Mites and filth are free with Ray Goushaw Herpetological Breeding Research

[Tim Rash]

Stay away from HBR Ray Goushaw.

I was going to hold off on posting this but I can't. I purchased a Captive Born Female Blood python from Ray this week. I sent the money paypal and he said he would ship her thurday since I already had some animals coming in that day I said great. Thursday came no tracking # for her so I called Ray about 12pm and he gave me a airbill number and told me that he has no clue about the flight info some one else is taking her. I waited a few hours tried to track her on Delta nothing. Called Ray again and asked if he was sure they are shipping her he said yes give it some time. So I am at the airport at 8pm thursday picking up my other animals and still she has not been put into the system. So this really made me mad. I call Delta when I got home and they told me they just dropped her off at 830pm and her flight is not till 9am the next day. I never was told when to get her he left it up to me to find out. So I go to the airport and they are bringing the package over to me and I can smell the odor from about 10 feet away I am not kidding. I look at the old dirty cricket box and think man what did I get my self into. Opened the fowl smelling box and the old stained pillow case that almost made me throw up and saw she was alive to my suprise. There was no packing at all the inserts did not even fit the size of the box and I find her just laying on top of a heat pack. So I take her home and put her in a room that has no animals since I figured something was going to happen and put her in a rubbermaid. Only to find a few hours later she had mites crawling on her. I emailed Ray and he put the blame on his workers saying they shipped her this and that again putting the blame on someone else and said he would refund my money if I was unhappy. I emailed him back 2 seconds after he sent that email to me and said I wanted to ship her back. So this afternoon I get a email saying Ray is out of the country till the 9th and I have to talk to him. I told whoever emailed me to call me since you work there. No call. He has not answered any of my calls since I picked her up. There is no way this is a good guy just look at the pictures.

Tim Rash
[email protected]

 

[PaulSage]

... no wonder...

I can't say that I have ever dealt with Ray, but looking at the box...
No wonder it is such a hassle to ship reptiles if Airport personnel see things like this coming through.
Even if it was the fault of his employees, he should square things out with you since HE is responsible for HIS employees.
Good luck Tim.

 

[pch101]

I get so sick of hearing that lame excuse! He is responsible for his employes. If they screw up, it becomes his screw up to fix. That is how it works. His packing job was pathetic at best! Keep after him, and let him know about the existance of this thread. Then we can see if he still thinks ignoring you is good for his business.

 

[Dennis Hultman]

This is very surprising. I have read a lot of good things about Ray. I hope he gets on soon and explains.

 

[MGReptiles]

I agree, there is no reason for that. Who knows he probably packaged that box himself..Big names and bad business, seems all to common here recently...
-Matt Graybeal

 

[cthulhu77]

Just out of curiousity, are you going to keep the snake or send it back? I would almost be afraid to send back a live animal to anyone who kept them in conditions like that...
greg

 

[lizfortune]

I recently purchased an animal from Ray. I was not impressed by the little communication, but the animal arrived fine. It was an import so I would have expected mites as I requested he not treat the animal, though I never found any.

I am one to emphasize, it has little relevance to a bad experience that some one had a good experience as everyone will have good experiences. It is how they address bad experiences in which you find out how professional they are and if they are somebody you would choose to continue business relationships with.

I think it is time to discipline an employee!! What a horrible job!!

At least, he admitted that it was a lousy packaging job from one of his employees. It was kind of rude to take off without completing the transaction satisfactorily. The employee who was corresponding through emails on Ray's behalf should also receive disciplinary for not calling you. There is no excuse for not addressing those issues.

Good luck and keep us informed as I have Ray (as well as others keeping their eyes out for specific species that I am looking for).

Brian

 

[Dan Scolaro]

Good Dealer

Tim:

I fail to see that the seller did anything wrong here.

Mites are a common and easily treatable with a sprit of lice-bedding spay.

The seller offered you a refund for mites which is far above what anyone else would have perhaps offerred.

Considering you unjustly defamed the seller, I would hope you would retract your post.

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Considering you unjustly defamed the seller, I would hope you would retract your post.

I disagree
Mites should not be a standard thing and his packaging was sub-standard.
The poster has every right to be upset.

 

[MGReptiles]

I am going to have to second that.. Anyone I buy an animal from that is flawed in any way that I was not informed about before payment was made will be on here just like this..
-Matt Graybeal

 

[Jim O]

Tim:

I fail to see that the seller did anything wrong here.

Mites are a common and easily treatable with a sprit of lice-bedding spay.

The seller offered you a refund for mites which is far above what anyone else would have perhaps offerred.

Considering you unjustly defamed the seller, I would hope you would retract your post.

Jeez Louise, Dan! The seller shipped an infested snake. He packed it like crap. In a filthy dirty pillow case!! Probably broke any number of regualtions and laws. Put the animal diirectly on a heat pack (hopefully the animal doesn't have permanent neurological injury from that dumb-ass move). He didn't communicate with regards to when the animal would arrive. He passed the buck to an employee (that always sits well with me). And he so far has only offered a refund but has not made one and will be away for a week. He could have/should have passed that on to an employee too. As an employer I am 100% responsible for the actions of my employees. So is this seller.

All in all it sounds like a terrible experience that you are minimizing to mites. Yes, he may well make a refund but that doesn't compensate Tim for his time and energy and aggravation and etc. Not in my opinion anyway.

And "unjustly defamed"??? Puh-leeeeeze!!! All he did was to recount a story documented with pictures. The definition of defame is "to damage the reputation, character, or good name of by slander or libel." Show me slander or libel here please.

 

[shrap]

Thank you Mike, thank you Matt and thank you Jim!!!

My jaw hit the floor when I read the crap that spewed from Scolaro's keyboard. How any could think any of that is supposed to be fine and dandy and grounds for defamation is beyond comprehension.

 

[pch101]

"Tim:

I fail to see that the seller did anything wrong here.

Mites are a common and easily treatable with a sprit of lice-bedding spay.

The seller offered you a refund for mites which is far above what anyone else would have perhaps offerred.

Considering you unjustly defamed the seller, I would hope you would retract your post.
__________________
Dan "

Holy Crap-a-hola! Did I just read what I thought I read? Yep, It looks as though I did. Dan, What the heck are you saying here? The pack job was a joke! I guess the mites were the icing on the cake. However, since you mentioned them I will tell you that if someone send me something with mites, I would be very angry. I would post it here and I will never deal with them again. In addition, I would take the same action with someone that shipped something to me using such a crappy pack job. Tim had two very good reasons to come here. Maybe you feel that these two negatives somehow cancle each other out, but as far as I am concerned it makes the situation twice as BAD.

 

[The BoidSmith]

There’s no excuse for sending animals under those conditions. Having said this I will also like to add that’s not the way Ray usually operates, not the packaging, nor the bagging. Taking this into consideration I’m inclined to believe that an employee was the one in charge of shipping that animal. Particularly if he had to go in a business trip somewhere. As far as the mites go, yes he works with a lot of imports, reason enough to be more than careful and strict with treatment protocols. Even if a buyer asked anyone not to treat, the reptile should never leave the premises without being treated for both internal and external parasites. It’s very easy to introduce foreign parasites/diseases by failing to treat. The first line of defense is usually USFWS/USDA, the second one should be the responsible importer. Every time I read the ad of one importer in particular openly disclosing that animals have not been treated and should be treated by the buyer I always ask myself, how does he get away with that?

 

[Dan Scolaro]

Speculation without a response from the seller is not responsible management of this matter. And why do I even have to be bother with saying that? Why is that not a part of this BOI process yet?

And I am not sure who can read or not? I wrote that mites are common and can be treated with lice-bedding spray. In no way did I say or veer for that to be misconstrued that mites are "standard." And an offer of a refund for mites is far above what is expected in this industry.

So the snake pooped in the bag in transit? Big whoop. Was the poop supposed to smell like flowers? Come on?

Looks like someone went through the trouble to cut some styrofoam and put in a heat pack so the snake would have a heat pad? Was the styrofoam fit to the exact millimeter? Perhaps not, a bit substandard to some people, but do we know if the heat pack was ajared from its location or are people speculating again? Perhaps some sellers like to use the heat pack as a head pad? We do not know? We should not speculate to anything. The buyer indicated no problems other than the mites with the snakes, so we are to believe it is otherwise healthy.

I do not see the seller not communicating as regarding the shipping and delivery. According to the buyer, the seller said he would ship on Thursday, and the seller took it to his shipper on Thursday and provided the airway bill number. What else did the buyer require? Is there something else that is "standard" that other dealers provide? I think not.

If others feel unsettled about it, then that is their opinion and I respect it, however do there is no use in trying to convince me otherwise.

I still insist that the buyer should remove his post, especially since the buyer is fully aware that the seller is on vacation and perhaps not near his computer to respond.

I am not sure here, but it seems like the buyer had to make two trips to the airport because he was not successful to coordinate the shipment of his other shipments and he is taking it out on nothing.

I respectfully request that the webmaster freeze this thread until the seller is back from vacation and can be provided a fair opportunity to respond.

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Dan,
Regardless of how common you feel mites are within our industry, most responsible keepers manage to keep them out of their collections and therefore avoid sending them with their animals.

Additionally, it seems to me that the bulk of the speculation in this thread is in your post. Your post is riddled with what ifs and maybe's. The original poster of the thread backed up his comments with pictures documenting the problems.

I do agree with you that Ray needs the opportunity to address this before he is condemned. His reputation has earned him that much. But even so, he does have to take responsibility for his employee's actions. Until such a time as Ray is available to address this, everything else posted here is nothing more then banter.

 

[Jim O]

Speculation without a response from the seller is not responsible management of this matter. And why do I even have to be bother with saying that? Why is that not a part of this BOI process yet?

And I am not sure who can read or not? I wrote that mites are common and can be treated with lice-bedding spray. In no way did I say or veer for that to be misconstrued that mites are "standard." And an offer of a refund for mites is far above what is expected in this industry.

So the snake pooped in the bag in transit? Big whoop. Was the poop supposed to smell like flowers? Come on?

Looks like someone went through the trouble to cut some styrofoam and put in a heat pack so the snake would have a heat pad? Was the styrofoam fit to the exact millimeter? Perhaps not, a bit substandard to some people, but do we know if the heat pack was ajared from its location or are people speculating again? Perhaps some sellers like to use the heat pack as a head pad? We do not know? We should not speculate to anything. The buyer indicated no problems other than the mites with the snakes, so we are to believe it is otherwise healthy.

I do not see the seller not communicating as regarding the shipping and delivery. According to the buyer, the seller said he would ship on Thursday, and the seller took it to his shipper on Thursday and provided the airway bill number. What else did the buyer require? Is there something else that is "standard" that other dealers provide? I think not.

If others feel unsettled about it, then that is their opinion and I respect it, however do there is no use in trying to convince me otherwise.

I still insist that the buyer should remove his post, especially since the buyer is fully aware that the seller is on vacation and perhaps not near his computer to respond.

I am not sure here, but it seems like the buyer had to make two trips to the airport because he was not successful to coordinate the shipment of his other shipments and he is taking it out on nothing.

I respectfully request that the webmaster freeze this thread until the seller is back from vacation and can be provided a fair opportunity to respond.

Well Dan, for one thing, posts cannot be removed here by the author. Maybe you should study the TOS before you run your mouth.

For another thing, I still want to see where the slander and defamation are.

For yet another thing, the buyer paid for Delta Dash shipping. Those are booked in advance and since the snake was put on a flight for Friday, it was shipped on Friday. It's irrelevant when the box was dropped off at the airport. And when the shipment is booked, it is booked on specific flights. That info should have been provided to the receiver. Tim should not have had to track that down. So the shipping was in fact a day late and that fact was never communicated.

And while mites may be common, they should be eradicated prior to shipping, or the receiver should be informed so he has a choice whether he wants an infested animal.

Again, all Tim did was post his experiences. That's not defamation. I hope that the seller comes and makes his side known. But if only the mites part is true, it's still more than a "big whoop" to me. And to have blamed it on an employee was just passing the buck.

 

[raiquee]

Wow...unless for some odd reason i specify that i want my animal shipped poorly and mite infested, i SHOULDN'T get such!

Today sellers are competing for fame and having great customer service, great animals, and a great name. Sending someone a mite infested snake, and only "offering" a refund rather than immediatly refunding it, is jeopardizing all such stated above.

 

[RyanT]

Where's Wes at?

Is he sick or something? I can't believe he hasn't made one of his insightful offerings on this one yet. It's been up for a few hours and a perfect target. Maybe he's busy writing a rough draft and making revisions.

 

[Dan Scolaro]

Mike:

Again, I said that "mites are common and can be treated with lice-bedding spray." I did not say that I think "how common you feel mites are within our industry." I suggest that since mites are the most common ailment with snakes, he ought to get some of that lice-bedding spray.

And this speculation you refer to is a counter to everyone believing the buyers words and repeating his words without having yet heard from the seller.

Regardless, if they are fact, I still think he ought to get some lice-bedding spray and apologize and remove this post.

Jim: Your introduction in your last post was a bit offensive, so I do not wish to communicate with you on the matter and you also utilized my words of the smell of the poop to convey that my thought are that the buyers deal was not significant to him. I believe the buyer had a dealing with mites and overreacted and should do what he can to remove this post as it can be misconstrued by anyone, especially you, who have misconstrued my words.