Ed Clark at Cape May Reptiles!! Great Guy!!

[KelliH]

True Kelli, and nice looking WC/CH normals sounds even better.

That too, yes.

 

[hhmoore]

I have to say this is getting kind of old - the ad being referred to contained the descriptors granite and harlequin. People questioned it, saying they were nothing more than normals...that was when Ed responded that they were specials or minor morphs. Despite all the fuss, a well known importer & breeder came in to the subsequent BOI thread and said that the descriptors used were accepted terms for animals with that appearance, AND confirmed that even the importers paid higher prices for "specials" (and this is based on what the African exporters consider special). http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=515679&postcount=5.
I don't care if anybody likes Ed or not, nor do I particularly care if anybody buys from him. Yes, he dropped the ball recently and left a customer hanging...a simple response and followup would have gone a long way. He blew it, and is paying the price...BUT, the suppositions are clouding facts. Beat him up for quarantine practices, less than ideal customer service, whatever...but stop beating a long dead horse over the way he priced "select" CH animals and saying he labeled/traded $45 worth of imports as CBB holdbacks (based on an ASSumption, mind you).

I am not defending Ed - if he can't speak up for himself, I'm damn sure not going to do it for him - but the witch hunt has long since tweaked my nerves

 

[Clay Davenport]

Ah, the loyalty of a lap dog... how cute. You mislabel yourself as a jedi. The reality is more like a Pomeranian with a bad case of mange.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

It really would have been a great deal all around if you would have paid for those boas in full?

Sorta curious Ed. How come you can remember that, 4 1/2 years later, yet you can't remember if you sent Emily CBB future hold back breeders, or CH imported stuff 10 months ago?

 

[hhmoore]

Sorta curious Ed. How come you can remember that, 4 1/2 years later, yet you can't remember if you sent Emily CBB future hold back breeders, or CH imported stuff 10 months ago?

I hate to say it, but that answer is as simple as human nature...I might not remember details about "normal" transactions that occurred a year ago (and I don't do nearly the volume that Ed does, but you can bet I remember the people that stiffed me 10 years ago. For that reason, I can buy the notion that Ed didn't recall the specifics of the deal when he was first asked...but that doesn't make the lack of response thereafter acceptable. He should have sorted it out, gotten back to his customer with a response, and addressed her concerns in some manner.

 

[hhmoore]

")" - please insert the end parentheses in the middle of the 3rd line above, after the word "does"...marking the statement: (and I don't do nearly the volume that Ed does)

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

True! Bet you'd remember if you sold something you had breeding plans for also. As well as to whome you sold them.

Am I correct?

 

[hhmoore]

I've done it...and I would have to go through my emails (assuming that I filed them) to figure out the recipients of some. Granted - an email containing a reminder of the trade would jar my memory...but I don't move a large volume of animals, either. Ed gets in quantities of CH babies, produces some (?), purchases for resale, takes them in on trade, and probably deals with imports...Emily's initial email didn't state that she got CBB, or even ask for verification that she did - it simply said "remember the group of female ball pythons that you sent me last year in trade for a group of cresteds?", to which Ed replied, "Emily, thanks for the message. dont remember if the Balls that I sent you were captive bred or captive hatched. will look into it to find out and get back to you." At that point, she told him that they were supposed to be CB from his collection.
I try to keep most pertinent emails from customers...heck, I usually maintain inquiries for months; but I just deleted about 250 emails, and I may well have purged something I will want later. Again, this is not an excuse for Ed - he told her he would look into it and get back to her. THAT IS WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE DONE, even if he couldn't locate the email/record or he discovered that he had sent her imports. He promised he would get back to her, he should have followed through. If he was wrong, he should have admitted it & offered compensation. If he was right, he should have at least made a reasonable attempt to state his case, as opposed to some half- er...(ah) - hearted attempt at deflection.
That BS way of dealing with the situation is the whole reason that things are where they are.

 

[hhmoore]

(for the record - I recently went through a bunch of old emails, trying to find a specific piece of information regarding a past sale. I knew approximately when it occurred, and I still had a heck of a time locating it. I can only imagine how many more emails Ed would have...but that doesn't change the bottom line, he shouldn't have ceased communication in the manner he did)

 

[Jbreddawg]

All reasonable explainations. Any of which would have killed this thread long ago. Ed on the other hand , blew her off and then called her a liar in another forum. Piss poor customer service .
I was given advice awhile ago that was pretty good.

"Look closer at the breeder then the snakes "

It doesnt really matter this far along as to wheather it was parasites, wc, cbb,etc... What matters is that he sucks as a reptile dealer because of his after purchase customer service.
Everyboy kisses your behind when there about to make a deal , it's how they treat you after the fact that says the most about a person. Jerry

 

[varnyard]

Originally Posted by ECLARK
Emily, thanks for the message. dont remember if the Balls that I sent you were captive bred or captive hatched. will look into it to find out and get back to you.

But traded for how many hundreds of dollars worth of geckos? And sold them as CBB future breeders?

Originally Posted by Ed Clark
I have a very good herp vet that I use and we do random fecals on my adult breeders and have not had any positive results yet for internal parasites...all negative!

Originally Posted by Ed Clark: Dont you think these parasites would have shown up in these Ball Pythons before this. its been about a year since I shipped these to you?

But no proof he tested anything at all.

Originally Posted by Ed Clark: Emily we did a trade deal about a year ago with some baby ball pythons, for some of your crested geckos.

But then he proves to be what he is here:

 

[varnyard]

So he admits they did a trade and then turns around and says there is no proof she got them from him.

I think that paints a pretty good picture of him. But defend if you must.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

I don't think Harald is defending Ed, so much as certain circumstances involved in the whole mess. I can see that much.

 

[varnyard]

I don't think Harald is defending Ed, so much as certain circumstances involved in the whole mess. I can see that much.

I realize that, and I agree. However, I sell a pile of tegus each season, I don't remember all of them or who they were all sold to. But if I sell some of my real nice holdbacks, I don't forget who they went to, or if they were some of my best stock. There is no doubt, they are the some of the best I had.

Ed's ad was saying these were CBB future breeders/ holdbacks, then he says he don't know if they were CH. IMO, it would not be something he would forget as easy as this.

Then again, to call her a liar after his admission of the trade, well thats just pure garbage.

 

[Wilomn]

You know, there are some years that I sell a few hundred kings and corns. Some years I hold back 10 to 20 babies to see how they turn out later down the line. Some of these yearlings I then sell because I don't need that many and/or they didn't meet my arbitrarily ever moving line to be a keeper.

But, of those 10-20 yearlings, I could ID each one by sight, size, sex and how it ate. If I sold one I'd know. If I traded one, I'd remember. If one or two or three were problem eaters, which happens on occasion, I'd remember what had been done to them.

I don't do imports, but I have. When we were importing, and I was the guy doing the cleaning and feeding and worming, we kept the imports completely separate from all other stock. There wasn't any chance of an import being mistaken as one of captive origin.

While I do completely see how Harald could see things the way he does, I simply cannot see how mr. clark, given his reluctance to say so, is innocent of having lied to and stolen from Emily.

You just don't make that mistake, not by accident do you send someone imports instead of captive bred and born future breeder holdbacks from "the cleanest stock that you'll find."

It just doesn't make sense that a bigmouth like mr. clark would not defend himself IF he were not guilty. Being guilty and knowing what would happen to him here were it proven even more than it has been, I CAN see him staying away from that even at the cost of what little respect he may have thought he had up until he started staying away and lying in a private forum.

Yeah, the guy is screwed, but he buttered his butt and bent over all by himself.