The following email was posted to a parrot internet mailing list and is
reproduced here to show how serious the business/hobby of bird breeding
can become. It also contains some good advice for propective parrot
purchasers. The language gets quite emotive and the accusations quite
damning. Although the writer is obviously upset and perhaps angry I did
feel some pity for the poor birds involved (the innocent victims) when they
were described as 'inferior' and a 'pile of crap'. The use of these
descriptive words probably reflect the disappointment of the purchaser
and looking at his web site (listed at the bottom of the article) shows he
is a responsible bird breeder.
Enjoy...
From ringneckman@rare-ringnecks.com Tue May 25 12:37:43 2004
From: "Rare-Ringnecks"
To: "Saved"
Subject: ***Dirty Laundry & Crooked Bird Brokers***
This is not an advertisement to sell you anything.
This mail will warn you who not to buy from. I am forwarding this to
several of you who have visited bird sites as potential owners of pets,
bird breeders, and or bird brokers. Like the song says "PEOPLE LOVE DIRTY
LAUNDRY". While it is a given fact that I have lost time and money from
these individuals, which I really don't care if I ever recover the money,
if I can save just one of you from falling victim to these slim bags then
it has not been in vain and we are on the way to removing scum like this
from the industry. I also have all the proof in emails and from people who
helped me prove this scandal so I am not worried. Here is a small summary
of what happened to me on 2 pair of birds from the same two individuals at
the same time. They would have never got me twice if one of them hadn't done
business with me for some time and considered him a friend. Well here is the
story for you to make up your own minds.
I first met Charles Collins through my brother who has bred birds for
several years. I had a very successful business that year and was looking
for was of investing my money other than the stock market which was very
unstable to say the least. I had talked with Charles and how his business
with the birds was and it seemed to me to be a safe investment to take a
gamble on. I bought my first pair that day which was a low end pair but
they were very nice and not expensive so I took them home and set them up.
I checked the internet over the next several weeks and indeed found that
seemed to be a very stable market here so I decided to open the throttle
and buy more pairs. The first pair I bought was a grey cock and a blue hen.
They went right to next and gave me 4 eggs all infertile so I pulled them.
The next time this pair gave me 3 eggs of which 2 were fertile. The next
pair I bought was a Cinnamon turquoise grey hen and a turquoise cock.
Really nice birds. I also had purchased a dark green cock bird which
was killed by the blue hen I bought and Charles did sell me another one at a
discounted price since I paid so much for the bird. I then bought a
Cinnamon turquoise cock and then a proven breeder pair of blue lacewings.
I also at some point bought a cinnamon blue cock. Our last deal together
was I bought another dark green and a blue hen that I always liked. As you
can see I had done business with this person and thought and considered him
a friend. Well don't ever trust bird brokers or you just might end up where
I did. Now on to the good stuff...
I received a call from Charles Collins one evening telling me of some
very nice birds that became available due to the untimely death of Mr. Gordon
Hayes and that I should not pass up the deal if I wanted to be at the top
with the big breeders. I was informed that a Milford Johnson of Louisiana
was going to pick up the birds from the widow of the late Gordon Hayes and
was told that there were 2 pair that I should buy. A breeder pair of
cleartails, consisting of a Blue Cleartail hen and a Green Cleartail cock,
and a proven pair of violets that had produced 2 young that season. I was
given the price and hit the net to find prices and I did. I found that the
cleartails at the time were worth about $7500.00 and I was told they wanted
$4500.00 for them and agreed right away on that deal. I did the same search
on the violets and found them at $7500.00 each on several sites but didn't
think that was a good deal as they wanted $12,000.00 for that pair so I said
I would hold off for the time being. Charles and had several conversations
over the next week regarding the pairs of birds. I only took enough money
to buy the one pair as that was all I had intentions of buying. On the
Saturday we were to go to Louisiana I let Charles know I only had enough
money for one pair with me. We arrived and met with Milford and the birds
look beautiful so I have Milford the $4500.00 for the first pair and looked
at the second pair. They were very nice looking birds and we talked and it
was agreed that I would take the birds and pay $4000.00 per week until paid.
It was also agreed that the birds would stay at Charles Collins house until
the birds were paid for. I took my paid pair home at set them up and could
not believe how beautiful they were. Well right away I started calling
Charles and asked him if I was really getting what I paid for. I was told
Milford had no reason to lie to me. I started getting calls from Charles
daily that Milford wanted his money. I told him we agreed on 3 weeks and
that was the best I could and would do.
Over the next few weeks I questioned Charles about the deal and was told
not to worry Milford had no reason to lie. Well I did on the 3rd week pay
the last $4000.00 and took the birds home. I mean they were breath taking
but something bothered me inside bad. I watched all of my pairs and this
pair and something just didn't seem right. I had met Mr. Hervis Levine at
a bird show and let him know what I had bought and we talked and he game
me the name of another individual to speak with. A Mr. Kent Benton of
Louisiana.
I asked Hervis if he could come buy and look at the birds and he told me
he was too busy. I called Kent and he asked me if I could get him pictures
of the birds and right away after looking at the pictures he told me what
were my fears that the birds looked good but one of them was very young.
I was told that Charles after being in the business as long as he had knew
the birds were not a breeder pair. I Called Charles and I told him I didn't
think I got what I paid for and he again assured me that Milford had no
reason to lie. Well now I really started calling Hervis to come look at
my birds and he was able to do so. When he got there he told me one of
the birds looked young. We caught the bird and sure enough the breeder pair
turned out to be an unbanded hen and a 1 year old cock bird. I called
Milford Johnson and let him know what I found and told him I was getting
the damn birds DNA sexed. It wasn't long after that I got a call from
Charles wanting to know what it would take to make the deal right. I was
offered a 3rd bird to keep me quiet. For all purposed I decided to take the
3rd bird, a violet, and wait till the bird was in hand to start any trouble.
I called Gordon's widow and was told that she didn't know anything but the
hand feeder could help me. Well I hit pay dirt as the hand feeder, Donna
Crosley was all the help in the world. She proved to me by band number
that the bird was from Gordon Hayes and gave me the band number of
the brothers and sisters of this bird and told me Milford had picked up
and taken back the breeder pair and 3 young. I then called Charles and told
him which bird I wanted to make sure I at least was getting one of Gordon
Hayes birds. I kept a very low profile until the bird was in hand and just
waited to put the word out on these dishonest slim bags. My day came and
bird was in hand and all hell started breaking out. Charles had said and
agreed that I did not get what I paid for and all seem good when I took
the 3 bird and said I was happy until I went back to Louisiana and Kent
Benton started me up again. Well this statement couldn't be further from the
truth. I let my friends know I would be quiet until I got the bird and all
hell would break loose. Well that is just the way it happened. I know one
thing they never expected me to bring so much heat on them and funny thing I
have only started and now you will see why I am back at it again. My pair of
leartails have mated 2 times and never one egg. I started 2 months ago trying
to find the breeders of these birds well and once again my internet savvy
has saved the day as I tracked down the green cleartails breeder as Willie
De Herdt from Belgium and here is what he told me in his own email.
20/5/04
Dear Sir
The parents of this bird are : Turquoiseblue/Cleartail/Lutino cock X Grey-green clairtail/Blue hen.
This bird has certainly nothing to do with Gordon Hayes birds.
I sell a lot of ringnecks, therefor I am not 100% sure when and to whom I have sold this bird, but I think that I sold it together with other Cleartails late 2002 and mostlickely to Milford Jonhson.I can remember that I have sold them all unsexed.
Last year I have sold the parents of this bird, only because I has found out that the cock was split in Lutino, what I don't knew before last year.
I hope that I have helped you herewith?.
Maybe you can help me too? I am looking for an U.S. magazine others than Bird talk, in which it should be possible to put some of my birds for sale, mainly my Pacific parrotlets mutations.
Of course they can be put for sale in Bird Talk too, but the only problem is that they need the add 4 to 5 months in advance, which is much too long.
Best regards.
W. De Herdt - Belgium.
So now as you can see it is assured I got taken on both pair of birds
as this bird being possible split to ino messes up the who ideal of putting
with good stock as you will produce inferior young. Charles Collins has
always said in order to produce the birds I wanted I would have to come back
to him to buy from him. Now I see what he meant as he knew that they sold me
a pile of crap, why else would he say that. I have also found the area where
the breeder of the blue cleartail is from and await word from them. Now I
have plenty of true statements and articles to prove what I say is the truth
from trust worthy breeder not brokers. As you can see dealing with these 2
individuals will only cause you grief and loss of your hard earned money.
It is my goal to bring both of them down as to not be able to screw other
innocent non suspecting new comers to this fine industry.
Just in case you haven't got the message here it is in plain English.
Don't buy from Charles Collins or Milford Johnson as you will get screwed
plain and simple.
Here are some tips that will save you time and trouble. When looking
to buy birds from breeders or brokers always make sure the bird has a leg
band on one of its legs. Here is a simple rule to go by No Band = No Buy.
The reason this is so important it tells you who bred the bird and how old
the bird is and in my troubles it helped me locate the breeders and find out
just how bad I did get screwed. Some Brokers cut the bands off of the birds
to hid this information so you can't find this out so remember No Band =
No Buy . Bands to stay away from are as follows Charles Collins uses CLC
so any band with these initials keep away from as you have no ideal of what
you are really buying. I don't know what Milford Johnson uses but I will
post on my site as soon as I find out.
My site is at http://www.rare-ringnecks.com
and check out more on crooked bird brokers.
Thank you for your time and I hope I have saved many of you from the
grief that I have had to go through dealing with these slim bags. Stick
together and we can get them out of here and start cleaning up the bird
industry.
I might also add here that if anyone who is receiving this email has
done business with one or both of these brokers and came up on the short
end of the stick I invite you to take part in a class action law suit.
A judge and court will not listen to one of us but if we fight it together
we can really make some head way. I will say this. If we win how ever many
of us there are after legal fees we will split evenly. If we don't win
anythng then I will pay for the lawyer out of my pocket. You have nothing
to lose and maybe some money to gain but most important we will stop anyone
else from falling victum to these and other brokers just like them.
The transmission of this email was sent in accordance with the Can Spam
Act of 2003 Section S.877 and all removals will be honored. The source
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Charles W. Adams
Rare-Ringnecks
ringneckman@rare-ringnecks.com
Rare Ringnecks Web site