• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    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....

Luis Martinez...bad guy and thief.

J

JasonBrennan

Got Mice?
Joined
Sep 17, 2002
Messages
186
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
52
Location
Alabama
I have been running several wanted ads for different types of animals. I was contacted by this Luis Martinez from New York about a female albino boa. We agreed on a price, spoke on the phone several times and I got his bank info in order to pay him for the animal via bank transfer.

Once he was paid for the animal, all communication ended. He will not answer his phone, won't return emails and most importantly, has not shipped my animal.

The phone number I have for him is apparently a cell phone, and there are a few hundred Luis Martinez that are listed in New York, NY.

The phone number I have is 646 529 6155 and my last contact with him was on July 15th.

I paid for an animal and have not recieved it. The "seller" is totally avoiding me and will not answer his phone or return a call. To my mind, that makes him a thief. He stole $1035.00 and will not return it.

Just a heads up if anyone out there is thinking of dealing with this guy, or is contacted by him. Do yourself a favor and avoid him (I very rarely if ever post a bad guy thread, but this is an outright theft in my mind, so I felt I have to warn others).
 
Ya know, Jason.... it never ceases to amaze me that with ALL the Albino Boas that are being bred by very reputable breeders out there, you would try to buy one from someone that is totally unknown to you (or anybody else, probably), just to "save" a couple of hundred dollars....
All you would have had to do, is ASK ANY well-known dealer if they could get you one, and within days, you would have had what you wanted.... sure, you might have paid a little more than $1000, but you would have gotten your animal....
I hope you learned a valuable lesson here....

Neil
 
Not only that, but if you knew

about the BOI before you gave a total stranger over $ 1, 000. you could have posted an inquiry. Your right this person is a thief, and actually its grand larceny. Try contacting his bank and see if you can get some information their or contact the precinct that he may reside in and see if you can get some help from some kind detective their.
 
Neil and Jerry,
I do know about the BOI. I have been a forums member since '02. I did do a search on the guy, came up blank. Also, I do alot of deals, some are with well known people, some are with unknown people. That is not the point. The point of this post is not to try to get my money back, it is to let others know about it. The point of this post is the next time someone does a search on this guy's name, it will not come up blank. They will be able to see his name, his email (at least the one he is using now) and his phone number.

This is one of the main reasons that I rarely post on the BOI. I post an experience to warn others about a thief, and I get criticized for it. Of course, from Neil I expect nothing else.

As to the legal issue, our bank has been notified, as has the "seller's" bank. The police have also been brought into it. Legal action is taking place, but that was not the point of this thread. I am not attempting to use the BOI to exert pressure on this "seller" to make things right, I simply want to make others aware of this person.
 
Jason,
Don't take what others say personal. Whoever lashes out at you for this deal gone bad is an idiot. You trusted in someone, and got burned. Now you just have to follow the necessary steps to recover your cash. Whisch I think you're already doing.
 
Jason,

Sometimes we have to give an opportunity to other sellers. My recent purchase from a completely unknown (to the BOI) breeder went without a glitch. I'm not going to say that I was not nervous for a while but I took my chances on an order in excess of $700 and now I'm glad I did. Now I know there's another trustworthy seller out there for me and the rest to benefit from. If we only buy from known and trusted individuals how are we going to help out the ones that are starting in the business?

Don't let this sour experience discourage you. In your next purchase you may want to ask more questions until you feel comfortable. One of the first things I do with an unknown new seller is to do a reverse look-up and see if he is listed on the white pages. I know that nowadays people may want their privacy, but if they are not there they won't get my business. Just peace of mind...

Good luck to you!
 
Jason

The best course of action other than preferring charges will be to continue to contact his bank. I work for a bank in Florida and we take a very dim view of fraud being committed with one of our accounts.

Take the jibes some of the others have tossed at you with a grain of salt. It seems to me that Neil is the one who also advocates that no one ever ship first in a trade. He seems to have missed the point that no trades at all would happen if no one ever shipped first.
 
Thanx for the warning Jason

But always do your home work!! My good friend Greg Riso, talked me out of a trade of my ghost boa's for an albino male, he told me to be patient and I would find it. Well I got a screamer from Craig Cade that is 66 het snow for 950. And we are here to police each other and out the bad guys, not to bash or insult, and I feel that Neil came down hard on you because you've been a member for so long. Go after this dirt bag and get your money back!! Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.
 
Good Words

Alvaro,

That was an excellent thought if everyone just bought from the Bob Clark , NERD , Allan Bosch and other big time breeders where would the rest of be what would the indusrty be there wouldn't be one there would be a Monopoly so by given some one a chance other than the big names your keeping the indusrty going

:D :D
 
It could be your lucky day

Jason,

I was in contact with this person a while back. I got a bad vibe from him and ended communication with him. Lucky for you I got an address where he wanted me to send the money order to.

Luis Martinez
500 west 170th st apt#4D
NY NY 10032

It pays to keep things for a while. I have all the e-mails from this clown saved on my desktop. Something told me I would be seeing a post like this in the future. Hopefully this address is correct and can help you out.
 
At some point in the past NERD was brand new, as was Bob Clark and every other big breeder out there, so where would this biz/hobby be without NEW breeders? Gone quickly and only for people who can lay out a couple thousand on a snake. Don't quit trusting others based on this transaction as for every scumbag out there there is a great little known breeder out there.

Good luck and press charges on this guy, don't let him get away with it because sure as sh!t he'll rob someone else.

Take care,

Chris Marston
 
I post an experience to warn others about a thief, and I get criticized for it. Of course, from Neil I expect nothing else.
Click to expand...
Jason,
I'm so sorry to hear about the bad deal. I had the same feeling when I saw Neil's post yesterday (just was busy to post).
I had dealt with Jason last year and I was a seller. Jason did ask question, as well as do his research. He's also a stand up guy, good with his words, and very pleasant to do business with.
 
New breeders

Sometimes we have to give an opportunity to other sellers
Click to expand...
At some point in the past NERD was brand new, as was Bob Clark and every other big breeder out there, so where would this biz/hobby be without NEW breeders
Click to expand...

I would just like to say im not the biggest breeder out there or the best but i have to start at the bottom just like everyone else to work my way up... I am produceing albino boas and hets and albino balls this year and hope people are as willing to give me my chance as well......
 
This is just a damn shame

Jason, damn sorry to hear about this. Feel free to tell your tale on the BCF as well. Looks like you may have gotten some helpful information though...

I hope you learned a valuable lesson here....
Click to expand...

Another quality comment from Neil - bravo! :rolleyes:

Randy May
 
hey boys and girls, the fact of the

matter is as much as I am sorry for the financial loss that was incurred here, but you just dont wire transfer monies to a total stranger. Jason indicated that he has been on Fauna for the past 2 years, and the only thing he did to protect his own interest was to provide a search! How many times have we heard of this type of thievery and how many times have people been told unless you know for sure whom you are dealing with, if the sale is questionable even under the slightest apprehension, DONT DO IT. There are many other reputable dealers to deal with , without putting your trust in a complete stranger. For someone who apparently has had previous dealings in the herp business, you were careless, and someone walked away with money that you sent without really doing your homework.

So please dont blame Neil because you did not want to hear what everyone else already knew. You should have know better and You wont make that same mistake again!
 
you just dont wire transfer monies to a total stranger.

Ummm isn't that what people do every single day when they buy something off the net?

At what point does a total stranger become a friend or even someone you know? After 3 phone calls, 10 phone calls, a face to face meeting? Please let me know because I'm new at this and just did a deal with a completely unknown guy for sand boas. I did a search on this very site and came up empty. I was nervous about it too, but everything went PERFECT.

Bashing someone because he got screwed is rude.

Karen
 
Back
Top