I have ever seen a victim here walk away satisfied that justice is no issue here. Again, something is missing. It will one day all come out in the wash. AVOID GARRETT SMITH LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
 
This Post is about Garret Smith and how he is collecting money from numerous people including myself and has taken several months to deliver the animals or money to refund , I sent him money back in 1-07-15 when he told me weeks before he was able to get Saara Hardwickii legally exported out of Pakistan i asked him many times to send me copies of CITES and a Invoice of it and still to this date I have not received anything to show any sort of proof of it. He has been importing animals in between and actively posting listings of animals for sale or animals he can get , but yet has never any attempt to refund me my money of $6500 whether he really is selling animals or is falsely making false ads to reel people in , I want people to know to save themselves the hassle and not deal with him . He has been taking me for a ride on refunding me my money cause i sent it through a bank transfer which was a horrible choice for me to do , i should of paid through paypal cause i know i would of got my refund a long time ago. He Has told me he would give me a group of Ctenosaura Defensor and we could call it even even though i would still be very short on money for the 3.3 group he offered me , he has also said as soon as he would sell some geckos he recently imported and start refunding but yet again has not paid back one penny. He is recently now starting to say i was his business partner importing the Saara Hardwicki but we never signed no legal document or has he ever showed me paper work for them . I will be posting several pics of text messages of how many months i been waiting for animals i paid for and how many times i have been asking for a refund.

This was posted on July 20th, 2015. Garrett recieved money on January 7th, 2015. Still NO LIZARDS. Still NO REFUND. Still NO PROOF OF ANYTHING! Including Pakistani contact, paperwork, money trail...NOTHING!!! So Garrett, I'll ask again. HOW ARE YOU NOT A BAD GUY? HOW ARE YOU NOT A SCAMMER? You won't answer that because YOU CAN'T! Your name is mud in this industry, and so are your cohorts.
 
Michael,
Hope you're feeling better!

Curious, any progress with Garrett??

Here's some food for thought, Michael Russo some time ago posted, about a deal he had, and mentions the way he was going to proceed through legal means.

"
This afternoon I met with an officer from the Nassau County Police Department and I am now working directly with a detective from the Computer Crime Division who is helping me proceed with filing charges against Mr. Tummons for Attempted Grand Larceny"

Granted his money was returned through PayPal, and he no longer had a case.

You didn't use PayPal, and to date Garrett Smith has not returned your funds. My point, it won't cost you 1 red cent to contact the Detectives with the Computer Crime Division in your county, and or HIS county.

Your deal with Garrett Smith, IMO, is NOT Attempted Grand Larceny, It IS Grand Larceny, Internet Fraud, & Theft by Deception.

Michael, if I had one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel, and Garrett owed me $6500, I'd be at his front door so fast it would make his head spin.

Can't stress it enough, AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAGUE, he CAN'T be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles




This is great advice Michael. I would ignore the drama here and just make a few phone calls. These organizations might be able to investigate for you and put pressure on Garrett.
 
I figured I should run an update. I had chatted with Michael and a few friends of him. No simple way of putting this, he is really sick. Not only is the Lupus in a 'flare up" state causing his doctors to require very aggressive treatments. Unfortunately, treatment for autoimmune diseases many times cause just as much damage as the disease. When my wife went through similar treatments, she could not get out of bed let alone function. At the same time, the disease itself is very tied to stress. So least to say, going on here to update us or discuss further only adds stress to Michael and pushes the disease. This disease can kill Michael (for those that do not understand what Lupus is).

Anyways, looks like Michael has bigger things to focus on, so please respect his decision to stay away for a while and pray he gets better. But it does not take Garrett out of legal responsibilities here, and I say we stay on top of him. Possibly there are legal actions that we as a community can do to help?

Interesting. First of all, the community can only help those who are willing to help themselves. Mike has clearly stated, "I have accepted my loss". You campaigned for Mike to be left alone here. The accusation about "drama" is clearly illustrated here as you are now on board with Mike participating by "making a few phone calls" with regard to the transaction that you yourself amplified as being potentially life threatening. Are you now saying that the stress that pushes the disease that could kill Michael is no longer of importance to you? You told us to "respect his decision to stay away. Has he changed his mind? Is he feeling better, stronger? If so, I imagine he would be posting here without provocation from you, me or anyone. Nuff said.
 
Does anyone know what happened to the scam meister general? Markus? Lynn? Anybody? He has been AWOL since April 6th. Is he finally where he belongs?
 
Does anyone know what happened to the scam meister general? Markus? Lynn? Anybody? He has been AWOL since April 6th. Is he finally where he belongs?

Chris,
I don't have a clue, and at this point, don't give a rats behind. Although it would be music to my ears, to hear he was busted for his devious, unscrupulous, ways!

Can't stress it enough, AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAGUE, he CAN'T be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles

 
Here's his website and contact information. Screenshot included in case he takes it down.

http://www.rareiguanas.com/contact.html

The email address on his website is: [email protected]

The domain was first purchased in 2015 through weebly.com, so this contact information may be his current information.

It's important to note that people have been having issues with Garrett Smith since 2004. Here's an old BOI thread on him from that period. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46091

This is before he was caught smuggling rare tortoises in 2009. News article: http://www.chicoer.com/article/ZZ/20090317/NEWS/903179764

If you read the first 200 or so posts of this thread (most are short so it's really not a time consuming read), you'll get enough of an impression to Garrett's character to make an adequate decision about whether or not to do business with him.
 

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I believe that email address should have an e in it after the l.

[email protected]

As a member, I would like to see this get resolved yesterday. Enough is enough IMO.

Yes it is definitely "tilesmith" as in The Tile Smith. Here are some other details so you don't have to go over all the chitter chatter filling up the thread...

Full name and address at some point (might still be true?):
GARRETT R SMITH
11 Knotts Glen Court
Chico, CA 95926-2154

Other business:
Previous C54 Contractor license under THE TILE SMITH. Bond was canceled on 08/01/2010, so license (#849620) is invalid.

Previous legal issues not mentioned here:
Code enforcement violation at his home...
Neighbor is building a larger shed within 1 foot of the property line. the shed is not higher than 15 feet and is just under 120sf, but there is a setback issue and the r/p has attempted to advise the owner of this back but he refuses to listen. **note* the r/p has a shed structure within the 3 foot side yard setback as well and will be removing it within 2 weeks to abide by the codes. the r/p states the the property owner is awaiting sentecing on animal smuggling charges and fears that the shed will sit there.
https://www.buildzoom.com/property-info/11-knotts-glen-court-city-of-chico-ca-95926
 
Mike any news on this? Any refund? I heard that several people were finally refunded their money. Anyone? Any truth to that?

Tom,
If Garrett did pay anyone, don't you think they would of chimed in after being paid, if for no other reason, because Garrett, asked, begged, or pleaded for those he paid to do so?

From whom or where did you hear he paid anyone back??


Can't stress it enough, AVOID Garrett Smith like the PLAGUE, he CAN'T be TRUSTED, PERIOD!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles
 
Just heard. I think he paid one person and still owes 3. He made have made partial payments to one or 2 but I was also told he told at least one of the people they are not getting anymore. So no full refund. Not really Lynn since none came on here to begin with.
 
Just heard. I think he paid one person and still owes 3. He made have made partial payments to one or 2 but I was also told he told at least one of the people they are not getting anymore. So no full refund. Not really Lynn since none came on here to begin with.



Just heard, I think and he made have paid are prime examples of he said she said in Senior square! If someone owed me 6500 and this person paid others, i would be sky rocketing through the roof- It does stir up the pot for another 3 or 5 pages!!!

Just saying = )
 
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