LIARS & THIEVES: Troy and Kellie Wikel (aka exotics2aquatics, Swift, Whiteboro, etc.)

LIARS & THIEVES: Troy and Kellie Wikel (aka exotics2aquatics, Swift, Whiteboro, etc.)

This couple, who used to have a pet shop in the Nashville area and shut it down owing suppliers a great deal of money, pulled a scam this past weekend in Nashville ("Greater Nashville Reptile Show"). They promoted a show where they made the outrageous lie of having pre-sold 6000 tickets, lied about vendor tables being near sell-out when over half were vacant and had to be removed (even after allowing vendors to spread out as much as possible), promised to split raffle money with a reptile rescue shelter but stole it all, wrote bad checks to cover expenses, left the show early (supposedly before paying their help). They promised some vendors that they would be the exclusive vendor of their primary animal and lied, booking other vendors selling the same. They promised the public a petting zoo, yet didn't have one. They told a cricket supplier to bring 500 boxes and that they would buy the excess, but neglected to make good on that promise either. They promoted the appearance of a "rising country star", but instead had some hack play a couple of songs each day with their kid singing along to make it worse.

To view their in print claim of pre-selling 6000 tickets please visit their Vendor Info webpage at: http://www.nashvillereptileshow.citymaker.com/page/page/2049266.htm. In case they take the site down it reads "This looks to be a large show possibility of over 15,000 ("we have already sold over 6000 advance purchase tickets") spectator".

To learn more about these criminals please visit the thread in this site's Events thread at: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69642.

Cheers,

Michael Jacobi

I just cut and pasted my entry from the other thread so this may be a little redundant but here's my experience.


I have never been lied to in such a ridiculous way before. Aside from the supposed 6000 pre-sold tickets they stabbed their vendors in the back. They talked their cricket supplier into bring 1/2 million crickets to the show with the promises that 1 he would be the only vendor with crickets and 2 they would buy any left overs and sell them to local pet stores. I was set up next to him and would be surprised if he sold 10 of the 500 boxes that he brought. I was not surprised that they failed to buy any crickets from him after the show. They also allowed another vendor to place crickets next to his half dead animals and sell them for $6 less per thousand. $13 per 1000 is a pretty good show price and they allowed another vendor to sell them for $7 per 1000. Mike (the cricket guy) also built their website for them for free. He checked Saturday and with the guy hosting it and only 2 tickets had been pre sold through their site. A far cry from 6000. They told the rodent vendor he would be exclusive yet their were 2 rodent vendors. I was told that I would be the only sugar glider vendor yet there was another that they signed this week. While I am fine with them signing another glider vendor not only did they fail to inform me I would no longer be exclusive they also told the other vendor that no one else was bringing gliders. When I signed up to do their show I called 2 other vendors and encouraged them to also do the show. They took he vendors that I sent them and gave them a table price of $50 per table while charging me $75 per table. I had also, at my own expense, printed flyers and passed them out to vendors and customers the week prior in St Louis. They were constantly walking by and telling us inflated numbers of how many had been through the door. As Mike mentioned earlier another vendor was paying someone to count people. When their count was at 500 on Saturday his was at 149. Another vendor told me they were bragging about their $30,000 advertising budget. Saturday they came around announcing that television news crews were coming by to do live spots from the show. I was really hoping they showed up as they could have been made aware of the largest scandal being perpetrated in TN that weekend. I witnessed the argument between Mike and Troy and it happened as he said. I felt bad for the people they continued to charge at the door while vendor vehicles were in the isles loading 4-5 hours before they show ended. While I do not wish this to be a personal attack on Kelli or Troy they cost vendors thousands of dollars in expenses due to their lies. I harbor no ill feeling towards any of the other vendors their as we were all lied to and manipulated this weekend. I think I can state with a certainty that there will be no Dec show in Nashville. I spoke with about all the vendors and didn't find one that wasn't offended or that was willing to come back.I really think now that it would be appropriate to place the events that transpired this weekend on the BOI as they are in the group of scam artists and the word should get out. I am certain I will not be the last vendor to share their story.

When I left ALL paid help was waiting to get paid. People who had worked all weekend didn't get paid. I will say that I think that they really wanted this show to be a success. The food was great for the vendors. I just think they tried to do too much and went about everything the wrong way.

In defense of the "rising country star" he wasn't that bad and I really hate country music. I did think the autographed photos were a little over the top. I don't think he got paid either and he lives with Kellie and Troy.

I feel for anyone who tries to do another show in Nashville. The way this was advertised it was "bring your kids to the zoo day". If they would have just placed a free ad in Reptiles magazine maybe it would have helped. I paid in cash on Friday for my tables. I wish it had been a check or I had waited until they bolted early on Sunday.

Wow, That sounds like a vendors worst nightmare..I am sorry to hear this..Shows are having a hard time as it is surviving without a blackeye like this..I was planning on going but decided against it..I had a feeling.

Kelli and Troy Wikel/Whiteboro and their band of lies and deceipt

I posted this on another forum (Events) but am glad that Michael Jacobi from The Spider Shoppe started this thread on the BOI. When Kellie (who used the last name Whiteboro with us) contacted us about a month ago to get a table, we told her no. Her husband then talked to mine and said they would donate a table to us if we would come and do a presentation with our animals and bring some of our shelter animals to show. She also said she would be doing raffles and they would split the money with us with our "half" being donated to the shelter. We agreed to going on Saturday. A few days before the show, she called and was insistent we be there for the whole three days. I finally told her we would do Sat and Sun but I had another commitment on Friday and wouldn't be there. On Saturday, I was stunned to see so few vendors, especially when she kept saying there were almost 200 vendors and she was almost sold out with tables and had pre-sold 6000 tickets. Fortunately, we live 1 1/2 hours away so we just drove back and forth and didn't have lodging expenses.

Now, where were the newscrews from channel 2 and 4??? A security person came to tell us they were coming through and Kellie told us but I never saw anyone. What I did see were vendors out a lot of money, especially those who had to buy a $275 wildlife permit to sell colubrids and didn't sell enough colubrids to make up even part of that expense, much less the other expenses.

Oh, the raffle money they said they would split with our reptile shelter??? Well, it left with them....all of it. They snuck out way before all the vendors left. We looked for them before we left and found nothing left of them...not even their kids.

Kellie, you didn't rip me off when you stole the shelter's half of the raffle money you promised (by the way, who else did you promise it to???). You ripped off the shelter's residents. But I guess you really needed the money since you wrote worthless checks to a lot of people. Do you realize that writing bad checks is a criminal offense??? I see bars in your future...and not the drinking kind, either.

I met some vendors there that I hope to see at other shows in the future, especially the guys from KC and the cricket man and even though I live near Tom of glasscages.com, we've never gotten to talk before but we had lots of time to talk over the weekend.

Oh, and one of the things that was raffled off was a green annie. My friend won one of the drawings. I went to the front with her. They told her to choose between the annie and a volcano mister. I told my friend to take the annie. My friend, who has never owned a snake, thought I was nuts. She later realized I wanted the annie before a child or someone who has never had a snake before took it. The annie was donated by an individual who lives in Nashville. The annie is at our house right now and at least we are knowledgeable and capable of taking care of the snake. Someone else may not have and the animal would have suffered.

We weren't there to sell animals or products. Unfortunately, the other vendors were there for that purpose and they were lured in by blatant lies and I think it's a safe bet to say that no one sold enough to cover the expenses they put out to be at the show.

bumpdedebumpbump

Hey, Michael.

By the way, I couldn't make myself come over to your table before you left. I don't do spiders and every time I found myself heading in your direction, I automatically veered off again. Ugh!

Sherry Howell said:

Hey, Michael.

By the way, I couldn't make myself come over to your table before you left. I don't do spiders and every time I found myself heading in your direction, I automatically veered off again. Ugh!

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Hi Sherry,

If you would have approached from the other direction you would have seen adorable little dart frogs and crested geckos and gargoyle geckos. I'm not only about BIG HAIRY SPIDERS!

Cheers, Michael

Well, heck. I really missed out. I love crested geckos!

Gene, if first and last names are not in the actual post you run the risk of having it deleted by the moderators and possibly getting a few warning points from them as well.

I had a feeling....

that something like this would happen. With the little I know about Tennessee Herp laws, and the claims I had heard, I'm not surprised. I feel sorry for that anyone who attended, especially the cricket guy. They pulled off one heck of a con though.

LotsaPetsGarfHt said:

that something like this would happen. With the little I know about Tennessee Herp laws, and the claims I had heard, I'm not surprised. I feel sorry for that anyone who attended, especially the cricket guy. They pulled off one heck of a con though.

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Who was the cricket guy? Does he have good crickets at good prices? If he does and some of you are looking for a new source then perhaps he can get some new customers here.

My needs are, unfortunately for him, small and there is also a breeder of crickets close by so I am not in need but if any of you are.......

Sherry Howell said:

.

Oh, the raffle money they said they would split with our reptile shelter??? Well, it left with them....all of it. They snuck out way before all the vendors left. We looked for them before we left and found nothing left of them...not even their kids.

Click to expand...

Sherry,

This sounds like a disaster from the getgo. At first I was thinking that it was a financial shortfall, that they could not cover expenses because they did not sell enough tickets. But the alleged booking of several vendors after telling the first vendor he would be exclusive, well that's cold.

And no funds for your shelter, I am sorry that happened, I believe in people who rescue animals, and admire them.

It is always possible for anyone in business to have a financial disaster, business is all about taking risks and that is certainly foremost among the many risks possible.

I was trying to think of what I would do in a similar situation, and though I know that I cannot step into their exact shoes, I would not have double booked exclusive dealers, and I would not have given different numbers about the number of tickets sold, but most important, if I found myself short of money I would go to those I had obligations to, tell them in honesty what had happened, and offer to pay out my obligations.

ESPECIALLY if I had children with me; what a good lesson it would have been, for kids to see hard times, but also to see honesty and reparations.

Y'all might invite the Wikels to tell their side, there may well be factors that all of us are unaware of, but seeing the way it went down, with what has been said so far, it should have been handled in a more up front manner, IMHO.

This is a much longer answer than I intended, but I keep thinking of the expenses involved in running a rescue, I wish you the best in the future.

The cricket vendor was premium crickets. I was completely impressed with his crickets. He sold 1k for $13 at the show and at the end of the show he gave me a couple boxes to take home. Between me driving 9 hours home and him coming in from Atlanta, not to mention the crickets living in boxes the whole weekend, I didn't see any dead crickets when I got them home. They actually got too big for my babies and I still have some thriving that are now big enough for my adults. I should probably start a good guy post for Mike here on the BOI. By far the best cricket experience I have had so far.

Mike

Thanks, Lucille.

There is another thread under events that was first started right before the show. Kelli did post days after the show. She did call me to tell me that there was only $40 collected on the raffle and offered to get the $40 to me. I told her I would rather she use that money to settle with Roark Ferguson and Mike at Premium Crickets.

Maybe that thead and this one could be combined to form one thread on the BOI???

Running a shelter is mostly a labor of love. Because Ft. Campbell is five miles from our home, we also shelter, at no charge, reptiles for the guys and gals who get sent to Iraq. We'll be taking in about 30 from a married couple and two single guys within the next couple of months while they will be spending 18 months in Iraq. That's just from the people who have contacted us already. The last deployment, we had guys bringing their animals to us the day before and the day they actually shipped out.

troy and kelly

we have been up and down the show road together for a while, dont think you were out to scam anyone. glad to see some responce from you in events. take care of your dealers, and what you said you would do.
the remarks about the dixe show
i have done this show lots of times and to me it is the best little show in south, good 1 last week.
prices i think prices were fair at nashville for reptiles, i am a turtle breeder supplyer, my turtles are delivered to turtle farms in pickup and trailer loads, some are traded for snakes, yes i have 1.25 $ in my ball pythons, but all are picked by me none shipped in, they are mine, if want to sell them for 20.00 , as i said , thery are mine,
i have been in this bussiness a long time, if things go bad, i just catch a boat out, make more money and get back going, nashvill has done this for me,
lets take this as a lesson learned, and try to make the best of it,
troy and kelly; if you are trying to repair you mistakes, i have a job coming in a week or 2, troy contact me
can probaly use you as a deckhand, pay is 1000 to 1500 a week.
gene arnold
turtleman1
cypress swamp reptiles
[email protected]
no more points
thanks for looking

Not out to scam anyone?

Telling vendors they will be the "EXCLUSIVE" dealer of their specialty, and that 6000 tickets have been presold....hmmmmmmm. So what is all that about? Maybe its just a little fib or misrepresentation. If you tell me I'm the only one that will be selling Leopard Geckos, and that you've presold 6000 tickets, I would expect to be the ONLY major vendor of Leopard Geckos, and I'd expect to see at least 5000 people through the door, thats allowing for 1000 NO SHOWS and NO WALK UPS...no they weren't trying to scam anyone.

rujonesin said:

The cricket vendor was premium crickets. I should probably start a good guy post for Mike here on the BOI. By far the best cricket experience I have had so far.

Mike

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Reading Wes's post I decided to place a small order. Communication was great. The crickets arrived today and look great, as great as a cricket could look I guess. I would definitely use them again. I'll check later to see if he has a thread going to add to it.

Recent News:

I received a phone call and email two days ago from a woman in Gainesville, Florida. She alleges that the Wikel's have pulled a scam there involving purchasing her pet shop. I am wondering if anyone else has been contacted or has heard of this.

Cheers, Michael

ask sherry howell (first page) about it. she can tell you. has something to do with fake deeds, stolen credit card numbers/accts, and some other stuff im sure.

Again i'll ask ..... why didnt the seller use Escrow ..... this whole pet shop thing looks realy suspect to me ... honest people use a broker to sell their properties, they open escrow , both parties place the money and the deed in escrow and after a search of records and funds verified escrow close's and both parties are ensured of a clean sale ...I've read alot of outrageous claims on several threads but people are being real hush hush about answering my simple question .... and this sherry howell person seems to be suspect at best..... how do I know she wasn't in on it and is now trying to cover her own ass .... so far everything I've read is just hearsay .... show me the escrow records then explain to me just how something like this could happen ... Its been my experience that people who dont use reputable brokers like coldwell bankers or century 21 are cons trying to rip you off ... i would "never" do buisness with anyone who wont go through a broker and place the whole deal in escrow .... doing so would be as moronic as sighning a contract you didnt read ..... if i were on a jury the first question i would want answered is ... who was the broker and second ,, how was escrow handeled, plain and simple .. i'de want to know if a full title search was done and how were the funds verified ... was this a case of a con being conned ??? its not uncommon at all for one con man to end up conned by another con man .... i have alot of reasonable doubt reguarding this whole issue .... I dont believe anything at face value .. i wana see proof ...