Aver1724 IS ----------Aver5094 - Alex - please stay away

[purplejasminevn]

Im not defending him in any way and as far as I know there are only two of us on the forum that have dealt with him personally.

Looks like Alex has run afoul of someone again...lol This happens about every three months or so. His business practices have always been shady. And while its possible he may broker some birds he is also a breeder himself and is a relative of the Vera's in Cuba which are very respected Gouldian breeders in Cuba and worldwide. Doesnt make him though...

The only thing I have known him to do is plagiarize photos and get confrontational. I purchased birds from him twice about a year ago when I was first starting out and did not know of his exploits. The birds i got from him were healthy and have been very fertile. Producing very well with my locally bought stock. Would I purchase from him again? Probably not with what I know about him now. But if he makes good on his promise to have blue faced gouldians or lutinos this year then I may be tempted.

Does this make him a "ethical" seller...no. And while his name is all over the web selling birds Ive never seen a internet post saying "I've been ripped off by Aver5094....and I have searched.

As of his claims of having or having access to a rare breed or mutation It wouldnt surprise me at all as he has many South Florida and Cuban connections in the finch world.

You might have been lucky from getting good birds from him. I lost haft of what I got from him so far. Does not matter how good he wants to show the world but he has to lie about being a member of all kind bird club is something wrong there. Reputation is something we earned not to STEAL.
Things might come too easy for him and it will also leave him very easily. Just wait and Watch

Thanks for sharing the thoughts,

[okiebirds]

By all means please share your story. If you've been ripped off or have received bad birds then people deserve to know. We deserve to know about it. He's got a terrible reputation... I think we all know that by now... Im truly sorry about your loss.

It has been confirmed that he is a NFSS member. But thats easy enough to do. Just join and pay.

[okiebirds]

Found the thread...

[bugaboo5]

You might have been lucky from getting good birds from him. I lost haft of what I got from him so far.

Wow, you lost HALF the birds you got from him??? That's outstandingly ridiculous. I really feel for you. Your yellow hen that is twirling right now looks painfully miserable. I can't believe this guy would sell birds that are doomed to die. Shame on him.

[purplejasminevn]

You might have been lucky from getting good birds from him. I lost haft of what I got from him so far.

Wow, you lost HALF the birds you got from him??? That's outstandingly ridiculous. I really feel for you. Your yellow hen that is twirling right now looks painfully miserable. I can't believe this guy would sell birds that are doomed to die. Shame on him.

Lost one of each from Blue back, silver, white, yellow.... all kind.
First I was thinking Goulds are just fragile birds but now the more I dig in his Profile the worse I feel. I am sick in my stomach when ever I think about it. I am a very animal lover so it is hard for me to take in and I can take it so personally.

[finchmix22]

At least, these finches will get much better care with you than that you-know-what was willing to do for the finches. I wish people would not take any life so lightly. I pray your gouldian gets better or, at least, does not suffer. You're doing the best you can, so keep up the good work.

[Sally]

I think the lesson to be learned here is that any time you are not buying birds in person, you are at risk. If you are buying birds from craigslist, hoobly, any of this type internet sales site, you may not know anything about the seller at all. Though there are many honest sellers out there, this type of transaction makes it very easy for the dishonest seller to operate. You email the seller, he gives a song and dance about how beautiful his birds are and what wonderful care they receive, you send the money, and then you get the shock when you get the birds. There is little recourse. This has happened many times. Worst case scenario is the totally crooked seller who takes the money and disappears, never sending any birds at all.

Buyer beware. It is no different than when buying anything on the internet. I wouldn't buy a television from some unknown seller halfway across the country just because he said it was a good television, so I should exercise the same caution when buying birds, and yet I haven't always been so careful. Sometimes in my zeal to acquire a certain species, I haven't used good judgment. It is easy to think that all sellers are ethical--not true. Unless someone takes the money and runs, it is very difficult to prove anything, so it is best to deal with brokers/breeders/sellers who have established a good reputation, especially when having to buy without seeing the birds in person.

Q - I hope you have quarantined those birds completely away from your other birds. At the minimum, in another room in another part of the house. Even better, in another building entirely, though most of us cannot do that. If you suspect any contagious illness, they should probably be quarantined for at least three months.

[nixity]

Remember as well - quantity does not always beget quality.
I am always going to be skeptical of someone with this quantity of birds for sale at these prices.

I know it can be hard to invest $100+ in a single Gouldian Finch, but sometimes you literally are paying exactly for what you're getting.

Bottom line - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
http://www.hoobly.com/0/0/1618589.html
458 available birds?

I'm sorry but - $50 for a Blue series Gouldian is cheaper than what I sell my normals for.

But then again, my birds are not dropping dead on my buyers.

Our especial at this time of the year are the uncolored unisex gouldians juvenile $35.00 each. this is a great investment in just a few month this babies will be full colored and you can triple your $ if you resale them.

That literally makes me absolutely sick to read in his ad.

[LuxandLolita]

Is it just me or can this guy not spell either?
I make mistakes because the screen is cracked on my tablet.
Is that how society finch is spelled? With an a?

[cindy]

This guy needs to be reported.

[purplejasminevn]

I think the lesson to be learned here is that any time you are not buying birds in person, you are at risk. If you are buying birds from craigslist, hoobly, any of this type internet sales site, you may not know anything about the seller at all. Though there are many honest sellers out there, this type of transaction makes it very easy for the dishonest seller to operate. You email the seller, he gives a song and dance about how beautiful his birds are and what wonderful care they receive, you send the money, and then you get the shock when you get the birds. There is little recourse. This has happened many times. Worst case scenario is the totally crooked seller who takes the money and disappears, never sending any birds at all.

Buyer beware. It is no different than when buying anything on the internet. I wouldn't buy a television from some unknown seller halfway across the country just because he said it was a good television, so I should exercise the same caution when buying birds, and yet I haven't always been so careful. Sometimes in my zeal to acquire a certain species, I haven't used good judgment. It is easy to think that all sellers are ethical--not true. Unless someone takes the money and runs, it is very difficult to prove anything, so it is best to deal with brokers/breeders/sellers who have established a good reputation, especially when having to buy without seeing the birds in person.

Q - I hope you have quarantined those birds completely away from your other birds. At the minimum, in another room in another part of the house. Even better, in another building entirely, though most of us cannot do that. If you suspect any contagious illness, they should probably be quarantined for at least three months.

Sally,

It is true of what you said and I do agree with you and be aware of risk once it comes to internet business. But I also think one person is a bad apple - not necessary meant the whole market will have large potential as bad apples.
I don’t say you meant that way but I do not want because of this bad experience happened to me or some - meant the rest of the online business will be affected. Reputation is built some how and earned probably. We all started from some where. If we are as consumers – do not want to give a new vendor/hoppy breeder… or who ever is a chance then it will be so hard to gain reputation and so on… I am sure some of us here would want to sale or trade birds someday online and not all of us are well-known yet.

Online birds trading are a luxury, a plus and only popular in the US. It is too bad that some people abused it. Hopefully we can turn this guy or many more in as they have bad practice.

I quarantined those birds completely away from the rest of the birds at home 6 months ago when they got home. I do have other big parrots at home so I must do so for their protection - All the gouldians are in one flight cage – the rest of them look healthy and happy – No sign of sleeping all day or ruffle feather.

Thank you for sharing the thoughts as of course learning from own mistakes or others is always the best strategy in life as least in mine.

[Sally]

This guy needs to be reported.

For what? He is not doing anything illegal in his pricing. Even selling unsexed uncolored juvenile Gouldians is not illegal, even though it makes most of us sick to hear about it. The poor person who buys these little ones will have a nasty surprise when they don't make it. I'm not saying I like what he is doing, I would love to see people like that shut down. But the only way to get rid of them is if no one bought from them. They don't care what you say about them, they don't even care if you don't buy from them, as there will always be someone else who will.

I can't say it often enough, when anyone is buying birds online, do some research first, and even then you may get burned. I know I have. The unfortunate part of the business is that you will always be asked to pay up front, before the birds are shipped. No one wants to ship to someone they don't know, hoping they get paid. So you have to send off your money, and if you are dealing with reputable vendors, you should be pleased with your purchases. If you are dealing with someone you know nothing about, you keep your fingers crossed till you get the birds and they make it through quarantine.

[Sally]

Q - I don't mean to imply that you can't trust online vendors at all. There are many good vendors out there. I'm just saying that when anyone is making an online bird purchase, they need to be careful, because they are at the mercy of unethical vendors. And just because someone is a broker does not make them bad, there are good ones too, but I almost always feel better when I am dealing with a hobby breeder.

[cindy]

Sally, the issue with this guy is he is all over the ads for Florida, separate phone number, same ad, using different name...the fraud I have issue with...I have the email from him in regards to his claim the Heumos is a rare zebra mutation, very hard to find...he said it is an normal english x penguin....give me a break! It is a split. I can make them here...I have normls and penguins whe you cross them the young either are penguin or they look like normals but split to penguin.

It is as bad as the vendor teling me he has a rare species (at one of the shows)...it was a cross between an owm and zebra...then he shows me a star x owl. Then to boot he was charging more than what an owl was worth.

Buyer beware.

[CandoAviary]

My biggest goal in the bird world is educating bird owners...the reason I do it comes from my passion of birds/animals.
I agree with Sally, It really comes down to research... and I must add, establishing a relationship with the vendor...whether on line, bird fair, pet store, or small hobby breeder in sales. I have known vendors that know nothing about the birds they sell, I have known small hobby breeders that have had birds dropping like flies, I have had healthy birds shipped that got delayed/chilled and developed problems after arrival....
I myself do not ship but may in the future and even though I personally may have 400 birds available for sale does not mean they aren't healthy... on the contrary, I would stack my birds health against any breeder out there If breeders had the facilities, time, and desire they may would end up producing lots of chicks also, possibly even developing a business that has monetary rewards besides the reward of being surrounded by birds and bird lovers If that means reducing the price to sell them so be it... as long as they are going to good homes. Having large number of stock with quanity pricing discounts does not equate to a bad thing. I just picked up 27 canaries yesterday at the airport and am thrilled. Not just because of the quality of birds but because of the relationship I have with the breeder.... and this breeder has hundreds of birds, results of healthy birds and a knowledgable breeder I also consider this breeder a great friend. Many small breeders get frustrated because large output lowers the price of the market price making it harder to get the high prices that some finches use to command. Don't get caught up in a few being offered is better than a lot being offered...all depends on the breeder, amount of birds they own, facitity and the time they dedicate to them. It is all about supply and demand, if there are a lot of a species then of course the prices drop and vice versa, strawberries are an excellent example... few available so prices extremely high. I happen to like the gouldians and enjoy them tremendously... just happens that there are many to buy from but I think that is all the more reason to breed super quality birds I do like building a relationship with the buyers of my birds, that is why I opened the store, join forums, give access to me so that I may answer questions and offer help anyway I can. I have no problems offering birds at a discount if they are going to the right kind of home. I am leary of the people that contact me about buying birds yet have no desire to build a relationship, they don't ask what I feed, what temperatures I keep them at, if I offer mineral grit, natural or artificial lighting ??? Why would I want to send my birds to someone that doesn't even ask about the bird's life? Nor do they ever ask for recommendations. I have had birds shipped in only 4 times and from each of these vendors I asked many questions and the sellers always answered everyone of them to my satisfation. Also everyone of them furnished me with people who bought their birds so that I could contact, which I did! To me the biggest part of animal ownership is responsible ownership. I believe there are more bad buyers out there than bad sellers... bad buyers keep these bad vendors/brokers/breeders in business... blatant but true .
As Cindy pointed out, there are many scam artist out there. Unfortunately scams seem to be in every business out there... so this means the buyers need to be even more vigilant than ever in securing the best purchases. It is nice to hear peoples opinions on vendors but remember that is what it is, opinion. Nothing is better than establishing an ongoing relationship with your sellers, whether it's the breeder next door or a vendor across the country. If I can't develope an ongoing, honest friendship with my suppliers/buyers... then I don't continue to buy nor sell to them. Also, if I have a problem, I have established the avenues to talk openly with the seller about my problems and I might would share the problem publically but never naming the names.
Q, I hate to read that you have had such a loss. I do not know this vendor but seems he's not very popular here. Sounds like he's been around for a while. Hopefully new finch keepers/buyers will take the time to get to know buyers better. Also I hope that buyers will take what they hear, or read from people's opinions with a grain of salt... sometimes vendors will cut others just for cut throat competion. That is why it is so important for each buyer to build that relationship between buyer and seller.
On another note, I personally have had a great relationship with a vendor that I have seen trashed here in this forum. I still have a good relationship and have received nothing but healthy birds. I don't doubt that others have had problems but I also realized that they were shipped further, during the summer molt, and went into places that had had other bird dying even before those birds arrived ... I also have received terribly sick birds come from a seller that many sing praises about (although I bought birds that were not bred by but were brokered through) so you will always have different opinions and there will always be different outcomes when it comes to living creatures... they aren't like shipping a non living commodity across the country. Sometimes, due to a lot of factors... _hit happens... at some time or another. Unfortunatly.