Coop Plus in Seattle.. anyone deal with them?

Found this by doing an internet search

I have have the great misfortune of putting my trust in Scott at Coops Plus, and
am now out a deposit, and am busy making arrangements for a coop for my young
chickens. I just wanted to put the warning out to this amazingly wonderful
community. I know Kathy shared her similar experience last week when I emailed
about needing a coop on a short timeline, and have been communicating with her.
And I wanted to thank everyone who responded to offer help and suggestions and
especially to Nancy who let me borrow her chicken tractor temporarily.

So anyway, if you want the details, here they are. If you look on Craigslist
for a coop, (even now) you will likely find a posting by him (just search
coopsplus - if it's not there it's likely been flagged by all the people in the
area who are ticked at him). My family went up to Stanwood to see the coops in
person - they are really nice well made coops, and at a great price! He will
earn you trust, make you laugh, impress you will his chicken knowledge and
interest. When you finalize the details of the coop you want he will ask you
for a 50% deposit. He will string you along for months with various excuses
about why your coop is not ready or not delivered. From Kathy's experience, if
I ever get in touch with him again, I will likely hear that "ok your check is in
the mail" and of course it never will be.

Tomorrow morning I will call the police department, file a report, start a small
claims suit - whatever I need to do. Likely nothing will come of it, probably
just a live and learn situation, but hopefully I can keep at least a couple
people for being a victim of his scam.

Feeling sheepish-
Cory

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seattlefarmcoop/message/8724

Also wanted to add, be sure to check craigslist to see if people in your area are selling coops, You can also hire a carpenter, and if you show them pictures and plans, they would be able to build it for you. Just gotta find a guy who has built a coop or two.

Keep an eye on the "free" section in your area on craigslist.

Make sure to search for "coop" "coops" "chicken" "roo" "rooster" "hutch" or even "rabbit" "bunny" etc...

I have found several free or very cheep ( ) coops, often the poster doesn't put in easy to find search terms.

Local pickup is the best, there's tons of people in the urban centers around the globe who try chickens out and then give up after the predators get them or the poop gets to be too much or a host of other things.  GL 

I just discovered your post from last year when I did a google search on this ***hole from CoopsPlus who just burned me.  This is exactly what happened to me this Feb/March.  I have filed a report with the Snohomish County Sheriff and am looking for more people to step up with similar stories so I can establish a pattern of fraud.  I really thought he was legit because of the additional website and his level of communication.  I could care less about my money at this point, I'm ****** and want to shut him down.  I would really like any information you have, and if you've corresponded with others like us...I think our best chance to catch him is in numbers.

-Sandy

I tried buying a coop from Scott Persons at coops plus and Scott was very amusing and won over my trust. I gave him money for a coop and he disappeared. I later found out he is a con artist and liar. He is very funny, personable and seems well spoken. He will steal your cash to buy booze. If you want a coop buy somewhere else. The whole family is in on the scam and reports should be filed. If you hear from him and know where he is call 911 immediately he is a wanted man.

I can't believe that @#$hole is still scamming people.  I was ripped off by him last winter around February.  I responded to a craigslist posting and he scammed a deposit out of me.  He had me write my check to either his wife or girlfriend and mail it to an address in Arlington.  I filed a police report with the Snohomish sheriff's department and I also posted a complaint with the FBI's cyber crime website.  I have heard no result from either...apparently this guy knows what he is doing and your best bet is to try and sue him in small claims court because they have a tough time proving it is a criminal offense.  The deputy that came out to my house said that A. they don't really have the resources to track this kind of crime (so much for paying my property taxes) and B. if they do go out and investigate, all he has to have is a saw and a hammer and then he has a case for "failure to complete/finish a job" which is civil not criminal...there is nothing they can do, but if enough people come forward in a united complaint they might be able to pursue fraud.  I will try and dig up my case number that you can at least reference if you want to file a similar complaint and also if you have more current information on the guy.  I ran two Intellus reports, one for him and one for his wife/girlfriend and they both seem to hop around alot.

Yeah, that is because he downloads photos off the internet and posts them as his own.  I just happened to recognize one of the runs that was attached to one of his postings because I had come across the same photo when doing some research on building my own run.  He is super slick, and I can hardly wait till someone catches up to him.

It's definitely important to get the word out on this scam and commend all efforts in trying to protect the next victim. Shame on you Scott at coopsplus.