A breeder's rant...

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Since I am a "mean old gecko lady", sick with a horrible cold, and spent all afternoon in the hospital emergency room for heart problems, I came home to read my email and decided to RANT!!!

Why do people buy geckos from other breeders and then expect me to answer their questions and advise them on their care?

Why do people email me with photos of geckos they are thinking about buying asking my opinion on whether or not they should buy them?

Why do people call and/or email me to answer very simple questions that they are too lazy to look up the answers for?

Why do people email or call me several times a day for information that is easily answered in my numerous care sheets on the GGG website?

Why do people give me a hard time about the price I sell my geckos for? If you can find one cheaper, why don't they just buy it?

Why do people get upset when I won't sell them a gecko if they insist on using calci-sand as a substrate?

Why do people accuse me of padding shipping costs when I charge less for shipping than most breeders?

Why do people expect me to ship them a gecko when it isn't safe to do it, and then threaten to go over to Fauna and post a 'Bad Guy" thread because I refuse to ship in freezing conditions?

Why do people send hate mail if I don't answer their emails within 20 minutes?

WHY??????????

OK. Rant over. I would like to say that the vast majority of people I have done business with have been fantastic, and I couldn't be happier to place my geckos in their care. If it weren't for all of you, Golden Gate Geckos would not exist! Thank you all for your business and taking such good care of my babies. I truly appreciate being a part of this great community. Thank you...

 

[dprince]

Amen sistah friend!!

Most people are fabulous in our community, be it newbies or experienced breeders; the few "not so fabulous" can really get under the skin though. :main_angry:

 

[malt_geckos]

Marcia- You send us over a list of the people who are doing this and they won't be bothering you anymore... We have some guns and knowledge on how to use them....

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

LOL!!! I forgot a few on my list of 'rants'... (I know anyone who vends at a show can relate!):

Why do people spend 20 minutes at my booth picking my brain about leopard geckos, then go and buy a skinny $20 gecko from Reptile Depot, or from another breeder?

Why do people come back to my booth to show me the skinny $20 gecko they bought after taking up 20 minutes of my time?

Why do people buy a gecko from someone else at the show, and then bring it to my booth to ask me how to take care of it?

There. 2nd 'rant' done. Can you all tell I am very sick and in a really crabby mood?

Signed:
MOGL

 

[PacHerp]

hey marcia...
I'm so sorry to hear you're not feeling well, but everyone needs to rant sometimes, even the mean old gecko lady.

I hope you get to feeling better soon...

On and, your geckos are an absolute joy to my heart, and I feel your babies are some of my biggest and fattest geckos!!

Love you Marcia and I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[IndyLuckyLeos]

I agree whole heartly with the vending at shows comments. I hope you get to feeling better.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

Marcia, I don't think it's a good idea to let things like these get under your skin considering you went to the hospital with a heart condition. Some folks do things without putting a lot of thought into their actions, and there's not a whole lot we can do to change that. I hope you have a speedy recovery! Get Well Soon!

I've not bought a gecko from you yet, though I must admit I have been tempted several times! IMHO, your leos are at or below fair market value, so those accusations are completely unfounded.

To those that have felt it necessary to comsume Marcia's time, every question you could possibly dream up can most likely be answered on these forums with a simple search. Give your actions a little more thought prior to "acting out". :main_yes:

 

[preacherman]

Sorry you're not feeling well, Marcia. Hope you feel better soon! Sometimes I think breeding leopard geckos is a lot like having a permanent case of hemorrhoids.

 

[wilomn]

Why you ask? Silly Mean Old Gecko Lady. Because they can and because MOST folks want a deal.

Way back in the long ago, when I had a retail establishment that specialized in reptiles, people would do that to myself and my employees. They'd come in, hold a dozen different animals, take up hours of collective time, educate themselves and THEN go buy something from the fish store or petco because it was cheaper. Then these wonderful folks would come BACK to me and want to know why their new purchase wasn't eating and why it wasn't shedding and why why why.

I finally got to the point that before I would talk to someone about an animal I'd ask them where they got it. If it wasn't from me I'd tell them to go back where they made the purchase and ask their questions there.

The most frequent response to that was, "but you guys know so much more."

Then I'd wave and send them on their way, all the while wondering whether or not to throw the framing hammer under the counter.

 

[PaulSage]

I always like it when some of our very own GF members repeatedly email me with their breeding questions looking for advice so that they don't have to post their questions here and shatter their "I'm experienced and know all there is to know" facade... err, I mean reputation.

I'll gladly answer questions people email me if it's about a gecko that they've purchased from me. BUT, when I'm feeling charitable I'd rather donate money or volunteer my time to worthy organizations; I'm not in the business of helping other breeders sell their geckos or bailing them out when one of their customers has an issue or question that the other breeder is unwilling, unavailable or unable to answer.

Finally (sorry but this feels really good right now) If you can't write your own care sheet, perhaps you shouldn't be raising and selling geckos. I am still floored when I have people ask me if they can put my care sheet on their website, or if they can hand out copies of my care sheet with their geckos at shows.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I hope you feel better soon Marcia. I personally can't wait to buy my male tang from you. You are a great person but I will deny saying that too keep your MOGL image lmao. You have awesome geckos and love and care all of them. I know you have always answered my questions I have asked you. If you need some extra help are anything please feel free to call or email me. I would love too give you a hand .

 

[paulnj]

I just want to say that I love you Marcia:kiss:

I would make you some yummy chicken noodle soup if I was closer(universal cure for everything ), but the best I can do is send my love and hopes of you feeling better soon.

 

[dprince]

Marcia, feel better soon.

See, all these responses remind me why my license plate frame says "The more people I meet, the more I like my animals." :main_laugh:

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

You guys (and the geckos, of course) are what makes everything worthwhile. Thanks! Besides being sick and cranky, I think the couple of things that sent me over the edge for this "rant" were:

1. There's this guy who has never purchased a gecko from me, but was calling me for a month almost daily with questions about geckos he purchased from several other breeders. It went on and on. When he finally put up his own website (after calling me daily about that, too) I saw that he had copied MY caresheet and put it up on his site. He did not get permission, nor did he give GGG credit for it.

2. A guy has been bugging me for a few weeks about buying a juvie Coleonyx elegans male I have available, and felt that the price I was asking was too high. So, after a week he wanted info in the Coleonyx bogerti I have coming up for sale. He emailed me at 5:00 on Christmas Eve for photos. I was at my daughter's for Christmas, and I got back late Christmas night. I took photos the following morning and sent them to him. He emailed back and was upset that I did not respond to his request until the day after Christmas, so he bought a C. mitratus from someone else. Now, he expects me to advise him on it's care.

3. (The final straw) I got an email from someone with 3 photos attached of the same gecko. It was a nice SHT. Here is his email:

hello, my friend want to seel me this gecko. is it a morf? how much is it worth? shuld i buy it?

What would YOU guys do in this these situations?

 

[GeckoStud]

That sucks Marcia, I hope you feel better.

I can imagine it must be annoying to get all those questions from people who are more concerned about the price of the animal rather than its over all health and welfare. You are an inspiration to us all and from what I can tell must have the patience of a saint to deal with these people. Hope it all works out, I'm sure your geckos can cheer you up :main_thumbsup:

 

[paulnj]

You need to make a long polite email to send to people who send images explaining you are a breeder and don't like commenting on other's geckos, but have plenty for sale if they are interested.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

make a long polite email to send to people who send images explaining you are a breeder and don't like commenting on other's geckos, but have plenty for sale if they are interested.

It doesn't work in most cases. I found the 'delete' function worked VERY well for that one particular email!

 

[paulnj]

I have done that too

I had a person email me 4 times back and forth about a gecko on my site which went to others I have. The last email that person sent was " $150 shipped?". I don't sell SS trempers for $100, so I replied with " Save your money, you can't afford a SS tremper right now" and blocked their email account.

 

[dprince]

What would YOU guys do in this these situations? ***I cut and pasted this sentence first so it would make more sense*****

1. There's this guy who has never purchased a gecko from me, but was calling me for a month almost daily with questions about geckos he purchased from several other breeders. It went on and on. When he finally put up his own website (after calling me daily about that, too) I saw that he had copied MY caresheet and put it up on his site. He did not get permission, nor did he give GGG credit for it.

I would email him and tell him he did not have permission to use my caresheet and ask him to take it off his site. If he doesn't, I would advise him that an informative thread (not bad guy) will be posted about him on fauna.

As somone else said earlier, if he calls or emails you again about the geckos, redirect him to the person he bought them from. State that you will be happy to answer any questions about geckos purchased from you.

2. A guy has been bugging me for a few weeks about buying a juvie Coleonyx elegans male I have available, and felt that the price I was asking was too high. So, after a week he wanted info in the Coleonyx bogerti I have coming up for sale. He emailed me at 5:00 on Christmas Eve for photos. I was at my daughter's for Christmas, and I got back late Christmas night. I took photos the following morning and sent them to him. He emailed back and was upset that I did not respond to his request until the day after Christmas, so he bought a C. mitratus from someone else. Now, he expects me to advise him on it's care.

I would state that I was out of town for the holidays, and responded as fast as you could. I would again redirect him to the person he bought the gecko from.

3. (The final straw) I got an email from someone with 3 photos attached of the same gecko. It was a nice SHT. Here is his email: ****hello, my friend want to seel me this gecko. is it a morf? how much is it worth? shuld i buy it? ****

I might just delete that one. :main_no:

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Debbie, that is exactly what I did for each case, although as crappy as I feel it wasn't the first course of action that came to mind, LOL!

These are only a few examples of this kind of stuff. I spoke to another breeder friend this morning on this subject, and I liked his idea of creating '900' toll phone number for calls relating to information on geckos purchsed from other sources!