Hey All,
I may not be able to offer much info about this exact transaction but I have had some dealing with Ross on my own. I do not believe this person is telling the truth about her transaction but I do believe Ross probably reacted agressive and disparigingly to her when she complained.
Ross and I became known to each other through the Maine Herp Society, which I was a significant member in until I moved to Florida in 01. Although I still continue to be an active member.
Ross did quite well with an internet company and came to Maine and started a nice farm with some varied stock; horses, chinchillas, gardens, and green trees. At first he came off as a very knowledgable and well spoken individual with a huge amount to offer anyone willing to listen. And he seemed to keep awesome records. He was very interested in getting Maine's quirky "legal list" widened to fit the width of the common herp market that is available today.
Everything looked like he was going to be a powerhouse for the group, an a great peer for me to know.
However, once I got know Ross, and he became more active in the group he began throughing out statements similiar to: He was the only licensed breeder in Maine, he was the only full time breeder in Maine, he was the most sophisticated in Maine, etc etc. This got under my hide becuase I consider myself a good, knowledgeable breeder, I consider Doug Kranich, Jason Patterson, Donny Herring all fanatastic/knowledgeale breeders in the species that they keep, and in the last 4-5 years since I left Maine a whole host of keepers have turned breeders. They Ross started insulting sellers like JNJ saying that sellers were bad, and people should only buy from breeders.
I asked Ross for pics of his gtps breeding-he sent me pics of two sitting next to each other on a perch-tails completely seperate. This is when I started some digging and found that he is buying animals from Cameron and reselling them.
Everything then seemed to quiet down for awhile and Ross has continued to fight Maine with his legal team and is making some headway-which I do have to give him praise for.
However, then one of my friends decided to sell an odd carpet, Ross seemed interested and I help mediate the deal and was being used as the shipper since I am delta certified. Before the deal even got done, Ross started complaining that we had not provided him with an airway bill number prior to shipping day(I get my airbills at the delta cargo and fill them out on ship day). This became such an issue between my friend and Ross that I had to stop doing my dayjob, and call Ross directly to get this smoothed out. Then once the snake arrived he started saying it had baytril scars. I had not seen the snake in months, I didn't bag it, so I didn't know. This again became such an issue I had to get involved.
As many of you who know me personally I am not one to back down and stood my ground with Ross.
1. He threated to sue, still I have no subpeonas.
2. He disparaged me about not being a Mainer since I moved to Florida-well I was born there and didn't leave until I was 22. Ross isn't even from Maine.
3. Told me I should stay out of business that was about Maine-my entire family lives there and I will inherit a significant amount of property in Maine. I have plans to retire there so I do care about what happens to the reptile industy in Maine.
4. Told me I was not a business becuase I had a day job- as he called it a "lab tech" to demean my job-I actually am titled a scientist. Also his main money maker was the website he sold, plus his horses are 10x more that his green trees. So in his definition he is actually internet guy turned farmer who had snakes not a snake breeder. Plus he resells Cam's snakes.
5. Made disparaging comments about Florida not being part of the U.S. becuase of the number of minority people that have moved here. It could have definately been taken as a racist remark, by some.
6. Made several comments trying to say that my friend and I must not know how to take care of snakes. Well, ask some wholesalers who I am and who he is and I think that answers that. As a hobbyist I had at one time a three year wait on some of my boas.
7. Made fun of my typing, and wording saying that I must not be too smart. Well, I recieved my bachelors degree in animal science-not english, or computer science. Guess, i'm dumb becuase my typing is not up to his standards.
8. Has this one year guarantee but if you read it you will never ever be able to get a refund on an animal.
All this has driven me to the opinion that I could care less if he gets killed painfully tomorrrow. I hope I never speak to him again.
Again I don't think the original poster is telling the whole truth, but Ross is not someone that I would consider a victim. He keeps up appearences well, and is probably god to some, but if you question him, or disagree with him you let the monster out of the cage, he will verbally come for you.
thanks
ben
