Bad Guy Michael Lawton

[scmartin27]

This is Sarah Mohr of Sarah's Snake Shop posting.
We have had several issues with Non-Payment concerning Michael Lawton and have needed to blacklist him due to this, as well as angry posts concerning us on facebook claiming that we "sold snakes out from under him" even when he had never paid for any of them.
We have given Lawton many chances to pay for animals he wanted but we never saw a dime, then we see nasty comments posted by him about us because we stuck to our holding policy (free hold for up to 48hrs, then animal goes back up for sale unless a payment is made).
We cannot recommend anyone even attempt to sell to him.

 

[Chris Kennard]

Your name doesn't match the name in the account. Please post proof of your allegations.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

Sarah is being given some time to get her name field updated before she resumes posting. Let us be patient until then.

If she can post the communication stream(s) after that has been taken care of, it would surely be helpful for evaluation of the experience(s) described.

 

[scmartin27]

Since name has been corrected - Photos

Here are a few times he expressed serious interest in purchasing, only to not come through. In the case of the photo with the classic corn, he was interested in a wholesale lot that I was selling and I said I'd add her on for an extra $15. The post advertising the rest of the lot was deleted after they sold to someone else, I was not able to get a screen shot of that.
I will white-out names of other people commenting.

 

[scmartin27]

Photos continued

Also, Many of these do say "Sold" on them, none were sold to him. If invoices to the other customers who did purchase are required as proof, I will post them as well.
In this instance, I was selling a possible het scaleless corn snake. Here you can see him saying that I "sell them on him" and being very nasty towards me, despite knowing my policies. If a copy of the policies are needed, I can share a link to them.

 

[scmartin27]

You'll also see him mention in the previous post that he decided to not buy the rest of the wholesale corns he committed to purchasing because of the instance with the possible het scaleless corn.
Here are the messages we sent him regarding not attempting to do business with him anymore. We do have a few customers who have come to us with issues with him and his animals, as well as other breeders who have had expressed concerns. I have not posted those screenshots (and won't unless I am asked to) because it is technically here-say, and not my personal experience to tell. Just explaining what I said in these messages.

 

[scmartin27]

Here are the beginning of private messages. Since I can only post 4 at a time, please bare with me. You'll see multiple instances where he said he would pay for things and never did - many times not even responding to messages.

 

[scmartin27]

PM's continued

 

[scmartin27]

more pm's

 

[scmartin27]

pm's continued

 

[scmartin27]

even more

 

[scmartin27]

Last of the messages. Sorry there are so many, I wanted to cover all bases possible. I hope they made sense, I tried to get them all in order.
Thanks

 

[scmartin27]

Also, for some context - In the messages where I mentioned an offer being an insult, he had offered me half the price that I was asking for an adult snow female corn snake. Since she was sold to someone else after that, the post had been deleted and I don't have a record of it now.

 

[scmartin27]

Correction to last post

I meant to say *Less than half, not half. it is explained in the messages.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

Sarah, you will need to repost the shot(s) with any names whited out since their words have been included. Otherwise, their words become anonymous third-party quotations and that is considered a rule-breaking event on the BOI. Since their words have already been posted, the option to simply remove their words by whiting out their entries entirely has been eliminated.

 

[scmartin27]

I'm sorry - Attached are the 3 original photos then. I wasn't aware that it was really considered a 3rd party quotation when their comments had nothing to do with the person in question.
Thanks

 

[kingpinreptiles]

Yeah, he does this to everybody... hes been asking me to sell him snakes (usually more rare ones) since 2014. But he never comes up with any money, only excuses. Maybe like 6 months back I was selling a yearling Palmetto corn for $4500, he asked me if he could do a payment plan for a year lol. And his reasoning was mice are cheaper for me than him. When I tell him Im not gonna do that he says why not, Travis (the current palmetto producer) said he would let me pay off a pair for 2 years. Yeah ok buddy.. Travis told Lawton he would work with him a little, but not for a 2 year payment plan, and he still never sent him any money.

The guy does nothing but blow smoke.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

Thanks, Sarah. The comments were not relevant to the issue, but I figured it would be best to keep things either wholly present or wholly absent to keep it in line with the rule. Appreciated.

 

[BeauBoi]

Sarah,
Thank you for posting this. I read the BOI every day for exactly this reason. I will definitely add this person to my Do Not Sell list.
Gratefully,
Beau

 

[AaronBayer]

Wow. You're much more patient than I would have been.

Asking to hold an animal for a specific date is fine imo, but stretching it out and coming up with multiple excuses all without even a good sized deposit... yikes.