Neil Gubitz, Tampa Snake Pit (Good Guy)

[Chris@TSE]

This thread was created to share a RECENT good experience. Not to bring up past experiences. With that said, Riddle me this Wilomn...

Ever done business with him?

 

[Dennis Gulla]

Your right!

I apologize. This thread was created by you and I have no right to post anything negetive that Neil has done in the past. I'm sure that he has changed his ways 100%!

Buy with confidence!

 

[screamdreams]

Top Shelf...I'm glad your experience with Neil was a good one.

My only question is this (and please don't take this personally, I'm just curious) if you've researched a seller's history, read comments to past transactions, and took in consideration some of his explanations, why would you support this kind of conduct?? I mean, there's a billion and one Dragons out there, obviously he didn't produce them, he's a self admitted middle man that buys and resells his animals. I guess in short I think it's a shame that people that knowingly sell unhealthy , mis-sexed, or mis-represented animals on more than a few occasions (and laugh about it later) are still supported by people in the industry. Not an unknowing customer, but a fellow hobbiest, collector, breeder in the business...I for one, feel supporting the likes of ___________, _____________, and ____________ (fill in the blanks) is an unacceptable way to help turn things around in the hobby, not only for the improvement of Reptiles in general but supporting the customers which in turn support us, the breeders/seller. Again, please don't think I'm bashing or trying to flame, just questioning your reasoning for choosing to do business with someone who has repeatedly taken advantage of his customers. To me, I'd look for someone more deserving of my monies...but hey, if you saw the animals first and they looked great and the price was to good to pass up, that's understandable as well...uh, I think I just contradicted myself!! Oh well, best of luck to you.

 

[Chris@TSE]

Simply put.. I believe things when I see them for myself. and you have to admit, 99% of the posts in all of those threads were claims from people who have never done business with him before. I am not defending him or his actions, Like I said, I base my statements on EXPERIENCE. The BOI is a great assistance, it has kept me from doing business with many people like tim and upstate for example, but on some occasions I like to test the water for myself. We ordered a 10 lot to see how for ourselves, and we were pleased. Many people can jump on the bandwagon and call actions blastphemy, but honestly it is hot air unless it is substantiated. Those who have legitimate claims should be heard, those who base their comments on thin air I take with a grain of salt. I had mixed feelings after reading a hundred oh so pages, so instead of writing him off, I gave him a chance.

Does that make me a bad person? In some of your eyes im sure, but I'm just glad everything went well and the chance was given. And even if every single claim about neil is true, there is nothing to say he's not trying to make things right. It was a smooth transaction, and the animals were represented well and very healthy. Bottom line a good sale.

Just trying to be a good guy and repot the truth, nothing wrong with honesty

You guys take care, It's nap time!

 

[Darin Chappell]

I'm done with this thread, because I said my part, and I really am glad for Chris' success in this deal. It's completely right and fair for him to post the results of that deal here, as well.

However, I can now die in peace, having seen it all! Why? Because the following quotation was just stated in relation to a Neil Gubitz thread!

"Just trying to be a good guy and repo[r]t the truth, nothing wrong with honesty "

I'm not saying anything about Chris...I'm sure he is as honest as the day is long, but that sentiment associated in any way with Neil? :laugh:

That's just TOO MUCH!!!

:laugh: :laugh:

 

[Wilomn]

Ah, the tangled weave we web (and yes it's an intentional twist of words).

I have not done business with neil.

I was the one whom stardust first asked if green runny poop was normal for a snake as she had never had one and the rosy she got from neil did that right out of the bag on her daughter. It was me who told her that snake was misrepresented, I accept full responsibility for that.

It was me who told her that uromastyx that had no fat and their hip bones protruding the way the one she got from neil were, was not an animal that was "chowing down the greens", as I believe he told her when she got it. That animal was dead less than 24 hours later.

I also beleive I recollect, and correct me if I'm mis-recollecting here Stardust, that neil asked you to post good for him right after sending your daughter the sick and soon to be dead uro.

He sold an animal that he had to know would be dead VERY soon and asked Stardust to give him a good guy post!!! This after selling her another animal, after she told him she had never had a snake, that this would be the very first one, and moreover, that it was a present for her daughter. The very first picture I saw of the snake I knew it was sick.

Yeah, I've got some experiance with snakes, no I'm not a vet. After 30 years in this game I feel confident enough to make a judgement call every once in a while. That snake was sick. It DIED. Guess I was right about that one too.

So, in answer to your question again, nope, never have, never will. He's a liar through and through. He has sold more than once or twice or thrice sick and soon to be dead animals. As has been stated here, not all of the animals he sold were bad. But enough of them were, and he knew before selling that they were, that I just don't want to see anyone mislead by a single good guy post. On your tenth in a row I MAY, just may, change my attitude about him. One down, nine to go.

Wes Pollock

 

[Stardust]

Wes,
I did indeed ask you about the rosy and the uro, you know a lot about snakes and reptiles, I have dealt with you and trusted your opinion as I still do.
I have received another shipment from you today, all alive healthy well and good, great packaging.
In the forgiveness area, though, we have different points of view, very different.
I was indeed very upset by the whole transaction. Neil has made good and I stand by my words better late than never! Although I had talked with you about it it is still MY personal experience with Neil, as you have never done business with him. So it is overall my decision on whether I accept an appology and let it go.
This started as a good guy thread, two days ago Neil did something I thought was good and the right thing to do so I posted. If you feel that I am wrong by posting the truth of what transpired recently, sorry, that is just me. I am NOT going to pretend that Neil did not make good with me. He did.
As far as Neil asking me to post on here when he said he was going to send the uro to replace the rosy, he said I could "if" I wanted to. Big difference. As a matter of fact, he told me this time with the re-imbursement NOT to bring that thread up from the dead and post.
His animals are still selling, it states that on his website under sold animals or something like that, I know, when I was ticked at him I kept and eye out on what he was doing.
There are no percentages on how many good deals vs. bad deals so I wont call that, but I can see where Topshelve is coming from, I like to see for myself, especially when there is a bad guy post of 50 or more pages, mostly of people who havent even had the experience hands on. So be it.
Neil made good by me, since I was wronged, it is up to me to make that call. Period. This is my call.

 

[Stardust]

One other thing, since I did have the experience and I did nothing but say what happened, I do not want to be called to the mat again to defend myself. Period.
He made good by me, nuff said. Outta here.

 

[Kevin Kaley]

All i can say is you must have had 1 heck of a deal from Neil. Otherwise why take the risk? He has been banned from here 2 times. He has lied and cheated and it has been proven. If you read a 100 pages on Neil, and you still did business with him, i suggest you read it again as apparently it did not sink in. And you take it with a grain of salt? But i don't care where you spend your money. Good luck.

 

[Kevin Kaley]

And Stardust, glad you got your money back. That comes as a surprise. He must be real desperate for business.

 

[Kevin Kaley]

And i almost forgot to give Neil his props for doing the right thing with Stardust. Just maybe he's trying to shed his old skin.

 

[Glenn Bartley]

I think we should have a pool type bet set up on all of this about Neil. Some say he is reformed, yet others say no way. We need no money, need make no bets of any sort, yet we can all choose a day that we believe Neil will receive his first substantiated black mark or the day that we believe Neil will achieve 100 good guy threads posted by bonafide buyers from him.

Sure their is an imbalance, but allow me to explain why the imbalance is right and proper: If he truly is now reformed and a good guy, then it should be easy for him to amass 100 good guy threads with all the customers that an, in some people's views, honest professional like him must have before ever getting a substantiated black mark just because he is now supposedly honest and good! However, if he is not truly reformed, all it will take is one more black mark to prove that all the nay sayers were right on the money about Neil. What say yee?

My guess is that we will arrive at one much sooner than the other. I imagine if we wanted to do this there must be someway to set it up in another thread, but I'll be darned if I know how. Too bad though - it might prove very interesting and educational -and some of us may wind up surprised and others vindicated in their staunch beliefs.

One can only hope he actually has reformed but yet I doubt that too many people will forgive him for some of the remarks he made on this site; and others for the bad deals he allegedly made. Life goes on beynd Neil however, of this I am certain.

Best regards,
Glenn B

 

[Chris@TSE]

Quote from Mr. Kaley:
All i can say is you must have had 1 heck of a deal from Neil. Otherwise why take the risk? He has been banned from here 2 times. He has lied and cheated and it has been proven. If you read a 100 pages on Neil, and you still did business with him, i suggest you read it again as apparently it did not sink in. And you take it with a grain of salt? But i don't care where you spend your money. Good luck.

Thanks for your ignorant reply Mr. Kaley.

As stated before, this was a simple explanation of a successful transaction. And also, as stated before, I base my opinions on personal experience. I suggest YOU be the one to re-read friend, I stated this more than once. Risking an order of 10 dragons is risking minimal loss for firsthand experience. I give everyone fair chance. If they prove to us they can be dealt with without problem we continue until given reason not too. If they were not delivered or were ill we would have cut our losses there and ended it. I'm happy to say that was not the case and we were very pleased.

Furthermore, Statements made by a group of people who have not even done business with the person in question mean absolutely nothing to me. AGAIN, as stated before, they are unsubstantiated claims. Claims and complaints made by people who HAVE dealt with the person in question were observed, and I decided to give the man a shot regardless. It's a choice I made and I do not regret. In fact the ONLY foul thing to come of the transaction is the people like you who wish to critisize us for taking the risk. Say whatever you like, the fact remains the transaction went smoothly, the specimens were represented very well, they arrived in a timely manner, and they are in excellent health. Bottom line. We will take our time and keep everyone updated with our future dealings. If this is a man taking the first steps to put bad transactions in his past so be it. If not I am sure the future will tell all. If I am wrong I'll be the first to admit it, trust me. But so far I've been given no reason to think otherwise. Our experience was good. And as someone stated earlier, it is only the first. We will see. Sh*t happens and thats life, if he's willing to conduct business correctly and legitimately I will continue to deal with the man until he personally gives me a reason not too and we do not give second chances once we have been screwed. So far, so good. If business continues to be satisfactory in the future where will people like you be? Ignorantly hidden or man enough to swallow crow? The future will hold that answer as well.

Now get back to reading Kevin. I do not enjoy repeating myself.

Thanks for the imput! Take care.

 

[E2MacPets]

Originally posted by TopShelfExotics
Risking an order of 10 dragons is risking minimal loss for firsthand experience.

To me this shows real ignorance of the health concerns relating to Bearded Dragons. Did you not read the article I posted about Adenovirus? Did you not know that it could remain dormant in other species of animal? Did you not know that animals that have been brought to shows but never left their deli cups have contracted this virus and caused the death of countless animals?

10 dragons from a source you know to have a bad reputation but choose to test the waters on is not a minimal risk. It is a major risk.

But then, it doesn't sound like you bought these animals for your own collection, so maybe the risk really is minimal to you.

 

[Chris@TSE]

I've read the article and many others just like it friend. Please do not speak to me like I am an ignorant child looking to purchase a bearded dragon from petco to house in my five gallon aquarium for life. :laugh:

The fact remains the transaction WAS successful and they are in perfect health. This thread was made to report this. Nothing more. Continue derailing and wasting peoples time. People already have enough pages of this garbage to view in other threads don't you think? If contributing to more helps you sleep better at night so be it, whatever floats your boat. I wont step in your way.

Our transaction was flawless, and we will continue to keep people updated if we choose to make further purchases from mr. gubitz.

Take care!

 

[Kevin Kaley]

If you base your own opinions on firsthand experience, why bother with the BOI. And ignorant i maybe on some things,but not Neil. But do i need to tell you how you are acting by knowingly dealing with a known liar and cheat. All i was trying to do was warn you. Ask anybody here about Neil, he does what he wants to, unless somebody is twisting his arm to do the right thing.

 

[Glenn Bartley]

Christopher,

Risking an order of 10 dragons is risking minimal loss for firsthand experience. I give everyone fair chance. If they prove to us they can be dealt with without problem we continue until given reason not too.

I must admit I understand your point quite well. I supported another person who was labelled in the original BOI as a bad guy, but I got a good deal from him, so I supported him. Yet after seeing all the evidence that was amounted against him, I am not so certain I could, in good conscience, support him still. I might be able to, but he would certainly have to have showed some big changes in his modus operandi.

THE FOLLOWING IS BASED SOLELY UPON MY OPINION AND UPON MY RECOLLECTION OF EVENTS - I AM NOT MAKING STATEMENTS OF FACT BUT RATHER AM MAKING A CONJECTURE

The thing I wonder about your experience with Neil, and I hope you don't mind me asking - because you were the one who opened this for public discussion - so please don't call me names as you have done with others in your previous replies - is this:

If I understand correctly what has gone on in past Neil deals, Neil has an allegedly proven track record of getting people into trusting him by giving them a good deal. These people then post good about Neil. He gets a few other new customers, and gives them good deals, and they too post good about him. Then, in my opinion and if I see it correctly, a strange thing seems to happen -a whole rasher of alleged bad deals between Neil and other new customers comes about in rapid succession. These people who were given the alleged bad deals post bad about Neil. Then, as I seem to remember, the previous customers who had posted good are contacted by Neil, and basically asked to post good for him. They do this and the poop hits the fan with a lot of back and forth name calling and posting of receipts or emails and the like. Then guess what happens, Neil himself would post (and if I remember correctly he can post now because HE WAS NOT BANNED but asked to leave). In those posts, and as sure as I fart a lot after drinking milk, Neil leaves posts on this board that wind up in essence, apparently in the opinions of many, showing he is nothing more than a scoundrel. As a matter of fact, during the last Neil-a-thon, Neil was reported to have sent out an email or PM and mistakenly placed a wrong name in the send to field. That was good for many but not so good for Neil as I see it because the person who it was inadvertently sent to posted it on this site. My guess is that the webslave could resurrect that PM for you. As I recall, in that PM, Neil basically called all of us (other than his close circle of buddies) what in essence amounted to something along the lines of primordial ooze - and I think my way is the very nice way of saying what he wrote.

Hypothetically speaking, and in my opinion: If this pattern holds true, Neil will never screw you in a deal. As I see it, hypothetically, you would in the scheme of things, as run by the so called old Neil, be just another patsy that he would be using in order to further his own nefarious schemes. If he has reformed -this probably will not occur; however, if he has not changed his ways as you seem to believe, then get ready to play the part of the devil's advocate. Not a nice part to play. Are you ready to face the possibility of such, and will you still support Neil if this starts to happen even though he has not actually screwed you but possibly just used you?

Sincerey and with best regards,
Glenn Bartley

 

[Wilomn]

Hey Christopher,

Fun stuff, huh. I was just wondering, did neil, by any chance, ask you to post good for him or was it your idea? I'm very curious on that one.

And Glenn, I am pretty sure he is BANNED permanently for his conduct here last time he was allowed access. I hope so anyway.

Wes Pollock

 

[Stardust]

Glenn,
Neil was in fact banned from this site for good. He can not come on here and post at all any longer, something about a second PM. I do not remember all the details, just know he is banned for good.
Your milk habits is something I did not need to know.

 

[Glenn Bartley]

so please don't call me names as you have done with others in your previous replies

I retact this statement as it should have read (thought I corrected it before hitting enter) please do not imply that I am ignorant, simply because I do not see eye to eye with you, as I believe you have implied others to be ignorant in your previous replies

All the best,
Glenn B