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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

GILBERT THOMPSON

I would like to state something from personal experience.  When a Law Enforcement Officer is "involved in a shooting" The officer is placed on Administrative leave until the full outcome of the "shooting" can be determined.  Such Officer is PROHIBITED from performing ANY duties as a Law Enforcement officer and in most cases their badge, & department issued side arm is confiscated until the outcome.  Gilbert you stated that You were in fact on leave, but yet you state you were still performing your duties? I really find that hard to believe.
 
Hi, this is Charlotte with Ectothermics.  I have never posted to this forum personally, but this particular topic has had an impact not only on our reptile business, but our dogs as well...wait, this gets better:
Gilbert contacted me just over a year ago and expressed interest in obtaining a dog from us.  First he wanted a show quality puppy. He said it was because he wanted to use it for a "drug dog" and might show it as well.  Then, he decided that he couldn't afford a show quality pup and wanted to get pet quality for his daughter instead.  Fine.  We went through the whole sales contract info..blah blah blah.  He told me a few times that the money was on the way, its coming, etc.  Later, I found that he had also contacted my friend in Cal. requesting a pup as well and told her the same thing, the money is on the way, I mailed it today, etc. We never heard from him again.  Then, a year later, I saw a post on the BOI about Gilbert and wondered if that could possibly be the same person. Yes, it is!!  I was contacted by a herp friend who stated that Gilbert was purchasing some animals from him.  I don't know the details of the transaction, but my friend stated that he had received some emails from Gilbert that were pretty nasty. Boy, this guy gets around!  Then, we received a phone call from him and he was interesed in our Bolivians. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING.  Gilbert spoke with my husband about a fairly large order of animals. He made a statement about some dogs he had out of a particular line, not realizing that the person he was speaking about was my dear friend (and he was telling us a huge lie) and that we were the ones he had contacted the year before.  Needless to say, he said he would take the animals and then later backed out.  Over the weekend, we received ANOTHER email from him inquiring about Bolivians and a show quality puppy.  We responded by telling him that this was the second time he has backed out of a deal and we respectfully decline to do any further business with him.
As anyone in this business can tell you, the amount of time we have to spend with people like this is very limited. It is not only annoying when people repeatedly back out of a deal, it is very time consuming. Time is something we just don't have to spare.
To Gilbert: Both the dog world and the reptile world are very tight knit communities.  Once your reputation has been tarnished, it is very difficult, if not impossible to repair. Don't you think that now would be the appropriate time to stop this?
 
I have also had the same kind of dealings with Gilbert.
He contacted us a few months ago looking to trade his high end balls for our high end leopard geckos. After several e-mails and a few phone conversations we decided to do the trade. This was the week before Daytona which you all know can be very nerve racking for a vender well Gilbert insisted on photos so I spent several hours separating his geckos and photographing them. He phoned back saying he was definitely interested to hold on to them for him and we were planning on meeting at the Houston show a few weeks later to trade in person. So in good faith we put these geckos on hold instead of taking them to Daytona with us. The week before Houston I e-mailed him to check in and get all our ducks in a row about the meeting and that's when thing got interesting. He e-mailed back saying he thought we backed out because he never heard from us in awhile, then he changed his mind about one of the albino female ball he stated he wanted to keep her to look at. I e-mailed him back to let him know it wasn't very professional to ask someone to hold some of there best animals of the year a week before a show like Daytona and then back out, he e-mailed back saying it was best we didn't do the trade at all.

Thanks Justin for bringing this to everyone's attention. Maybe this will save others from dealing with this person he obviously has no respect for us or our time.

Nicole Elliser
Owner: K&N Reptiles <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'>
 
Once is a mistake.  Twice is silly.  Three times is just stupid.  Twelve, thirteen, fourteen times?  That's a pattern of behavior!  

All the excuses, appologizing, and threatenings don't change the fact that this guy does what he does.  Anyone that holds animals for him without a firm, non-refundable, considerable deposit being in place is just asking for his/her time to be wasted, in my opinion.

<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('>
 
Take the following with an ENORMOUS grain of salt... A veritable boulder of salt...

I have no confirmation that this information is correct, only circumstantial evidence and a small amount of logic (and a huge amount of maybe)...

Attempting a reverse lookup for the given phone number on a few search engines, it came up  as either unlisted or a cell phone. Either way, no information could be given.

The area code is used by Waco Texas and the surrounding area.

Doing a search for Gilbert Thompson in the Waco area, there  was a single return to the search.

Thompson, Gilbert M
2001 Hanover Dr
WACO, TX 76710
254-776-0214

There is no guarantee whatsoever that this is the Gilbert represented here... And there is no way to really determine the odds of it being him  either... However someone had asked for his address and it may be worthwhile to have this up here just in case someone is asked to hold  animals for an individual giving this contact info...

There was an individual (back on page one or two) who said there was a sucessful  deal  with him... They might be able to confirm or disprove this highly sketchy possibility...

Another possible manner of confirming this would be for someone who has spoken to Gilbert to call this number and determine if it's the same individual.

Again... This is highly circumstantial... I didn't even have a zip code to work with... Just an area code which may cover more or less area... and that's provided that the original area code  given for contacts was not a cell phone (could be any nearby area codes) so please don't harass this possible contact number. Or show up on the doorstep with flaming bags of... anything.

I have got to say that I've never dealt with Gilbert personally and have (until this thread) found myself agreeing with most of his posts. Hopefully this window shopping attitude has been blown out of proportion or can reach something of a better solution than driving the guy out of the hobby or anyone getting into a brawl at a show... (If anyone threw someone else onto my table of herps [especially all these eleven foot tall ex Navy Seals having been exposed to gamma radiation that are floating around "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."]  I certainly wouldn't be particularly happy... Fighting  inside shows is just going to punish other vendors. I also can't recall having been to a show where there was room to get your wallet out of your pocket without bumping someone much less anything more physical. Ah well, I suppose they could always thumb wrestle.

Point being... People do get emotional and react badly when their name and honesty are questioned. They  often do things that they wish they hadn't in retrospect and perhaps shouldn't be judged on a few of their poorer points. On the other hand, people often overreact to try and compensate when they know they're guilty of a particular negative activity and apologizing afterwards doesn't usually mean much.

Personally I think Gilbert's reputation can be rebuilt... It'll just mean money up front for a few years. He may miss out on a few potential purchases but it will ensure that there are no problems of this nature.
 
By my count that makes 11 breeders that have been jerked around by this gentleman and 1 satisfied customer.  In general, on this forum, people are as quick to defend a  good guy as they are to attack a bad one.  

With stats like these, I don't think Gilbert's reputation needs to be rebuilt.  It needs to be embalmed and given a proper burial.  In four days it has come to light that he has mistreated a fair percentage of the active breeders out there.  Practically no one has come to his defense.  Factor in the childish threats and displays of temper and my personal opinion is that our hobby will get along quite nicely without any added infusions of cash from this obviously unstable person.
 
I second your post Seamus.. you have some very good points in the last couple paragraphs.Gilbert emailed me this morning saying he was so upset with what was happening he was going to get out of the hobby.I'm the one who started this thread and I feel that I can be man enough to give him or anyone a second chance.Everyone makes mistakes, I have..some whoppers too.. and still make quite a few.But each mistake I learn from and I'm a better person for it.I like to see more positive post from here on, all this name calling and bickering seems to be getting us nowhere in resolving this issue.And causing someone to stop doing what they love was not my intention nor do I believe it was any of yours.So please everyone take a big breath and count to 10 real slowly.
Regards,
Justin Mitcham
 
Hello Everyone,
I didn't really want to post anything at first because I was trying to keep our name out of it but I just wanted to say that Gilbert had contacted us on several occassions in the past.  All the communication we've had with him is pretty much text book to what was described in this post by other retailers/breeders.  He emailed and called us saying he had cash and was ready to buy, etc, etc.  His communications with us didn't have as negative an effect as it did with some others because fortunately we didn't lose out on any sales because of Gilbert and most of the animals he was interested in, I already had pictures of...

Anyways, we had the exact same experience with Gilbert Thompson and his emails to us were also about high end animals and not a single one of his "serious" inquiries ended in anything.

As for his information, I can confirm the phone number Bill Cagle posted because that is the same phone number he emailed us a while ago, long before this situation.  Also, he listed a city and state in one of the emails he sent me...

Bremond, Texas

I don't know if this is really where he is located or not, but that's what he stated in one of his emails to me.  So I guess you can add us to the list of people Gilbert has "window shopped" with.  I hope this information helps.

Celia Chien
webmaster
East Bay Vivarium
 
That is not the address that I shipped to.  
I am not going to post the address.
This thread has gotten way too out of hand.

I was not planning on posting on this thread again, but I was called to verify this address, so everyone can stop harassing this person in Waco now.

Like I said, my dealings with Gilbert went very smoothly. That was my experience.  

I still think we should all adopt some policies on holds that we are comfortable with so that you never have to feel taken advantage of.  Especially those of us who do not have a lot of time for dealing with customers or those who do not have a lot of stock.  
Holding an animal for someone for any amount of time is essentially your choice.  Believe me, I understand everyone's frustration and empathize--sales can be extremely trying, but I do think that there are more constructive ways to deal with it than this.  
I dont know about you people, but I get at least one email per day "I want her.  I'll paypal you tonight".  About 50% pan out I'd guess.  Why not just email back "ok, she's on hold until tonight", or "ok, it's first come, first serve"--whatever you feel comfortable with.  Put a time limit on deals...There are a lot of ways to protect yourself.  

I'm trying to talk (write) strictly in a business sense and ignore all of the crazy emotions that have come out in this thread.
I do not think that I will post anymore on this.

Dana
 
To the People Okay do not go harrassing some other guy just because he has the same name.

Gilbert is Unlisted.   Therefore you will not find him in the usual people search stuff.

He is also not in Waco.  I will not say what town he is in.....But I know he is not in Waco.......DO NOT go harrasing some guy who happens to have the same name.


To Gilbert -- I stuck up for you because I am both a buyer and a seller.  And as a buyer I feel we have the right to change our minds.  BUT I do not condone threatening someone.  Specially when we are in the position of authority.
DO NOT abuse your power.
 
One more thing just to clarify:
Someone described "11 breeders vs 1 satisfied customer", or something to that effect.  I was not his customer, I am also a breeder (full-time), and he bought a couple of CBB frilled dragons from me.
Dana
 
My apologies Dana.  Change that to read 11 breeders jerked around and 1 breeder treated fairly.  By the way...the total is now 12 on the first category
 
Just for the record, I was phoned by a man who told me he had an experience with Gilbert that was much like experience Bill Cagle posted. I will not post the person's name, but he is a very well known person in the hobby.

I received an email from Gilbert after he threatened me. He basically said it was my fault he threatened me.....

I have it on a pretty good authority that Gilbert is not a policeman, as if I needed someone to tell me that one, and that Gilbert has been doing this same thing for a long time to almost every "name" in the hobby.

I don't think I'm the first person that he has threatened, but I intend to be one of the last. I do not take threats against my person lightly. I merely pointed out the holes in his story(ies) as I see / saw them. I will go back and re-read the messages I have already posted to ensure I didn't name-call....

For what it's worth, I had already deduced that Gilbert is probably in Bremond, Texas, based on the area code and exchange that I received when I *69'ed his phone call this morning. I figured he was not a policeman when he posted his picture. No one undercover would do such a thing. Also, from what little I know about policing, no department would allow him to participate in any police work until his "leave" was over... So I have a very hard time believing anything he has said. Gilbert also told me that I should be happy knowing that he's "getting out" of reptiles.

It makes no difference to me whether Gilbert "gets out" of reptiles or not. I just think it would be nice if he told the truth and apologised to the people who he has stiffed for their time, in the very least, and for lost business as a result of his foolishness, at worst. So far, no one has been hurt (physically) and I'd like to keep it that way, but I have no intention of letting someone get away with threaten me with bodily harm, when all I did was point out the ludicrous holes in his tall tale.

I'll let you all know what the phone company has to say about the threat as soon as they return my call.
 
Probably a lot of you know what I am about to say, but there are likely some of you whom do not know how some buyers will work an old strategy to their favor.

The buying and selling of herps can be rather fast paced and a moving target to a buyer.  Particularly to someone whom has several things in mind and has trouble figuring out which seller is offering the item(s) they want the most.  To buy time, some buyers will try to nail down ALL of the sellers at the same time with promises of a purchase.  That way the buyer has some breathing room to try to make a good decision on what they really want to buy.  But all of the sellers are cast into limbo as their sales are put on hold for the duration of the negotiation.

Unfortunately, only one of those 'on hold' sellers is going to find the wait worthwhile.  Maybe...  And rarely will the buyer contact the other sellers when they finally make their choice.

How you handle this sort of situation as a seller is up to you.  But understand that it does happen, and many buyers have no remorse about it.  They feel that it is justified in their eyes.

Personally, I feel that once a committment has been made, both parties must live up to it, otherwise innocent parties will eventually be harmed because their word will no longer be accepted as their bond.  A prospective buyer that deceives a seller by telling them that the sale is a done deal, and does NOT follow through with the purchase, is no less unethical than a seller that will lie about the condition of the animals they sell and ship to a buyer.  As such, I fully support people labeling such buyers that practice this sort of deception as BAD GUYS. Both buyers and sellers need to have standards of conduct we all can live with.

And it's about darned time that people realize what they are doing when the shoe is on the other foot.  If it's simply a matter of ignorance, then education is the key to making this problem less rampant than it is.  If it is habitual or premeditated deception on the part of the buyer, then they need to be exposed so future sellers can deal with them in an informed manner.

IMHO
 
Actually I would like to echo the sentiments in Justin's last post regarding Gilbert and his remarks to Justin.  It is really a shame if this single incident forces Gilbert to abandon his love of reptiles.  We all say and do things in an irrational manner at times.  It's in the way we emerge from the incident that determines our future and defines our character.  Gilbert was questioned on his integrity, and unfortunately, reacted in a less than professional manner when responding to the initial posts.  I have spoken with Gilbert on several occasions by phone, and he seems to be a pretty decent, genuine guy who was extremely polite and professional during our conversations.  Our trade we spoke about never materialized, but it was I, not Gilbert who decided against completing it.
I have also done business with many people on this thread, and can vouche for the integrity of Joe D, Evan, Justin, etc. (probably left a few names out, sorry  <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>  ).
The question as to whether or not Gilbert is telling a tale in regards to his Law Enforcement background is irrelevant in this thread, as it does not pertain to the business on hand.
It seems as though this thread is taking a turn towards the ethics of law enforcement officials.  The issue that was initially brought up is one of someone who makes deals, then doesn't honor them.  Gilbert has shown a pattern of this, that I'll agree upon.  Does it mean I would never do business with him after reading it ?  Well what it means to me is despite what has been said I still would do business with Gilbert, but as with any other customer I'd yet to complete a successful deal with, I'd cover my rear end by having them ship or pay first.
I don't hold grudges against those backing out on deals with me as I don't think I could count that high <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>  and many have very legitimate excuses for backing out.
Pretty sure it's the same for many of you who have posted on this thread and subject.
So before everyone goes ballistic over Gilbert's comments and actions, and banishes him from the reptile community forever, think what you might do if put into the same situation.  I know I've made an a** out of myself on more than one occasion !

Just my two and a half cents...

Stephen Emerick
Napa Valley Snakes
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I was not planning on posting on this thread again, but I was called to verify this address, so everyone can stop harassing this person in Waco now.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Thanks Dana. And I really hope nobody harassed the individual with the identical name, that was not my intention in the least.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I still think we should all adopt some policies on holds that we are comfortable with so that you never have to feel taken advantage of.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

I've always found that partial non-refundable deposits (a down payment if you will) work quite well. It doesn't have to be a large amount  (depending on the price of the animal of course) but even 5-15% would cover feeding costs over the period of time that full payment might be delayed... Once the buyer sends the balance (minus the deposit of course), it's a done deal. If they disapear or if something crops up and they are unable to complete the deal, the seller has a little bit for his trouble, can still sell the animal in question and doesn't have quite the same nasty taste off the deal... And the buyer doesn't lose out what is potentially big bucks (different figure for every person) when they're still looking. The  choice to  either complete payment or lose that small amount rests in their hands, so they can't complain about anything other than their own fickle whims. One important aspect of this sort of policy would be an identification of the duration of time expected between that deposit and the balance of the payment however... It's not really fair to expect a seller to hold an animal for the next three years (exaggeration) for a $50 deposit.

I'm not sure if I agree with that "First to paypal" kind of mentality... It implies that multiple people might paypal before the seller checks the paypal account. Issuing refunds would be a given of course... But don't they charge a small percentage now? And that would certainly be a hassle as well as shutting down the purchase abilities of people without paypal accounts (I think at this point it's just small children and me because of my inherent distrust for the computer).

Every seller can adopt their own policies on this and like so many things on this board boil down to, the communication is important. Make sure whatever policies  you have are up front as a seller... make sure your expectations and intentions are clear as a buyer. After that if you disagree with what the other party proposes and neither is willing to change their stance, find someone else.

I think it was Rich on another thread who had mentioned that having clearly written policies was enormously benificial for a few reasons... It allows both parties to know what to expect. It allows a seller something of an "out" when you get those unpleasant or slightly crooked buyers... And  since they're his policies as a seller, he can always break them when he feels the situation warrants it.
 
Gilbert contacted me approx 2 weeks ago and had me hold the last pair of my black milksnakes for him. I put the snakes on hold (and could have sold them twice since then).
I spoke with Gilbert on the phone...seemed like a very nice guy. He told me that he had sent my money order out that day. He told me about thousands of dollars worth of reptile purchases he was planning to make and even offered me $1600 cash for my banded gila (which isn't for sale).
One hour later, I got an email asking me to send back his money order when I get it because of a financial hardship that had just popped up. I was a little irritated but I agreed to send it back. He emailed me the next day and told me to keep the money order and ship the snakes because he had worked out the problem.
I got another email this morning asking me to send his money order back because he's getting out of reptiles completely. Again, I'm irritated that he has wasted my time for the last few weeks but I agreed to send the money order back because I don't anticipate any trouble selling these snakes and it's not worth getting into a dispute with someone who has exhibited the type of behavior shown on this thread.
  I'm not saying Gilbert is a bad guy...just a little flakey. He seemed like a nice guy in our conversations. However, he told me he plans to breed a lot of high end animals in the future and I dont think he'd appreciate this type of back and forth games and broken commitments from his customers.
  Chris Raden
 
I use the "first one to PayPal my account" tactic in those of my ads that I anticipate will go quickly.  I guess I do this to spur on responses as much as anything else, but PayPal is a lot easier for me to use.  As far as I know, PayPal does not charge anything to refund money to someone (from the buyer or seller).  I refunded some money to myself once (company account to my personal one) just to test this theory

I recently had one person email me on some non-feeding corn snakes (thanks again, Drew! <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'> ), and she told me that she just was not comfortable in using PayPal (she also distrusts the system).  I told her I understood, but that I could not hold them for her for days to find out if she had actually sent me the money or not.  So, she sent me a U.S. postal money order via overnight express mail.  I had told her that I WOULD hold the snakes for one day, but that if I did not receive the money order by 5 o'clock the next day, I'd sell them to someone else.  I also told her that I was not going to rescend my advertisement until I had the money order.  I received it the next morning no problem at all.  

This is the only time I've had someone not want to use PayPal, but it was not a problem as it worked out.  Usually, if more than one person DOES respond to an ad, I simply tell the person(s) that was/were too late that I will add them to my "alert" list and let them know first if I have anything else for sale.  This seems to placate their having missed an opportunity in which they were interested and provides me with a list of possible future customers.  It's really a win/win situation.
 
some people need to set guidelines.
Or put priorities in order.

Maybe isntead of trying to buy lots of reptiles from LOTS of different people.  Then jumping ship.

Then talking about owning acres and acres of land and having lots of money.

Maybe some people should just put that "thousands" of dollars to good use.  Like paying the phone bill for the last three months or something.

Just a thought and a personal opinion.

Just a thought.
 
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