Ralphieeeee
New member
Hello, my name is Ralph Turner and I wanted to share my horrible transaction I had with Ian from Outback Reptiles. I'm sorry for this extremely long story, but I just wanted to tell you ALL of the details of what happened from start to finish today.
I've seen Outback Reptiles at the White Plains, NY shows the last few times I went and they have been on main stage the last few times I attended as well. I also noticed most, if not all of Ian's feedback from what I have seen is excellent. It looked to me as if he had a lot of nice snakes, so I purchased a male spider ball python for $200 from him. I go home, set him in quarantine, and he defecates a horrible smelling/liquidy fecal matter. It it nothing like I have ever seen before, so I give him a call a week later after the snake continued to defecate the same way as before. I also wanted to know what it was feeding on because I failed to ask when buying the snake and it would not eat the f/t mice or live mice I offered him. My mother called Outback Reptiles the first time because she thought she could try and work something out if this was a sick snake. She explained to the lady that answered the phone that my snake seemed like it was sick and they told her since it was bought from them already that they can't really do anything, all sales final or whatever. She hung up with her and talked to me. I got a little pissed since it was only a week later and I was pretty sure I had a sick snake on my hands. She called them back and made it like she was going to post bad feedback for them and they put Ian on the phone right away to see if he would help the situation out at all. That's when I grabbed the phone from my mother and talked to Ian. I told him he most likely sold me a sick snake and he replied,"That's b********, all my snakes are cb." He had an attitude since he did not want to have negative feedback posted. Ian talked to me for a while asking how i kept my snake. I told him my snake was in a rack by itself, in another room, on newspaper with a water bowl and the hot side at 88, cool side around 84. He told me to keep it generally around 86. I then went on and told him that my snake would not eat the mice I offered him, and then he told me that all their snakes are fed live rats. He told me the snake might not have eaten in a little while if it defecated in the strange way it was doing. I told him I was going to bring the snake the the vet because I didn't want the snake dying on me in case something was truly wrong with it. He told me if anything was wrong, he would work something out with me at the next show or to just call him some time. I hung up with him and scheduled an appt. with one of the best vets that specializes in reptiles around my area. I then tried feeding the snake a live rat two or three days later and the snake would not eat for me. I also noticed after he drank from his water dish, he would drool. When I took the snake to the vet, just to visit with a new animal was $65, took a fecal exam for $35, and then dewormed the snake for $17. There was even a good amount of blood in the fecal matter when he made the snake defecate in front of me and told me that it's not supposed to be like that, bloody and all. There was also a lot of flagellates he was worried about in the fecal matter. The vet told me that he would call me as soon as he got the results in from the lab. He almost thought it could have been crypto. But when I got the results, of the fecal exam he told me my snake had hookworm, but the deworming should have gotten rid of it. The vet told me he would be getting a liquid form medicine in for my snake because the snake was still sick. Once i bought the metronidazole suspension, which was another $20 added onto the vet bill. A few days after i treated my snake, he seemed to be defecating solid-like fecal matter, not like he was doing before. I offered him a live mouse since it was all I had at the time and he went for it right away. I also watched him drink and he did not drool at all like he did before when he "wasn't sick"...riiight. I sent an e-mail to Outback Reptiles informing them that I now had proof that the snake they sold me was sick to start with. I never got an e-mail back.
I just attended the White Plain's show today and boy was it an upset. I brought my snake because he did say I could probably switch it for a different snake at the next show if he really did sell me a sick snake. Too bad I didn't record talking on the phone with him because we all know what untrustworthy people do if a deal isn't written out on paper. That's why I wanted him to e-mail me back. I would have had a typed document. Oh well, let me tell you how today went. I went to the reptile show with my girlfriend and we were expecting to buy again from Ian as long as we were promised a 100% healthy snake and would knock off a nice fraction of the cost because of all the trouble I went through with the spider I bought from him and that the bills totaled up to practically $140 for a $200 snake I purchased from Ian. I forgot to add in the snake I originally bought was a tiny bit thin when I bought him, but it didn't seem like anything serious. This time I went looking for a nice fat healthy snake and found a female jungle pastel he had for $200. I asked to talk to him, he pulled me aside because he obviously didn't want any of his customers to freak knowing I had bought a sick snake from him. He explained flagellates to me, and was nice and all, but did not talk about how my snake got hookworm. I then asked what he could do for me price-wise on the $200 female, thinking he could at least take off $100, I mean breeders usually take off $50 or even more when you ask for a better price on a snake priced $200 and up. I mean maybe he could be a nice guy and let me pay the difference from my vet bills, but I didn't have my hopes set that high. He said $160 was the best he could do. I told him I'd think about it and walked away, pissed off. I was pissed because he was taking that percentage off for anybody who was asking to buy a snake from him. I was there watching him sell snakes for a pretty long time. I then walked away in disgust, but my girlfriend approached him while I wasn't there and tried to get a better deal on the snake or at least trade in my snake I originally had bought from him for one of equal value because she knew I was upset. He told her no and that it was my fault that I went to an overpriced vet. He said that him or any of his staff would not have recommended seeing a vet, and to just talk to them first. Seriously? I just talked to him on the phone after the last reptile show and I told him I was going to a vet, and I had to get back to him with the status of my snake. Once I heard he was pretty much calling me stupid for taking my sick snake I bought from him to the vet, I was furious. I went back up to his table and just stared at him and his snakes for a good 10 minutes because I didn't even know what to say to him. He was making some comments to customers near me that there were some "tough guys" at this show, obviously relating to me because I wanted to be reimbursed for the money I spent just to get my snake back to normal. He asked me if I needed to see anything, I replied "no." He then asked if I wanted to talk to him behind his little table again so the customers won't be scared away after knowing I bought a sick snake from him. Why would I want to hide from all these people that he sold me a sick snake? I don't want other people to buy sick snakes from him, but whatever I can't stop them. I stood there just staring at his snakes for another 5 minutes or so and he asked if I was going to stand there all day, trying to be wise. I then asked him why he sold me a sick snake and then he started to get angry because there was a crowd at his table and they heard me. I don't even remember what he said after I asked him. It was just something to try and cover up what I asked. He then started to get wordy and try and make me feel stupid for going to the vet once again. I replied to him "I can't wait to post some nice feedback for you on the internet" and then he flipped out on me. He then cursed me and my girlfriend out and called her some thing stupid. I got aggravated, probably cursed back at him and went down his table and told the customers not to buy from him because he sold me a sick snake and didn't help me out at all because it was my fault I bought a sick snake from him knowing it was sick? yeahhh...becuase I would really love to add a sick snake into my collection. He had to of known something was wrong with my snake when he sold it to me at the prior show because it was around 310 grams when I bought it and all of these spiders at this show that he had were nowhere near the $200 range from what I saw. Mainly $325 and up starting with the tiny spider balls. Oh well. I left out of anger with my girlfriend and told the security or whoever was head of the show that I had a problem with him because of what just happened. I really don't see how he is getting main stage with his reptiles if he is going to be that unprofessional and scream/curse out his customers that are unsatisfied with him in front of all his other customers. What a scum. Just wanted to get that out there.
Oh and by the way, I did come back in minutes after I left because I forgot I needed a few live rat pups before I went back home. I talked to a few other breeders about Ian acting out like he did with me and it didn't surprise them at all. I wish I knew he was lying to me from the start with the talking on the phone about trading in my snake for another one at this show. My mother did come in and had a talk with him because she thought it was wrong what he did to me. He apologized to her saying, yeah he was sorry for acting the way he did towards me, but he said he's not so much sorry to my girlfriend because she was snippy? All she was trying to be with him was reasonable after what I paid in vet bills, all he wanted to do was sell me a snake at a price he'd sell to anyone else? even yet, he wouldn't take back my snake that he said he would let me trade in for another snake? Oh but after I left and got back in my mother's car, he told her I could bring back my snake in and exchange it for a new one...after all of that? blowing up in my face and all in front of everyone? thanks but it's a little late now. And he told her if I was really to post bad feedback about him on the internet, he wouldn't want to do business with me again. HAHA right...like I want to do business with him again. Forget it. Thanks a bunch Ian for my horrible transaction I had with you. I left with some rat pups,crickets,2 free tix to come back to the next wp show,and a pissed off girlfriend...he ruined my day. Once again I will never deal with him again and I hope that he does not get the same main stage setup at the other shows because he definitely doesn't deserve it. I really hope he's done selling sick reptiles at shows...
I've seen Outback Reptiles at the White Plains, NY shows the last few times I went and they have been on main stage the last few times I attended as well. I also noticed most, if not all of Ian's feedback from what I have seen is excellent. It looked to me as if he had a lot of nice snakes, so I purchased a male spider ball python for $200 from him. I go home, set him in quarantine, and he defecates a horrible smelling/liquidy fecal matter. It it nothing like I have ever seen before, so I give him a call a week later after the snake continued to defecate the same way as before. I also wanted to know what it was feeding on because I failed to ask when buying the snake and it would not eat the f/t mice or live mice I offered him. My mother called Outback Reptiles the first time because she thought she could try and work something out if this was a sick snake. She explained to the lady that answered the phone that my snake seemed like it was sick and they told her since it was bought from them already that they can't really do anything, all sales final or whatever. She hung up with her and talked to me. I got a little pissed since it was only a week later and I was pretty sure I had a sick snake on my hands. She called them back and made it like she was going to post bad feedback for them and they put Ian on the phone right away to see if he would help the situation out at all. That's when I grabbed the phone from my mother and talked to Ian. I told him he most likely sold me a sick snake and he replied,"That's b********, all my snakes are cb." He had an attitude since he did not want to have negative feedback posted. Ian talked to me for a while asking how i kept my snake. I told him my snake was in a rack by itself, in another room, on newspaper with a water bowl and the hot side at 88, cool side around 84. He told me to keep it generally around 86. I then went on and told him that my snake would not eat the mice I offered him, and then he told me that all their snakes are fed live rats. He told me the snake might not have eaten in a little while if it defecated in the strange way it was doing. I told him I was going to bring the snake the the vet because I didn't want the snake dying on me in case something was truly wrong with it. He told me if anything was wrong, he would work something out with me at the next show or to just call him some time. I hung up with him and scheduled an appt. with one of the best vets that specializes in reptiles around my area. I then tried feeding the snake a live rat two or three days later and the snake would not eat for me. I also noticed after he drank from his water dish, he would drool. When I took the snake to the vet, just to visit with a new animal was $65, took a fecal exam for $35, and then dewormed the snake for $17. There was even a good amount of blood in the fecal matter when he made the snake defecate in front of me and told me that it's not supposed to be like that, bloody and all. There was also a lot of flagellates he was worried about in the fecal matter. The vet told me that he would call me as soon as he got the results in from the lab. He almost thought it could have been crypto. But when I got the results, of the fecal exam he told me my snake had hookworm, but the deworming should have gotten rid of it. The vet told me he would be getting a liquid form medicine in for my snake because the snake was still sick. Once i bought the metronidazole suspension, which was another $20 added onto the vet bill. A few days after i treated my snake, he seemed to be defecating solid-like fecal matter, not like he was doing before. I offered him a live mouse since it was all I had at the time and he went for it right away. I also watched him drink and he did not drool at all like he did before when he "wasn't sick"...riiight. I sent an e-mail to Outback Reptiles informing them that I now had proof that the snake they sold me was sick to start with. I never got an e-mail back.
I just attended the White Plain's show today and boy was it an upset. I brought my snake because he did say I could probably switch it for a different snake at the next show if he really did sell me a sick snake. Too bad I didn't record talking on the phone with him because we all know what untrustworthy people do if a deal isn't written out on paper. That's why I wanted him to e-mail me back. I would have had a typed document. Oh well, let me tell you how today went. I went to the reptile show with my girlfriend and we were expecting to buy again from Ian as long as we were promised a 100% healthy snake and would knock off a nice fraction of the cost because of all the trouble I went through with the spider I bought from him and that the bills totaled up to practically $140 for a $200 snake I purchased from Ian. I forgot to add in the snake I originally bought was a tiny bit thin when I bought him, but it didn't seem like anything serious. This time I went looking for a nice fat healthy snake and found a female jungle pastel he had for $200. I asked to talk to him, he pulled me aside because he obviously didn't want any of his customers to freak knowing I had bought a sick snake from him. He explained flagellates to me, and was nice and all, but did not talk about how my snake got hookworm. I then asked what he could do for me price-wise on the $200 female, thinking he could at least take off $100, I mean breeders usually take off $50 or even more when you ask for a better price on a snake priced $200 and up. I mean maybe he could be a nice guy and let me pay the difference from my vet bills, but I didn't have my hopes set that high. He said $160 was the best he could do. I told him I'd think about it and walked away, pissed off. I was pissed because he was taking that percentage off for anybody who was asking to buy a snake from him. I was there watching him sell snakes for a pretty long time. I then walked away in disgust, but my girlfriend approached him while I wasn't there and tried to get a better deal on the snake or at least trade in my snake I originally had bought from him for one of equal value because she knew I was upset. He told her no and that it was my fault that I went to an overpriced vet. He said that him or any of his staff would not have recommended seeing a vet, and to just talk to them first. Seriously? I just talked to him on the phone after the last reptile show and I told him I was going to a vet, and I had to get back to him with the status of my snake. Once I heard he was pretty much calling me stupid for taking my sick snake I bought from him to the vet, I was furious. I went back up to his table and just stared at him and his snakes for a good 10 minutes because I didn't even know what to say to him. He was making some comments to customers near me that there were some "tough guys" at this show, obviously relating to me because I wanted to be reimbursed for the money I spent just to get my snake back to normal. He asked me if I needed to see anything, I replied "no." He then asked if I wanted to talk to him behind his little table again so the customers won't be scared away after knowing I bought a sick snake from him. Why would I want to hide from all these people that he sold me a sick snake? I don't want other people to buy sick snakes from him, but whatever I can't stop them. I stood there just staring at his snakes for another 5 minutes or so and he asked if I was going to stand there all day, trying to be wise. I then asked him why he sold me a sick snake and then he started to get angry because there was a crowd at his table and they heard me. I don't even remember what he said after I asked him. It was just something to try and cover up what I asked. He then started to get wordy and try and make me feel stupid for going to the vet once again. I replied to him "I can't wait to post some nice feedback for you on the internet" and then he flipped out on me. He then cursed me and my girlfriend out and called her some thing stupid. I got aggravated, probably cursed back at him and went down his table and told the customers not to buy from him because he sold me a sick snake and didn't help me out at all because it was my fault I bought a sick snake from him knowing it was sick? yeahhh...becuase I would really love to add a sick snake into my collection. He had to of known something was wrong with my snake when he sold it to me at the prior show because it was around 310 grams when I bought it and all of these spiders at this show that he had were nowhere near the $200 range from what I saw. Mainly $325 and up starting with the tiny spider balls. Oh well. I left out of anger with my girlfriend and told the security or whoever was head of the show that I had a problem with him because of what just happened. I really don't see how he is getting main stage with his reptiles if he is going to be that unprofessional and scream/curse out his customers that are unsatisfied with him in front of all his other customers. What a scum. Just wanted to get that out there.
Oh and by the way, I did come back in minutes after I left because I forgot I needed a few live rat pups before I went back home. I talked to a few other breeders about Ian acting out like he did with me and it didn't surprise them at all. I wish I knew he was lying to me from the start with the talking on the phone about trading in my snake for another one at this show. My mother did come in and had a talk with him because she thought it was wrong what he did to me. He apologized to her saying, yeah he was sorry for acting the way he did towards me, but he said he's not so much sorry to my girlfriend because she was snippy? All she was trying to be with him was reasonable after what I paid in vet bills, all he wanted to do was sell me a snake at a price he'd sell to anyone else? even yet, he wouldn't take back my snake that he said he would let me trade in for another snake? Oh but after I left and got back in my mother's car, he told her I could bring back my snake in and exchange it for a new one...after all of that? blowing up in my face and all in front of everyone? thanks but it's a little late now. And he told her if I was really to post bad feedback about him on the internet, he wouldn't want to do business with me again. HAHA right...like I want to do business with him again. Forget it. Thanks a bunch Ian for my horrible transaction I had with you. I left with some rat pups,crickets,2 free tix to come back to the next wp show,and a pissed off girlfriend...he ruined my day. Once again I will never deal with him again and I hope that he does not get the same main stage setup at the other shows because he definitely doesn't deserve it. I really hope he's done selling sick reptiles at shows...
