In Defense of Central Coast Reptile Research Cente

I have had a few complaints on this board over the past few weeks! O well, just wanted to talk about math first! I started the first USA AAZPA approved commercial breeding center in 1979 and I have sold over 300,000 reptiles since then. 75,000 of those I produced at my own facility. I currently have over 1,000 clients. Just do the math-you cant keep everyone happy!

Second is addressing the individual complaint. A mr. Warren Croft claims I ripped off a friend in need! The truth is: I was contacted by Doug Eggleston from the VA Red Cross to help sell a large collection of reptiles for a lady named Tina whos husband had died. I sold about 100 reptiles at a 10% profit to cover my cost and paid that money to Tina. How many of you guys would do that! Everyone was very happy. I also had Doug ship to me several reptiles that I offered to sell on consignment because he desperatly needed cage space.
I have all the emails to prove what I say. I have not paid in full yet for those reptiles for one main reason. SEPT 11th!! I lost over $30,000 worth of reptiles due to grounded airlines. I admit, I have been slow at paying off those reptiles. I am also having a slow down with shipping problems since September. I am one of the few people who actually ship reptiles legally in this country! I dont put them in an unmarked box and ship UPS! That is a violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Lacy Act. It is a felony to ship and receive live reptiles in boxes that are not clearly marked with genus and species. Bet you didnt know that one.

Just remember there are alway two sides to each story! Negative comments usually do more harm than help. The web has opened up an easy door for people to slander others. I have been doing this for over 20 years for a living and I could fill up this forum with complaints if I felt like it. I choose to spend my time instead working with the US Congress trying to get the laws changed, so we can export captive produced Australian Varanids and other herps. This will help everyone!
Sincerely,
Terry Lilley
Central Coast Reptile Research Center

In defense of Terry......we have purchased several items from Terry and have been completely satisfied. We will continue our business. Thanks Terry,....Alliey and I received our rats and they are freakin huge and clean. That male boa has been a breeding machine.

Chris McAra & Alliey Sandro <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

I have had possitive dealings with Terry as well.  He was sometimes difficult to get in touch with but everything was still done in a timely and professional manner - not to mention the animals I received were beautiful and healthy.  

We Just Completed a trade with Terry Lilley, All went well. Shipping was as expected, and the animal we got in trade was superior.
This was our first Dealing with Central coast, But will not be the last.
Michael Cole

Okay, just so everyone knows, Mr Eggleston and I have been working together since day one on behalf of Ms. Tina Barringer since the death of her husband.
Second, Mr. Lilley, no where in the posts made here did we say the words "Ripped Off." If that's what you took from the post then we are Sorry! That was never our intent! All we said was that we had not received any payments in a long time.
I spent several hours with Ms. Tina Barringer this afternoon and according to her records the last check we received from you was on 12/6/00. This was check #1303 for 32 Adult Corns. If you have any valid records of a payment since 12/6 that's fine. We would love to see those records and take it into consideration. To the best of Ms. Barringers knowledge she has not received any payments since then.
On Feb. 19th of this year in a private email you sent Mr. Eggleston you said you would make a payment by no later than March. That's great! We are looknig forward to it! All along we have said that we are not out to hurt anyones business! Just that we had not received any payments in a long time. Long before 9/11. When you make the next payment on your account we will be glad to post here and let everone know that progress is being made.
Mr. Lilley, we have never said that you are not a good business man! Just that we have not received any payments in a long time.

  Sincerely,
  Warren Croft

I would like to take a minute to add my comments here. Mr. Lilley and I have had an ongoing transaction for almost two years now. I've been waiting for approval on export of some CITES 1 animals from Mr. Lilley since mid 2000. As some of you may know, these permits have always taken longer than usual to be granted for export but Terry has been patient with me and  applied for the same permit twice now with no regret on his part.

There has been a transaction fee paid on my part since the beginning of the application and I've recently decided that I would like to have this over and done with for the time being. I had asked Terry if he minded giving me a pair of Boas to cover the deposit that I've already given him for now, and then we could still keep working on the permits and I could still have the opportunity to get my original animals. Without delay Mr. Lilley agreed and has already applied for CITES 2 permits and is willing to work with me on the deal.

I'm not saying that mistakes cant be made and corrected, I simply wanted to give my story. This will be our first transaction with Mr. Lilley and by the looks of it all is well and in the end if we're happy with the deal then I would deal with him again. I have always been very honest and up front with my customers. I believe that Terry has done the same with us.

Thanks for your time and best regards to all!

Darren Hamill
Hamill Reptiles.com

Dean Here AGAIN March 03 2002.I too received e-mail from Mr Lilley on Feb 14th 2002 regarding the$1400 deposit he still has not returned from over a year ago . In this he stated that he would start making payments. Guess what??? STILL NO MONEY RETUNRED!!! Not that I am surprised. Yes I am still getting excuses, and no I have not received my deposit or any real attempt to make good on it.
How does a company that has been in business for soooo long and has sold soooo many retiles that they do not have the working capital to return money that is not theres in the first place.
They keep complaining about Sept 11th .  My dealiings with Mr Lilley were over a year ago. I had asked for my deposit to be returned July of 2001. How is Sept. 11th 2002 relivent???  Just more excuses!!!!  And as You can see by there reply they are great at coming up with excuses but not so great at returning there customers deposits. If I ever get my deposit returned without legal action I will let You all know. But i am not holding my breath.   Dean McCarthy

STILL BEWARE OF TERRY LILLEY CENTRAL COAST REPTILE RESEARCH CENTER.  Today March 17th over a year since I sent them a deposit, I have yet to receive the $1400.00 or even some attempt at repayment. Is this a company You want to send Your hard earned money to???  For more information regarding this matter refer to Feb 7th posts regarding Mr Lilley both here a the board of inquirey and also Yahoo's Google forum
Sincerely, Dean McCarthy <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

hi all,
i just want to say that i had recentally bought a couple of large crocodilian from Terry, and the deal went as smooth as a babys bottom. and the animals arrived in perfect condition and were exactly as Terry decribed them to me over the phone.
i will gladly do business with him in the future.

i know in this line of work there are many sides of a story to all transactions, this is mine.  <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

thank you terry
joshua myers
philadelphia exotic pets

IVE KNOWN TERRY SINCE BACK IN THE DAY. HE IS A GREAT GUY,AND HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. HE GETS
THE HARD TO FIND REPTILES THAT PEOPLE WOULD EVEN LOVE TO SEE ONCE IN A LIFETIME.I AM CONFIDENT HE WILL NOT RIP YOU OFF, AND THERE IS A LOGICAL EXPLANATION,
THAT WELL, ALREADY SEEMS HE HAS GIVEN.

                                    THANKS   SAN DIEGO VIVARIUM

BRAZ,

I have warned you twice via email about using your FULL NAME in the messages you post in the BOI. I am not warning you again. If you do not put your full name in your messages that you post in the Board of Inquiry, I will delete every last one of them.

You can go into your personal profile and put your name in the signature area, and that will retroactively put your name in your previous posts.  Ritchie Luna described this process in the ADMINISTRATIVE section of the board.

Nothing personal about this, but that's the rules.  I have gotten beaten up by people for not enforcing the rules, so you have fair warning.

<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>     Your company name came up in an email as a source to buy the reptiles (torts.) I was looking for,  but after reading about your cash problems and deposits that have not been refunded I decided to spend my $3500 somewhere else.  If your business practices get turned around and your still around next year I'll look you up.
No chances with my hard earned cash here, sorry!
G.O.B. <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Thank you Terry.  
The one transaction I've had with Terry for a breeding pair of lizards went smoothly, and quickly.  The animals were better than described and packed well.  Terry seems to be able to acquire the more difficult to find reptiles that I look for, and tolerates my constant e-mails as well.  I plan on doing more business with him in the future.  
Greg Nilles

Just to let everyone know. As promised, Mr. Lilley has made a payment towards his account with Ms. Barringer. Thank You!
Mr. Lilley has promised to continue making payments until our deal is completed. When this happens we will make our last post to this thread.

wc

My past and pending transactions with Terry have all gone extremely smoothly and the animals have looked excellent and were represented exactly as described. They have all thrived and arrived in excellent condition, were packed professionally, and Terry has always been extremely professional in our dealings.  I personally wouldn't hesitate to purchase from Terry.