| Author | Subject: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) |
| Damon | Posted At 10:57:16 02/17/2001
About a year ago I purchased a Green Tree Monitor off of Pete. I got a chance to check out his facility. His facility look really nice and his animals seemed to be really healthy. I had never seen a Green Tree Monitor before then so my knowledge on them was limited to books, forums and pictures. I have kept various other indo monitors before that though so my experience with monitors was and is varied and diverse. Origionally he had two come in. One later died of an respiratory infection so he had one left. After checking it out and talking to him a little about it I decided to purchase it. When I got him home I set him up in appropriate conditions and tried to get him to eat. Four days later he died. I talked over my husbandry with Pete he stated that it sounded like I did everything right and he thought maybe it picked something up from the other one that had died. When I tried to work something out with him thats when things turned ugly. He was totally unwilling to work anything out and since then Weis reptiles have left a bad taste in my mouth. I do not think Pete is a bad guy so much as someone who does not know what customer service is. It is sad because I know he has Timor monitors every once in awhile but I will never purchase anything off of Pete again!!!!! Damon |
| robin |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 12:09:38 02/17/2001 i too had a bad experiance with pete, i was trying to buy a bearded dragon from him and everyone i talked to about it said to go to him, well everything started off really well, then when it came time to get the dragon i had picked out the price was aboout $100 more then the price we had talked about. i did get the dragon from him anyway becouse i had seen pics of it, but when it came in, it was the wrong one (i know this for a fact b/c the one i wanted was a male and this one was a female) i have heard alot of good things about him, but after dealing with him myself i would never refer him to anyone. |
| Mickey(TLK) |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 16:17:32 02/17/2001 I have made several purchases from pete, and have generally been pretty happy, but have also had a bad experience.I purchased a few (cannot remember exact # its been a while) young adult frilled dragons from him.They were supposed to be captive bred, but upon recieving them, it appered most, if not all of them were imports.They all survived (and sadly were later stolen) but were not what I ordered.I guess on the bright side one of them was the awsome ivory female I have (which he later said he thought from the picture may be a hypo aussie).So I guess I have mixed feeling about weiss.I have gotten the right sex on everything I ordered, and everything was shipped nice, and survived, but then their was the frilled deal.But all in all I still will and do do business with weiss if I needed to. As far as the monitor goes in the first post, Its not any of my business, and Im not trying to stick up for pete, but if you knew that one of the 2 he had had died, then It was a risk when buying the other one.That in no way makes up for youre loss, but it is also our resposibility as customers to be carefull with what we purchase.I personally will never buy animals that are sickly, or come from a group with sudden unexplained deaths (allthough you never know what youre getting sometimes.) Just my long rambling thoughts Mickey |
| Damon |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 17:57:38 02/17/2001 It was a lesson hard learned but a lesson learned all the same. I got to excited. That was my fault. |
| J&D Chameleons |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 22:54:14 02/17/2001 I haven't had any bad experiences, but one thing I have to agree on is his bad customer relations. I've been trying to contact him for about 2 months now, approx 18 messages by phone and god only knows how many e-mails, and I haven't recieved not one reply. If anyone knows of a really good solid breeder for some really hard to get color beardeds, please let me know, I am looking to ad to our own breeding stock, I'm looking for mostly sub adults. |
| Mickey(TLK) |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 02:08:41 02/18/2001 I will tell you I bought an adult female from him a little over a year ago, an orange one, and she was one of the most beautifull beardeds I had ever seen (as far as females go).Never did get to breed it because it was to big for my male, and then I sold all of my beardeds. But watch what you do if you deal with him. Mickey |
| clayton |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 15:55:45 02/19/2001 I bought a couple of beardeds from him that were supposed to be German Giants and they turned out to be normals |
| Bill Ryder |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 18:19:12 02/20/2001 Just wanted to say that a friend of mine knows Pete pretty well, and this friend doesn't deal with people that are not trustworthy and upfront. Though I have no direct exprience other then sending and receiving e-mails, I have a strong feeling that in case the problem is just being hammered with business. I can tell you from experience that when the volumes go up things get really hectic. This wouldn't help the end user other than at least to know that his intentions were good. I have a feeling this is what's going on though. And probably not warrenting the "bad guy" label without hearing his side. I'll write him and let him know of this thread... |
| Peter Weis |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 21:03:33 02/20/2001 Thanks for this opportunity to respond on your forum. Green Tree Monitors are for advanced keepers. They are know to be hard to establish. So buyer beware. In Damons case, he personally inspected the animal he bought. Giving a warranty for imported green tree monitors is more liability than I can accept for my business. In Damon's case, he wanted more in reimbursement than I was prepared to offer, he was the one that actually scutteled any chance for a resolution with his unresonable demands and unwillingness to accept any responsibility himself. Regarding frilled lizard, the ones from New Guinea had to be captive bred to be legally exported in 2000. I never had problems with their quality, not any more so than US captive bred frilled lizards. As for Giant German Bearded Dragons, as the original importer of them, I know their characteristics. I also know that unless given optimun care, they willnot reach their full potential. As far as my pricing on bearded dragons, I am an expert appraiser of their value, and regularly and have been for the past 10 years selling them for what I think they're worth. If customers request unusual animals they have to pay more for them. Also there is a seasonal fluctuation in pricing. As for answering emails, I do the best I can. I am much more motivated to answer a request for an animal I currently have for sale, and have to prioritize my answers to my many Emails. Customer service has always been an important part of Weis Reptiles, that's why I still have many repeat customers after 10 years in the business. Sincerely, Pete Weis Herpetologist Weis Reptiles |
| Damon |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 23:00:45 02/20/2001 You offered no reimbursment!!! I still have the e-mails. When I made an offer to you to see what you thought you got mad at me!! I also discussed everything I did for the GTM. You said yourself that It seemed like I did everything right and that it probably picked up an infection from the one that died. You refused any offers I made. I asked you to make one and you said you could not offer a warranty on your GTM and that you were not responsible. Since then I have succesfully kept Green Tree monitors and Black tree monitors with no problems!! |
| Damon |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 1 replies)
Posted At 23:28:11 02/20/2001 I take it back. I guess I just misunderstood you. I did not want this incident to turn out the way it did. I was upset that I spent money on a monitor that I was truely excited about and it ended up dying on me. I understand that you cannot offer any kind of warranty. Like I said earlier in this thread I got too excited and dismissed better judgement when buying the monitor. I do not think that you intended or caused any harm. I will no longer speak bad things about you. I also understand that this is you livelyhood and that you do try to provide the best service you can. I will not interfere with your livelyhood any longer. Also I should not have said your a bad guy. I just found this forum and it gave me a place to speak. I was more upset about loosing the GTM then I was about loosing the money. Sincerely, Damon Geiger |
| Mickey(TLK) |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 09:56:29 02/21/2001 Pete I will start agian by saying I have no ill will towards you, or the dealings we have had together.I also did not intend to imply that the animals you sold me were illegal, or bad animals.But I must state once again that you told me the animals were captive bred.I see that in your response that you mention that they were imported (I am assuming farm raised captive breds). This is also fine, but I will say that when you said to me that they were captive bred I was under the assumption that ment they were captive bred by you personally.This is exactly the point I am getting at. An imported farm raised animal, in my opinion is far different than a local captive bred ainimal (at least in my opinion).I have ordered many imported frilled dragons from people like burgandy, and bushmasters, to name a few.I feel that their is a strong distinction between theese animals, and US captive breds. Once again I will state publicly that theese animals did arrive healthy (as far as compared to normal imports) but not as healthy as some of the captive animals I have purchased from you.They also all survived, and did not have mites or parisites.So like I stated earlier I have mixed opinions on this deal.I do feel in a way that the animals were miss- represented, but I do not feel I was robbed.This could have been a complete missunderstanding on both ends, as a result of miscomunication.I have since done more business with you, and have been happy with our deals. Mickey |
| Chad Osborne |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 1 replies)
Posted At 09:44:58 02/26/2001 I don't want to say anything about what has prerviously been writen. I do however, feel a need to wright of my personal dealings with Mr Weis. I purchesed severial,6 I think, from him at a show in Columbia around October of '96. I would also like to say, I recieved no deal or price break. I payed $60 dollars apeice for my baby dragons. The next day one of my dragons died. Upon contacting Mrs Weis she told me it was just stress. Over the weeks that followed 4 more of the dragon died. Again I was told all of these were stress related. Eventually the Weises begain to refuse to take my calls. I was never offered any from of compensation from them. I debated for along time about writing this. I would only like the hobbiest who read this form to know of my experience whit Mr Weis. Chad Osborne |
| George |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 23:38:46 02/26/2001 I guess I am curious here. Does anyone know where Pete got his degree in herpetology? |
| chad osborne |
RE: Mr. Ryder (Currently 1 replies)
Posted At 20:49:00 02/28/2001 I Kept a few dragons prior to purchesing from pete. Mr Ryder I hatch and sold Many dragons in the last few years. The only problem I ever had a call about,was when one guy put a small dragon in with a larger one. I still replaced that animal eventhought it was not my fault. THE ANIMALS WERE SICK WHEN I GOT THEM. I know the deaths of those animals was not my fault. |
| Robert Hill |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy) (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 11:01:21 03/08/2001 To everyone involved in this string posting negative comments about Mr. & Mrs. Weiss: I have known the Weiss' for nearly five years now and have worked with them at shows off and on. They are both extremely personable and have more love for thier animals than most reptile dealers/breeders out there. The animals they have at shows are always in perfect health, and even if there are questions they have about the animals health, they will either not sell the animal, or make sure that the person buying is knowledgeable to deal with the problem properly. They spend more time than many other people informing a prospective buyer of the exact care needs of the animal they are interested in. Mrs. Weiss also spent alot of time on the phone helping me nurse a runt and sickly blue-tongued skink that I had not even gotten from them and I received calls to check on the little babies condition. How many people in this business will help you with an animal that you did not buy from them? They are also very busy people and cannot be expected to answer every e-mail or phone call they receive right away. I do not have near the amount of animals they do(yet), but I still cannot answer every e-mail and phone call inquiry I receive right away. Also, about the situation with Damon, I am not trying to put you on the spot anymore, but this is more for everyone else reading this. You did inspect the animal before purchase, and you were informed that the animal that came in with it had died suddenly. So I can fully understand Mr. Weiss not offering full compensation for the animal. Quite honestly, were I in the same situation, I would not offer a full refund either. And to Chad, if you believed that the beardies were sick before you purchased them, why did you buy them? I would never buy an animal or animals if I questioned their health, bottom line. And as far as not getting a group discount, you only bought six animals. That is not a large group by any means in my opinion. If you were purchasing 10 or more, then maybe I would understand you wanting a group discount. You have to look at it from a business point of view, though. If you had 50 animals on your table that you could sell all day long for $60/each, would you lower the price to $40/each for someone who just wants six at one time when you could easily sell each individual animal for $60? Hope I didn't lose anyone on that. There is no reason to call the Weiss' "Bad Guys"(or anyone for that matter) if you get excited and buy an animal that has the possibilty of being sick just so you can have it now, and it dies. I have had instances like that happen to me over the years, and I never have and never will blame the person that sold me the animals. It is not their fault I had to have it right then. Best of luck to everyone out their with their herps! |
| TOM TONE |
Re: Weis Reptiles (Bad Guy)
Posted At 19:48:12 03/27/2001 he sucks he sold me a baby frilled for $300.00 and told me i WAS GETTING A SUBADULT. |
| Jim Kirk |
Re: Weis Reptiles
2183.html Posted At 11:15:03 03/31/2001 The general rule in the United States is still "buyer beware." If you want a warranty from someone selling animals, you should discuss that during negotiations, not after the deal is done. If a seller gives a warranty, and then doesn't honor it, the buyer has a legitimate gripe. If the seller does not give a warranty, and the animal later dies, the buyer probably assumed that risk by making the purchase without a warranty. I think all states recognize an implied warranty of merchantability, but that is not going to help a buyer in most cases -- reptiles generally are going to be considered "merchantable" if they appear healthy at the time of sale. Most states have consumer protection laws that might apply. If there have been false representations, those laws may provide a remedy. There also is old fashioned "fraud," but that is difficult to prove. Recovery based on negligence also might be possible, although the standard of care for reptile sellers probably is not all that high in the current market. The smart thing for a buyer to do is to ask for a warranty. Sellers who give warranties generally will back them up. Keep in mind there are many unknowable risks in buying and selling reptiles, and sellers often have legitimate reasons for not giving warranties for particular species. The fact that a seller is not willing to give a warranty does not necessarily mean there is anything wrong with the seller -- you might just be dealing with a risky species. If you get a warranty, be sure the terms are clear. Is there anything you must do or avoid doing to keep the warranty valid? How long does it last -- is the seller warranting live delivery, survival for 10 days after delivery, or what? Will the seller provide a refund, a replacement animal, a partial refund, a credit against a future purchase, or what? Does the dead animal have to be shipped back to the seller as proof of death? Does the warranty extend to more than survival -- does the seller warrant sex, age, species, subspecies, variety, or morph? Written warranties are nice, just to avoid misunderstanding and to provide convenienct evidence of the terms of the warranty. If you can only get an oral warranty, try to get a competent witness to listen to what the seller says, and, for big deals at least, consider sending the seller a letter or e-mail confirming the terms of the sale, including the terms of the warranty. If the seller won't give a warranty, don't be too judgmental -- selling reptiles is still a risky business. Even without a warranty, at least you know exactly where you stand -- you might as well count on assuming the risk if the animals dies after you take delivery (unless you are inclined to and can invoke an implied warranty, one of the consumer protection laws, or some other legal theory to recover damages). Keep in mind that a seller's refusal to give a warranty might give you a wedge to drive the price down a little -- "Oh, no warranty at all - then how about sharing the risk a little by lowering the price?" Of course the seller may respond that the price has already been reduced to reflect the lack of warranty. The key to making a good purchase or sale is to understand all aspects of the transaction before consumating the deal. Find out what you can about the person with whom you are dealing. The buyer should take into account the warranty or lack of warranty in evaluating the price. Consider all factors in evaluating risk. The buyer should talk to disinterested experts, if possible. Once you agree on the terms of the deal, then live by them, and hold the other party to them. You generally will be much better off spending time up front making sure the deal is one you can live with, than spending resources later to pursue legal remedies for a deal you did not take the time to fully understand and evaluate. |