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Top Shelf Exotics (Inquiry)

How does the Industry Fix this Problem?

Being an unregulated industry, the Reptile Trade has its drawbacks and problems. I would be the first to say that State or Federal regulations are not the answer. I believe that the solution may lie in an Association of sorts, self policing the trade.

We can see that thrusting problems like the ones with Chris/TSE out into the public eye has a very positive impact, but how do we nip these issues in the bud, before they get that bad?

Other industries such as Coin Collecting, and Sports Collectables have tried to find solutions to counterfeit and mis-graded items in the past, with less than stellar results. Grading businesses popped up overnight, and became hired guns, for their customers with high volumes. You could get the grading from them that you wanted if you could pay the price.

Any suggestions as to how we police the industry? How do we insure that the outlets available to us now are kept current and accurate? I wish I had more answers than questions.
 
Bob,
I think the BOI is how we police the industry. It's quite effective for the most part and there are many people who dig and dig to find the truth. This guy just managed to slip through. I think it was a 1 time deal. Everyones eyes have been opened and this won't happen again. There will always be small time scammers out there but I don't think we'll see a scam of this magnitude again. For the most part we're all telling the same story here, asked for pics, got jerked around, asked about parents, got jerked around, etc... How many people, after reading this thread, will send their money to someone who won't completely satisfy them and answer all their questions before a purchase? Regardless of their reputation I certainly wouldn't. -Chris
 
Bill, Derek has been very busy. He has sent out email updates as such to those of us involved, but there isn't any real "breaking news" at this point. If and when something substantial happens, I'm sure it will get posted here as soon as possible. The fact that law enforcement is very involved at this point is a BIG step, in my mind. But a LOT of it depends on those who have been ripped off.......there's a lot of complaining, but a lot of folks who still haven't taken the steps to get all of the needed information in either. Some have been great and have done above and beyond what is necessary.

Come on folks, let's keep this ball rolling!!! Get those depositions filled out and in! :)
 
Cat_72 said:
Bill, Derek has been very busy. He has sent out email updates as such to those of us involved, but there isn't any real "breaking news" at this point. If and when something substantial happens, I'm sure it will get posted here as soon as possible. The fact that law enforcement is very involved at this point is a BIG step, in my mind. But a LOT of it depends on those who have been ripped off.......there's a lot of complaining, but a lot of folks who still haven't taken the steps to get all of the needed information in either. Some have been great and have done above and beyond what is necessary.

Come on folks, let's keep this ball rolling!!! Get those depositions filled out and in! :)
Click to expand...
Ok Cathy.....Hang Um High
587.jpg
 
Bill, Cathy pretty muched summed it up. I have the names of a few highly recommended attorneys that could help us with the civil avenues. The criminal avenue is already being pursued.
 
Cathy,
I was not trying to offend or upset you and can understand about wanting to add another nail into Chris's coffin. Trust me if I thought it possible I would wanting to pound in a nail or five personally. It's in no way a good feeing that I was ripped off on money that I couldnt easily replace by a supposed reputible breeder.
Christine

I also have not heard back from Officer Brown yet. Could someone email the deposition form(s) so that I may fill it/them out and get them sent asap????
Thanks again for listening.
 
Christine,

PM me your email address, and I would be glad to forward the whole email from Officer Brown to you. There is the deposition form, and complete instructions on how to properly fill it out, and you must have it notarized and mailed back to him.

And no worries, you didn't upset me. ;)
 
Received

Thanks Cat but Shelly sent me the guidlines and the depo form yesterday. I'm going to try and get it filled out by tomorrow night and notorized and send Thursday.
 
Has anyone else gotten a refund on their credit card? Thanks to fauna and the BOI i was able to get a refund. And of course Bob England for starting this thread. I hope Chris@TSE gets whats coming to him. If the law does not get him karma sure will.
 
Something Different?

Has anyone tried to contact the local Buffalo or Cheektowaga news station? Some news stations love sensationalism like this, especially when it's one of their very own locals scamming people through the internet, and especially when it's being investigated by the local police. I am sure there might be a hungry reporter over there that would at the very least check out the story, and I'm guessing this thread on the BOI would be very interesting to them as well. Wouldn't that be embarrassing for Chris and his "Ex-girlfriend" to have a reporter in your face and your business to be made public!!! :hehe:

By-the-way, I would of tried earlier on to get my money back through the CC I used with my purchase from TSE but the CC I used was a Paypal debit card! Sucks big time!!!! I have filed disputes before through my CC's that were used through Paypal without any problems but this time I will not be getting anything. I have always said that Paypal is only for the merchant and not the customer and as a result I rarely use Paypal now! Unfortunately most of my customers prefer to use Paypal - if they only knew. I am sure with the mounting numbers of disputes that Paypal is having to deal with they are not going to help us or show any compassion. :uzi:

Just a thought,
David Gaithe
 
Paperkid said:
Has anyone tried to contact the local Buffalo or Cheektowaga news station? Some news stations love sensationalism like this, especially when it's one of their very own locals scamming people through the internet, and especially when it's being investigated by the local police. I am sure there might be a hungry reporter over there that would at the very least check out the story, and I'm guessing this thread on the BOI would be very interesting to them as well. Wouldn't that be embarrassing for Chris and his "Ex-girlfriend" to have a reporter in your face and your business to be made public!!! :hehe:
Click to expand...

Got 'er done. Local affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS. :uzi:
 
Is the media truly a good route? Bringing this to the medias attention will only cause them to look further into the reptile business and hobby. First they will look to See where he was able to get his "great" reputation, which will be here. Once here all these media folks will see how easy it is to order herps (especially venomous ones) on line and get them shipped to you. Which once out in the general publics view on TV and such they will start people to wonder if its in the best interest of the public to allow stuff like this. And you know what will happen next, you guessed it..more laws and bans across the board. You guys know very well everytime the reptile industry gets media attention, especially bad attention, nothing good results from it. So be careful what you do and what you wish for.
 
Yeah I can't imagine any good will come from bringing them into this. The News media wouldn't know the truth if it bit them ..Randy
 
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