Upstate Exotics

[Darin Chappell]

Adam,

I don't think anyone is going to "trash" you for saying that you had a good experience with Upstate Exotics. I'm sure we're all glad (for your sake) that things went as well as they did. However, I think this single event in the face of all of the negative experiences that SO many others have had is expressed well by the following:

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then!

Thanks for posting honestly about an actual deal with them. I certainly wish all of their deals would go as well, but I'm not holding my breath!

 

[MissHisssss]

As an after thought....

With all the negative input about Upstate Exotic's, who's to say that they didn't have a family member or a friend say something positive about them.

Michelle Franklin.

 

[sputnik]

With all the negative input about Upstate Exotic's, who's to say that they didn't have a family member or a friend say something positive about them.

If that's the case, they are going to need a very *BIG* family to try and counter the bad dealings they produce!

They might wanna start adopting too! LOL

 

[sunbakedherps]

Well I am not a family member of Sal and Alison but after all the business I have done with them, I would have to say they are my friends. I have been dealing with them for quite some time now. I live about three hours from them and often drive down with my wife and kids to check out all the animals and pick up more stock. I have bought countless animals from them and have been perfectly happy with about 98% of everything I have bought. I usually pick up large groups of ball pythons,savanah monitors, tegus etc. and I have lost a couple here and there. I hand pick my animals from large groups, I also make sure to quarentine and worm everything when it comes in, regardless of where I purchase it. Every time I go to Upstate I always end up buying way more then I intend to just becouse Sal always has some awsome critters I have to get for myself. I recently bought a trio of hogg island boas that are awsome for $425 and a huge Blue Tongue Skink for $125. I thought that was a good deal. I missed out on a banded cape monitor that was incredible(too bad)
I am simpathetic for anyone who has had bad dealings with Upstate Exotics, I have been following the threads and understand everyones viewpoints. I just dont think it would be fair for me to keep reading all these bad guy posts knowing that I have had good experiences with them,and keeping quiet. Well good luck to all who are having problems and I hope everything gets resolved. thanks for listening to me. I have attached a pic of my boy and his Blue Tongue "lilly"(from Upstate)

 

[sputnik]

Corey,

I suggest you go out and buy yourself a lottery ticket as you one lucky, lucky, LUCKY guy!

 

[Wilomn]

Corey,when you can hand pick from large numbers you can almost always get really good ones, especially if you've been in the business for a while. However, how would you feel about them shipping to you what they thought were good animals?

Since you only buy from them what you pick yourself, I think that answer is pretty self evident.

And if people who like them, upastate exotics that is,will only hand pick their animals, that in itself speaks volumes for thier, again upstate's, reputation for quality. The rest of the general herping population are just S.O.L.

Wes Pollock

 

[sunbakedherps]

Wes, I agree with you 100% about hand picking animals. Obviously anyone would have good results if they hand pick their animals and avoid shipping too. Would I buy from them if I had to ship? Not without a huge battery of questions and requested pics, but I do that in all cases. I too have been burned over internet dealings and have learned to be very careful.
sputnik, I wouldnt call it luck,but more likely my experience with herps. I meticulously examine each animal and only buy animals I feel confident are healthy. As wes was saying, this is the benefit of hand picking. thanks again for listening

 

[sputnik]

If you had the same results with the animals, I would call it luck is what I meant by luck, sorry for the misunderstanding.

Hand picking helps eliminate a lot of problems. I wish I was in a position to hand pick a lot of what I get!

Have a good day!

 

[UpstateExotics1]

I just have a few things to say...

Adam, anytime..you're a great customer (NOT family...lol)

Corey....that picture is the cutestes thing I've ever seen. And for everyone, Corey has been here, he has seen our operation, so not only is he commenting on our animals, and the way we do business, but our facility also....he's not just some Joe Schmoe who has bought something over the interenet.

And one final thought...David P. Tracer (who purchased 2 baby yellow rats on June 19th)....we did the right thing by refunding your money (the $17.50 on the 20th)...without even asking for photo proof on the animal in question. And it was for 2 yellow rats, unsexed, so how could we possibly sex them wrong? Also, they were not for CB yellow rat babies....here is the auction info he won:

"Congratulations! This auction has successfully ended.
Item #1056001956 (2 BABY YELLOW RAT SNAKES)

Information:
Final Price: $35.00
Total bids: 4
Buyer User ID: Ophidiophile
Buyer E-mail: mailtophidiophile@*****.com"

Oh, and you say it's not a big deal...but why post on here then? Did we not remedy the situation? You purchased 2 unsexed NOT cb snakes from us, had a problem with one of them, was credited ASAP.....but you feel you must still come on here and post how HORRIBLE we were....yea real horrible, we never asked for proof, refunded you your money.....sheesh bad, bad people we are.

And again, this is just my opinion.....

 

[sunbakedherps]

I am sorry to bother everyone again but there were a couple other things I forgot to mention concerning Upstate Exotics. I have been working with alison from time to time on a website that she is designing and will host when it is all said and done. I cannot vouch for her web hosting ability becouse My site isnt up and going yet but judging by Upstates site and herpads.net I would say she will be able to handle my simple sight. I hesitated having her put my site together becouse I thought her advertized price was way out of my ball park but after discussing it with her, she gave me a VERY reasonable price and even offered to accept payments.
I have had great dealings with both Alison and Sal, I mainly deal with Sal when it comes to the herps becouse he knows right were everything is, how many he has, and when more will be coming in. He knows I dont like biters and is sure to steer me away from anything thats got a bad attitude. He always throws in freebies too! for example, last time he tossed me a pillow case FULL of coldpacks for free, countless turts and torts with b grade shells for free, I buy 50 ball pythons and he throws in 3 or 4 extras, then I guess I cant complain if I lose one or two. Sal shares the same love and inthusiasm for animals as me and I really respect that.
I dont want this post to be percieved as an attempt to cloud the waters or rebuild anyone's rep. Nothing I post is going to change the past and opinions nor is it going to justify others bad experiences. I was just rereading my original post and realized I didnt mention my experience with Upstate as a business,just there quality of animals.
So in conclusion, I have had good experiences with Upstate Exotics in all aspects of there business and am perfectly happy. Again, I simpathize for anyone having dificulties and I wish you luck. I would incourage anyone who lives anywhere near Upstates facility in New York, to stop by in person. Even if you dont ever intend to purchase from them, Im sure they would be more then happy to show you around. Not to mention, it is nice to know the people you are dealing with first hand. thanks for listening

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

Sal & Alison,

wooohooo you refunded the $17.50 for that customer. He even stated that you refunded the money for the one snake. Its good that you took care of THAT customers complaint. But why is you still refuse to take care of the other customer's compaints? When are you going to refund Tony's money? Why are you avoiding tlking to the B.B.B. when they tried to reach you regarding his refund? Do you guys need the money that bad to ripp off a customer and lie to them about the animal and then never refund their money? Below is a link to that thread for those who might not know about it.


http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17651&highlight=upstate+exotics

 

[Ophidiophile]

The animals I purchased on the auction were listed as unsexed however in our email exchange, I was told:

"If you win the bid, I can make sure they are 2 females.

Thanks!!!

Sal & Alison Tornambene"

Look Sal refunded the money on the missexed, kinked baby and I stated that. From a phone conversation, I understood that the animals were cb, and maybe I was mistaken on that. But my main point was simply that the animals sold were in poor condition, regurging, and positive for coccidiasis. I have a business too and would never sell animals in this condition. I have purchased other w.c. snakes before and have never received animals in this poor condition. Therefore I cannot recommend doing business with Upstate Exotics.

By the way, I did not start the thread here. I was simply giving my assessment of your animals from a first-hand, recent-purchase perspective.

That's my last word on the matter.

 

[ms_terese]

Sal & Allison, why do you keep shooting yourselves in the foot?

he's not just some Joe Schmoe who has bought something over the interenet.

If internet customers are a lesser being in your opinion, either take down your website or at least advise the people that buy online from you that they aren't as relevant as "in person" customers.

You've already posted that you don't care about what is said about you on the BOI, you take it as a joke. If that is your feeling, then let it be consistent.

 

[The BoidSmith]

David,

It is good that you got your refund right away. But I'm curious. From past transactions we have learned it is almost always a long process. Pictures (even vet reports) supporting the buyer's claims are almost always requested. Although we have to agree it was not a large sum, why was it that in your case a refund was issued right away? No questions asked. How did you approach the issue? Maybe we can learn something here.

Regards.

 

[Rob @ RK Reptiles]

Deeper & Deeper

I just love it that Upstate Exotics keeps digging themselves deeper and deeper with just about every post. They stated that they don't care about the BOI and that they are doing great, well this might be the case now but it takes a little while for it to show the effects and they will be seeing the results of their piss-poor attitude just as we have seen with other persons who have said pretty much the same thing and have the same attitude. If Upstate did not need the Internet sales they would not be selling on the Internet. Obviously their retail location can not solely support the buisness and they HAVE to sell on the internet. Nothing wrong with having to sell on the internet as it is the majority of my buisness. Why would they make comments to the point that the internet buyers are less than their retail purchasers?

he's not just some Joe Schmoe who has bought something over the interenet.

 

[sputnik]

Oh, and you say it's not a big deal...but why post on here then? Did we not remedy the situation? You purchased 2 unsexed NOT cb snakes from us, had a problem with one of them, was credited ASAP.....but you feel you must still come on here and post how HORRIBLE we were....yea real horrible, we never asked for proof, refunded you your money.....sheesh bad, bad people we are.

Pitty you didn't refund TONY his money, which is a question that you still have not answered because you can't answer it honestly?

Here is the link below for TONY, he never did get his money back!


http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17651&highlight=upstate+exotics

I guess the bad people you are is TRUE in every sense!

Kinda funny how they repond to some select questions when they say they don't care what is said.... obviously they do care or they wouldn't be trying to defend themselves.

Kinda one lie over lapping another, but you'd expect that from them!

I am personally glad I will never be ripped off by these pretenders!

I just love it that Upstate Exotics keeps digging themselves deeper and deeper with just about every post.

Rob, just throw them a shovel and watch dig!

 

[UpstateExotics1]

he's not just some Joe Schmoe who has bought something over the interenet.

You guys are taking quotes out of context......Corey was not a person buying over the internet..he came to our physical location. That's how the quote is to be used. It is not to say any of our customers are less important than the others.

Everyone keeps bringing up how we "screwed" all these people over. Which in all the other threads I've covered.

Diana Mason: lied....never had a sick emaciated animal....she tried selling it right after she posted the thread on us as a clean healthy animal...

Dallas Quarles: lied....the magical IBD disease in the columbians...which he had posted on Kingsnake as super clean and healthy babies....

Rosy boa: died weeks after she purchased it and was pissed b/c we didn't refund her....you ALL agreed that over that time span it was not our responsibility....

But, we're still wrong and still screwed all those people over....people please. It's like no matter what I do, it's never good enough.

Then we DO the right thing with a customer...by refunding him his money...and yet that's STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!

So now I have customers, who on their own, post here and I still get chewed. "oh they got lucky" "oh i'm surprised you did't get screwed" "oh they must be related".....I give up. I don't even bother having my customers post here for this reason.

Yes I take alot of this as a joke.....b/c no matter if the pope himself came here and said we did right by him....it would never be good enough for the BOI crowd.

I'm done.....

 

[sputnik]

And Tony's refund? Can't respond that one can you?

You have not honored that, but lied about all these other threads. You sold Diana mason an animal advetised as cb and yet it was a wc animal!

You guys must be working over time with that shovel, you just dug yourselves so deep with that last post loaded with lies and over lapping lies!

Congratulations!

 

[sputnik]

I forgot........ you say your done?

Does that mean with this thread or Fauna?

If so, I'm really going to miss you guys!

 

[ms_terese]

Whoa!

Rosy boa: died weeks after she purchased it and was pissed b/c we didn't refund her....you ALL agreed that over that time span it was not our responsibility....

Correct... the general consensus was that you shouldn't be held responsible for that. So you must admit that people responded to the facts in that situation, correct? Which would mean that

b/c no matter if the pope himself came here and said we did right by him....it would never be good enough for the BOI crowd.

isn't really accurate.

The quote about Joe Schmoe was not taken out of context. You stated that Corey's opinion was more valid because he came to your store. That's not true at all. Each customer should be able to judge your business on the quality of animals received from you. Because Corey saw your operation doesn't alter the fact that other people have proven they received misrepresented or poor quality animals. Because Corey hand picks his doesn't mean that an internet customer should expect to get "whatever". Every animal you sell should be of quality. Those internet Joe Schmoe's matter. If I go into a restaurant and get bad food, that isn't alleviated by someone else telling me the kitchen is clean.

Rehashing each allegation of a bad transaction doesn't resolve anything at this point, because it's too jaded. You'll point out the ones that proved not to be accurate, and others will point out the ones that were proved to be valid. It's the whole picture that counts.