Customer service??

[jhall1468]

While I understand why everyone has been a little hard on Josh, I'm going to toss the other side of the coin.

Running a breeding business is STILL a business. I realize we all have lives outside of work, but if you don't plan on those occasional long days/nights, then you really shouldn't be starting a business in the first place. Being "busy" is no excuse for poor customer service. I'm not sure whether the account is accurate, but assuming it was, it was completely unprofessional.

Look, this industry has many faces. Businessmen, snake lovers, businessmen & snake lovers, riff raff and everything between. A lot of people like to push really hard that this is a hobby. I agree, however, the moment you sell your first snake, YOU should be treating it like a business, even if the IRS doesn't.

Again, I don't know the accuracy of the situation Josh described, but I DO know at the end of the day, the folks who love what they do AND they treat it like a business instead of a favor to those around them, are going to have a lot more success in this industry.

[Brimstone111888]

I see where people are coming from here. He may have a big show and he may have a full time job, but honestly you make time. That is where poor business background comes into play. Customers are the only thing keeping you in business, so you make every move to please them. He asked for pictures, not records, not weight or anything extensive.

To pull a snake out, take pictures, and upload them, it takes maybe 15 minutes MAX. You make 15 minutes. Period. Stay up 15 minutes later at night to get it done. $4,000 isn't anything to sneeze at.

I hope my life eventually comes to the point where $4,000 for 15 minutes worth of work, is a waste of time.

The way Josh put its "These are my competitiors", that makes me feel very confident for the future, for myself.

[frankykeno]

He has time

Actually you can't state that as fact, Josh, that's your assumption of someone else's life and time allowances.

Your telling me you wouldnt?

I'm not telling you anything and especially not about what I might do if I had a snake worth 4K and a huge collection to deal with everyday as well as whatever other issues any adult has on their plate each day. I can't tell you that because that's not my experience and I don't make snap judgements outside of what I actually know. What I might do is easy to say....what I will someday do if faced with this situation...I'm not sure...ask me when I have a 4K snake for sale LOL.

Nobody said you should send anybody 4K until you're absolutely comfortable doing so. What it takes you to get to that level of comfort is between you and whatever breeder you go with. All I said was that without any money on the table (deposit, etc.) there is no deal, no contract and no agreement. It's his snake and he can sell it to you, take it to a show or give it to Bob down the street if he really wants to. It's your money and you can spend it as you see fit.

Since neither you nor the breeder have reached any sort of agreement, it's really just two guys talking about a snake at this point - at least in my mind.

[juddb]

While I understand why everyone has been a little hard on Josh, I'm going to toss the other side of the coin.

Running a breeding business is STILL a business. I realize we all have lives outside of work, but if you don't plan on those occasional long days/nights, then you really shouldn't be starting a business in the first place. Being "busy" is no excuse for poor customer service. I'm not sure whether the account is accurate, but assuming it was, it was completely unprofessional.

Look, this industry has many faces. Businessmen, snake lovers, businessmen & snake lovers, riff raff and everything between. A lot of people like to push really hard that this is a hobby. I agree, however, the moment you sell your first snake, YOU should be treating it like a business, even if the IRS doesn't.

Again, I don't know the accuracy of the situation Josh described, but I DO know at the end of the day, the folks who love what they do AND they treat it like a business instead of a favor to those around them, are going to have a lot more success in this industry.

agreed. Like i said before. If he has this snake up for sale and somebody is interested but is still taking the snake to the show to sell, what sense does that make....

[jhall1468]

I'm not telling you anything and especially not about what I might do if I had a snake worth 4K and a huge collection to deal with everyday as well as whatever other issues any adult has on their plate each day. I can't tell you that because that's not my experience and I don't make snap judgements outside of what I actually know. What I might do is easy to say....what I will someday do if faced with this situation...I'm not sure...ask me when I have a 4K snake for sale LOL.

Well that's an interesting position to be in. I can tell you one thing, I've ran a number of businesses in my lifetime, and I can say, there were multiple nights I went without sleep to get the job done. Some were $4000, some were $200, but I did what I had to.

Faced with losing an hour or two of sleep, or losing a potential sale, I can honestly say I would take the former and that isn't a snap judgment, it's based on experience . In fact, we've all faced that type of situation from time to time.

Sure as my success continued I could be more picky about the jobs I selected, but man, no matter HOW well I did, I never got a $4000 offer for less than one day of work (let alone a couple of hours). But I can assure you, it wouldn't have been turned down .

[JoshJP7]

I can say he HAS 5 mins bc he does... so do you and so does everyone... Whether or not you choose to MAKE that 5-10 mins available is your call... My analogy was waking up early...Jeff said spend an extra 10 mins at night... Either way he didnt say "im leaving in 3 mins dont have time"... it was "im leaving at 2pm".... well my email was at 7 this morning.... you cant find 5-10 mins in 7hrs? Justin brings up a good point... its still a business and needs to be handled like one... I guess if people are banging down your door for a 4k snake then you can do whatever you want but i highly think thats the case.

Juddb - Cant agree with you more... Hmm make the 4k right now or blow it off hoping someone will buy it at the show?

[Brimstone111888]

Well that's an interesting position to be in. I can tell you one thing, I've ran a number of businesses in my lifetime, and I can say, there were multiple nights I went without sleep to get the job done. Some were $4000, some were $200, but I did what I had to.

Faced with losing an hour or two of sleep, or losing a potential sale, I can honestly say I would take the former and that isn't a snap judgment, it's based on experience . In fact, we've all faced that type of situation from time to time.

Sure as my success continued I could be more picky about the jobs I selected, but man, no matter HOW well I did, I never got a $4000 offer for less than one day of work (let alone a couple of hours). But I can assure you, it wouldn't have been turned down .

Glad someone else understand the importance on Business Skills, as well as customer service.

Another observation. If a lot of breeders don't have good business skills and they are in business, they need to get educated. Ignorance isn't an excuse.

[MikeC1212]

Why are people standing so strong for this breeder? (You don't even know who it is.)

I think it's simple. Josh made a serious inquiry, ask for some pics, then got put on the back burner. This guy treated him like he didn't need his business and that's offensive to a buyer, obviously. As the BUYER, you don't care if he's busy or not. I wouldn't care if he has 8 rugrats destroying his house and he's busy watching them do it. He put up adds that say: "I want to sell this." so when somone comes along and says: "I'd like to buy that." He should be figuring out how to make it happen.

Totally disagree with the time it takes for the pictures. I hate getting pictures that were set up with perfect light/photoshop and all that it takes to make the snake look like something it's not. As long as it's not with a cellphone, I'd be happy (again, as a buyer) with a picture taken under a light from the kitchen with the snake in hand. The snake doesn't always cooperate? This isn't America's Next Top Model.. just take a picture, the snake doesn't have to give Blue Steel to look good.


"IMO" 2 people on here making sense, their names start with jhall and juddb. lol

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I dont care how busy you are, if you have time to put your snake up for sale then you should have time to provide info on that snake for potential buyers.

Consideration, manners, respect, being understanding and patient work both ways.

Usually when you have your own business you plan one day to clean snakes (and some will have to be cleaned again as they go) one to feed, one to clean rodents, one to feed rodents, and one when you will take pictures place adds and update your website and I am not even covering shipping data keeping etc and of course for some this is on the top of whatever else you might HAVE to do such as work, family etc.

Expecting people to drop everything they are doing for YOU is very inconsiderate in my opinion if you cannot wait 24-48 hours for the breeder to make time to take a picture and email it too you I guess you can take your money somewhere else if that is the case however claiming it is bad customer service or as you said a "scumbag" is just plain wrong.

I wonder have you ever run a small business on the top of having a regular job and juggling with your family obligations?

[frankykeno]

I wouldn't say I'm standing strong for this breeder or bashing on Josh. Personally having only one side of a story and no knowledge of what sort of buyer Josh is or what breeder he's not happy with, I don't think I personally know enough to form that opinion.

All I am saying is we don't know if this breeder thought Josh was a serious buyer or had made a "serious inquiry". I'm not comfortable with members saying a breeder, named or not, is "scum" because of one incident, with one buyer that we only have one side of the story on.

What I am trying to do with my participation in this thread is suggest that there are two sides to every story, and present some reasons that this breeder might not have immediately complied with Josh's request for more pics.

As far as the "interesting position" Josh, I will simply not make a statement of fact about what I would do given a situation I've never been in and have no real knowledge or experience in the dynamics of the situation. For me, that's an assumption and I don't use assumptions when talking about anyone or their reputation for customer service.