• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    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.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    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 Ben Siegel Reptiles

sbk94 said:
See there you go bringing up age. How does my input/advice have anything to do with my age? I am what some would call wise past my years. What is the legal age of becoming an adult? 18. So you already look dumb by saying I'm barley 18 when first off I'm 17 and age is just a number. I wasn't saying kids rule and making childish remarks. I was giving serious input which a few people happen to agree with me on. I did not once take a side in this situation. It's ignorant people that like to belittle people and cause problems. Every1 who reads this ask yourself this "Am I successful?" Yes or no you were once a kid. Age is not an issue for this conflict in some aspect. So don't make it one.
Steven
Click to expand...

Im not worried about the FEW people that consider you wise past your years.. Nor the ones that may or may not agree with you I see you've qouted what I wrote did you read it or does comprehension come later on?? Im not trying to belittle no one yet... nor was I. Here's what I wrote again re-read what's in bold

"Brandon,
Im willing to say that Steven Katz sbk94 is yet still a child if he's 18 its barely 18 yet his words seem to be that of the wise when a child gets involved in matters of an adult situation theres more then likely going to be a not so clean mess at the end of it... As you can see in Kirk's post above mine...
All Ben from what Im gathering from this wanted was to have Kirk's parents contact him... Correct?
And that Kirk himself wanted to retract his bid from Bens Facebook page becuase Kirk's phone was blowing up... Hmmm easy fix Change your settings.. Kirk got upset as he clearly states above... Once you've placed a Bid on an Item at a auction your Bid is there END OF STORY you cant retract your bid If Kirk would of had the winning bid he would of been liable to PAY UP!!! when he didn't pay up Ben would be posting the Bad Guy thread (not saying he would becuase it would more than likely be a waste of his time) on Kirk.
Then he get's upset becuase Ben wants to speak to his parents ( who Im sure didn't know he placing bids maybe the reason he wanted them deleted his parents have Facebook as well??)
In my Honest Opinion this thread is a waste of Rich's server space and at the actions of a Mad Child who should of been playing games on Facebook instead of placing bids in an auction he had no intentions of buying something or thats what Im getting from this line of what he wrote in the 1st post in this thread

" He was doing an auction and i devcided to put in a 10 dollar bid, well we all know people where gonna top that, "

He had no intentions of following through if his 10 dollar bid would have one
Simply a Child playing Child Games
And Kirk NO this post is here to stay this is the BOI Im more than sure by the actions you've taken here you've been added to quite a few Do Not Do Business with Lists

Take this as a Life Lesson if nothing else is taken in by this Somethings are just better to let go than carry on with as for every action there's a possitive or negitave reaction
Its not are mistakes we must live with but the Consequence's of are mistakes"

Now is you were to actually read what I wrote instead of glancing through it you would have seen that I actually gave you props... One thing you failed to realize is re read what I have put into bold underline and italic in the first sentence.
Personaly I belive the Op's age had ALOT TO DO with this post

What does this have to do with the price of tea in England?
"Every1 who reads this ask yourself this "Am I successful?" Yes or no you were once a kid. Age is not an issue for this conflict in some aspect. So don't make it one"

No your age isn't an issue here but IMO the OP's may be... Simply read what he (he being the Op) posted and Im sure more than 2/3rd's of the people who read this will agree this WHOLE thread was started by a Child lashing out becuase he was upset... reason being THE OP CLEARLY STATE'S IT. The reason I was using your age as an example as he qouted you and was agreeing with you I clearly posted how I felt and my opinions on the situation at hand... While your words seem to be that of wisdom If you took offense to what I said/wrote I dont know what to tell you
If you dont think I was giving you props then whats this "yet his words seem to be that of the wise" which they were But I belive you were looking at a smaller picture thats the reasoning behind me adding this "when a child gets involved in matters of an adult situation theres more then likely going to be a not so clean mess at the end of it..."

The Op clearly a child was getting involved in adult activities ( the Auction most case you have to be 18 to place bids on auctions) I already expressed that by this statement made by the OP that this was nothing more than a child playing around
"He was doing an auction and i devcided to put in a 10 dollar bid, well we all know people where gonna top that"
But I dont have to re write everything I've said already
And technically speaking If I wish to call you a Child I may do so as your a Child ( NON ADULT) until you reach 18 years of age So If your 17 technically speaking yes your still a child...
There's a reason that most auction's clearly state that one must be 18 in order to place a bid and Im sure this situation is a Prime example of that...
 
I understand it was all sandwhiched together and a big mess to read. Well every1 has made up so it's no biggie....and how bout teen??? :)
Steven
 
One post off topic sorta But yes Teen would have been a better choice of words for me to use I do agree with that Steven
 
I dont think that bidding on an auction and being shot down is something to post a bad guy thread over. On Ben's facebook page, the auctions state that the person needs to be over 18 or parents involved and that there is no bid retractions... if you retract than you will be blocked and not allowed to bid on any further auctions...
 
BEN SIEGEL

I stumbled across this thread and tried to not get involved but I just can't. Ben and his Wife have always been great to me, my staff and my customers over the years. I think I have spent something like $50,000 with Ben over the last 6-7 years and have had NO problems.

I know he is busy and I try to make it quick, especially at certain times of the year. I have been a bit unreasonable in some of my questions/requests during that time but never heard him say more than,..."could you hold on a seond...".

I have said many times that I do not respect this site as much as I used to because of all the wasted space and time that these sorts of threads use up. I hate to think someone will stumble accross this also and maybe not buy an excellent animal from a great business because of this verbage. That is a shame.
 
vferra7777 said:
I stumbled across this thread and tried to not get involved but I just can't. Ben and his Wife have always been great to me, my staff and my customers over the years. I think I have spent something like $50,000 with Ben over the last 6-7 years and have had NO problems.

I know he is busy and I try to make it quick, especially at certain times of the year. I have been a bit unreasonable in some of my questions/requests during that time but never heard him say more than,..."could you hold on a seond...".

I have said many times that I do not respect this site as much as I used to because of all the wasted space and time that these sorts of threads use up. I hate to think someone will stumble accross this also and maybe not buy an excellent animal from a great business because of this verbage. That is a shame.
Click to expand...


Well Papa Johns has the best pizza out of any chain, but if I cuss u out on the phone u still gonna place ur order?
 
I've had the pleasure of dealing with Ben in person last year in Atlanta (Repticon) and he was a GREAT guy to speak with. I literally had to push my way through the crowd surrounding his table, in order to talk with him. Even though I wasn't even buying anything at that moment, he did his best to give everyone some of his time and remained extremely pleasant with everyone (customers, and non-customers alike).

In my experience, Ben is a great guy and I'll certainly still do business with him again!
 
Honestly I've heard nuthin but great things about Ben and currently own a couple of gorgeous snakes produced by him. Got them from a local shop tho. I personally wouldnt have an issue doing business with him as long as he treats me with respect during our transaction.

What Im pointing out is that he took advantage of the OPs age to "show his chest a lil," as the expression goes in a PG 13 sense. Because as we've heard, and as most of u have expirienced, he hasn't been rude or calling names to his older customers. At least thats how I viewed it from the start of this thread.

When he went full throttle and made a legit livelihood from breeding reptiles, he went into another class. He is businessman. Therefore he must display a better attitude, and be more mature than name calling. If the OP came to me like that, I honestly woulda done the exact same thing. But Im just a hobbyist, I do this for the love of doing it. So Im not held up to the standard of a business professional.

Im using me as an example to easily convey my point but same goes for each hobbyist whose not even trying to make a business outta this. But hey I'm not knocking anyone for making money at what they love.

Kinda like if someone called me about a snake and was rude, I'd tell em where to shove it.

But, if someone called my work and was rude about an order, I'd work with them, try to make them happy, and if they just wont stop being abrasive, I simply say "Sorry, I wont do business with someone yelling in my ear." And hang up. He coulda simply pressed the block button on facebook, without calling him a brat, and would have avoided this entire thread. If the thread did still pop up it woulda gone a whole-nother direction.

But like I said earlier, apologies have been accepted and everyone has learned from it. This will not affect my business with Ben or the OP, because both accepted their faults and have moved on.

And before anyone wants to jump on me about how professional I am during transactions, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll give u a list of people I've bought or sold to, and u can ask them.
 
vferra7777 said:
I have said many times that I do not respect this site as much as I used to because of all the wasted space and time that these sorts of threads use up. I hate to think someone will stumble accross this also and maybe not buy an excellent animal from a great business because of this verbage. That is a shame.
Click to expand...

You're not seeing the forest for the trees. Are there false 'bad guy' threads initiated every once in a while? Sure. But, as you see, readers here are sophisticated and pick up on that kind of stuff, and if one reads the entire thread, one usually has a basis to make one's own decision about what is really going on.

What you are NOT seeing is the MANY who DON'T buy a critter because these threads alert them to a seller (and I am emphatically not referring to Ben here) whose behavior shows that a past purchaser was somehow scammed or ripped off, or a seller who has substandard or diseased stock.

This particular forum, despite its sometimes inelegant 'verbiage' has revolutionized the world of reptile transactions, for the better. And it does so by allowing buyers and sellers to exchange information about their experiences, and readers or potential customers to judge a buyer or seller based on what real people have said.
 
vferra7777 said:
I have said many times that I do not respect this site as much as I used to because of all the wasted space and time that these sorts of threads use up.
Click to expand...
Yes, you have taken many opportunities to express negativity about this site...in fact, you seem to toss it in quite regularly. My suggestion to you is that if you care to be constructive about your concerns - the Fauna Feedback Forum is the place to address them. If not, you should reconsider why you keep coming here. Frankly, you wandering around spouting off about disliking this site has gotten old. Nobody is dragging you to Faunaclassifieds - if you don't like it, stop torturing yourself by coming here. If you are going to "tolerate" what you view as negatives, in return for the positives; you might consider curbing your own negativity before you one day find the door closed, and your admittance blocked.
 
Nick - it's an easy course to take, but this thread is not about Mr Ferraiolo, or his business.
I know my response to him makes it easier for others to follow suit, but sometimes it is just better to do those things right out in the open. Let's swing the focus back to Ben Siegel.

I know I've posted before, but I've been happy with every purchase I've made from Ben. While I can agree that making negative comments about a prospective buyers age is a poor choice, the two versions of the story do differ a bit. Nobody has disputed that Ben's auction clearly stated that bids wouldn't be removed/retracted, and that anybody under 18 was to contact him prior to bidding. I've required parental consent when approached by minors wanting to buy a snake, and I've required contact to approve the purchase when a parent's, spouse's, or any other third parties account is used to pay....so I don't see any issue with Ben asking for the same.
 
There are basically two types of children on the planet: those that are disciplined properly by their parents and those that are not. How one relates to his/her elders is a reflection of their upbringing. God help my son if I EVER hear of him back-talking an adult. Being called a brat will be the very least of his problems. This does not mean he can't be assertive when doing business, but assertiveness and bratiness are entirely different avenues. While an apology does start the ball rolling in the right direction, to think it automatically makes everything hunky-dory again is in-and-of-itself immature. One thing is for sure, one can catch more flies with sugar than vinegar. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for the young man, or on the other hand, maybe he'll marry someone who doesn't like snakes someday...
 
Anthony, I absolutely agree. Reading this entire thread my thoughts were exactly the same. As a child, this NEVER would have happened, and I can thank my parents for that and where I am today. I'm actually in the middle of a transaction with Ben with no problems. Bummer this had to put a "bad guy" thread.
 
MajorLeagueReptiles said:
Anthony, I absolutely agree. Reading this entire thread my thoughts were exactly the same. As a child, this NEVER would have happened, and I can thank my parents for that and where I am today. I'm actually in the middle of a transaction with Ben with no problems. Bummer this had to put a "bad guy" thread.
Click to expand...

I think the only bad guy here was the OP. I've never had the pleasure of dealing with Ben, but his reputation told me this had to be a bogus thread, to say the least, when I first saw it on the BOI menu. There was another bad guy thread on him (Ben) a while back that started with something to the effect of 'gotcha - I just wanted to get your attention by the title of saying Ben was a bad guy so I could tell you about the good deal he gave me', or something like that. One of the mods told the OP of that thread it was a nice gesture, but a bad idea to list him as a bad guy. Anyway, I thought I had finally found that unicorn with this thread when the OP was seriously accusing him of some sort of shananigans, but as I suspected, the case has some serious flaws. Seems to me there will likely never be a true bad guy thread on Ben. It's nice to know there are still businesses one can benchmark.
 
I require ALL people under age 18 to have their parents negotiate the transaction for them. It's called protection. For you, for me, and for the animals in question. If you can't see that for what it is, then you have some maturing to do.
 
I make a rule not to sell to children. I have broken my own rule on the rare occasion when a young person has shown they are both responsible for their animals and had parents that told me they cared for the animals themselves and that they had planned how to continue on with that care even after they left for college or other educational oppurtnities. Its the rare young person that can plan for tommorrow today. I dont want my animals Ive bred, discarded because the kid left for school or military service and the parents arent interested in reptiles.
 
Back
Top