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Robert Marsh, I hate to do this

Bluekat

Bluekat

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In August I purchased 1.1 red bloods from Robert Marsh thru Reptibid. I paid his asking price which was $175, with shipping the total came to $215. I immediately contacted Mr. Marsh via email and made arrangemnts to send him a money order. I sent the money order the very next day. I then waited nearly 3 weeks for him to answer any of my emails. When he did finally answer them he said he would ship my bloods in a couple days. I recieved them 2 weeks later. Upon receiving them I immediately noticed how poorly they were shipped. (in a lightbulb box with paper stuffed around them). When I took possesion of them from the UPS delivery driver he asked me if there was anything damaged as the box was wet. I took the box in and opened it and noticed that one python was very inactive and seemed to be in respiratory distess as he did not move and was breathing with an open mouth. I then contacted Robert Marsh to let him know of the condition of the snake. He told me to keep him informed about the animal. I have a friend who is a vet tech and she took the snake to her place of employment and there they discovered that the blood had broken ribs and a punctured lung, soon after the snake died. I again got in touch with Mr. Marsh. I sent him photos of the dead python. He then said he would replace the animal, but I would have to wait until he picked one up at the Orlando show. I waited 3 more weeks. Mr. Marsh did replace the animal but he also charged me $55 to ship it.(the 2 original snakes only cost $35. I also let him know that the one surviving blood had still refused to eat.(they were guaranteed to be captive breed healthy, feeding and properly sexed). Today that blood died. I do have 1 healthy blood that I got from Mr. Marsh, but it was the replacement that he purchased from the Orlando Reptile show. Now I am again stuck with a blood with no mate. One blood does me absolutely no good. I think I have been more than patient and very understanding of his problems that he has on more than one occasion, reminded me of. I think that I may have been sold wild caught bloods as Mr. Marsh stated that they had all feed and shed a couple times before selling them to me. I do admit that I am not experienced with raising blood pythons, but I have been keeping ball pythons, burmese pythons, boas and all sorts of colubrids for nearly 20 yrs. I have had to feed mice tails to baby corns, use skinks to scent pinky mice for my alterna and force feed baby balls with success. I have caught wild mice to get adultfemale ball to eat that had been forcefed for 2 yrs and that snake now takes frozen thawed everytime it is offered. I do have a bit of experience with snakes and I do know that forcefeeding should be a last resort. I did not attempt to forcefeed the blood that I purchased from Robert Marsh as I didnt think the snake was healthy enough to endure the feeding. This is the 2nd time in the last 3 months that someone has misrepresented their animals or their ads that they use to sell their animals.(my 9 yr old was ripped for $250 on animals that he never received). I did not want to tarnish Robert Marshs' reputation, but when you sell sick animals, misrepresented animals or poorly shipped animals you tarnish your own reputation. Denzil Short
 
sorry fauna

I wanted to apologize for not posting my earlier post as I should have. I guess I got caught up in the moment. Sorry...Denzil Short
 
Its amazing how someone who

claims that they have been collecting snakes for 20 years, buys a pair of bloods through Reptibid!

Their are so many quality breeder out their, with good references, that will not wait 3 weeks to reply to an email, and take pride in shipping properly, but you DENZIL,
bought the deal of a lifetime, and got taken by someone who probably "could care less" once he got the money.

This never ceases to amaze me. Its unfortunate that you lost the snake, lost the money, and you can forget about getting a second replacement. I hate these kind of posts, as they are very depressing!

Just out of curiosity, did you check any credentials, or attempt to send an inquiry about this person through the BOI?
 
It is amazing that

you Mr. Tresser think that the only time you can get a good animal is from the so called reputable breeder. I have purchased several animals thru reptibid, here on fauna and kingsnake from breeders who were just guys like me who havent made a name for themselves yet as being reputable breeders. I wasnt trying to make the deal of a lifetime. I was only buying what was portrayed as being a quality animal and I paid the fair price for it. Not any less and not any more. I did post on the boi about this individual as well and there wasnt anything replied that would suggest that I would receive anything but what I paid for. As for you getting depressed for reading such a post, the only thing I can say to that is "oh well, get over it". I have and I was the one who lost the money and the snake.......Denzil Short
 
Hold on now.
I advertise on here, KS, and Reptibid and I would NEVER screw over a customer.
 
I have to say

that I would never buy anything off of Reptibid. I think it is the flea market of the herp world, and basically, you take a big risk buying from Reptibid.
 
Now I am confused

Animals that are for sale can be misrepresented no matter where they are posted or put up for sale. I have bought some nice animals thru reptibid and I have also seen culls for sale here and KS. I dont think it matters where you see them for sale, if they are misrepresented then that doesnt have a thing to do with where they are advertised.....Denzil Short
 
Knowing who you are buying from is the key...Spend a few extra hours manning the keyboard before you hit send on your PayPal will really pay off...i do a search on anyone I'm buying/selling from/to here on Fauna, and i would hope anyone would do the same to on me...Not selling sh*tty animals and providing a bit of customer sevice helps ;*), but knowing everything about the breeder/broker and his or her animals has been the difference in every online transaction i've been involved in...JMHO and peace...
 
DENZIL, a smart shopper who claims to

have the amount of herp knowledge that you do (20 years) should have enough common sense to know who he is doing business with. Its not enough to assume that because you purchased from Reptibid or anywhere else that you will get what you paid for. You did not, and you lost your money and your snakes, and in theory it could have been worse.

These forums are for the most part, avenues for people to get rid of their animals, regardless of their health. What disturbs me is that your post as well as others that Ive seen always have something in common, GREED.

A smart breeder will always check out as many sources as possible, and not that I favor reputable dealers without giving the little guy a chance, but you had the opportunity, the choice to buy from someone else who would not rip you off, and that in itself was something you decided not to take into consideration.

Instead you decided to bid and attempt to get the lowest price possible, and you took the bait. So in a way you are correct, I should not worry about YOU losing money, and actually I dont, but your the one who could have made a difference when it came to protecting your own interests, and you chose not to!
 
I am very sorry Mr. Tresser

that you have not taken the time to read what I have written. I never once said that I bid on anything. I paid the price he was asking for his animals. Greed had absolutley nothing to do with it. I dont know how you can make that assumption when you dont have a clue to who I am or how I conduct myself. I guess I could be called foolish for thinking that a person is telling me the truth about his animals, but greedy I have never been. You made your "GREED" assumption just because I was posting in the BOI the very thing that BOI was intended for. You have never dealt with me, or I you and now I am certain that since you make judgements about MY character I would not deal with you. I do understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but opinions are like as?holes, everybody has one. I think I may have just found my second one, in my opinion....Denzil Short
 
When did this post become about attacking the person who is trying to warn us about a scammer? Denzil has already stated that , "I did post on the boi about this individual as well and there wasnt anything replied that would suggest that I would receive anything but what I paid for. "

Another thing I have to comment on is have none of you bought from someone who is not a well-known reputable breeder? I know I have. Hell, if no one had common TRUST in people and only bought from the most reputable breeders, no one would ever buy any of my animals! Everyone has to start out somewhere, even the reputable breeders back in the day were unknown. I think we need to have somewhat of a leap of faith in the common man, and learn from our mistakes. I'm not saying just buy from anyone, but take the common precautions like a search on BOI like Denzil already did.

We shouldn't be harassing Denzil for purchasing practices, but thanking him for letting us know we should not do business with Robert Marsh.
 
Well Denzil

you will be a bit more careful and cautious. Please understand, I am not your enemy here, and I am sure that had you had the opportunity to rethink your original purchase, maybe the outcome would have been different,

You are correct in that you may have paid the asking price without bidding, but I am sure the price was an attraction , just as going to the site intself intices people who are looking for a deal.

Now you seem like an itellegent person, and that probably bothers me the most, because in your good faith all you wanted was to purchase 2 healthy snakes. All I am saying is that this industry, is reaped with people who are compassionless about their animals as well as the way they conduct their business when dealing with other people.........especially strangers.

I dont make judgement about peoples character, but I do make judgements about poor business ethics when it comes to not protecting ones own interest. You fall into that catagory. My purpose here was not to agravate you anymore than you already are about your loss, but the original fault lies with you!

I am sure you are a hard working honest person, and I apologize if I unintentionally offended you. But I see to many of these posts pass through the portals of the BOI. I am also sure it will not be the last. Respectfully, JERRY
 
Business ethics?

Jerry,
I believe you are actually making judgements on Denzil's business practices rather than his ethics. I know it is splitting hairs but having poor ethics is indicative of low moral standards and poor business practices are problems that can be rectified much more readily. I have a good deal of empathy for Denzil as no one should be given substandard animals regardless of the efforts, or lack thereof, put into protecting themselves before a purchase. If everyone would do their "homework" a bit more before a purchase many of the scammers would be weeded out.


Phil Bradley
 
I stand by my point:

People who use the bid sites are like flea market shoppers, both buyers and sellers. If you go searching these sites for the rock bottom price, you will get what you paid for a fair amount of the time. At times, if there is a bidding "war", you may actually overpay. Using the flea market analogy again, sometimes you may actually get a "find" and find something great, but most of the time, you end up with junk. There are many people on the BOI who come here after a reptibid fiasco.
 
PHIL, you are right, ethics is not the word

that should be applied to business miscalculations. Call it what you will, these advertising venues are a cauldron for every tom, dick or harry to place whatever they want without any fear of reprisal. I empathize with Denzil, and I am only grateful that his loss was not greater, but the fact still remains:

monies were sent to a complete stranger, it took a minimum of 3 weeks to even get a return email, and the snakes were far from being what they were advertised as! Does this sound familiar!

If Denzil would have been a bit more cautious and possibly realized that snakes moreso than allot of other herps require that they be seen before purchase. I mean physically. Not through a reptibid. We would not be having this conversation, and Denzils hard earned money would be in his pocket instead of someone elses.

Only in this industry , the attraction for losers, con artists, thiefs and people who are looking to dump living material get away with it.........with impunity, at least most of the time. So anytime I see someone , well intentioned, like Denzil posting a thread about how he lost money due to an unscrupulous character, you would think he would have been dillegent enough to see how many other people have lost monies the same way, and learned from thatprior to sending money himself. Thats my gripe, and enough said. JERRY
 
I am sorry

Mr. Tresser. I do stand corrected. I did make a poor business judgement. But as this is not my business or source of income I fail to see where it applies. This is my hobby. Something that I like to do. I make nothing by keeping these animals. its not why I keep them. I was only wanting to purchase healthy blood pythons. Period. I think I already admitted that I was foolish. I will still stand by that. But if trying to make a good deal on purchasing ANYTHING is wrong, then there are a many people who are guilty of this. I am glad that there are people, such as yourself that dont have to look for a good deal. You are a very fortunate man and I know that you probably worked hard to be able to buy the best from the best. But I do have to look for a good deal or my "SMALL" collection would stay the same. I got ripped this time. I have accepted that. I only wanted to keep the same from happening to someone else. I know that I made a wrong decision(actually 2). I did not need you or anyone else to point that out to me, but thanks anyways. You also stated "My purpose here was not to agravate you anymore than you already are about your loss, but the original fault lies with you! I fail to see how I can be held at fault for someone else misrepresenting their animals, but I have broad shoulders so I guess I can carry that burden of guilt even though I feel that it is wrong. Which brings me to my 2nd mistake. I had real doubts about even posting this subject, but I thought that was what this forum was for. I have been wrong before, guess I was wrong again. I sure didnt think that my "business ethics" would be under scrutiny, but in the presence of WISER MEN I guess I allowed that door to be opened by posting here(not implying anything against fauna). So, today I feel that I am very fortunate. I have learned the mindset of others. I learned what I already knew. That sometimes its better to keep your opinion to yourself andthat when you think your day has already went to <font color=red>[**censored**]</font>(lost my snake), it can and will get worse. I know that you pointed out my bad business ethic for a good reason even though I upheld my end of the bargain. So tonite, when I go to sleep I will rest assured that even though today is really crappy, tomorrow is another day, but now I know I suffer from Bad business ethics and that keeping ones opinions to oneself is the best course of action......Denzil Short
 
Denzil, if nothing else, I am thankful for you posting this, I have been given a heads up to a scammer. I don't see why all this about your business ethics came up. Your intent on warning us about this guy was good and I appreciate it.
 
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