Well, I was considering making inquiries of CMG to buy my yearly batch of Ball Pythons as they already have them on hand. Their price is a bit steep, as to what I usually pay, but I realize that they are the first of the season. So, I deiced to run a BOI inquiry. Of course I did not have to place an inquiry myself as here was one ready made.
I thank everyone for their input. I feel I have been saved what could have potentially been a major headache should something with an order from CMG not been right. I knowingly will not order from someone who accepts PayPal yet violates their terms of service by charging me more. I use credit cards via PayPal, among other reasons, to avoid money order fees since I am not made of money. Now I don't recall seeing that the Baby Ball Pythons would incur a 3% or more additional fee for my paying by PayPal; but what I did see, via this thread, was someone charging on other transactions for that which as I understand is against the rules and therefor unethical. That made me shy away from making an inquiry with CMG but did not fully turn me away.
Then I considered thatb someone had not received promised paperwork in a timely manner. I don't care that said person now states all has been resolved to his satisfaction. Don't get me wrong, that is fine for him. What I am concerned with is the question: Should I then chance that something possibly will also go wrong with my order and take over one month to be resolved? I don't need such headaches. If the staff is at fault at CMG, get staff that understands how to get things done in a timely manner. If the staff still cannot get it done in a timely manner, don't keep making excuses and not get it done, do it yourself. That would have been the good business thing to do instead of making someone wait a month or more. That was another thing that made me shy away from contacting CMG about baby ball pythons.
Then there were the replies in this thread by Chris from CMG. They made me wonder: If I were to have a point of contention about an order I had placed with CMG, would I be treated as was the fellow who had to wait a month? (Who quite likely, in my opinion, would still be waiting if not for this particular thread on the BOI, I don't believe for a moment that Chris would have resolved this if not for the controversy created by this thread but that is just my opinion). I also wondered: Would I be treated like Alvaro has been treated and would I be called childish names and the like.
here i am trying to keep a good name for myself and i have idiots like you harping on nothing but crap trying to turn it into something. you need to grow up.
Just the thought that such was a fairly possible alternative (judging by what I have seen here) also made me shy away from placing an order with CMG. Heck, Alvaro, as I read it, was rather supportive of Chris from CMG earlier on. What does Chris have to say about that - apparently nothing. That would certainly seem to debunk Chris's claims that Alvaro is trying to ruin him because Alvaro is angry that Chris would not sell him a snake for a price suggested by Alvaro. Of course it could have been a very clever and dastardly ploy by Alvaro to make it seem as if he supported Chris, then attacking Chris, so as to really bring Chris to his knees and utterly destroy his credibility in the herp industry, while at the same time keeping Alvaro looking like a nice guy. I really don't put too much into a theory (err fantasy) like that, but I would not be surprised if it would be suggested by someone else. There are just too many clever ploy and conspiracy theories about the BOI. The BOI was put here to root out people who utilize unethical business practices; and to me it seems like it has just again done its job.
Chris said something interesting in his rebuttals:
you have no right to question what i charge for animals.
But the other users of PayPal certainly have a right to question whether or not you are violating the PayPal terms of service by which they abide. Of course, I realize that CMG does not need my business having had over $70,000 of transactions through PayPal last nine (9) months. Yet, even for a moment to believe that Paypal will do nothing to someone who is quite possibly violating their terms of service, and who is possibly violating the law by using their service in such a manner, is something I find hard to believe. I wonder what PayPal would have to say on this issue?
I also find this statement made by Chris rather hard to fathom, unless the rules at PayPal have changed since I was last paid by someone using PayPal with their credit card.
LOOK ALVARO WHERE IN MY AD DOES IT SAY IM CHARGING FOR PAYPALS PERCENTAGE? NOWHERE. IM CHARGING MORE FOR A PAYPAL TRANSACTION BECAUSE OF THE INCONVIENANCE OF THE 4 DAY WAIT AND THAT IS NOT ILLEGAL.
First of all, it certainly appears tome as if you are charging a surcharge to use PayPal. I doubt it matters if it is the same as the 3% they charge you, it does appear, to me, to be a surcharge and I am guessing it would appear that way to PayPal.
As for that 4 day wait: The money I have been paid with by others, has always been available to me immediately as I recall. Of what 4 day waiting period do you write when someone pays you through PayPal using a credit card? Now of course, if there is actually such a wait, so be it, but is that wait any different from the wait for a money order or a check! If you have to wait 4 days for PayPal, and find that as an inconvenience may I ask: What about the time it takes for someone to go out and get a money order? What about the time to mail you a money order or a check and for it to be delivered. Then what about the time it takes you to get to the bank - especially since you are apparently so busy (reference to not having time to send out or properly address the issue of the receipt)? Then what about the time it takes a check to clear? Then what about the time it takes a money order to clear? Yes it does actually take some time before you can be absolutely sure that a money order was good. With a postal money order, for instance, they usually don't have the cancelled/stolen/fraudulent list updated by the time I receive payment. That usually takes another 2 days after I receive it. Regardless of that, PayPal payment by credit card (which is what was being spoken about in this thread) is instantaneous as far as arrival of the funds in your paypal account. You do not need to wait for the mail with PayPal. That money is there for you to use via PayPal. So, riddle me this: Since you do have to wait a couple to a few days, at least, as for the snail mail - why aren't you charging the same 3% or 3.85% for people who pay by check or money order.
Now about this site and the people who post therein:
ALSO THIS SITE IS A GOOD SITE IF IT IS USED AS A FORUM TO WARN PEOPLE BUT ITS TURNED INTO A SITE TO TRY AND RUIN PEOPLE.
This site was great, as are the people who post here and make it what it is, that is until someone showed your business practices to be questionable, is that what you are saying? We have all heard this before. No one has tried to ruin you, from what I can see; but someone has started off what could become your ruination and that person was not Alvaro. That person was you and you alone. You make yourself to look like, in my opinion: an unscrupulous businessperson, with poor ethics and bad business practices. You also make yourself look like, in my opinion, someone who is childish because of the language and name calling you choose to utilize in your responses on this thread. While no one really seemed to try to bash you, you certainly, in my viewpoint, do try to bash others including: Alvaro, Ken Harbart and this site in general. You tell Alvaro, to grow up, yet it is not he who is acting in an immature manner. As far as I can tell, it is you who needs to mature.
In closing I just wanted to convey my thanks to Chris from CMG Reptiles for showing his side of the story. You see it was not Alvaro, or Rene, or anyone else who influenced the decision I made based upon this thread. It was Chris and his side of the story, his business practices, some of his prior or current business dealings, and his style of posting on this thread, as I understood them, that have convinced me not to further any consideration of doing business with him. Thanks for the warning, it is well taken.
Sincerely,
Glenn Bartley
