NERD and Kevin McCurley EXTREMELY BAD GUY!

[Adam Block]

I will start this thread off with this. Over the past two months I’ve done a good deal of looking into the matter I’m about to address. I will say that I’ve learned a lot and assumed many things that turned out to be incorrect. As to not be in violation of the Term of Service on the BOI I will add that what I’m about to lay out regarding Kevin are the things that are solely my opinion unless I state them as fact. This post and thread will be full of assumptions on my end and will have its entire foundation based concretely in opinion unless I say otherwise. The reason for a new post is because this is a bad guy post and my previous was not started as anything more then an inquiry, as such I feel it should be moved to the GBD section as that’s is where it should have been started. This post is here to tell you the risks you may be having when dealing with Kevin McCurley of New England Reptile Distributors (NERD). I will lay these opinions out in numerical order and keep this as short as I can.

1) NERD sold an albino ball python to my partner at the Daytona reptile show telling him it had eaten at least 6 times. This later turned out to be a lie as Kevin relayed to me the snake in question was born the same month of the show. This animal went on to die from gout and I will only ask that you do some research on the subject to ascertain how such a young snake may have gotten and succumb to gout. My issue is with the sale and stress upon the animal at such a young age under a false pretence regarding the number of meals it had in fact eaten. In speaking with Kevin I was basically told that I was out of luck and that there was no way he would replace the animal.

In an effort only to support my statements as they have come under so much fire I will offer other opinions that I’ve come to in speaking with Kevin. They will be posted in this thread not as an issue between Kevin and any customers; they are again only my opinion. However I do feel if with what’s posted and with what I’ve been able to formulate if things did really occur they would be the foundation for my case and show the pattern of poor care and dead snakes that can be traced back to Kevin. I feel these directly relate to and support my above situation as they show Kevin’s willingness to both lie and mislead or they show a lack of care for the animals while in the care of NERD.

2) Kevin has posted advertisements for animals that were not known to be bred in this Country. These animals were being sold as CB animals but I feel they were in fact CH animals being sold as CB charging much more then the value that a CH would sell for. I feel that many more of these animals would end up dead due to the misrepresentation. I feel this would further point out the willingness Kevin has to mislead people when money comes into play.

3) I have confirmation of a two-year-old ball python sold by NERD to Rusty Davis with a weight of only 282 grams. The feed card that was supplied by NERD with the snake shows a lack of care with feedings as little as once a month. Further establishing the lack of care provided by NERD.

4) Due to Kevin’s importation of reptiles with a reputation to have high parasitic loads and with the Burgundy project Kevin has mentioned having to freeze off because of this reason I feel this puts many of his high dollar captive animals at risk and may be something customers should be aware of before doing business with NERD. I feel you would be safe in getting recourse in writing provided you receive an animal from NERD with protozoa. I would also urge you to take your snake to the vet for a fecal as soon as you get the animal.

In all I think Kevin has a body count of snakes trailing him that speaks for itself just on the information we have and if these are just the few we know about I would only guess there are a dozen or more dead snakes from Kevin McCurley of NERD that we don’t know about. With that and in closing I caution, before you do business with Kevin, please protect yourself and make some calls to ask around about him. I would be willing to bet a good deal of money that you could not call all of the breeders sponsoring the ball python classifieds on kingsnake.com without hearing enough negative information to change your mind on a transaction with NERD. I’m sure there are many bigger name people that I think have been burned by Kevin and while they may have valid reasons for not publicly addressing those issues I’m sure they would be happy to tell you if you ask. If you work as hard for your money as the rest of us do, put that money in the hands of a breeder willing to stand behind the snakes they sell!

Another wise idea may be, before you do any business with NERD, do not just speak with Kevin, speak with Lindy of Freedom Breeders as well. He owns a portion of NERD (50% I think) and Kevin may not have as much say in the outcome of a deal gone bad as you would like. I would also suggest that you don’t make the same mistakes myself and others have. Learn from us and get EVERYTHING in writing from them including your recourse if the snake you purchase dies.

I thank you for reading and I wish you all much good luck. I will not respond to anything else posted in here as this thread is only here as fair warning and is based solidly enough in facts that I don’t feel an explanation of anything is needed.

Adam Block

 

[Adam Block]

PS In conclusion I would like to address the myriad of posts that will follow this trying discredit everything I say. I will sum them up on with the word, Trolls. These are defined as/by: To patrol an area in search for someone or something.

If you educate yourself you will see a pattern. People like Ritchie, Seamus, Neil and others have followed me around from my first post trying to discredit the things only I say and never the other party. You will see this as I don’t intend to post in this thread again but at least two of these people will spend MUCH time posting on and on in here. Ritchie even going so far as going against his own advice and starting yet another thread about me when there is an inquiry on the BOI he could have used. He is also admittedly a “ferret” for the site because “He is the one that tries to dig down to the bottom of things and get to the truth.” You will see that the truth in ANY matter regarding me is the furthest thing from his mind. He is only there to discredit my side of any story and he has no interest the other party.
This is very well laid out in this thread:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12918&perpage=10&pagenumber=1

I do understand a portion of Ritchie’s function however I would like to point out a quote of the Webslave regarding Ritchie:

“But in EVERY instance I have seen, Ritchie Luna was looking out for everyone's best interests when he would doggedly pursue someone about what they are claiming. NO ONE has their statements taken at face value and accepted as the unassailable truth.”

I would only like to ask where this applies to the people I’m having an issue with? Those people seem to always have their statements taken at face value by Ritchie! Can we see a few examples of where this isn’t the case regarding ALL of the things asked of or stated by NERD?

If this is how one of the Moderators of the BOI behaves there are obvious questions you would have to ask yourself. These trolls or ferrets seem to watch for me and many have even stated they will follow me around to do this. I ask that you educate yourself and formulate your own opinion based on mine. You have all the questions to ask about and I hope they help and save you the heartache of loosing an animal.

Adam Block

 

[HerpVenue]

Adam you already started a thread with 22 + pages and still no facts.

the only necropsy report you have has the names and dates blacked out.

Why you continue to violate TOS is beyond me.

1) NERD sold an albino ball python to my partner at the Daytona reptile

Posted on 1/25/03
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8/02 My partner purchased an Albino ball python at the Daytona Show. This snake was born the same month of the show, something not mentioned at the time and only recently brought to my attention.

8/05 The animal was place in my care, was feeding fair and in good physical condition.
Over the next six weeks this snake fed five times with no troubles and seemed very healthy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Posted on 9/24/2002
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I haven't gotten a new snake in many years and have bought mainly from closet breeders.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



So on September of 2002 Adam Block states that he has not bought any new animals in Years. But the truth is...less than a month before his post.....he has bought sixty (60) of them from a reptile show.

Speaking of reptile show.


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by adam block on 9/23/03
To keep that quality I don't do reptile shows, pet stores or allow visitors to my house.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yet about a month before his post....he has bought sixty (60) snakes from a reptile show.

Here is what adam says about a certain breeder/dealer in 9/23/02
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you have a booth at a show next to people like B.H.B. or for that matter any time you have 100s of people under one roof you can't guarantee the quality
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


But on 1/27/03 he posted this

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm including a picture of another Albino bought from B.H.B. at the same time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

adam is having his famous temper tantrums again.

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

Am I mistaken or are we up to the third posting of this drivel? How many times is a thread deleted before the powers that be will smack the poster upside the head (metaphorically)?

 

[WebSlave]

It is my opinion that the latest attempt by Adam does not violate my TOS. If anyone disagrees with me, please point it out, because honestly I have not read it myself for quite a while.

But this appears to be all opinion, scattered with some facts as noted by Adam Block, and as such, I have no grounds to remove it. The previous two attempts to start this thread were tarnished by obvious third party anonymous claims that I could not allow to stand. If anyone posts a claim whereby they say so-and-so has stated this fact, and do NOT divulge the name, this is a third party anonymous posting. This may have slid by in the past, and I honestly do not keep close tabs on every thread on this site, but when found, such messages will be removed.

FACTS and OPINIONS, as long as they are clearly identified, are the needed criteria for threads of this nature.

As such, I have reopened this thread for comments. PLEASE do not post with anything other than YOUR own facts and opinions that are based on your own personally witnessed factual information.

Thanks.

 

[HerpVenue]

Yes you are right.
I at first did not read the thread. I thought it would be just like the other two. But it looks like he has changed his wording enough to warrant this thread to stay.

 

[E2MacPets]

Okay, I'll go out on a limb here and say that Adam is a hypocrit.

He has posted this information in various formats how many times? And he is told explicitly that what he is doing is wrong. Furthermore he is disproven and discredited each time.

And so he starts a new thread where the proof against him isn't present.

Naturally, the people here who have been angered by Adam's drivel are going to follow to make sure he doesn't mislead others. And so Adam calls them Trolls?

Hypocrit.



Of course, this is just my opinion. I call it how I see it.

 

[Darin Chappell]

Ok,

The FACT is that my OPINION is that Adam has not set forth one piece of verifiable evidence that shows any reason for NERD to be labeled a bad guy.

Adam, please provide evidence for any of the following:

1. That you actually bought an albino ball python from NERD
2. That the SAME animal died
3. That the SAME animal died of gout
4. That the necropsy report you posted was for that SAME animal
5. That the necropsy report you posted was NOT for an animal owned by prof. Steven House
6. That NERD was responsible in any way for THAT SAME animal having died

Perhaps NERD sold an animal that was too young. Ok, I know nothing about ball pythons, so I'll rely on the judgment of others who are more experienced in that area. However, does that make one a bad guy? If so, why post all of the other stuff that is unproveable?

Please, Adam, just prove any of the aforementioned assertions (or the necessary inferences that must be drawn from your assertions) to be true. You said you had verifiable evidence. If so, please post it now. If not, let this lame attempt to vent your personal frustrations drown in the sewer from which it was spawned.

 

[HerpVenue]

Ritchie even going so far as going against his own advice and starting yet another thread about me when there is an inquiry on the BOI he could have used.

Woah there Adam. There were no "Inquiries" that I could find. The only posts I found are you bragging about your collection and people complaining about your slow shipping practices and you complaining. I wanted to find out something.....that is why I posted an INQUIRY. If there was an "inquiry" on you and I missed it. Then yes I am at fault.

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

Rich

I would consider all three of the following statements Adam has made


"In all I think Kevin has a body count of snakes trailing him that speaks for itself just on the information we have"

This is neither an opinion nor an assumption. It is a statement made without a shred of evidence to back it up. Adam simply inserting the words "I think" should not be sufficient to turn an unfounded statement into an acceptable post.

"2) Kevin has posted advertisements for animals that were not known to be bred in this Country. These animals were being sold as CB animals but I feel they were in fact CH animals being sold as CB charging much more then the value that a CH would sell for. I feel that many more of these animals would end up dead due to the misrepresentation. I feel this would further point out the willingness Kevin has to mislead people when money comes into play."

Again, stated as fact without a single example fact to back it up.



"4) Due to Kevin’s importation of reptiles with a reputation to have high parasitic loads and with the Burgundy project Kevin has mentioned having to freeze off because of this reason I feel this puts many of his high dollar captive animals at risk and may be something customers should be aware of before doing business with NERD. I feel you would be safe in getting recourse in writing provided you receive an animal from NERD with protozoa. I would also urge you to take your snake to the vet for a fecal as soon as you get the animal."

This one is a beautiful example of unfounded allegations being stated as fact. Where has it been demonstrated that Kevin imports "reptiles with a reputation to have high parasitic loads" ?

It surprises me that starting a sentence with the words "I think" "In my opinion and "I feel" gives the poster free reign to spout all the baselless accusations he wants

 

[thomas davis]

adam come'on geez ,ya know its sad about the lil ball,but its pathetic to act like you are about this whole ordeal i mean really,ya know WHY didnt you go to datona and get the snake?pick it out ask all the ???'s get the info?WHY?,,,,and now you actually want to discredit this person sayin his colection is loaded w/parasites,and all w/c imports yadayadayada come'on GROW UP and then whining about ritchie?geez man ritchies a great guy and credit to the herp community in general he aint attacking you,get a grip,YA KNOW BOTTOM LINE IS ,SNAKES DIE, IT SUCKS BUT IT HAPPENS, and didnt nerd offer a het. for a replacement? i mean thats fair take the replacement het. and GROW UP and review the valuable lessons youve learned and quit whining about them lifes to short ,,,,peace thomas davis T&S reptile farm

 

[BrianB]

Actually, NERD offered a discount, which was more than fair. Adam wanted a het, which is tough.

 

[WebSlave]

John, you need to remember what this board is called. It's called the Board of Inquiry. It's not a court, with a judge and jury. It is a place where people are allowed to post facts (as they believe them) and opinions (however it is that they come to those opinions). This 'board' is composed of all interested people whom would read these accounts, and then weigh the evidence of what is said and then come to their own conclusions.

Some people, upon coming to their own conclusions, will obviously relate these conclusions in an obviously judgemental fashion, but they do not speak for everyone. And often this judgement can only be their own personal opinion, because any facts proving most things one way or another are extremely elusive and subject to their own interpretations.

We have had MANY threads posted in the BOI that had 'facts' posted that we required less of in the way of proof. And as far as I recall, I do not have anything in my rules (TOS) about proof of the facts being any sort of requirement. I believe I gave a few examples of what is considered as 'proof', but at no point did I make it a requirement of posting. Proof is something that parties reading the stated facts can optionally require to make their own determination of the believability of those stated 'facts'. As such, it behooves the poster to make sure all of his/her ducks are in a row, and such statements can be proven if it is necessary to prove their case.

It reached the point to where I had to decide if Adam has complied sufficiently with the requirements of posting here, and it is my opinion that this will suffice. Otherwise, where do you draw the line for 'proof'? If the bar is set so high as to be unreasonable, it will simply appear that the demands of posting here were not meant to be met at all.

I hope you understand my reasoning behind this opinion.

Thanks.

 

[thomas davis]

well i totally beleive that adam has every right to post this here,its obvious he beleives nerd to be a "bad guy"and has every right to post that,and in my opinion nerd should replace him w/a het. its fair its what i would do anyway(i mean we are talking a 2500$ snake) and its what i thought they(nerd) had offered(just scanned thru the post),but then again i wouldnt allow someone to pick out a 2500$ BABY snake for me and drive crosscountry w/it either,and w/the attacks adam has stated about nerd,he will be lucky to get anything from them it just really seems to me that adam handled this whole situation wrong ,slandering someones name in anger well never result in anything ,and w/the facts you(adam) have presented i just dont beleive nerd to be bad i do beleive they should replace you w/ a het. but i cannot say i wouldnt say they were "bad guys" if the didnt after the way you handled this situation course thats just my opinion,,,,peace thomas davis T&S reptile farm

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

I definitely understand your reasoning Rich in wanting to keep thiis forum a free and uncensored place to make inquiries and discuss these matters.

I also understand that hard, concrete, irrefutable evidence is rarely available. You are 100% right. This is not a court.

However, in my opinion, (borrowed that phrase from Adam) unfounded allegations where not even an example of any merit can be offerred definitely constitute crossing the line from opinion to intentional defamation of someones ethics or business practices. Without at least that sort of requirement, anyone can be accused of virtually anything with complete impunity.

So far, Adam has "proved" that two animals have died. This has been transmuted into a huge body count.

He has given no examples of misrepresented CB or CH animals.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this point

 

[HerpVenue]

Okay per Adam.
Nerd is bad this. Nerd is bad that. Nerd animals suck this. Nerd animals suck that.

Now ask yourselves.

If NERD's animals were really bad, how come ADAM says this

I guess what I’m getting at here is that I mentioned to the breeder that while he has nothing in his terms to cover this and I feel there is a fair amount of evidence to conclude the error may have been on his end that I would feel as if the deal was made right by replacing that Albino with a het Albino. I feel that puts 65% plus of the money loss on myself and is very fair to us both.

How come he is asking for another animal?

 

[Uffern]

Bottom line is, if Adam does not present the proof he claims to have, then what he said is all just unfounded accusation. Let it stay up. Let anyone read this thread. They will read Adam's post, read requests for proof, and see that Adam provides none. The only thing that will happen is Adam will make himself look like a troll who is out to simply hurt someone's reputation.

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

I totally agree. Leave this post up, let the public see the true Adam. They will know (like the rest of us old timers on here) what kind of person Adam really is and will avoid him like the Plague. This thread and all of Adam's unmerited threats and accusations will not hurt Kevin nor N.E.R.D. one bit. Anyone can see the truth without looking to hard as there has been no proof otherwise.

 

[Seamus Haley]

I disagree with the statements that NERD owes Adam anything at all... discount, het animal, full replacement... anything, I don't see how they owe him.

1) The animal was not purchased by Adam. If this other person, the truck driver is Adam's legitimate partner, then I could see some consistency there but... Adam has never mentioned having a partner before this with the possible exception of his wife and he has, throughout the course of his time on the BOI said many things that were apparantly lies and many more that are highly suspect... So I don't really see how he can claim that the purchase was really from NERD or Kevin to start... it was from whoever this truck driver is.

2) The animal died well outside of the guarantee period.

3) The cause of death was apparantly Gout (although the necropsy is apparantly fake (?), a condition which can develop for any number of reasons and has no set length of time before it can kill an animal, no specific time can be attributed as being the cause, therefor NERD can't be forced into culpability. One related item of note, lack of appropriate water can be a cause of secondary gout- Kevin has a history of hydrating animals, even while at shows as has been evidenced by multiple witnesses... someone mentioned a thread that had existed where Adam had sold dehydrated animals... So take a guess as to what went wrong with who.

4) Even with the time of death apparantly being well outside the guarantee period, communication was even later- a ludricrous amount of time later.

5) While nobody is beyond reproach and there is nobody who can't screw up at least once, of the two individuals involved, one has a reputation for good customer service, excellent animals and immaculate care... the other has a reputation for being difficult in multiple transactions and is a known and verifiable liar... History of actions does influence situations of this nature where culpability is not entirely clear.

6) Based on the responses and comments surrounding this issue, it becomes clear (to me anyway) that Adam has apparantly decided to simply try and make life difficult for NERD and Kevin because he did not get his own way. Since he is a known liar and has shown that he desires to damage NERD without feeling a need to provide proof... and fabricate proof to try and substantiate his claim... Even had he been telling the truth and even, as a hypothetical, if the death had somehow been the result of an action by NERD... His conduct is sufficient for a dealer to become a... stickler if you will... with their policies and guarantees. He showed up and made unsubstantiated and false claims, not many dealers would go out of their way and violate their own terms of sale to help someone who acts like that.

Despite my reccent self exile in the Rockies, I am from Boston and have seen and interacted with Kevin and the NERD crew (although I tend to be low profile, very few people really connect the name and face) at a lot of local shows, been to their facility up in New Hampshire, purchased a few animals and even run into NERD animals in the collections of friends and fellow herpers...

I have never seen an unhealthy animal.

I have never heard that there was difficulty with customer service when it occured within the stated guarantee period.

I have never seen anyone besides Adam here claim that NERD takes less than perfectly ideal care of their animals.

I have always been enormously happy with my purchases.

I have always recceived accurate and complete information about all animals I have purchased.

I do not purchase high end morphs both due to lack of interest and lack of funds, but every purchase I have made, no matter how much or how little I spent, I was treated as a valued and respected customer before, during and after the sale... and even when there was no sale involved, just questions, when it was clear I was not a buyer.

Kevin and NERD, both together and as independent entities are people I would reccomend doing business with to anyone and everyone who asks. There won't be any problems with any purchases from NERD and you'll end up a very satisfied repeat customer. Good guys don't get any better.

 

[The BoidSmith]

I would feel as if the deal was made right by replacing that Albino with a het Albino.

I don't know...After reading what was stated a few posts ago about all the heterozygous for different morphs being thrown together in the same container at the Daytona show...Settling for an hetero for albino as compensation...hmmm? On second thought, maybe one gets lucky and receives an hetero for piebald instead!