Bad Guy Touch of Class Reptiles

[deborahbroadus]

Chuck. You are starting to get under my skin. But I'm not going to lose my composure like you want me to. So just drop your "beef" with me.

I don't think anyone has a "beef" with you, so "misdirection" isn't going to work with the more savvy people.

Your story does NOT add up, it's really that simple.

 

[critical bill]

I don't think anyone has a "beef" with you, so "misdirection" isn't going to work with the more savvy people.

Your story does NOT add up, it's really that simple.

Absolutely.

 

[MikeCurtin]

I have already stated that if this kid screws up again, I'll be the one passing out the pitchforks. I'm not taking him under my wing...simply stating that I'm not going to continue to grill him over this. I believe he screwed up. I believe he did his best to help rectify it. I also believe he feels bad about the situation, and has done all he can at this point. We'll all be watching him like hawks, and will act accordingly if something like this should EVER happen again.

Also, for what it's worth. I never checked this "kid's" age. I thought he handled this thread pretty well, and wouldn't have thought he was so young. I have a feeling that if this company did have a "touch" of class, he just walked out the door. Well, he at least showed more class than Chuck.

These are my thoughts on this, like it or not. I wouldn't recommend him, nor put my name on the line for him, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt based on his actions here.

 

[VAsnakeman12]

Jason,

Happy to hear you got the full refund (notice), be sure to keep us posted if it clears.

Alex, since it appears Kelvin does not read this thread, be sure to reaffirm his good decision. "Not shooting the hostage", as it was so eloquently put, was no doubt the best decision.

And if I may add my input, stop defending yourself. If you work legally, you work legally. Proving it to anyone on this forum doesn't make it any more legal. I respect your willingness to defend the company you represent (even formerly).

Despite the ugly death of the animals (though it may have simply been inevitable), and the immaturity here and there, I would consider this thread and example of a successful use of the BOI. (Insert shameless plug about DONATE TO THE BOI).

 

[underanohiosky]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[underanohiosky]

Apologies, my last post was intended for this one:

And yet...there they are.

(HILARIOUS.)


At any rate.. I initially came across this thread about three hours ago, upon checking out TOC's post of a beautiful snow boa.. and continued to read straight to the end. I'd truly like to commend Jason on a number of levels, firstly for being so continually diligent as to promptly post a warning comment leading to this thread shortly after this incident occurred. Secondly, as I stated in my post on the snow boa ad:

Wow.. just. wow... I honestly can't even begin to fathom how you manage to sleep at night. Consider yourself lucky that this kind, reasonable individual was unfortunate enough to have made this purchase and not me.

I am infuriated by this "business owner"'s flagrant lack of sympathy for the obviously and carelessly neglected animals' well-being, despite claiming to "do all in our power to preserve life". I am made nauseous by Mr. Soto's utter failure not only as a businessman, but also as a human being who's made himself responsible for the lives of countless animals totally undeserving of his abuse and carelessness. This is my greatest fear as a reptile enthusiast and buyer, and you sirs, have tarnished permanently not only your own seething reputations, but those of all reptile breeders who distribute online. If I weren't so disgusted, I'd be embarrassed for you..

In conclusion, Jason's thorough, professional, and persistently classy handling of this situation combined with the support of loyal fauna members abroad has restored a substantial chunk of my faith in this community that Mr. Soto has so effectively shaken.. Find contentment in the fact that your actions pay much credit to the human race, and specifically the herpetological community as a whole. Please keep us updated on the status of the surviving victim (I use this term intentionally) as I'm sure I'm not the only one genuinely concerned for his/her life. Again, man.. good form.

Best wishes,
Alec

 

[Olexian Pro]

Hey everyone, Jason Here,

If I may, I just wanted to say a few more things concerning this matter and I don't anticipate that everyone will agree with me, but I hope you will at least consider this for a moment and if not for Alex, then do it for me. I can personally say that when I began working with herps I was too was eighteen years old. I was extremely excited about the herp profession and even more excited to begin the Journey of becoming a herp veterinarian, which is around the time I first met SoLa. Even he can tell you it has been quite the adventure. As an excited young man with the initiative of an 18 year old I felt ready to take on the world however, it is more than fair to say that only being 18 years old meant that I did not have all the answers, nor did I have the experience that our society would require to make all of the appropriate decisions in every circumstance that life would toss my way. We all make mistakes and ironically it is the most severe mistakes that I feel we can learn the hardest lessons form. I think we can all agree on this. Let us not forget that an 18 year old man is still a teenager. This is definitely the age at which we begin assuming responsibility for our actions however, lets be fair in that how many of us were really pro's at being adults when we were 18 years old? Lets see a show of hands. I sure as hell wasn't. Honestly 10 years later and I'm still struggling to improve upon this. Being a teenager is the only time in our lives when we are allowed the opportunity to make mistakes at the forefront of adulthood without the severe recourse of society and I truly believe that our society owes us this opportunity as growing individuals. Being a teenager is the one chance that we all share as an opportunity that enables us to tailor the decisions we make as adults with some cushion behind us, so the world abroad doesn't eat us alive when the time comes.

Lets also consider that speaking against your boss, let alone speaking against a superior who is an adult in charge of the money you make is not a quality that every 18 year old has developed by the time they reach their late teenage years. For that matter, some adults in their late 40's and 50's even struggle with this task especially in the face of today's economy. For all we know Alex may be the only income his family currently has and I do not feel it is not our right to question how he manages that situation, nor do I feel it is relevant for the sake of arguments posed in this thread. I too am in a very similar position with my family. Furthermore, I don't think that a single person who has read this thread would volunteer themselves into the position that Alex has assumed. He is just an employee. He didn't have to assume this position and yet he has. I don't suspect he has done this because he enjoys it, but rather because he feels in some level of responsibility for what has happened and I feel wish's he could do something to help. This is a very uncomfortable position for any 18 year old to be in and yet he has taken this whole situation in stride and has done so like a man. Yeah he's tripped up on a few things he said, but honestly look at what he is up against here. I couldn't have done what he's doing at his age.

Alex is the only representative from Touch of Class that we have shared the opportunity of speaking with. I don't know if he is Kelvins interpreter, or why communications with Kelvin have been so scarce, but what I do know is that for the last 4-5 days Alex has been baring the weight of the herp world for Kelvin, not with him at his side and it is no secret that the herp community can be an extremely tough crowd.

In addition I have done a fair amount of international travel and in fact I spent the last 3 years of my veterinary education living amongst the people of a borderline 3rd world country and let me say this to all of you, we we as America'ns assume freedoms that other countries and ethnicity's do not share the luxury of. They can only dream of what we have. We are extremely lucky and the American way simply is not the only way. It is wrong for us to assume that at any point in time. We have a lot of power in this country of ours so lets use it for the right purpose and not to exclude those who are less fortunate than us. We take far too much for granted in this great country of ours and I do mean GREAT!!!! We are truly blessed! Even our homeless have it made when compared to the poverty that extends into other countries and we do not have the right to suggest that any individual deserves exclusion from this great country that we have created as a safe-haven for freedom.

With that said I think Alex has done one hell of a job here. He has represented the company for which he works, despite the obvious fact that it does not benefit in his own personal interests. Even still he didn't simply run away when things grew hot, despite that it would have suited him best. Alex manned up in many ways that Kelvin failed to show face and gained nothing for himself. From an employers standpoint Alex has exhibited outstanding personal character.

There is no doubt that Alex would benefit from some additional experience and training (no offense Alex), but before we execute him (as a metaphor) I feel we owe this 18 year old young man the opportunity to improve. I heavily commend Alex on the manner in which he has handled this situation for Kelvin and he did so without Kelvins assistance. Had it not been for Alex and his efforts, I don't think that I would even have received the potential for a refund, regardless of whether or not the money is there. I base this solely on my communications with Kelvin relative to my conversations with Alex. I feel that Alex facilitated all of this by himself and that is a huge responsibility for an 18 year old to endure. It is unfortunate that this unfolded the way it did and I will not go back on any part of what I said previously in this thread, but as I stated in other related posts, sometimes good people do get caught in the crossfire of bad business between two unrelated individuals. At the end of the day Kelvin is the business owner. Alex is not Kelvin's whipping boy and he does not deserve the retribution directed at Kelvins mistakes. Alex is still learning here and I think he has learned a very keen lesson from all of this, I have no doubt.

Alex I commend you. I think you would definitely benefit from a strong mentor, but when it comes to your level experience, the rest will come in time. I recommend to you that you find yourself a reputable mentor who is not self proclaimed and try to choose someone who's reputation proceeds them. Do that and you will go very far in this profession. You have all the qualities of a good employee and you have what it taked to be an honest and reputable herpetoculturist, despite my feelings that you benefit from some more appropriate guidance given your age and current level of experience. Regardless, the night is still young and those opportunities do wait for you. I heavily encourage you to continue with this career and I don't want you to become discouraged by what has happened here in the last few days. I feel you did your very best given the situation that you were dealt and I personally want to thank you, as my conversations with you have been far more constructive than those I have shared with Kelvin at any point in time.

Alex I want you to know that despite what has happened here on fauna, if you ever have any questions regarding herps, herpetoculture or veterinary health care please feel free to contact me as I would be more than happy to extend my personal attention in addressing your inquiries as I feel this will be an important resource for you to have available as a growing herpetoculturist. Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time. My personal email is [email protected]. I certainly wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors and again, I thank you.

 

[Willow]

great post Jason

 

[alexestrada17]

Thank you Jason, I wish you the best as well.

Hey everyone, Jason Here,

If I may, I just wanted to say a few more things concerning this matter and I don't anticipate that everyone will agree with me, but I hope you will at least consider this for a moment and if not for Alex, then do it for me. I can personally say that when I began working with herps I was too was eighteen years old. I was extremely excited about the herp profession and even more excited to begin the Journey of becoming a herp veterinarian, which is around the time I first met SoLa. Even he can tell you it has been quite the adventure. As an excited young man with the initiative of an 18 year old I felt ready to take on the world however, it is more than fair to say that only being 18 years old meant that I did not have all the answers, nor did I have the experience that our society would require to make all of the appropriate decisions in every circumstance that life would toss my way. We all make mistakes and ironically it is the most severe mistakes that I feel we can learn the hardest lessons form. I think we can all agree on this. Let us not forget that an 18 year old man is still a teenager. This is definitely the age at which we begin assuming responsibility for our actions however, lets be fair in that how many of us were really pro's at being adults when we were 18 years old? Lets see a show of hands. I sure as hell wasn't. Honestly 10 years later and I'm still struggling to improve upon this. Being a teenager is the only time in our lives when we are allowed the opportunity to make mistakes at the forefront of adulthood without the severe recourse of society and I truly believe that our society owes us this opportunity as growing individuals. Being a teenager is the one chance that we all share as an opportunity that enables us to tailor the decisions we make as adults with some cushion behind us, so the world abroad doesn't eat us alive when the time comes.

Lets also consider that speaking against your boss, let alone speaking against a superior who is an adult in charge of the money you make is not a quality that every 18 year old has developed by the time they reach their late teenage years. For that matter, some adults in their late 40's and 50's even struggle with this task especially in the face of today's economy. For all we know Alex may be the only income his family currently has and I do not feel it is not our right to question how he manages that situation, nor do I feel it is relevant for the sake of arguments posed in this thread. I too am in a very similar position with my family. Furthermore, I don't think that a single person who has read this thread would volunteer themselves into the position that Alex has assumed. He is just an employee. He didn't have to assume this position and yet he has. I don't suspect he has done this because he enjoys it, but rather because he feels in some level of responsibility for what has happened and I feel wish's he could do something to help. This is a very uncomfortable position for any 18 year old to be in and yet he has taken this whole situation in stride and has done so like a man. Yeah he's tripped up on a few things he said, but honestly look at what he is up against here. I couldn't have done what he's doing at his age.

Alex is the only representative from Touch of Class that we have shared the opportunity of speaking with. I don't know if he is Kelvins interpreter, or why communications with Kelvin have been so scarce, but what I do know is that for the last 4-5 days Alex has been baring the weight of the herp world for Kelvin, not with him at his side and it is no secret that the herp community can be an extremely tough crowd.

In addition I have done a fair amount of international travel and in fact I spent the last 3 years of my veterinary education living amongst the people of a borderline 3rd world country and let me say this to all of you, we we as America'ns assume freedoms that other countries and ethnicity's do not share the luxury of. They can only dream of what we have. We are extremely lucky and the American way simply is not the only way. It is wrong for us to assume that at any point in time. We have a lot of power in this country of ours so lets use it for the right purpose and not to exclude those who are less fortunate than us. We take far too much for granted in this great country of ours and I do mean GREAT!!!! We are truly blessed! Even our homeless have it made when compared to the poverty that extends into other countries and we do not have the right to suggest that any individual deserves exclusion from this great country that we have created as a safe-haven for freedom.

With that said I think Alex has done one hell of a job here. He has represented the company for which he works, despite the obvious fact that it does not benefit in his own personal interests. Even still he didn't simply run away when things grew hot, despite that it would have suited him best. Alex manned up in many ways that Kelvin failed to show face and gained nothing for himself. From an employers standpoint Alex has exhibited outstanding personal character.

There is no doubt that Alex would benefit from some additional experience and training (no offense Alex), but before we execute him (as a metaphor) I feel we owe this 18 year old young man the opportunity to improve. I heavily commend Alex on the manner in which he has handled this situation for Kelvin and he did so without Kelvins assistance. Had it not been for Alex and his efforts, I don't think that I would even have received the potential for a refund, regardless of whether or not the money is there. I base this solely on my communications with Kelvin relative to my conversations with Alex. I feel that Alex facilitated all of this by himself and that is a huge responsibility for an 18 year old to endure. It is unfortunate that this unfolded the way it did and I will not go back on any part of what I said previously in this thread, but as I stated in other related posts, sometimes good people do get caught in the crossfire of bad business between two unrelated individuals. At the end of the day Kelvin is the business owner. Alex is not Kelvin's whipping boy and he does not deserve the retribution directed at Kelvins mistakes. Alex is still learning here and I think he has learned a very keen lesson from all of this, I have no doubt.

Alex I commend you. I think you would definitely benefit from a strong mentor, but when it comes to your level experience, the rest will come in time. I recommend to you that you find yourself a reputable mentor who is not self proclaimed and try to choose someone who's reputation proceeds them. Do that and you will go very far in this profession. You have all the qualities of a good employee and you have what it taked to be an honest and reputable herpetoculturist, despite my feelings that you benefit from some more appropriate guidance given your age and current level of experience. Regardless, the night is still young and those opportunities do wait for you. I heavily encourage you to continue with this career and I don't want you to become discouraged by what has happened here in the last few days. I feel you did your very best given the situation that you were dealt and I personally want to thank you, as my conversations with you have been far more constructive than those I have shared with Kelvin at any point in time.

Alex I want you to know that despite what has happened here on fauna, if you ever have any questions regarding herps, herpetoculture or veterinary health care please feel free to contact me as I would be more than happy to extend my personal attention in addressing your inquiries as I feel this will be an important resource for you to have available as a growing herpetoculturist. Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time. My personal email is [email protected]. I certainly wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors and again, I thank you.

 

[MikeCurtin]

Well said, Jason. You, sir, have more than a "touch" of class.

 

[Olexian Pro]

Hey everyone,

Yesterday the snake was necropsied and although I was unable to get pictures I figured I would share the results with all of you. As it turns out, the deceased individual was in fact a female and this was evident by the presence of a pair of ovaries with follicles and two uterine horns. At necropsy there was abnormal enlargement of the liver evident by the rounding of the livers margins. Impression smears of the liver contained large numbers of gram + bacterial cocci also revealing the presence of neutrophils, an immune cell type whose presence might suggest the possibility of hepatic inflammation, or hepatitis. The cause of death for this individual was likely the result of blood flow occlusion to the heart facilitated by the formation of a caval vein thromboembolism, or Blood clot. This may have occured in association with hepatitis upstream from the location of the terminal lesion. Congestion of the lungs had also been observed however, this is a normal post mortem observation.

 

[Olexian Pro]

Also for those who are interested in the haemogregarine parasite group that was identified in the deceased individual, here is a veterinary link where you can read about it yourselves:

http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/CLERK/faggioni/index.php

 

[JordanAng420]

Thank you for that link, Jason. I find parasitology to be quite interesting. I'm so sorry for everything you have been through with these snakes...while still being able to attend veterinary school AND keep us all updated throughout the process. You are going to be a HUGE asset to our profession, and a SUPERB veterinarian, i'm sure. Need a tech?

Touch Of Class Reptiles is a table I (and a few other locals) will be avoiding if I see them again at the local show in January.

 

[lanceheads]

Hey everyone, Jason Here,

If I may, I just wanted to say a few more things concerning this matter and I don't anticipate that everyone will agree with me, but I hope you will at least consider this for a moment and if not for Alex, then do it for me. I can personally say that when I began working with herps I was too was eighteen years old. I was extremely excited about the herp profession and even more excited to begin the Journey of becoming a herp veterinarian, which is around the time I first met SoLa. Even he can tell you it has been quite the adventure. As an excited young man with the initiative of an 18 year old I felt ready to take on the world however, it is more than fair to say that only being 18 years old meant that I did not have all the answers, nor did I have the experience that our society would require to make all of the appropriate decisions in every circumstance that life would toss my way. We all make mistakes and ironically it is the most severe mistakes that I feel we can learn the hardest lessons form. I think we can all agree on this. Let us not forget that an 18 year old man is still a teenager. This is definitely the age at which we begin assuming responsibility for our actions however, lets be fair in that how many of us were really pro's at being adults when we were 18 years old? Lets see a show of hands. I sure as hell wasn't. Honestly 10 years later and I'm still struggling to improve upon this. Being a teenager is the only time in our lives when we are allowed the opportunity to make mistakes at the forefront of adulthood without the severe recourse of society and I truly believe that our society owes us this opportunity as growing individuals. Being a teenager is the one chance that we all share as an opportunity that enables us to tailor the decisions we make as adults with some cushion behind us, so the world abroad doesn't eat us alive when the time comes.

Lets also consider that speaking against your boss, let alone speaking against a superior who is an adult in charge of the money you make is not a quality that every 18 year old has developed by the time they reach their late teenage years. For that matter, some adults in their late 40's and 50's even struggle with this task especially in the face of today's economy. For all we know Alex may be the only income his family currently has and I do not feel it is not our right to question how he manages that situation, nor do I feel it is relevant for the sake of arguments posed in this thread. I too am in a very similar position with my family. Furthermore, I don't think that a single person who has read this thread would volunteer themselves into the position that Alex has assumed. He is just an employee. He didn't have to assume this position and yet he has. I don't suspect he has done this because he enjoys it, but rather because he feels in some level of responsibility for what has happened and I feel wish's he could do something to help. This is a very uncomfortable position for any 18 year old to be in and yet he has taken this whole situation in stride and has done so like a man. Yeah he's tripped up on a few things he said, but honestly look at what he is up against here. I couldn't have done what he's doing at his age.

Alex is the only representative from Touch of Class that we have shared the opportunity of speaking with. I don't know if he is Kelvins interpreter, or why communications with Kelvin have been so scarce, but what I do know is that for the last 4-5 days Alex has been baring the weight of the herp world for Kelvin, not with him at his side and it is no secret that the herp community can be an extremely tough crowd.

In addition I have done a fair amount of international travel and in fact I spent the last 3 years of my veterinary education living amongst the people of a borderline 3rd world country and let me say this to all of you, we we as America'ns assume freedoms that other countries and ethnicity's do not share the luxury of. They can only dream of what we have. We are extremely lucky and the American way simply is not the only way. It is wrong for us to assume that at any point in time. We have a lot of power in this country of ours so lets use it for the right purpose and not to exclude those who are less fortunate than us. We take far too much for granted in this great country of ours and I do mean GREAT!!!! We are truly blessed! Even our homeless have it made when compared to the poverty that extends into other countries and we do not have the right to suggest that any individual deserves exclusion from this great country that we have created as a safe-haven for freedom.

With that said I think Alex has done one hell of a job here. He has represented the company for which he works, despite the obvious fact that it does not benefit in his own personal interests. Even still he didn't simply run away when things grew hot, despite that it would have suited him best. Alex manned up in many ways that Kelvin failed to show face and gained nothing for himself. From an employers standpoint Alex has exhibited outstanding personal character.

There is no doubt that Alex would benefit from some additional experience and training (no offense Alex), but before we execute him (as a metaphor) I feel we owe this 18 year old young man the opportunity to improve. I heavily commend Alex on the manner in which he has handled this situation for Kelvin and he did so without Kelvins assistance. Had it not been for Alex and his efforts, I don't think that I would even have received the potential for a refund, regardless of whether or not the money is there. I base this solely on my communications with Kelvin relative to my conversations with Alex. I feel that Alex facilitated all of this by himself and that is a huge responsibility for an 18 year old to endure. It is unfortunate that this unfolded the way it did and I will not go back on any part of what I said previously in this thread, but as I stated in other related posts, sometimes good people do get caught in the crossfire of bad business between two unrelated individuals. At the end of the day Kelvin is the business owner. Alex is not Kelvin's whipping boy and he does not deserve the retribution directed at Kelvins mistakes. Alex is still learning here and I think he has learned a very keen lesson from all of this, I have no doubt.

Alex I commend you. I think you would definitely benefit from a strong mentor, but when it comes to your level experience, the rest will come in time. I recommend to you that you find yourself a reputable mentor who is not self proclaimed and try to choose someone who's reputation proceeds them. Do that and you will go very far in this profession. You have all the qualities of a good employee and you have what it taked to be an honest and reputable herpetoculturist, despite my feelings that you benefit from some more appropriate guidance given your age and current level of experience. Regardless, the night is still young and those opportunities do wait for you. I heavily encourage you to continue with this career and I don't want you to become discouraged by what has happened here in the last few days. I feel you did your very best given the situation that you were dealt and I personally want to thank you, as my conversations with you have been far more constructive than those I have shared with Kelvin at any point in time.

Alex I want you to know that despite what has happened here on fauna, if you ever have any questions regarding herps, herpetoculture or veterinary health care please feel free to contact me as I would be more than happy to extend my personal attention in addressing your inquiries as I feel this will be an important resource for you to have available as a growing herpetoculturist. Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time. My personal email is [email protected]. I certainly wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors and again, I thank you.

Great Post, indeed!

Randal Berry

 

[TailsWithScales]

Mike, there are 18yr old kids that play professional sports and are captains of their teams. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the way you are brought up, but some of it has to do with a personal desire. So just think about that, and remind yourself where talking about managing a pet shop here, picking animals out and putting them in a box. You'd have to be pretty limited in capability and have ZERO desire at 18 if you cant do something as simple as that. What is there to it? I mean you inspect the animal, you bag the animal and you put the animal in the box.

For Christ sake, there are mentally challenged people working in pen factories with more responsibility than that.

Exactly. This is the point I've been attempting to make this whole time. I personally do not feel that just because he's done all this stuff AFTER THE FACT does not really absolve him from his original very poor error that's resulted in the death of two(?) snakes. You would have to be blind to not notice. Common sense tells you something is not right when an animal is "Eating like mad" but is still skinny and triangle shaped. In my opinion what Alex did was like helping to commit murder then lying to the police just to save you own ass. Not one time in this 26+ page thread has he EVER apologized to the OP that I've seen of. If he has then by all means PLEASE post it and I will very quickly apologize for being wrong. And when I asked very direct questions they weren't even answered but in fact avoided. I almost feel as though it's possible Alex was just giving 'lip service' to save his own ass. Actions speak louder then words and as far as I'm concerned and by his own actions on here it shows me that he shouldn't be absolved just because he talked to Kelvin many many times. That makes me sound like a bitch I know but I am just speaking my truth and personal opinion on that part. That's all I have to say about that.

Jason,

I'm praying that the eCheck clears. I really am. Yes Kelvin is still very much a slime ball and loser regardless. (Especially given the most recent posting.) I'm also glad to see the way you've dealt with everything in such a tactful manner, with grace and yes true class. You're truly a gentleman.
Thank you for all the vet information and the necropsy information. Very informative and I saved it. I do hope this hasn't turned you off to getting new snakes.

Lets also consider that speaking against your boss, let alone speaking against a superior who is an adult in charge of the money you make is not a quality that every 18 year old has developed by the time they reach their late teenage years. For that matter, some adults in their late 40's and 50's even struggle with this task especially in the face of today's economy. For all we know Alex may be the only income his family currently has and I do not feel it is not our right to question how he manages that situation, nor do I feel it is relevant for the sake of arguments posed in this thread. I too am in a very similar position with my family. Furthermore, I don't think that a single person who has read this thread would volunteer themselves into the position that Alex has assumed. He is just an employee. He didn't have to assume this position and yet he has. I don't suspect he has done this because he enjoys it, but rather because he feels in some level of responsibility for what has happened and I feel wish's he could do something to help. This is a very uncomfortable position for any 18 year old to be in and yet he has taken this whole situation in stride and has done so like a man. Yeah he's tripped up on a few things he said, but honestly look at what he is up against here. I couldn't have done what he's doing at his age.

Alex is the only representative from Touch of Class that we have shared the opportunity of speaking with. I don't know if he is Kelvins interpreter, or why communications with Kelvin have been so scarce, but what I do know is that for the last 4-5 days Alex has been baring the weight of the herp world for Kelvin, not with him at his side and it is no secret that the herp community can be an extremely tough crowd.

Although after reading this yes I feel a little bad for being so hard on the kid. But still I just cannot get over the fact of his shipping them out. I just cannot. But alas kudos to you for your excellent post and forgiveness. Way to truly man up Jason!!! You're the best.



P.S. This post took me forever is seems to complete! lmao

 

[lanceheads]

Hey everyone,

Yesterday the snake was necropsied and although I was unable to get pictures I figured I would share the results with all of you. As it turns out, the deceased individual was in fact a female and this was evident by the presence of a pair of ovaries with follicles and two uterine horns. At necropsy there was abnormal enlargement of the liver evident by the rounding of the livers margins. Impression smears of the liver contained large numbers of gram + bacterial cocci also revealing the presence of neutrophils, an immune cell type whose presence might suggest the possibility of hepatic inflammation, or hepatitis. The cause of death for this individual was likely the result of blood flow occlusion to the heart facilitated by the formation of a caval vein thromboembolism, or Blood clot. This may have occured in association with hepatitis upstream from the location of the terminal lesion. Congestion of the lungs had also been observed however, this is a normal post mortem observation.

Was there blood in the lungs? Is so, that would not be normal, it would indicate (normally) trauma of some sort.

Randal Berry

 

[SoLA]

I looked through the posts again. This is pretty close to saying "sorry" ...

"If Kelvin wants to respond then he will, if not, i can not force him, but i will let him know about it. Again my apologies to Jason. I wish i could do more to help you out, but this is just not in my hands."

Being only 18, I believe he really did think there wasn;t anything he could do, but people on here made him realize he could. And the last thing Estrada posted before Jason got his notice of $500 in his paypal account was that he told Soto he should give Jason all his money back.

I don't know everything Alex said to Kelvin, but my guess is he translated important notes from this thread that Kelvin would have had a difficult time figuring out since he does not understand English very well. This is why I pushed to make sure Alex knew how important of a roll he actually was, so he does deserve lots of the credit. Which is why I offered to buy him a drink...when he is legally of age to cash it in of course. Maybe you, me, and Jason can have lunch some time ; )

 

[critical bill]

Sorry comes after you realize you did something wrong.

However, not Alex nor Kelvin admitted to do anything wrong.

So what is the apology worth when you don't even know precisely what its for?

 

[Ed Clark]

Sorry comes after you realize you did something wrong.

However, not Alex nor Kelvin admitted to do anything wrong.

So what is the apology worth when you don't even know precisely what its for?

Great point Chuck, denial runs rampant at touch of class reptiles.

 

[reticguy76]

i wanted to say something on topic first, this post has been very interesting and insightful, as i was lookin at a couple animals from them. now i know which way im going.
second, and off topic, and my apologies, chuck, love the "vince" avatar. thats awsome