Bad Guy Steve and Sharla Willer- Pets of Class (Pueblo Colorado).

[Millinex]

Really was hoping to never have to post one of these... here it goes.

The majority of the communication is done via text, phone call, or in person, seeing as though they live only 30 minutes away from me. I obviously only have records of the text messages, and would be glad to forward them to anyone who is interested. If there is a way of copying them/time stamps onto the computer I'd love to know and I'll post those up as proof, as I'm unsure how to show a text message to someone across the internet short of maybe taking a picture of it?

August 31: 12:17 PM- I contact them offering my large 14’+ male tiger reticulated python, and a small pair of boas. They are getting into breeding reticulated pythons and can use the boas for the store- I have no use for any of the 3 as I got the boas on trade (and don’t do boas) and replaced the male with a higher end morph. I tell them I am asking $400 for the male and the 2 boas.

I get a response later at 4:36 stating they don’t have the 400 for the retic right now and at 4:41 I get a response of “All we have is 200 right now, but we wants the retic & boas, Can u work w us please?!?”
Aug 31 4:48 PM I talk to them and they end up offering me $200 up front “Come talk to us we’ll give you 200”
I ask if they want me to bring the retic, and say I’d need collateral or something until the rest is paid. Offering to watch something of theirs until they pay the rest.
At 4:52 I get the text “Ican write something up & we all sign it” in response. I think sure, a contract would be great.
I drive down with the retic and 2 boas, and hand them over for $200, we talk about a contract in person, but they are late to doing an aquarium set up so I end up letting it slide. I wasn’t too worried with a pet store attempting to scam me especially since I had done business with them before and helped them with some various reptile stuff.
I remind them on Sept 7 about the money being owed and I get the following response:
Sept 7: 8:44 PM “We will get u ur money don’t worry!!!”
I reply back asking how soon they’ll have it.
Sept 7: 8:45 PM “I don’t know right now I’m sorry. Too bad ur not interested in the hedgehog”. I had looked at a hedgehog but didn’t feel a single hedgehog was worth $200 and would rather have the cash, so I declined the offer.

On Sept 9th I remind them again that I need the money, I try putting a deadline of the 18th on it to try and get the last bit of my money. I get no real direct responses. I ask again on the 15th and get no response again.
This slides until Oct 28th, shortly before repticon. I end up getting ahold of him via the phone and agreeing to meet sometime around repticon – as they are driving through my city on their way and I could meet them there or in my city somewhere along the interstate. After personal threats from Steve via the phone- so we agree to meet on their way home from repticon. We agree he will have $100 for me that day and $100 the Saturday following. I meet them around 8:10 and get $100 from them.
The next weekend I get in contact with them and don’t hear anything back. I’m told at 12:50 that he’ll get back with me later and his phone is at the store and is about dead.
I’m told at 12:55 “I don’t know that he has the cash. Someone hit our car again yesterday”.
I ask if they have anything on trade instead, so I can put this debt behind us and get on with my life. I understand things happen, but it’s been over 2 months now.
We end up talking about a fellow reptile keeper and at 1:53 I receive “Yeah Steve mentioned we owed you money”. At this point they have paid me $300, and they are admitting to owing more. I again let it slide, giving them the benefit of the doubt again.
I’m texted on Thur Nov 22 saying that they needed to get rid of the big snakes and to let me know if anyone is interested by Monday. I mention the fact I don’t have much cash but can work something out.
At 12:25 I get “I know that. Neither are we. We only owe you 100 anyway. Just let us know if you know anyone, we need the money to live off of.” Admitting again to owing me the last $100.
On the 27th they say they have them sold, on the 28th I ask how much and they reply $1500, I say I need my $100 and I want to be done with this nonsense.
I get no responses back, and on the 9th of December at 12:14 I ask when I can pick up the last $100, they respond they never got paid. I’m in the market for a few big females and have cash to spend so I offer them $500 and to scratch off the $100 I owe in trade for their large female tiger. I don’t hear anything back for a couple days.
On the 12th I get ahold of them again and I say I need my $100, and I’m not waiting for a buyer if they don’t want to sell to me, and it isn’t my problem anymore what drama they have going on or what deals they have going on. I’m told at 1:32 AM “I don’t have it right now, sorry” at 1:37 “There isn’t anything we can do. I can’t pull a hundred bucks” again at 1:55 AM: but we don’t have a hundred bucks”.
I’m told to call his phone (by his wife) until he wakes up, so I did, he answered by yelling at me, saying he doesn’t owe me any money, and claiming the snake is sick.
They then have gone on to claim they took the snake to a local vet the next day after getting it, and said it was sick. I tell them I will take this to court, and I get “going to court for 100 bucks? Ok I guess”.
On the 13th after I type up a long facebook message I get told “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip”
Now somehow they are saying they don’t owe me money, that they snake I sold them was sick and they took it to the vet the next day. I know when I get animals, I check immediately if they are sick, and if I find problems- I contact the seller as soon as I can, ESPECIALLY if I still owe money on the animal and haven’t paid it off, as it’s much easier to communicate/work something out rather than 3.5 months down the road.

I know right now the shop is closed down and they quit it and are in a pretty bad luck streak, but hopefully this warns others about them in case they try to do business with anyone else in the near future.

 

[emraeclark]

Shar and her ex had a scam petshop on Northern Avenue in Pueblo, CO. I thought their business was legitimate so I left my mother and daughter hedgehog with them with the contingency Shar and her ex would not sell the mother and daughter that were VERY CLOSE and BONDED. With the mom and daughter, I included a $200 cage. I was appalled when I read this ad. I am very worried about the mother and daughter hedgehogs now. I called her and she assured me they mom and baby daughter were okay. These people go around Pueblo scamming for free social services, too.... you can google it, you'll see. Hideous people. I despise them and to this day worry about Heddy hedgehog & baby.

 

[emraeclark]

also, these scammers did not pay me for the hedgehogs or the cage. Each hedgehog was worth $250 each; however, I felt they were priceless, thus left them at a PET SHOP where I thought they'd be SAFE and nurtured. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made in my life.

 

[hhmoore]

What is your complaint?
When did you leave the hedgehogs with them; and what was the agreement that you made at the time?

 

[emraeclark]

Agreement

What is your complaint?
When did you leave the hedgehogs with them; and what was the agreement that you made at the time?

Shar and Steve owned the pet-shop over a year ago. I said they could keep Heddy & her baby daughter Hedgie for free, as long as I could check in on them, as long as Shar Willer and Steve Willer didn't separate them, and as long as they did not sell them. It was a verbal agreement. I regret not having drafted a written agreement; however, I believed they were a legitimate pet shop. They were quite CONvincing. I found this ad because Shar made herself inaccessible to me. Therefore, I could not contact her and she stopped replying to my Facebook inquiries. Indeed, she either blocked me from Facebook or she since changed her profile name or link. I commenced a Google search, off and on over the past 1.5 years, and hence stumbled on this ad.

 

[emraeclark]

also, their pet shop closed within months and it was a wild ride trying to find out what happened to the mother and baby (Heddy & Hedgie). The mother and daughter were very close, they huddled together all the time. Shar said her daughter "loved" the hedgehogs the last time she & I spoke over a year ago. I see now that wasn't the entire truth.

 

[emraeclark]

Thus, my complaint is that their conniving has broken my heart as I wonder about mother and daughter. I opened the door to that, as well as the guilt that still haunts me.

 

[emraeclark]

It was a good faith agreement, in other words. I thought these people had character. Due to the cavalier attitude and dishonesty of Shar Willer & Steve Willer, I wonder if mother and daughter were neglected or at worst, maltreated. The creatures were obviously disposable to them, as noted in the original message of the person these people ripped off.

 

[hhmoore]

You make an awful lot of assumptions about what happened.
I understand that you may not have current information; but that doesn't really justify the trash talking and filling in the blanks with whatever your imagination feeds you...at least not in a thread of this nature.

 

[emraeclark]

How do I delete the messages then, if you perceive them as "assumptions?" I will do so given instruction. However, I based my assumption on the fact that Michael B. (wrote the first post) said they wanted to exchange one of the hedgehogs for cash they owed him & never paid. Indeed, they threatened him for asking what was rightfully his -- as you'll see if you read the entire post. They also claimed to me that Steve, the husband, was a police officer. I don't know whether that's true or not. They agreed they would NOT separate the hedgehogs or sell them, yet that's what they attempted to do (bartering for cash). They made themselves inaccessible to me, as well as Michael B. Hence, my "assumptions" that appear to be based on facts.

 

[Mistyck]

You do not "delete" your messages/posts in this forum. They are here to stay, whether you want them to be or not.

You should thoroughly THINK through your thought process before hitting the "reply" button though. You could have combined all your posts into one instead of multiple posts about the same thing.

 

[hhmoore]

The original post was an old issue, and - admittedly - I only gave it a quick look when I saw your first posts. I did miss the mention of a hedgehog; but, to be honest, your posts didn't really suggest to me that there was any relationship between that post and yours.

Your timeline is vague, so it is difficult to say whether there is a reasonable expectation that the hedgehog mentioned was even the one you had given them. (Let us keep in mind that you did give them the hedgehogs.) Is there a reason that you are convinced of that? I'm not saying it wasn't - I don't know them, and I don't know you - but if you are going to jump in ranting, people are going to ask questions.

 

[emraeclark]

I don't mind people asking me questions. There's a history to which I've not alluded here, e.g., they closed the pet shop after a couple of months. However, and because it's hearsay, I cannot disclose what the owner (leasing the retail shop to them) said. It wasn't good, though. I spent a day trying to run them down, and everyone I spoke with warned me about them. I should have waited two days because the zoo would have accepted Heddy & Hedgie as donations. By the time the zoo called me, it was too late. I was stupid and naive.

 

[chazzz]

Hi Melony,
I'm sorry that you are upset over what may have happened to the hedgehogs you gave to Steve and Sharla. While I am sorry that you are upset because you feel that you might have been taken advantage of or lied to, I'm puzzled on why you feel this way. You're not the first person to bring a complaint like this to the BOI and I always shake my head when previous owners of an animal place unrealistic demands on the new owner. Like you telling them they can never get rid of them or separate the hedgehogs. While at the same time why would you get rid of them in the first place if you were so worried about them? Even stranger you would give them to a Pet Store. Pet stores sell animals they're not a nature center or a zoo so why would you think this was the best place to give your hedgehogs to? If it was me a Pet store would be the last place on my list if I had to get rid of an animal and was concerned about the animal changing hands. You also seemed to have been in a hurry to get rid of the hedgehogs as you gave them away and their cage and if you had just waited two days your wishes would have come true as the Zoo would have taken them. This just doesn't make much sense to me. I mean you yourself got rid of them why do you think you have any ground to stand on if the new owners need to get rid of them. I mean did you think that one day you were going to have to get rid of the hedgehogs when you bought them? Or was there a reason that forced you to make the decision to part with the animals? Once you give up ownership of an animal you are no longer responsible for it and you sure can't tell the new owners that they can never get rid of the animals, whether you give them away or sell them, they're not your animals anymore.

Do you get my point? Also you obviously didn't know these people very well prior to giving them the hedgehogs, or did you? You made claims of them being a scam Pet shop and that they have scammed other people all over the area. Did you learn this after you gave them the animals or did you know this before? Also I think it needs to be noted that those are some serious allegations that were gained through hearsay, and these types of anonymous accusations are not allowed here on the BOI. You need to include the names of the people that were scammed or even better get them to come on here and state their claims themselves. Not only did not include names but you didn't even state just what these supposed scams were. This isn't a gossip forum and people need to back up what they claim. If members here were allowed to say what ever they wanted without naming the source of the info, this place would lose it's credibility quickly. Even though these are the rules people still make anonymous third party quotes as you have. But they are reminded of the rules with a warning and are asked to validate such claims. I don't know you or Steve and Sharla so what makes you more credible than them especially when they're not here to defend themselves, and aside from your assumptions about the current status of the hedgehogs everything else you said about them was more name calling than actual awareness about their actions. You didn't say how they were scammers or who they scammed. Even your situation doesn't really say much other than what might have happened to your hedgehogs. Pet stores sell hedgehogs is it that far fetched they were selling a completely different hedgehog?

Let's say it was one of your hedgehogs they offered the OP as payment owed for the snakes. They obviously were tight on cash and had trouble paying the debts. They are a Pet shop so what makes them horrible people if they got rid of the very animals you also got rid of and couldn't wait to hear back from a Zoo which would have been the best possible scenario for you? You stated they treated their animals as disposable, and because of this they might be mistreating their animals which is all assumptions with no facts to back them up. Were the hedgehogs disposable to you? You gave them to pet shop, does that mean you mistreated them? Didn't you see the animals at their store when you gave them your hedgehogs? Were the animals being mistreated or neglected in anyway and if they were why would you still give them your hedgehogs?

Even if you created some outrageous contract for them when taking ownership of the hedgehogs wouldn't really make much of a difference. People have their own children taken from them if they are not providing or caring for them properly that would cause them harm. Why do you think a made up contract would hold any water with the law that would force someone to keep an animal they didn't want anymore especially when the original owner gave them away in the first place and to a Pet store of all places. Do you think all those animals at the pound were all owned by people who knew they would be getting rid of them in a couple years?

How do you know they weren't sincere with the verbal agreement that you made with them regardless of how unrealistic your terms were? Things happen that are sometimes out of are hands but we need to adjust to deal with these situations. For example I'm sure you have your reasons for getting rid of your hedgehogs, even though you haven't said why. Things might have changed for them and they needed to get rid of the hedgehogs as you did.

I do hope the hedgehogs are being well cared for and are doing just fine where ever they are!

 

[emraeclark]

It was my mistake to have given them the hedgehogs. I have to live with myself.

 

[PlatinumRosePythons]

It was my mistake to have given them the hedgehogs. I have to live with myself.

Why not try to buy them back if you are so concerned about them?

 

[KORBIN5895]

Wow. Seems to me like someone has a very suspicious and active imagination. I would also like to point out that the op never even substantiated his claim so everything in this thread has been unsupported claims.

 

[Lucille]

They agreed they would NOT separate the hedgehogs or sell them, yet that's what they attempted to do (bartering for cash). They made themselves inaccessible to me, as well as Michael B. Hence, my "assumptions" that appear to be based on facts.

Please point out the 'fact' that shows where the hedgehog you gave away was attempted to be bartered. There was mention of A hedgehog, it may not have been yours.

It was my mistake to have given them the hedgehogs. I have to live with myself.

Maybe so, but you do not have to trash Steve and Sharla Willis especially given that you do not seem to have ANY credible evidence that the critters are not well taken care of or even not currently living with the Willis family.

Why not try to buy them back if you are so concerned about them?

Great idea.

These people go around Pueblo scamming for free social services, too.... you can google it, you'll see.

If you are Googling and claim that you are finding them, why not get in touch with them and see what is actually going on?

 

[emraeclark]

as already noted, they have made themselves inaccessible. I have sent messages to Shar Facebook and elsewhere on the web, yet no response to any of those. I also noted here and to them that if the hedgehogs were too much to manage, they could return them to me.

 

[Lucille]

as already noted, they have made themselves inaccessible.

They may have made themselves inaccessible to you, especially if you came off as accusatory to them personally as you have seemed here when speaking of them.
Can you please post some of the addresses you have used to try to contact them? I have no horse in this race, but I can send them a note, they deserve a link to this thread so they can speak in their own behalf if they wish.