Info Ben Siegel Troubles

[Xaila]

I wouldn't necessarily write off Ben Siegel Reptiles, the business, due to the issues going on with Ben Siegel, the man. From what I understand he's had very competent people mostly running things for some time now.

 

[Chris Kennard]

I dealt with Ben in the early 2000s. Perfect animals, perfect transactions. He has a problem that is confusing and hard to come to terms with. I get it and feel sorrow for his affliction. Jails won't, and can't help him. Support from People who knew him when he was stable can. Anyone who judges Ben based on this thread, never dealt with him. I don't know him personally, but he was good to me years ago and that is how I view him. Sorry to those who have had bad experiences due o his illness. While you don't deserve being mistreated, neither does he.

 

[Big Time Reptiles]

I dealt with Ben in the early 2000s. Perfect animals, perfect transactions. He has a problem that is confusing and hard to come to terms with. I get it and feel sorrow for his affliction. Jails won't, and can't help him. Support from People who knew him when he was stable can. Anyone who judges Ben based on this thread, never dealt with him. I don't know him personally, but he was good to me years ago and that is how I view him. Sorry to those who have had bad experiences due o his illness. While you don't deserve being mistreated, neither does he.

DITTO!

Lynn Peterson
Big Time Reptiles

 

[Casey Hulse]

Excellent post Chris. Ben Has always treated me fairly, been great to talk to and from what I could tell was a very respected member of this community. I wish him the best, and I hope he has people around him that will be a positive influence on him in the future.

 

[RachelSS]

This is probably going to be a polarizing post but I think it needs to be said.

I have done business with Ben in the past and he was a great guy. He answered my questions, I met him at a couple reptile shows and he knew exactly who I was and shook my hand and was a very, very nice guy.

After reading this thread it's deplorable that people are adding their two cents on his mental state without having done business with him, and it's even worse that moderators are allowing this. This should not be a discussion for people trying to diagnose Ben and guess at what should happen to him legally.

Solely speaking from a business standpoint, he was great every time I reached out to him. I am sad to see his name in the news with a negative connotation to it and I wish other people had had a chance to meet him previously and interact with someone as you could tell this was a huge passion for him.

 

[WebSlave]

This is probably going to be a polarizing post but I think it needs to be said.

I have done business with Ben in the past and he was a great guy. He answered my questions, I met him at a couple reptile shows and he knew exactly who I was and shook my hand and was a very, very nice guy.

After reading this thread it's deplorable that people are adding their two cents on his mental state without having done business with him, and it's even worse that moderators are allowing this. This should not be a discussion for people trying to diagnose Ben and guess at what should happen to him legally.

Solely speaking from a business standpoint, he was great every time I reached out to him. I am sad to see his name in the news with a negative connotation to it and I wish other people had had a chance to meet him previously and interact with someone as you could tell this was a huge passion for him.

If you want some sort of nanny state website to filter things and decide what is and is not suitable for your tender eyes to read, then sorry to say that THIS site is not what you are looking for.

 

[Lucille]

people are adding their two cents on his mental state without having done business with him

There are some members here with professional expertise in the psychiatric field. Their opinion may have as much, maybe more, insight than those who purchased a reptile from him. This is a community, and many here have thoughts on the situation.
Out of dialogue, sharing thoughts and opinions, may come some understanding.

 

[RachelSS]

If you want some sort of nanny state website to filter things and decide what is and is not suitable for your tender eyes to read, then sorry to say that THIS site is not what you are looking for.

How about talking about his business instead of a thread trying to diagnose someone? There's more banter about all these "professionals" wanting to slap a label on someone who was otherwise a solid guy.

If you're going to apply the rules, apply them across the board. Tell people to keep this about his business and not about what they think his jail time should be.

 

[RachelSS]

There are some members here with professional expertise in the psychiatric field. Their opinion may have as much, maybe more, insight than those who purchased a reptile from him. This is a community, and many here have thoughts on the situation.
Out of dialogue, sharing thoughts and opinions, may come some understanding.

As someone working in the medical field, I can assure you it is INCREDIBLY bad taste for anyone to label, diagnose or assume things about a person without any sort of prior history or medical background. It's horribly unprofessional and is in no way, shape, or form a justification to provide background on someone they have never met nor treated.

 

[Robert Walker]

After reading this thread it's deplorable that people are adding their two cents on his mental state without having done business with him, and it's even worse that moderators are allowing this.

Speaking solely for myself, I'm trying to decide what exactly that makes me, since I appear to be worse than deplorable for having not silenced everyone's opinions some how. Which side of the aisle should we have silenced? Their side? Your side? All sides? Your statement seems to imply some lack of effort on our part, as if a blind eye is being turned to a crime.

Let me add a little perspective on how deplorable the moderators are. Speaking for myself, I put in several hours each day "volunteering" on Fauna for everyone's behalf, yes volunteering. There are over 100 forums to review, thousands of threads and classifieds with new ones started every hour, new account registrations to review, dozens of PMs, reported posts to look at, etc.

Excuse me while I go tell my wife, kids, job, church service, boy scouts troop, etc. that I need to spend every waking hour of my life reviewing every post that appears because I can't stand the thought of being labeled worse than deplorable. The real work of what moderators do is unseen to 99% of the users at any given moment. For example, for every spammer or scammer that makes it on this site, another dozen were stopped from doing damage on here, all oblivious to most users.

Here are some stats in case it slipped your mind, and then consider there are 6 mods and one site admin.
Members: 99,633
Threads: 255,104
Posts: 1,283,968

That is almost 100k people waiting to give their opinion. If a user feels that one of the 1,283,968 posts in some way violates the actual rules of the site, PLEASE, report the post. That red and white triangle is there for you to report posts... you know just in case we decide to sleep, eat or use the restroom and miss something new.

Did you report a post from this thread or were you waiting for one of us to find it ourselves? If there is a post in the thread right at this very moment that violates the rules, please go to it right now and "report" it, if not... I for one, am not the opinion police, unless it breaks the rules. I personally have glanced at this thread, but in no way have I read all the posts. I know nothing on mental health one way or another, and therefore have not posted on this thread regarding it. The success of the site is a collective effort, everyone is welcome to help out rather than point fingers at mods "not" do their perceived jobs.

Thanks for your understanding
- One polarized moderator

P.S. You are welcome for the all the work we do that goes unnoticed.

 

[Pink Lady Exotics]

No one is labeling or assuming anything. Ben's disorders are already known to many people and confirmed by those who know him well.

A variety of people are seeing the news headlines and want to jump to assumptions about Ben's business and how he conducts it. The discussion regarding his mental illness in this thread revolve around helping people UNDERSTAND what Ben is dealing with in order to DEFEND his business and DEFEND him as both a businessman and a fellow hobbyist. It is extremely relevant and pertinent to the BOI given that some are deriving negative opinions of his business based on these events, and should be given information and viewpoints from the opposite side as well in order to have a fair and balanced evaluation. Unless you'd rather we just remain silent and let all sorts of people read the news and refuse to do business with Ben because they think he's a mean, self-centered animal abuser without knowing any of the truth behind it?

 

[RachelSS]

TL;DR, but the martyr riot act I'm sure is overwrought with anecdotal evidence about your modding history and, somehow, you've posted on at least 2 pages of this thread and managed to skip over the handful of posts that don't pertain at all to the company and Ben's care of the animals, not the drivel in-between.

If you want to debate the merits of your moderatorship, feel free to PM me as to not continue to derail this further.

Just to further point out, I don't know Ben personally and owe him no allegiance, it just makes the BOI a joke.

 

[Robert Walker]

Sooooo...
Does that mean no post to report, or simply opinions you disagree with still?

 

[Robert Walker]

you've posted on at least 2 pages of this thread and managed to skip over the handful of posts that don't pertain at all to the company and Ben's care of the animals, not the drivel in-between.

feel free to PM me as to not continue to derail this further.

Agreed, lets not derail the thread. Please PM me the link to either of the 2 non-existent posts I have previously left on this thread. I'm curious what I mysteriously wrote??

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

TL;DR, but the martyr riot act I'm sure is overwrought with anecdotal evidence about your modding history and, somehow, you've posted on at least 2 pages of this thread and managed to skip over the handful of posts that don't pertain at all to the company and Ben's care of the animals, not the drivel in-between.

Perhaps I'm wrong here, but, from the initial post, this thread was about Ben's issues and *not* his specifically his store? Hence the title and the specific wording by the OP, and further clarified a few posts later? *shrug*

 

[Pink Lady Exotics]

I wish I could give Karma on mobile. Grrr.

 

[Billy1138]

I completely disagree with Rachel. I believe this discussion is perfectly relevant for the BOI. I agree that there should be a separation between Ben's legal and mental health issues, and the business that he is attached to. However, his charges involve mistreatment of an animal, which raises eyebrows for many. Furthermore, with such a strong reputation in the reptile community, it makes this incident even more touchy. It raises many questions and leaves me feeling unsettled. Overall it is a very sad incident for Ben, his family and friends, and his business (which will be affected by this, whether you like it or not Rachel)

This isn't a "bad guy" thread, its an inquiry thread, and appropriate for those of us who have done business with him in the past, are considering doing business with him in the future, and possible those herpers who won't do business with him after this incident ( those people are allowed to have that opinion, aren't they?)

I personally am struggling with this situation, and am appreciating this thread for the discussion that it is raising. I have never done business with Ben. His reputation is very well known for quality animals, and his struggles with mental health issues is also well known. I work in mental health, but I'm not claiming to professionally diagnose and treat Ben's illness in the BOI thread either. Myself, and nobody here is breaking any law or code of ethics by engaging in a discussion of our thoughts, opinions, concerns, and in some cases personal experiences with mental health related issues.

 

[WebSlave]

TL;DR, but the martyr riot act I'm sure is overwrought with anecdotal evidence about your modding history and, somehow, you've posted on at least 2 pages of this thread and managed to skip over the handful of posts that don't pertain at all to the company and Ben's care of the animals, not the drivel in-between.

If you want to debate the merits of your moderatorship, feel free to PM me as to not continue to derail this further.

Just to further point out, I don't know Ben personally and owe him no allegiance, it just makes the BOI a joke.

Ah, and there lies the not so obvious joke.... Some people apparently seem to feel that their world view is so universally true and correct that their personal view MUST be enforced upon everyone else. That just because this person may not want to see something in print, they feel that it MUST be forcibly hidden via moderation from everyone else, whether those other viewers would want to read it or not. Quaint and rather myopic opinion, is it not? And my how absolutely shameful of the moderators to not agree with YOUR opinion.

 

[Guy Castro]

How about talking about his business instead of a thread trying to diagnose someone? There's more banter about all these "professionals" wanting to slap a label on someone who was otherwise a solid guy.
If you're going to apply the rules, apply them across the board. Tell people to keep this about his business and not about what they think his jail time should be.

Title of the thread says Ben Siegel Troubles. You are saying the title of the thread is wrong/misleading,correct?

TL;DR, but the martyr riot act I'm sure is overwrought with anecdotal evidence about your modding history and, somehow, you've posted on at least 2 pages of this thread and managed to skip over the handful of posts that don't pertain at all to the company and Ben's care of the animals, not the drivel in-between.

If you want to debate the merits of your moderatorship, feel free to PM me as to not continue to derail this further.

Just to further point out, I don't know Ben personally and owe him no allegiance, it just makes the BOI a joke.

I know it's been legalized in Colorado,is it legal in Cali too?

 

[rosebud945]

Rachel, one of the most significant things that this thread has done that you are obviously overlooking is it has established the fact, for many people, that Ben's business is operational without Ben. BSR and Ben Siegel the man can be separate entities. That is certainly a business related detail. I have never done business with Ben, though I have thought about it. The BSR ads are still up. Animals are still being sold by BSR. The founder of BSR has been incarcerated for animal abuse, so if I were interested in buying one of those animals that is still being advertised, I would be very interested in reading a thread like this that focuses on his legal troubles and how that might be affecting his business.