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Top Shelf Exotics (Inquiry)

I think Nick makes some good points. Proof is pretty important on the BOI when you are talking about someone's reputation. Unfortunately Ian came along and spouted off some half truths (or outright lies). Everyone is entitled to their opinion here and should decide whether they want to do business with TSE based on what has been layed out. There are a few different claims/questions in this thread and only one has been answered. I don't see it ending anytime soon.
 
Gecko_Den said:
Yes you probably can, I could also point you to many threads where people defended the accused, not based on specific information pertaining to the thread, but based on friendship, only to look the fool when they were proven wrong as more info was released. I point to the unfortunate incident involving Bill Leverton and the people that defended him as an example of what I am talking about.

So if I believe someone who has never had an issue related to how they conduct their reptile business and thus choose to defend them for lack of any prior bad acts and then it turns out they did something wrong - I have egg on my face?

I have to disagree on this one. I call that having one's trust betrayed.

If someone I know to have thus far been trustworthy through demonstration/action is accused of wrondoing where no "cut and dry" evidence is presented and no impartial 3rd parties can provide substantiation -I am going to step up to the plate and defend that person every time.

To do anything less would be gutless.
 
Nicolai- Future Sale

Nic... not only will I let you be the first to buy one of the homozygous offspring I produce from the TSE animals but I'll make you a heck of a deal on top of it in honor of this thread. Hey, I'm always hoping for a happy ending. All I can do at this point is to have faith in the fact that the majority of the people I have dealt with in the hobby have been reputable.

-Jason Northam
 
jglass38 said:
I think Nick makes some good points. Proof is pretty important on the BOI when you are talking about someone's reputation. Unfortunately Ian came along and spouted off some half truths (or outright lies). Everyone is entitled to their opinion here and should decide whether they want to do business with TSE based on what has been layed out. There are a few different claims/questions in this thread and only one has been answered. I don't see it ending anytime soon.
OK whats so half truth. It's simple I already posted the link look yourself, proving my one and only, never again might I add, transaction with these people whether it's Chris or his employees I don't CARE Top Shelf Exotics as a company took my loot never shipped the gecko due to the same reasons as many others are stating right here, a year later on this thread. That doesn't tell you something? Tell ya what start sending me cash for gold and when you don't get the gold because of what ever reason try again a year later an I'll give you the same excuse as the previous year. Lets see what happens what you think. :dgrin: Simple as that.
 
NorthamExotics said:
Nic... not only will I let you be the first to buy one of the homozygous offspring I produce from the TSE animals but I'll make you a heck of a deal on top of it in honor of this thread. Hey, I'm always hoping for a happy ending. All I can do at this point is to have faith in the fact that the majority of the people I have dealt with in the hobby have been reputable.

-Jason Northam

Nice job Jason! I think we just need to keep in mind that there are good guys and bad guys in this, and every industry. Sometimes it is hard to see the forest through the trees. Eventually the cream rises to the top and the crap sinks to the bottom.

Could I possibly put another cliche in there? Jeez..But you get what I mean.

* I was not referring to any person/company in particular in this thread *
 
Chris@TSE said:
Don't even try to exaggerate the truth Ian. You did not contact our sales staff once. Nor did you contact me. You made a public statement regarding a delay you had advance notice of and were immediately refunded since I was in no mood to hear someone like you whine even though they were perfectly aware of what was to be encountered. You then contacted me via PM to express your surprise and even stated a refund was not necessary as you still wanted the animals! You then went on to apologize. Boy you must feel so special that you had an experience with us that you must now lie and modify your experience in order to make additions to a thread you have no business participating in. Nice try kid.

You would not know what is involved or what complications they have encountered in this situation if they were to smack you in the face. Thanks for alerting me of this child folks, sorry it took me a bit to respond. If anyone wants copies of this kids private messages from back in the day feel free to contact me for a good laugh. May take a day or two as I am not around as much as I would like but I'll get them too you. Take care.
for one I avoid confrontation at all times accept when people are taking advantage of others. Since you weren't worth my time of day then or now for that matter old man or what ever you call yourself mono man,or is it pnemonia ,or goneriasyphylherpilades. I'll bet you don't have any of the ignored e-mails and phone calls either huh? Post em right here you have my permission cause I certainly don't have them anymore.
 
Ian S. said:
for one I avoid confrontation at all times accept when people are taking advantage of others. Since you weren't worth my time of day then or now for that matter old man or what ever you call yourself mono man,or is it pnemonia ,or goneriasyphylherpilades. I'll bet you don't have any of the ignored e-mails and phone calls either huh? Post em right here you have my permission cause I certainly don't have them anymore.

You are an offensive little man. But my magic 8 ball tells me that you won't be around here much longer. What 24 year old calls people names? Especially with such poor spelling.
 
Oh yeah thank you all for the phony PM's about all the the junk you hear at other places @ other times regarding TSE. Oh I'll be starting a business soon selling auto insurance but if I'm sick and you get into an accident talk to Chris's proctologist I think he's responsible since I'm sick. I'll be sure to keep tabs once in a while though while I sickly role around in the doe. :raspberry
 
Ian S. said:
Oh yeah thank you all for the phony PM's about all the the junk you hear at other places @ other times regarding TSE. Oh I'll be starting a business soon selling auto insurance but if I'm sick and you get into an accident talk to Chris's proctologist I think he's responsible since I'm sick. I'll be sure to keep tabs once in a while though while I sickly role around in the doe. :raspberry

It took some work to understand that but what I get out of it is that people are PMing you that they were wronged by TSE? If that is true then post them here.
 
Ian S. said:
Oh yeah thank you all for the phony PM's about all the the junk you hear at other places @ other times regarding TSE. Oh I'll be starting a business soon selling auto insurance but if I'm sick and you get into an accident talk to Chris's proctologist I think he's responsible since I'm sick. I'll be sure to keep tabs once in a while though while I sickly role around in the doe. :raspberry


How much longer do you think the MODS or Webslave are going to let you call people names or throw around insults and such on the BOI. Not long I think. You can say anything you want here as long as it is respectful of the other members and happens to be the truth.
Good luck with your auto insurance business as I hope everyone does well in their endeavors whatever they may be.
 
nicolai said:
How much longer do you think the MODS or Webslave are going to let you call people names or throw around insults and such on the BOI. Not long I think. You can say anything you want here as long as it is respectful of the other members and happens to be the truth.
Good luck with your auto insurance business as I hope everyone does well in their endeavors whatever they may be.
You are absoultely right. Here I'll remove myself :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
Chris@TSE said:
I apologize for my illness, apparently things have been hectic for the guys but they are trying their very best. Please be patient.

PS. I am not up to communicating via a BOI thread at the moment so you will have to excuse me... this will be my only response to this post. I was alerted via email by a few members and figured some sort of acknowledgement was required and you guys summed most of it up in a nutshell for us. I thank you, you guys are great. I hope to be back around soon. Praises, complaints, questions, anything can be sent to [email protected] as this thread will not be monitored. The guys have better things to do, like ship orders! :)

Take care guys
Before I go!! Just to show everyone how this works. There were 10 post after this. If this much effort was put into shipping animals this thread wouldn't be here. :hot:
 
Well..

For the purpose of this thread, When I refer to Chris, I refer to Top Shelf exotics, tse, chris johnson...all as one entity.
I will start by saying that I have a reptile related business...A business that I hopefully will keep making a living off of, so I Don't have to do any other work. It is a job that I love, I put in a lot of hours, a lot of "on call" hours, late phone calls, trips to airports, trips to shows, etc.. etc.. etc..
That being said...I will say that I would be lost if I had the problems that chris is having. I have people that help me in the store, However I dont know if there is a single person on this planet that I would feel comfortable with running my business on a day to day basis as chris has had to do.
My blood sweat and tears have gone into this business, no one elses as much as me. I am sure chris is the same way. While things have gone out of hand with TSE, I don't think there are very many businesses in this industry that wouldn't have the same thing happen to them in this given situation.
It is unfortunate that this company has had backups, problems, and shortcomings. I for one am damn thankful that I am not having these problems, I am sure that the easy way out is to say screw it, I give up. I know that when you put as much time and effort into something as I have (and I am sure chris has) you dont ever wanna give up. Sometimes it is time to and you still don't want to, and in some cases refuse to. Much like an athlete that retires too late.
So anyways, while I am not condoning what is going on, nor am I trying to make excuses, I think that this is one of those legitimate problems that may arise, that totally hit you off base and throws your whole business off kilter.
I truely wish chris all the best of luck in his health, his business, and re-establishing his good name.
TOM
 
hey TOM,

are we supposed to give you a medal ! Do you think that you are in a class of 1. Everyone has the same hardship, and everyone works hard at what they do in this industry. Thats one of the reasons its so profitable. I know of no importer or wholesaler or retailer that does not come into contact with some kind of difficulty whether its with animals, airlines, employees, etc. but thats not the issue.

The issue is being prepared in advance for some kind of adversity. Making sure that the daily machinery of running a business is still active even though you may not be. Its ridiculous because 1 person is out of commission and the whole operation should go to pots! Thats the issue.

I am just as sorry for Chris as you are, but the daily operations must continue to run smooth or provide the refunds, and shut down if it gets out of hand as it has. A smart operation should have a contingency plan. If you were in the fish business here in So. Fla. it would make sense to have a generator to keep you stock alive in case of a loss of power. You dont go looking for one after the power is gone. Its the same thing with a one man operation. Chris needs someone who can take the helm, continue to operate , write the checks, speak to the people, make decisions, etc.

Secondly look at the liability that Chris could become party to. If his people are incapable of keeping things running smoothly, then people dont get paid, refunds dont get given, and these problems turn out to be irreversible, and damages the good name that may have taken years to develop.
 
Excellent post Tom!!! Glad to see another neutral opinion here. Do you actually have a back up plan orgaized if you had a heart attack or something. Just curious as this seems to be the direction the thread is heading.

Zoo Supply said:
A business that I hopefully will keep making a living off of, so I Don't have to do any other work.

Not too many people can do it these days, too much overhead and competition to make very much money it the business anymore unless you are into high end morphs or are a large importer.
 
nicolai said:
Excellent post Tom!!! Glad to see another neutral opinion here. Do you actually have a back up plan orgaized if you had a heart attack or something. Just curious as this seems to be the direction the thread is heading.



Not too many people can do it these days, too much overhead and competition to make very much money it the business anymore unless you are into high end morphs or are a large importer.

Or just ripping people off!! :toiletcla
 
Enough already!!

Nicholas you reported Ian for calling you Nicki....pulease....I have seen more activity on this thread from you then any other member, even those who believed that they have been taken for a ride....Don't ya think that it's time to move on and let the actually staff at TSE (Glenn) defend their actions??

I do not think that Chris is a bad guy, I enjoy his post's and Chris I do hope that your health returns to you quickly. Take care and get well soon!!
 
jasballs said:
Or just ripping people off!! :toiletcla

How correct you are, there are way too many rip off artists preying on the reptile community these days, even a large amount from overseas coming after our money and animals here. I am glad though that no one on this thread was ripped off and everyone got there money back or their animals.
 
Just my two cents....

I just want to give my two cents, as I see this thread getting 6 pages longer a day anyway!

In my opinion, the best post I read in these 44 pages was Tom's. He is right, and I couldn't word it better myself. Its so unfortunate to see such a reputable business get a bashing like this, especially because of Chris geting sick. I don't know about anybody else, but spending 20 hours a day in bed is the best excuse I have ever heard for falling behind. I am not saying that it excuses it, but it definetly helps explain it.

As Chris said, the boys are doing their best to get everything caught up. If Fed-ex does only limit their packages they can ship out everyday, then that may explain a big part of it. Everyone has different opinions, and I guess it is just a matter of which side you are on. As Nicolai(terribly sorry if that is incorrect spelling, it is not intentional) has stated, nobody has been directly ripped off by TSE. Jason was given new snakes, and the deal was set right. But on the other hand, as Shrap was saying, not refunding the money is in their TOS, but waiting 6 months to receive animals isn't. IMO TSE should refund any money to people who want it back, considering the long waiting list.

In my opinion, this thread has carried on way too long, with everybody repeating the same thing in many instances (including myself on some things).

If I was in Chris's shoes, I would probably not be too concerned with shipping out packages either. After all, his health should come first. Hopefully, with Chris being in everyone's prayers (i know he is in mine every night :) ), Chris will be able to return soon and salvage his business and his reputation, whats left of it.

-Adam.
 
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