Actually I avoided calling Chris a liar leaving the option open giving him the benefit of the doubt that he had dialed the wrong number. However the claim that I said I would "Overnight" 2-422C cages with dividers and expandable ends to him the following day is laughable. I have never even had anyone who wanted STOCK products ask about overnight shipping. Never. Custom time consuming work such as described above will take 3-4 weeks and would cost $901 in total. This is the giveaway that this is a fabricated complaint from someone that now threatens to become a competitor. It all seem clearer now doesn't it? I will now say it. If Chris told you this Chris is a liar.
Had I gotten the three messages from Chris I would have called him back and apologized for any delay. However I didn't get any messages from him. I have apologized many times to customers who have been patient as I am very busy. I am not afraid to apologize when I have been called on something that I have done wrong. However in this particular case I didn't get the calls therefore there is nothing to apologize for.
It is now obvious that your goal is to start the manufacture of plastic cages yourself. This is obviously why you have sought to come here and besmirch my good name by calling me a liar. Busy I am. Sometimes taking too long to get back to people? Yes. A liar afraid of apologizing when I'm wrong? No.
A possible side note:
I had been contacted via email by a fellow named Wayne. It is also possible that I spoke to him over the phone but I do not recall that. This fellow named Wayne wanted samples of my plastic. Both the plastic I used to build the cages from and the doors. Now this is an unusual request. I do get calls from people who are obviously picking my brain trying to figure out how exactly I build my cages. I am a little suspicious when certain questions get asked about the manufacture of the plastic etc that the person may not really be looking to buy cages from me but is looking for information so they can build these cages themselves. So coincidentally this Wayne is the only person to ever ask me to ship him samples of the plastic I use. He is also the ONLY person I remember ever to ask about a divided cage AND expandable cage pricing. Also coincidentally he asked about a pair of these cages and an corner connector. The price of just the two cages with dividers installed and expandable ends would be $901. Hhmmm Sounds suspicious doesn't it?
Below is a copy of the emails that went between this Wayne and myself. I have removed his email address and everything else saying exactly who he is and where he lives on the chance that he is a real person who really was looking for samples and may place an order some day. Other than that the emails are unedited and list below in their entirety from most recent to oldest. I will let the readers here decide if my correspondence with this one possible customer was satisfactory or not:
Aspen works great. I am in the process of changing everything over from Newspaper with kitty litter under it to Aspen shavings. I like the looks of it better and I think the snakes love it. They hunker down in it and it seem to really suit them nicely. Some of the Boas are burying themselves in it like sand Boas. Very cool and yes Aspen works great in my plastic cages. Looking forward to that order in May.
Thanks!
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2002 9:38 AM
To: Jeff Ronne / The Boaphile
Subject: RE: Answers to your questions:
Thank you for your assistance with all of this. I plan on ordering the cage
in the beginning of May. We are in the process of helping my sister-in-law
pay for her wedding and redoing some rooms in our house. Once the rooms are
done, then I will have a great place to put Gemini's new house.
I have been using the aspen bedding since I got her but did not know if
possibly the newspaper worked better or was easier.
Once I get it all set up, I will send you some pics of it with her in it on
the stand I plan to build for it. Perhaps you could use it on your website.
W
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Ronne / The Boaphile [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 11:39 AM
To: Wayne
Subject: RE: Answers to your questions:
Glad to hear back from you!
I like how you have all my work done for me as far as the pricing is
concerned. Most people make me do it but you did a nice job yourself. That
sounds fine too by the way. I have not installed any locks in my cages yet
but have installed them in cabinets many times in the past. I just checked
pricing on the locks and figured I would charge $20 each to buy the locks
and install them. This is a total of $80 bringing up your total to $1170.
The 5% discount would be $58.50 leaving $1111.50 for the total. You are
correct it is just about a wash and the $1090.00 you had listed will be
fine. I'd be happy to build these for you. This will be the first 18" tall
cages I have done with the corner connector. I'll definitely get some photos
of that for the site as well. There is a lot of stuff packed into this two
cage combination! Very cool!
As for substraight I have been using newspaper for seventeen years. I
recently experimented with some Aspen shavings and have been very pleased
with the results. The Boas really seem to enjoy it better than the
newspaper. I just had 60 - 30 lb. bags of it delivered yesterday in fact and
am in the process of switching everything over to Aspen now. It's great
stuff.
Anyhow let me know when you will be ordering the cages and I'll look forward
to hearing back from you soon. Thanks for being patient with me getting you
those samples. Your cages will look pristine in comparison to the yucky
edges on the samples I just whacked out for you. The packaging of the cages
will be much nicer as well.
Thanks Boss!
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 10:51 PM
To: Jeff Ronne / The Boaphile
Subject: RE: Answers to your questions:
I just received the samples you sent me today, and I must say I was quite
pleased with the materials you use to build your enclosures. I was very
impressed with the strength of the material as well as how light it is. I
would like you to give me a price on an enclosure. I will specify what I
need below.
I need two 4' x 2' x 18" Item 422C
one corner connector Item 18NDC
On each of the 422C cages I want expandable ends, one on the right, one on
the left to make an L-shape final cage.
On each of the 422C cages I want the divider option.
On each of the four doors I want three hinges on the bottom, the two bumper
guards on the upper corners and a lock in the middle top of each door.
My estimate for this comes to
2 422C @ $338 each
1 18NDC @ $189 each
2 divider options $175
2 expandable ends $50
Total = $1090
This does not take into consideration the price of the locks or of the extra
hinge on each door. Nor does it take into consideration the 5% discount for
orders over $1000. Of course I figure these two to be about a wash. I
would also like it in black.
On a side note, I noticed that in all your pictures, the bedding material in
your cages is newspaper. Is this what you use for bedding? I have never
used it as bedding, so if this is what you use, do you recommend it?
Thank you very much! So far it has been a pleasure dealing with you.
W
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Ronne / The Boaphile [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 12<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>2 PM
To: Wayne
Subject: RE: Answers to your questions:
I will. I just printed up your address and will try to get some samples off
you in a couple days.
Thanks,
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 7:15 PM
To: Jeff Ronne/The Boaphile
Subject: RE: Answers to your questions:
I am still very much interested in your product and am looking to make a
purchase soon. If you could please send me a small piece of the plastic you
use in your cages as well as a small piece of the material you use for your
doors, I would greatly appreciate it. I know it is very difficult to make a
determination of a product online, but yours look to be the absolute closest
thing to what I need. Since this will be a custom order, I want to make
sure it is exactly what I need because of the inability to return it. I
currently use a melamine enclosure with plexiglass doors without a problem
with my Burmese python and am looking to upgrade. The particle board does
begin to eventually breakdown with the moisture.
Thank you very much!
Wayne
Address:
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Ronne/The Boaphile [mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 5:18 PM
To: Wayne
Subject: Answers to your questions:
Here are the questions I have:
1. Would it be possible to upgrade the latches on the door from slide-down
bolts to locks?
Yes, What do you think about just adding one lock at the center of the door?
Leaving the two blots on the left and right. You will need three points of
contact to hold your doors shut with a Burm.
2. Do the bolts just slide down in front of the door, or do they slide down
into a cylinder on the door? It is hard to tell when looking at the
pictures.
The Bolts slide down in front of a 1/8" thick rubber bumper which is
attached to the door. This makes the door at the point where the bolts are
fit quite snug. In addition the fact that this rubber bumper is here
"softens" the door as well. If the animal inside strikes at it the door, it
is not solid like glass would be. Softens the blow of a striking animal at
the door.
3. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and was wondering if you had any
customers in the area. I would like to talk to someone who has purchased
one of your cages and perhaps take an opportunity to see one in person
before purchasing.
I have a customer in Raleigh NC. He has three cages so far and has just
ordered another ten or twelve which I will be shipping to him this week. I
am not sure he would allow you to stop and look at them or not. I will send
him a copy of this email and he can let me know if that is workable for him.
That will be up to him though. At least he might be willing to talk with you
over the phone.
4. When the units are stacked one on top of the other, do they slide at
all, or do they fit snugly?
The cages are extremely light weight. For this reason I have what I call
"locking pin technology". Not really technological but it sounds fancy. Each
cage has holes drilled in the top and in the bottom. A 5 millimeter pin is
inserted into the top of the bottom cage and the next cage is set on top of
that cage and so on. They align very nicely this way and do not come out of
alignment. The holes that are drilled do not enter into the cage space
itself but are at the ends or near the front in some cases. Two different
methods depending on if the cages are "Classic" or "Drastic Plastic" line
cages.
5. Do you have a preset size for the passthroughs, or can they be
customized based on the size of the snake?
The pass through in the ends are as large as can be made allowing some
material for bolting the cages together. This can be done by hand. Wignuts
and bolts are provided. The vertical pass throughs can be made larger. So
far the only size I have done has been 6" in diameter but I can certainly do
a larger opening.
6. Also, do you offer any type of warranty or return policy, if I am
unhappy with the product or if it breaks under normal use?
I will warranty the product for a year under normal use. If you are moving a
cage and drop it down a flight of stairs, that is not covered. The warranty
is not insurance but warranty against defects in workmanship. Return policy?
If you ordered the 421C or 421D cage, I would allow that to be returned. But
I cannot built what amounts to custom caging to house a very large Burm and
take it back. I cannot store lots of these large cages and don't know when
exactly someone would want exactly what you might order again. For instance
if you wanted two 4' x 2' x 18" tall cages attached using "Expandable Ends"
and for some reason decided you did not want them I don't know when the next
time is that someone would want the exact size. Also shipping is not easy. I
have had boxes made specifically for each of the cages. The cage is
carefully wrapped and the ends are covered in a specific way with bubble
wrap to help ensure the safety of the cage during shipment. This has taken
me a long time to perfect and believe me when I say it was not easy to make
the shipping containers more or less UPS and FedEx proof. These guys are
very rough of boxes. So returning a cage would be very problematic.
I hope that answers your questions. If I have not scared you off now let me
know and I will sent you the samples of the plastic I use. I will also
contact my customer in Raleigh if I hear back from you to see if he will
talk with and or visit with you. Thanks very much for the inquiry.
Thank you,
Jeff
Jeff Ronne
The Boaphile
PO Box 394
Cannon Falls, MN 55009
(507) 263-2621
Email:
[email protected]
Web Sites!!!
http://www.boaphileplastics.com
http://www.theboaphile.com
http://www.theratcafe.com
http://www.bengalshak.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 4:52 PM
To:
[email protected]
Subject: Your cages...
I must say after visiting your website, I am quite intrigued by your cages.
I do have a few questions to ask you in regards to these cages.
Unfortunately, I have already tried to purchase one cage online and have had
a very bad experience. It was of extremely poor quality and not at all what
I expected given the price I paid for it. I have a 14' albino burmese
python and really like the ability to expand and customize multiple
enclosures to make one large, custom-designed habitat.
Here are the questions I have:
1. Would it be possible to upgrade the latches on the door from slide-down
bolts to locks?
2. Do the bolts just slide down in front of the door, or do they slide down
into a cylinder on the door? It is hard to tell when looking at the
pictures.
3. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and was wondering if you had any
customers in the area. I would like to talk to someone who has purchased
one of your cages and perhaps take an opportunity to see one in person
before purchasing.
4. When the units are stacked one on top of the other, do they slide at
all, or do they fit snugly?
5. Do you have a preset size for the passthroughs, or can they be
customized based on the size of the snake?
Thank you in advance for your assistance!
Wayne