Customer service??

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

customers should be understanding as well.

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In the nearly 6 years I've been running my own businesses, there's one absolute I've learned: customers are rarely understanding.

One unique aspect of ball pythons are the fundamental differences between this business and most other businesses. This business tends to function as a hybrid of hobby and business (with varying degrees of preference towards one or the other).

I tend to think that's exactly what makes this business both unique AND amazing. However, as this industry pushes closer and closer to the retail market, the most successful are going to be those that understand how to balance the two. The hobbyist pours their soul into the work they love, the business person allows that love to flourish and (hopefully) profit.

As much as pushy customers, and lack of sleep can be frustrating, the very fact that you love what you are doing gives you a hand up on the overwhelming majority of people in the world ;).

Sorry about the rant :D.

To quote the estimable Warden Martin (and Luke), "What we got here is a failure to communicate." :)

I think the main problem I have with the breeder's response was the phrasing... I don't know if he was just trying to push Josh into buying right then (by hinting that the snake may not be there tomorrow), but it was a mistake IMO.

Even if the breeder had no intention of snapping any photos, it would've been better if he just said he was very busy/out of town and would be able to take some on whatever day he actually could (or, as another poster mentioned, just not return the email until Monday- I'm sure you don't get a response back from a huge breeder within hours normally). It was not necessary to hint at Josh's possible loss in the process.

As for deposits, I think the whole point is that Josh wasn't ready to put down money on the snake without seeing more of it. Don't most breeders have non-refundable deposits? If the snake is 4K they would probably want $400-ish to hold it.

Whatever happens next, the breeder should've treated it like a serious inquiry and either told him up front when he would get his pics (not saying he should rush, but tell the customer WHEN they'll get service if you can't give it immediately) or held off on responding until he had time to handle it properly (I prefer option 1). :)

Just the :2cent: of someone who has dealt with literally thousands of businesses. :)

Excellent post!

I think the seller could have worded his response a bit differently, but quite honestly there have been some amazing posts here.

Yes, I have really enjoyed following this thread!

Just thought Id let all those who have been following this thread I have choosen a different breeder and I'm kinda glad I got shunned by the other guy bc I found a better looking clown. I'll be getting some more pics of her sometime today and hopefully Ill have her sometime this week... Little birthday present for me!! (23 on October 30th)

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

Just thought Id let all those who have been following this thread I have choosen a different breeder and I'm kinda glad I got shunned by the other guy bc I found a better looking clown. I'll be getting some more pics of her sometime today and hopefully Ill have her sometime this week... Little birthday present for me!! (23 on October 30th)

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Well that's good news Josh. Congrats!

Look, I used to (as a side hobby) breed some rarer dwarf and rift lake cichlids. It was not uncommon to have up to a dozen daily inquiries depending on the type of fish.

Let's say out of those dozen inquiries, four wanted photos of the individual fish and eight were interested in buying without the photos. I'd tell the four straight up that the representative pics in my ad were all I had and that when I had the time, I would take some addtional photos of the actual fish they wanted. I would be up front in saying that in the meantime, if someone came along who paid for the animal - it was sold.

Does that make me a scumbag? I'd like to think not.

Does that make the person who wanted photos unreasonable? Definately not. Although it is much more difficult to take individual photographs of dozens of apistogramma fry and telmatochromis dhonti than a few young snakes......

All it means is that the first person to plunk his money down got the fish. If after a couple of days I had no other offers and was able to post some pics to satisfy those who needed to see the exact fish in question - well good for them.

I've bought most of my snakes on line, and I did not and would not buy them without pictures of the animal. If however, the breeder was able to sell the snake to someone willing to buy it sight unseen - I understood.

If someone is planning to make a business selling snakes, they should invest an evening into photographing and labeling each snake for either their website, their ad or just for e-mailing to potential customers.

I'm actualy fairly certain I know the breeder who this was started about and the one you went to. Both are very nice looking clowns.

If it was my money to be spent and I felt that the seller ( of anything not just snakes) was blowing me off or not making any attempt to acomadate my inquiry I would bid him adieu and vote with my feet. And it is for that reason that the seller should be willing to make the effort to close the deal. I would not be angry, I would just be gone

The breeder I went with is Cory at Bradford Cole... I dont think hell mind me throwing out his name bc the female clown he produced is real nice!!... I'll leave the other breeder out for you to guess:)... Could have been a 1 time occourance with him and hes usually on his game or whatever. I'm not gonna put his name out there bc I dont think its anything major and Im not that kind of person... It just didnt work out for me... Hopefully it was just a 1 time thing... Should have this girl paid off early this week and hopefully snuggled in her home before the end of the week... Pics as always:)