Bad Guy Beware of Matt Goren

[CalicoDragons]

This person bought an adult female from me at the Daytona show this year. Messaged many times after asking about basic husbandry questions which I was happy to answer. Fast forward a month later and he takes it to a local pet store which tells him it’s a male. Out of the blue I get a text stating it’s a male and he demands a full refund plus shipping label to send the dragon back. After a lot of back and forth where he was very difficult to chat with I got him to send a video of the animal so I could see for myself. It was confirmed a female from that video and I also asked two other dragon breeders that have more experience then myself(I will be breeding 20 years in the spring of 2025) they both also agreed it appeared to be a female. I let him know that I still believe it’s a female based on the pictures and video sent and that I’m sorry I can’t help him further, but I was happy to answer any husbandry questions moving forward. I politely said good night and then received a long text message from him detailing how he planned to take legal action against me because I wouldn’t refund him and take the animal back. Saying he would slander my company name on all the social media platforms for unethical breeding practices, sue me for time spent dealing with this case etc. I simply replied back letting him know I still do not believe it’s a male, but I would give him back the $200 for the animal so I didn’t have to continue dealing with him. Long story short he was very difficult and threatening to my livelihood so if I were you I wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Sell at your own risk! Let my loss be your informational gain.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I sincerely hope you did not pay anything back if he is incorrect and badgering you. That only provides those with aggressive personality flaws to feel validated and emboldened if they themselves are headstrong while operating in ignorance.

 

[CalicoDragons]

I did give him a full refund. I did not take the animal back because I don’t accept animals back in my facility for health reasons(which is stated in my terms of service). I felt that the aggravation of him trying to slander my company on social media platforms and trying to sue me for “his time dealing with this matter” wasn’t worth the $200. I totally get where you’re coming from and was told by many other friends that are long standing breeders I should have just told him to pound sand, but I just wanted it to be over with and move on without him harassing me. I maybe too nice that’s why I put it on the BOI. Hopefully that situation will be avoided by another breeder selling to him and him trying to pull the same stunt.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

He was never going to sue you no matter what he said and people behaving in this way will still talk trash if the topic ever comes up. They will reframe it as you being the bad guy and that they had to twist your arm to make it "right" in that revision of claimed events.

The caliber of keeper that goes to a pet shop for sexing expertise, short of those requiring specialized technique, is generally lacking in knowledge - and the sexing opinions of random pet shop employees are generally about as good as the pet shop employees that say Russian tortoises grow to be multiple feet in length.

In the future, stick to business and do not fold. Unscrupulous people can sniff out these situations and then seek to game you in a targeted fashion.

 

[CalicoDragons]

I 100% agree with you and after speaking to friends in this industry and taking the time to read through what he wrote and break it down I realize now I should have stood my ground and not let him bully me in this situation. I have attached the screenshots of the conversation. I just covered his PayPal email address…

 

[CalicoDragons]

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[CalicoDragons]

I would happily add the video he sent of her as well, but this site says the file is too large.