Bad Guy problems with TOM CRUTCHFIELD

[teetee]

I do think it would be foolish for Tom to want customs to enter into the picture.From the fb conversations what floors me is the. Absolute arrogance of these two. Although it appears his/hers M.O. If you dare to want your money back on a sick/dead animal,you are treated as a bother,ratjer than a customer that needs to be cared for.

 

[JCCS]

Actually a cars value varies quite a bit with condition there is mo set market value. And a person can ask whatever they want for a car. A 2008 Chevy whatever could be worth $500 or $5000 depending on condition. I can go to Tom's site and several others not to mention the classifieds and these particular snakes are going to have similar prices.

And you're saying wrong is wrong with the car compared to the customs and turning around and saying lying on customs is no big deal, but the theft is. Seems contradictory. Either wrong is wrong or it isn't. The OP certainly doesn't deserve to loose their money, but his morals are lacking too.

Your statements on a car's value only solidifies my standing. What I said was that there is a very specific way to determine a value on a car, it's a science.

I never said that tax fraud in any context is right. But if you were going to put degrees of wrongness on actions, stealing a very large sum from an individual and then gloating about it is more wrong than stealing a smaller sum from an entity in my book. I was just trying to put everything into perspective.

 

[Joe I]

You're wrong, a car has a determined value just like a snake does. Hell, I would say that many more people could agree on a relative value of a car than for a snake. Both things are tax fraud, one is just morally acceptable to you. I just don't get everyone jumping on Arslan for this. They are guilty of doing something that is done extremely often by people of all walks of life and it is being equated with Tom directly stealing 14k from them.

Hi James. I agree with you and want to cover a few points. First of all, there is no difference in cheating with "Grandma's car" to pay less for taxes, or for snakes... Both examples are morally wrong but it seems to be in the eye of the beholder, as you have read the replies.

Next, Arslan came here as a last resort to share his story with everyone. More times than often, people here look for excuses to attack the person starting the thread. "Thus, the value of the animals."

I am "not" going to side one way or the other. But... Unless Tom signs on to tell his side of the story to show otherwise.... It seems as though Arslan has received the short end of the stick.

I agree also, you can't pin this on Arslan!


Have a good evening.

 

[treeboa]

Hi James. I agree with you and want to cover a few points. First of all, there is no difference in cheating with "Grandma's car" to pay less for taxes, or for snakes... Both examples are morally wrong but it seems to be in the eye of the beholder, as you have read the replies.

Next, Arslan came here as a last resort to share his story with everyone. More times than often, people here look for excuses to attack the person starting the thread. "Thus, the value of the animals."

I am "not" going to side one way or the other. But... Unless Tom signs on to tell his side of the story to show otherwise.... It seems as though Arslan has received the short end of the stick.

I agree also, you can't pin this on Arslan!

Have a good evening.

I agree Tom owes a refund no matter what. However as an OP you tell your story and if you are dishonest yourself you are going to be called out. If Arslan was in America I would not deal with him after this because if your willing to cheat maybe you'll cheat me too. He's in Russia so it is kind of irrelevant. That was my whole point with it. Again you look to dictate the way threads evolve. You don't like how things go here don't come here.

 

[SPJ]

At the end of the day, the pricing on the animals doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is a convicted animal smuggler once again proved he can not be trusted and stole money from a customer.

 

[Joe I]

I agree Tom owes a refund no matter what. However as an OP you tell your story and if you are dishonest yourself you are going to be called out. If Arslan was in America I would not deal with him after this because if your willing to cheat maybe you'll cheat me too. He's in Russia so it is kind of irrelevant. That was my whole point with it. Again you look to dictate the way threads evolve. You don't like how things go here don't come here.

Hi Jeff. I think you missed my whole point. Yourself and some others started to attack Arslan because of the tax issue. It was completely irrelevant, as some have stated. This guy is out $14 grand, period! Talking about he was going to devalue the animals, so therefore I would never do business with him is ridiculous. Although, I don't enjoy dealing with certain people here. Sometimes it is necessary to defend certain situations. Let's stay on point from now on. What do ya say?

 

[Skiploder]

If everything the OP says is truth, then the only thing we can take away from this is to not do business with Crutchfield. Period. I could care less about the other specifics. If this is indeed the truth, then the OP was robbed.

Plain and simple. Everything else is just semantics.

I meet a lot of young people who are just getting into this "hobby" and quickly develop hero-worship for the big names in it. I've seen Tom doing the lecture circuit at the local herp clubs, with the organizers acting like they landed some big celebrity. I haven't decided whether it speaks to our community as a whole or whether it doesn't. It sure seems that shady deals and scams have a large presence in this industry. Wysocki, the Glades Boys, Stephenson, and a whole host of others - what a pathetic state of affairs.

As far as I'm concerned Tom already had two big strikes against him. The first was his well-documented criminal past and the second was his close association with Bruce Stephenson. This should be strike three for a lot of people.

 

[LauraB]

Originally Posted by treeboa
Actually a cars value varies quite a bit with condition there is mo set market value.

True and false. Ever heard of "ad valorem tax"? It's a tax based on the fair-market value of personal property (including real estate) and imposed when buying or selling a car, and also when registering/insuring a vehicle.

Grandma's word ain't got nothing to do with her car's value in many states. Bad analogy (by whoever brought it up originally.)

That said, I think we can all agree Arslan is NOT to blame nor should Arslan be out 14K because Crutchfield is a freakin' liar & crook.

As far as I'm concerned Tom already had two big strikes against him. The first was his well-documented criminal past and the second was his close association with Bruce Stephenson.

Absolutely. Especially #2, IMWO.

 

[treeboa]

If everything the OP says is truth, then the only thing we can take away from this is to not do business with Crutchfield. Period.

I'll agree only because Arslan is half way around the world and I'll never have to deal with him. Couldn't agree more about Crutchfield.

Hi Jeff. I think you missed my whole point. Yourself and some others started to attack Arslan because of the tax issue. It was completely irrelevant, as some have stated. This guy is out $14 grand, period! Talking about he was going to devalue the animals, so therefore I would never do business with him is ridiculous. Although, I don't enjoy dealing with certain people here. Sometimes it is necessary to defend certain situations. Let's stay on point from now on. What do ya say?

You missed MY whole point. Dishonest is dishonest. Again only not relevant because he's in Russia. If he's in the US, he's blacklisted as far as I'm concerned. Again you don't get to decide what's relevant or on point. A mod tells me I'm off topic, fine. You don't get to. To tell you the truth besides warning people about Crutchfield's current business practices this whole thread is going nowhere. The guy in Germany who's owed a ton of money by Glades Herp has been waiting 2-3(?) years for his money and has gotten nowhere. How Is Arlan ever going to get his money from Crutchfield from Russia?

 

[NathanKS]

sobek has already gone over the majority of arlan's legal options.

 

[Mr Robert]

Do all of you guys pay the state tax when you buy some thing over the internet? In some countries they charge 100% tax. Friends in Venezuela say if they buy a car here for 10K and ship it home they have to pay 10k taxes. Now does that make since of why people don't use the correct pricing?

 

[bushhog]

I've dealt with Tom online and in person,he's a little rough around the edges but he always gave me what I paid for, just my experience. I've had w

 

[reptiler ron]

I don't this is about taxes its about Tom stealing money.you should know about that as he took half a shipment from you and told you the animals died threaten you and never paid you.

 

[SobekSerpents]

sobek has already gone over the majority of arlan's legal options.

Thanks Nathan.

This thread is way off topic......ugh.

 

[hhmoore]

This thread is way off topic......ugh.

This from the guy who posted a letter to Yoda...

 

[SobekSerpents]

This from the guy who posted a letter to Yoda...

There was no way around that. When you type responses in the structure that Yoda would say that exact same phrase....you're just asking for it. I offered more quality advice prior to my joke though, at least for that. You can't say that about most of the other posters

 

[hhmoore]

Ahh - so your posts and advice were of better quality than those of other participants, and your off-topic post was a reasonable response to something somebody said. Gotcha :thumbs up:

 

[SobekSerpents]

Ahh - so your posts and advice were of better quality than those of other participants, and your off-topic post was a reasonable response to something somebody said. Gotcha :thumbs up:

Maybe I am wrong here, but I don't see any other posts giving Arslan advice he could use. The majority was basically telling him he was screwed. Whether he takes the advice or not, it is sound advice for anyone who is looking to invest that kind of money into reptiles from people they don't really know. You're making it seem like I am coming across as a holier than though sort, when I'm far from that. This thread is hopefully here to educate people in not making the same mistakes in addition to hopefully learning how to navigate through a mess if need be.

My off topic post was a joke at someone else's off topic post. The thread was derailed already and going nowhere.

Thumbs up back at cha'

 

[treeboa]

The theft was committed on U.S. soil. The buyer, even though he would be coming from Russia, could hire a FL attorney to look into it and get a court proceedings going without having to come over here. $14K is grand theft if the buyer can prove it. If it were me, I would sue for everything it cost me to battle it as well. Once court proceedings were over, he could fly over here, get an escort and go collect his settlement....because there is without a doubt that Tom would settle rather than fight this.

In this case, he could settle with giving the buyer the owed animals OR possible animals of equal value that would be easy to sell, such as albino iguanas...etc in addition to having to pay the court and attorney's fees. Tom has a legit business going, therefore his wages/income could be garnished. If he has a bank account even better. Tom has more animals there than he can sell (he pilfers...and pilfers...etc). Maybe out of spite and stupidity he would attempt to fight it, though he honestly (if the above statements are correct) doesn't have a leg to stand on. The judge would rule in favor of the buyer.

So, yes...you could just show up and collect your animals after you went through the judicial red tape so-to-speak, and yes you'd have to have an escort.

The problem here is, you'd have to really want to nail him. You'd have to pay for the attorney up front. Judging by Tom's past, as long as you can prove the theft you would win your case quickly which would help save some money. There IS something that can be done here. This guy is not left high and dry, he just has to want to proceed to the next step, which is getting a U.S. attorney...

Give that some thought....

Yes this is his one course of action. I would Contact Benjamin Tull, story at http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229193&highlight=glades+herp He has been trying since 2010 to get his money form Glades Herp fomr Germany. I would imagine he could give a lot of insight on trying to collect from overseas. Again, though, as far as coming here from Russia, the US gives people a hard time about Visas from certain countries and Russia's one of them. Hell, my future sister-in-law's family were denied visas to come here from the Philippines for her wedding. He will probably have do it from Russia. I would encourage Arslan to contact Benjamin through the above thread though. He can give first hand information that no one else here can.

 

[SobekSerpents]

Yes this is his one course of action. I would Contact Benjamin Tull, story at http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229193&highlight=glades+herp He has been trying since 2010 to get his money form Glades Herp fomr Germany. I would imagine he could give a lot of insight on trying to collect from overseas. Again, though, as far as coming here from Russia, the US gives people a hard time about Visas from certain countries and Russia's one of them. Hell, my future sister-in-law's family were denied visas to come here from the Philippines for her wedding. He will probably have do it from Russia. I would encourage Arslan to contact Benjamin through the above thread though. He can give first hand information that no one else here can.

I remember when all this happened. I think the lawyer was overseas too though? A FL attorney might make more of a dent, but at least that guy didn't just lay down and take it.