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RE: Does anyone hate LLL reptile as much as I do?

Compnerd7,

A few things.  First of all - some of the things you say are cheap, pointless shots at someone you know nothing about (the owner). Some of your other points seem to have validity. So - let's address both.  You know absolutely nothing about the owner, or where he lives. And speaking like you do makes your post have less value. Keep that in mind when you talk about anyone or any business. Know the facts. The owner lives in a 1 bedroom duplex - and works about 80+ hours a week, traveling to most every reptile show in the country that we attend personally himself - because he loves the reptiles and the business. Donates large amounts to USARK, and taking his "vacations" to learn more about the animals as well. Your assessment is just dead wrong about him. He works harder than any employee, and really most anyone I know. Period. Don't speak like you have any clue what drives him, or who he is.

However - to your other issues. Every employee has their own opinions on how to care for reptiles - and I would argue that our employees all have their specialties (what drove them to get into reptiles in the first place).  But their general knowledge about every herp in the store is better than most any "reptile" store I have ever been in. We make sure of that. We encourage that. But they are not infallible. The Mission Valley store was our last store we acquired (previously another reptile store) - and it came with prior employees. We have really worked hard to change the attitude at that store, but I would say we are not 100% there yet as we are in our other 3. We will be very soon there... Customer service is our #1 priority - by far. You mentioned Menifee. Go in there and talk to the manager Jen. She (yes, she) will school most people on most reptile care (especially ball pythons - as she breeds high end morphs along with breeding some other crazy lizard and gecko species herself). And yes - she will argue it as well, as she has cared for such a huge variety. Elliot & Coop are not far behind (other employees at that store).  Jono (manager of Escondido) will do the same. His book knowledge is ridiculous and he has written articles for Reptiles Magazine. Loren (owner) is in Oceanside, and Nate (manager) is in Mission Valley, and Nate knows his stuff (and his tattoos, lol).  When you walk into our stores - our animals are 100% properly cared for - beyond the norm - and that is blatantly obvious. Trust me when I say - we care 100% about our animals, and our customers.

Now. Every human has a bad day. We have 26 employees. I am pretty sure one will have a bad day every day with 26 options. They are entitled to have a brain lapse sometimes as well, and are entitled to still learn about reptiles every single day. But to throw a blanket across the business just seems out of line - and as I said, your comments about the owner are so far off it is ridiculous.  This is the same guy who is currently on the Exo Terra expedition in Sri Lanka right now to learn more about reptile's native environments (see our facebook page for some absolutely awesome herp pics of never before seen stuff they have found, along with a huge selection of care videos, product videos and one on one talk with me and manager Jen from Menifee anytime).  This is the same guy (the owner) who just invested a massive amount of time, energy and money into a new 4000+ square foot, top of the line breeding facility so we can offer even more CBB than we currently do (2/3 of our animals are absolutely CBB) along with trying to breed stuff that has not been done before in the US. (see a few pics of it at our website)  We have built friendships through the years that allow us to buy from the top breeders in the country - in turn, we can offer the best (in our stores, and online).  You mention that we flip 80 ball pythons in a store per week?  So far from the truth. Even in "season" in a few months when babies are around - with the exception of Oceanside that ships all our reptiles across the country (that is right - the owner packs your orders personally when you order off our website most of the time so he can oversee the quality being packed) - our other stores will have 10 - 15 on hand a week.

Yes - we run a business.  Yes - we want to grow our business.  The fact that we can support 26 employees that have families and now children - is absolutely awesome. Doing a business that we love and have passion for?  Can't beat it. To dump on a business making money just doesn't make sense. We have not grown too big, but are always working hard to improve every detail, and every employee learns more every day. I responded to this to ask you to reassess your idea of us. If you use to like us, but have had a few recent issues - stop by and talk to one of the people I mentioned - and tell them your issue. Don't go in there looking for a problem. I promise - if you have an issue, or if you think the information is incorrect - discuss it (or PM me on this site with names and information so I can correct it) We are happy to try to correct things like that, but can't do so when someone doesn't say anything. If you care about the herps, and think something can be improved, then that would be the thing to do!  Customer service is our #1 priority. That is my point of this post. I take pride in where I work as do all our employees. And we would still take the time to give a full reply to a post like this around the net, as it deserves the reply. 

Hope some of this information finds you well.  Again - if you have any direct questions - PM me or stop by. If you are not local - hop on our FB page or call us anytime. Thanks guys/gals.

Scott

LLLReptile & Supply