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Jim Burns-Classic Rip-Off

C

cjackson

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Since most folkes have heard this type of scam before, I will be brief.
Jim Burns of Broken Arrow (or Broken Promises) Oklahoma who posts as "Jim0602" advertised some blood pythons here last year. I sent him $700 for a group of youngsters last February. After a series of delaying tactics regarding shipping, such as bad weather, he got a hang-nail, etc. he informed me that the snakes had become ill. We agreed he should refund the money. That started in April last year. He has disappeared and reappeared numerous times. I have sent him weekly e-mails (no working phone number)asking for contact and repayment. He makes new promises including "...the check is in the mail." routine but nothing. You have heard this baloney before regarding other scammers so nothing new.
Be warned!! If you are out flipping rocks you may encounter this liar under one of them. Protect your wallet!!
I understand he helps promote reptile shows. Be careful if he wants your money or trust. I believe he is active in the Kansas City area as well.
I have been incredibly patient in asking for and waiting for a refund. Anyway, do business with this piker and charlatan at your own risk.
 
A simple google search turned up this phone number for him:

Jim Burns 918-527-5005

I am sure this is the same guy as it has him listed as a contact for the Oklahoma Reptile Expo. Good luck.

Griz
 
Here is the number for two people that helps put on that particular show. If nothing else, I would contact them and direct them to this thread:

Jason or Kelli Cruse (913) 422-7489 or (913) 219-9139

Griz
 
Thanks for the info. I have contacted the folkes you mentioned and they were nice enough but probably cannot do much to help since they were not involved in the transaction. Hopefully they will take a closer look at their "buddy" and realize they are doing business with a crook.
I am an old guy that is not very savvy when it comes to computers and didn't know you could get phone numbers that easily. I appreciate your trying to help!
I mainly posted this to try and keep other people from being screwed by this guy as I doubt he will honor his commitment to me after all of his lies.
 
I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I've chatted with Jim many times and never considered him someone to avoid. Have you emailed him about this thread? The last email address I have for him is [email protected] is that the one you've been using?

I hope this turns out to be a misunderstanding, and I certainly hope you get your $700 back soon!
 
If you haven't notified Jim of this thread, I will call him and let him know of it. I have never known Jim to be any type of "scammer" before, but I would like to hear his side. I have done numerous transactions with him and know him personally. We could certainly use an explanation on his part, but I don't know if I could classify him as a scammer just yet.
 
I to have done the Broken Arrow show and done shows with Jim and never witnessed any problems with customers. I am sure he will take care of this..It just does not sound like him..Please keep us up to date..His number is out there so I am sure he is not running.
 
I am one of the easiest guys in the world to deal with and VERY patient. I advised Jim several months ago that I was going to be forced to take this public if he didn't contact me and make some kind of arrangements to repay this. I did hear from him (e-mail) and he played the same game about the money being in the mail, etc. I have warned him repeatedly, asked him to call me and offered to take payments, how much more should I be expected to do????. I am not some hothead that has gotten p.o'ed in one or two weeks. Some of the posts here sound like "poor Jim, how can you say this about him". I guess I get to be THE ONLY person to have him honor me this way but screwed is screwed.
I have been buying/selling snakes since 1969 and have done business with a hell of a lot of people including Tom Crutchfield, Lloyd Lemke, et al. I know a scam when one is being run on me. I understand some people feeling loyalty to their "buddy" but when you boil this down it comes out like this:
1) I sent him money for snakes.
2) He said the snakes were sick and HE WANTED to refund my money.
3) I agreed to that.
4) It has been 7 months and no money.
If that is what you folkes consider to be "good business" then god help us all! Maybe Jimbo is straight up with folkes he has to see in person and only screws people long distance. I don't know.
I don't care what Jim's "version" is as I have stated the facts not my interpretation of something. I also have his e-mails that verify what I am saying.
I appreciate when people take the time to post a warning on this site as it helps all of us. I posted about Jim to attempt to warn others before they experienced Jim's business practices.
Try to understand that if I sound cranky it is because I am! Take a moment to think about how YOU would feel if you sent someone $700 and they sent you NOTHING back. My understanding of human nature is that most people would be EXTREMELY annoyed and/or angry if this was done to them.
Hope all of you only have good experiences and DON'T ever go through this kind of crap.
 
Can you post the emails?

I wonder if anyone has actually gotten in touch with him notifying him of this thread? His last activity was on the same day you started this thread.
 
How did you pay? Anyways thanks for the heads up on this thief. 7 months is way too long to wait for reimbursement. This guy is obviously taking you for a ride, I'm in the Dallas/Ft Worth area not far from him, good to know to stay clear of this semi local crook.
 
Chris..
I too think 7 months is to long..I wish Jim would come and reply to this post to let us know what the story is on his side. I do know he has a full time job but that is NO excuse...I pray you get your money back...
 
Chris, I don't really think it's necessary to pull punches on the people on this site. I am one of the people that said I have never known Jim to do anything like this. Understand something, I am not defending him. Jim needs to be accountable for his actions. I think people are just letting you know that they are suprised by his actions on this. Cool off on the people you are requesting advice from. I can understand your frustration, I really can. But, don't take it out on the people on this forum. We, myself included, are simply trying to help you reach Jim. I have called him and emailed him, and I will call him again to help you reach a resolution. Just simmer down for a minute and let us do what we can.
 
Mr. Vandever,
I apologize for sounding so irritated. Seven plus months of promises and lies does not bring out one's best characteristics. Rather than serving to assuage my feelings, this just seems to be keeping me on a slow boil so I think it best if I just shut up!
I certainly did not intend for my problem to become work for anyone else. I simply wanted to let people know that this had happened and could happen again since I still don't understand what prompted such egregious behavior on Mr. Burns part as he seemed to have a very good history.
Anyway, thanks to all for the kind thoughts and support. I hope everyone has a good 2006.
 
What's the whole story?

I have done severl shows with Jim and he has always been a stand up guy. Just coming from someone that has done over 25 shows with him it seems that there is a side to this story that we are not getting. Jim does know about this thread now, so I would expect to hear something from him before the end of the weekend. This just doesn't sound like something he would do, he has always come through on every other deal I know of him being involved in. I'm not saying that you are in the wrong here, $700 is a lot of frackin cash but as mentioned by me and others, there is something going on here that hasn't been brought to light, like why did this go on for over a year as you mentioned and you finally make to the BOI? I would have been on here as soon as I thought I was getting the shaft. No deal takes a year to complete. Just playing Devil's Advocate here.
 
The reason it took so long to post this is that I am a VERY patient dummy. Yeah, you would have been all over the BOI if it happened to you but I try to work with people. I take this sort of thing very seriously.
How can I make it any clearer? I sent him money for snakes. He said "no snakes". He didn't offer any replacements or to repay me in dead cats or anything else! He said he was mailing the refund on numerous occasions and I repeatedly advised him that the money never showed. There isn't anything missing as this is the simplest version of a rip-off. Jimbo's storey might be different but it would be a lie.
You want to know why I didn't post sooner on the BOI? It is because I have observed a tendency for people to essentially trash the person who has been screwed. No, I have not been trashed but it seems like there is this general tone of "Good ol' Jim wouldn't do that, this guy must be full of crap". I posted this as, what I thought, was a public service to HELP other people NOT GET SCREWED by this guy.
Folkes, people thought Ted Bundy was a really great guy and just couldn't believe he would do such nasty things. It may be hard to believe that ol' Jim ripped me off but "thems be the facts". If you want to continue doing business with him then know you are being pals with someone who does this kind of a thing. It is your choice.
Cain't get no simpler than that! I would get a kick out of hearing Burn's version of this. Hey, I know why he hasn't responded, it's because he knows that he has NO ARGUMENT with what I have said.
Best o' luck to all!
 
cjackson said:
The reason it took so long to post this is that I am a VERY patient dummy. Yeah, you would have been all over the BOI if it happened to you but I try to work with people. I take this sort of thing very seriously.
How can I make it any clearer? I sent him money for snakes. He said "no snakes". He didn't offer any replacements or to repay me in dead cats or anything else! He said he was mailing the refund on numerous occasions and I repeatedly advised him that the money never showed. There isn't anything missing as this is the simplest version of a rip-off. Jimbo's storey might be different but it would be a lie.
You want to know why I didn't post sooner on the BOI? It is because I have observed a tendency for people to essentially trash the person who has been screwed. No, I have not been trashed but it seems like there is this general tone of "Good ol' Jim wouldn't do that, this guy must be full of crap". I posted this as, what I thought, was a public service to HELP other people NOT GET SCREWED by this guy.
Folkes, people thought Ted Bundy was a really great guy and just couldn't believe he would do such nasty things. It may be hard to believe that ol' Jim ripped me off but "thems be the facts". If you want to continue doing business with him then know you are being pals with someone who does this kind of a thing. It is your choice.
Cain't get no simpler than that! I would get a kick out of hearing Burn's version of this. Hey, I know why he hasn't responded, it's because he knows that he has NO ARGUMENT with what I have said.
Best o' luck to all!
Click to expand...
Mr. Jackson, I haven't seen any posts here that takes the side of Mr. Burns. People are just dumbfounded that Mr. Burns would do this. No one is calling you a liar or trashing you in any way. I would have to say, from my experience here, that the people who post usually take the side of the person who is in the right. In fact, a very well respected member of this forum just recently was shown how true this is because of his disregard over a simple refund that he refused to give. I think what people are asking for is proof of this transaction. It is the same that is asked of anyone who posts a problem here. Emails, images of receipts, paypal verifications, MO #s, tracking numbers. I assure you that if Mr. Burns is wrong, then the good people here will help to rectify this by contacting him and telling him its the right thing to do. In fact, I think one member has already done just that.
Anyway, the people here only want to put scammers in the limelight and try to reduce the number of people who get scammed in the herping community.
 
Just wondering if there is any update to this? I was truly expecting that either Jim would have posted or we'd hear the 2 parties were in communication.
 
I have continued to try and contact Mr. Burns but with no success. Nothing has changed.
Thanks to all who attempted to bring this up with him.
Please just beware that you could be next.
Best wishes.
Chris Jackson
 
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