Inquiry Genefreak339 / Michael Harshbarger

[JessHurt]

My husband and I purchased an orange ghost from Michael with no issues. Transaction was smooth and communication was great.

 

[Wraith]

Sounds like you were trying to contact him while he was banned...I'm pretty sure the PM option is removed; and, even if it wasn't, he couldn't have responded anyway.

he said he personally spoke to him..that to me sounds like he was talking to him on the phone, not in PMs.

 

[HerpVenue]

Let me get this straight.
He can't get the history of his animal straight. (in Other words LYING)
He can't get the genetics straight. (In other words lying)
He was told his animals is an import and he is selling it as a VPI axanthic.

He decides to delete his adds when it shows that he is LYING.

And you guys "can't call him a scammer just yet?"

Everyones quick to lable bad guy or what not but trust me I have a LOT more satisfied customers than I do people that have a problem with me. But I do understand jealousy is a big thing in the industry.

Jealous of you? hardly big boy. YOu are only big in your own mind.

Yes you are making sales. But hey, the uninformed are allowed to spend their money anyway they want. The ignorant can send their money to a scammer like you.

 

[texasvalor]

edit/update last thread...

okay i know im computer retarded, but holy crap....How do i edit and or update my last thread i posted yesterday....?

 

[Kristi23]

okay i know im computer retarded, but holy crap....How do i edit and or update my last thread i posted yesterday....?

You cannot edit boi posts. You can only reply again.

 

[Mark McVay]

This guy is freaky! Quarantine disaster coming up soon!

 

[dchristensen]

False Advertising...

I won't go in to all the details now, but I have documentation that he has pulled a bait and switch.

Michael, please make things right. Your integrity is at stake!

 

[Chrisw]

I won't go in to all the details now, but I have documentation that he has pulled a bait and switch.

Michael, please make things right. Your integrity is at stake!

Ugh this is a BOI. IF you have any details, please post them.

 

[SamanthaJane13]

I won't go in to all the details now, but I have documentation that he has pulled a bait and switch.

Michael, please make things right. Your integrity is at stake!

LOL-this fool HAS no integrity.

Post what you have, and maybe we can help you sort it all out and help you.

Stranger things have happened.

 

[dchristensen]

Ugh this is a BOI. IF you have any details, please post them.

OK, here goes the first bit.

I responded to an ad on kingsnake.com that said:

Females! 300gram Pewter Ghost, 400gram Pewter Bee, 700grams Pewter
Mississippi, Ship Nationwide
Posted by Michael Harshbarger (Contact Me!) on July 02, 2011 at 13:35:25
Registered PetHobbyist User since 2010-06-24

All 3 of these girls are live rat eaters and growing fast!

0.1 Pewter ghost $2500/obo
0.1 Pewter Bee $2700
0.1 Pewter $1000/obo

Thanks for looking!
-Michael Harshbarger
228.216.1668
________________________________________

The following was added on 07/02/11
Updated weights:

Pewter ghost 478grams
Pewter bee 468grams
Pewter 785grams

I then download the picture of his Pewter from the ad...

So, when I call him about the Pewter, he says someone is supposed to be sending him a check but to check back in a couple days. A few days later he said to check back in a few more. When I follow up, he says that I can have her if I send money through paypal right away. My new rack is due to be delivered in a week so I ask if I can hold off shipping for a week.

By then, the Temps in NC are running in the upper 90's and I end up having to leave the country for a medical emergency with my kid.

Finally, 10 days ago I finally get the snake shipped here. Excited about the upcoming breeding season and pairing the pewter with my killer bee male to make sterling and sterling bees, I eagerly open the box and pull her out. She looks smaller than I expect but she is a pretty snake. Concerned about the size, I throw her on the scale to see where she is at. 606 g!!!

How the hell did a 785 g snake lose 179 g to get down to 606???

So, I take pictures of her on the scale and head off to my computer to compare the pictures. Guess what, it is not the same snake as in the ad.

I text him and he tells me that he hasn't fed her for a couple of weeks and that is why she isn't up to weight. That is an obvious lie because I have a lesser female that is around 800 g. She ate a small mouse on July 8th and hasn't eaten since and she has lost a total of 15 g. So, what is he doing to his snakes that they lose 25% of their bodyweight?

I will post pictures but have to sign up for one of those services like flickr first.

In the end, it appears to me that he sold the first pewter to the first guy, but because I was so interested, he went out and found another pewter and thought he could slip one by me.

At this point, I feel lied to and just want to send the snake back and get my money refunded so I can deal with an honest breeder and get a girl that will be ready to go in October.

 

[Ball Python Cafe]

Wow I purchased a ball from Genefreak339 and it went perfectly. Ive gone back and read this entire post thread. This is a freaken witch hunt! You say Show us pics,,he shows you pics,,, then you say well that could have been photoshopped. Geesh what is wrong with you folks. He has jumped through every hoop you have thrown at him and admitted some mistakes. Wow you guys are like vicious rabid dogs. If I have to watch every word and have it checked by a lawyer, Id just assume go elsewhere. I don't know many people that will refund your money as requested when his integrity is questioned AND offer to send you the snake JUST TO PROVE TO YOU (his customer) hes on the up and up. I sure wouldn't do that. Why wouldn't you take him up on that? One reason - the person just got beaten by there wife for spending the money and you are letting the seller be the goat! That's the extra mile big time. and yet the hounds keep biting over word choices here and there. Im about to start posting ads on here in my first year of breeding and Im frippin scared to do so after your posts here. Yall are seriously scary. Please go back and read this long post thread with an even keel and I hope you see what I'm seeing. Its shameful.

 

[dchristensen]

Wow I purchased a ball from Genefreak339 and it went perfectly.

I'm glad your transaction was perfect, but houw would you feel if your snake arrived weighing 25% less than advertised and when it was clearly a different snake than the picture in the ad?

Would you be here defending Michael then?

My transaction was perfect right up until I opened the box.

 

[deborahbroadus]

Wow I purchased a ball from Genefreak339 and it went perfectly. Ive gone back and read this entire post thread. This is a freaken witch hunt! You say Show us pics,,he shows you pics,,, then you say well that could have been photoshopped. Geesh what is wrong with you folks. He has jumped through every hoop you have thrown at him and admitted some mistakes. Wow you guys are like vicious rabid dogs. If I have to watch every word and have it checked by a lawyer, Id just assume go elsewhere. I don't know many people that will refund your money as requested when his integrity is questioned AND offer to send you the snake JUST TO PROVE TO YOU (his customer) hes on the up and up. I sure wouldn't do that. Why wouldn't you take him up on that? One reason - the person just got beaten by there wife for spending the money and you are letting the seller be the goat! That's the extra mile big time. and yet the hounds keep biting over word choices here and there. Im about to start posting ads on here in my first year of breeding and Im frippin scared to do so after your posts here. Yall are seriously scary. Please go back and read this long post thread with an even keel and I hope you see what I'm seeing. Its shameful.

Adds another to the DNBFOST list. Has an obvious reading comprehension problem and thus would probably be a difficult customer.

Michael has been lying since the beginning. What keeps HIS scam going is: He apparently doesn't attempt to scam everyone.

 

[snakemansnakes]

Good point Deb. And for obvious newbies such as Ball Python Cafe, DNBFOST mean Do Not Buy From Or Sell To. Maybe read twice before posting next time.

 

[colorfulcollection]

Was checking out Ball python cafes website, as I like to check out new sites. In the collection I seen a fire pastel..Very different looking to me since mine is very bright. May they have already been scammed and dont even know it? Looks like a nice fire, but I dont see any pastel there.

 

[colorfulcollection]

Could it be they misunderstood this morph?

 

[Ball Python Cafe]

Thanks for the tip as I thought the formal name for a 'fire ball python' was 'fire pastel ball python'. Thank you for looking at the site and helping me fix an error. I appreciate the time from a very experienced breeder.

I've had one experience with Michael and it went perfect with very good communication all throughout. So maybe he has learned the lessons you wanted to convey on this thread.

You pinged him on a lot of stuff (as a group) that I have no explanation for, nor would I do. But you also pinged him (as a group) on some things that I (being a noob breeder) could easily explain myself. Same snake posted twice, etc.

There is such hate in your posts (as a group). You come across like a woman scorned and nothing will quench your thirst for blood. Maybe you are just so passionate about ball python breeding. I'm stating from an outsider looking in that your posts come across like a crazed rottweiler. I'm not sure that's the way you want to be perceived.

If you would really add me to a do not buy or sell to list simply for voicing my opinion on what the thread looks like to me, well that says a lot right there. You have no idea how I breed or what my integrity level is. I just walked through my second OKC reptile expo - both without buying tables because they both happened at a time where my hatched babies had hatched and shed but hadn't eaten four meals yet to make sure they would thrive. So I didn't get tables and sell potential heartbreakers and make unhappy customers. I'm sure I lost good money but I have to live with myself and the person I am when I go to sleep each night.

Is that the person you want to add to your list because I have the audacity to have my own opinion? If so, ok but you'll be missing out as I know who you are too and I can return the favor but I wont. You have your own opinion and i respect it. It also has nothing to do with whether you are a good breeder with integrity.

If there is one thing I'd like you all to take away from this is 'Be careful of not what you say as much as how you say it'. The fact is, as you well know, this market is exploding with new breeders out the wazoo. You don't want them thinking the BOI is a shark tank with blood in the water.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Ball Python Cafe]

Fixed. Thanks for the catch and the time.

 

[colorfulcollection]

I didnt take a big part in the bashing on this thread, as I am fairly new also and have only been breeding for 4 years. I have to say though, these people can keep you out of trouble. I have seen where Hets have been sold at a high price only to turn out not to be hets at all. Snake pics stolen, snakes stolen, misrepresentation of an animal...ALL these things hurt the market and the hobbie for the honest person and especially for the new person like me! Most of us dont have thousands of dollars to just throw around, and spend months even years to buy that next morph. So when we see that ONE that we just have to have and spend maybe 8000.00 on a animal, we expect honesty and we expect to get the snake we payed for. not just that morph..we want the one with the exact marking we are looking for at the wieght we payed for (since most morphs are worth more if they wiegh more). Most of us have families to support and need to make the best deals we can. I personally had a beautiful breeder size female calico up for sale or trade. The person in question had offered to trade his VPI Axanthic Pinstripe and sent a pic. This isnt one of my most favorite morphs so I turned it down even though I was asking only 1700.00 for my female, and his price tag for the axanthic pin was far more. Like thousands of dollars more. Later I seen this thread (Thanks All).
Because at some point he admitted he wasnt sure about the genetics of this animal, and had I purchased this male and bred him to my female Vpi axanthic. His may have proved to not be a VPI or an axanthic at all and I would have produced nothing more than hets..and some pins and I would have grossly overpaid for a pinstripe. Moral of the story is...there are alot of people out to just make a buck at the expence of others and to make a fool out of you..These are not mistakes..He also admitted to selling snakes that were not in his possesion. He found someone willing to let a snake go for a lesser price and would turn and put his own ad up for that snake at a higher price...so when you pay him...he can then go buy that snake in hopes its still available...so he has something to send you... do you see the problem with that?

 

[colorfulcollection]

So the next time you go to sell an animal and someone asks you a thousand questions and asks you to prove it! and you wonder why its so difficult to sell certain animals. You have people like this to thank.

By posting these threads we hope the fact that they are caught will stop them and discourage others or to get rid of them altogether from the hobbie!