Bad shipping by popular seller-What would you do??

[Kelsieb]

I put this here since it involves two baby pixies. I ordered one baby Giant African pixie and one baby Dwarf Tanzanian pixie. They were supposed to be shipped out next wednesday on December 11 for arrival on December 12, this was decided and confirmed during a phone call. This did not happen, I came home today at 5:30pm to find a box containing the two pixies and two cases of feeder roaches. The packing was horrible! I opened the box in a mild panic to find a heat pack sitting ON the baby giant pixie and two more heat packs free floating in the box wrapped in brown paper bags! I havent been home all day and was not informed that they would be shipping my frogs out today. I had ordered other things from them and when I got the conformation shipping email I thought it was for the cages, feeders or heat mat I ordered. I am so angry right now and will never be giving this company my business again! I did get a photo of the box after opening, I wasnt expecting the frogs so I never thought to video record and when I saw there were frogs I took them out quickly in a panic hoping they werent dead! They are both alive, but the tanzanian dwarf is sluggish which worries me greatly!

My questions now are: Should I email the company and express my displeasure? Should I take this to the faunaclassifieds BOI as a warning? This has never happened to me before so i'm unsure what to do. I included a general picture of the packing with the two cases of feeder roaches still in there and the heat packs as well as the two frogs.

[Mentat]

When there is a grievance against a company, the first step should be to contact them and discuss the issue in a calm and professional manner. Also, although it's too late this time, all communications should be written (i.e. email) so there is a hard copy in case something goes wrong. Taking pictures of package, noting package conditions with delivery person, etc. all help to clear a dispute.

When live animals are involved; a picture of any dead or damaged arrivals sent to seller within one hour is crucial and usually required. Understand from your post that you where not expecting the frogs until later; but referencing a phone conversation is not better than referencing an email. Try and get in contact with person you talked to and see where the confusion started. Document everything from now on and if you are not satisfied; then can write a post including your documentation here or at BOI. Hope both frogs make it OK and good luck !

[Kelsieb]

When there is a grievance against a company, the first step should be to contact them and discuss the issue in a calm and professional manner. Also, although it's too late this time, all communications should be written (i.e. email) so there is a hard copy in case something goes wrong. Taking pictures of package, noting package conditions with delivery person, etc. all help to clear a dispute.

When live animals are involved; a picture of any dead or damaged arrivals sent to seller within one hour is crucial and usually required. Understand from your post that you where not expecting the frogs until later; but referencing a phone conversation is not better than referencing an email. Try and get in contact with person you talked to and see where the confusion started. Document everything from now on and if you are not satisfied; then can write a post including your documentation here or at BOI. Hope both frogs make it OK and good luck !

Thanks for the advice! I sent them a polite email, now I just have to wait and see if they'll bother to answer.

[Silkmoth]

How are they now? Is it ok to ask what company? I just got a new froggie, a baby pacman. The company emailed when I would like it shipped. I answered and did not get the reply with tracking. I dont trust yahoo at all! So to be on the safe side I expected him yesterday. He came! He was properly packed and warm.
I guess when in doubt if you possibly can arrange help with the delivery?

[Tongue Flicker]

If i were you i'd email them, send them the photos and get a refund or a replacement.

[Kelsieb]

The frogs arrived alive so I dont know what you mean by replacement. They seem to be okay, and I'd rather not name the company just yet although they have yet to answer the email I sent and on their website they claim they reply within 48 hours. I'm considering going to the BOI and posting an info thread, would that be acceptable or overreacting?

[MatthewM1]

Personally I would at least start a review thread on this site, that's what it's for. If they are ignoring attempts to contact them that's a problem regardless of how popular the seller is. A negative review tends to grab attention. And in the event they attempt to fix the problem afterwards a positive review of how they responded can always be added.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

[Kelsieb]

Personally I would at least start a review thread on this site, that's what it's for. If they are ignoring attempts to contact them that's a problem regardless of how popular the seller is. A negative review tends to grab attention. And in the event they attempt to fix the problem afterwards a positive review of how they responded can always be added.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

I actually got an email from them apologizing so it's all good. Still wont be buying animals from them anytime soon though!

[Randy]

if youre concerned this guy does this on a regular basis try this link Report Animal Cruelty FAQ | ASPCA

[Mentat]

if youre concerned this guy does this on a regular basis try this link Report Animal Cruelty FAQ | ASPCA

Hi Randy ! Agree 100% any cruelty is bad; but what makes you think shipping/selling animals in this case was cruel? It's clear a miscommunication gave birth to the issues being discussed in thread.

Last thing this hobby needs is the ASPCA deciding for us that commercial sales and shipment of live frogs is animal cruelty .

[Geo]

I agree absolutely with Carlos. The pet trade is suffering from misinformation already in regard to certain areas that the general public and even the SPCA don't understand because they don't typically deal with certain species. Sometimes non-pet owners hysteria, when something tragic but very unusual happens, feeds the frenzy and when the authorities get involved they sway with public opinion rather then professional data. I have hard enough time getting my hands on hobby related stuff, if someone sets off an unexpected/unwanted red flag then uneducated decision makers clamp down and limit our access. It is unfortunate but sometimes the pet hobbies suffer because of ignorance be it bad owners or uneducated authority figures. This situation may have been simply an unusual occurrence.

Typically most companies, especially if they have been around for some time, will do what they can to rectify the situation if given an adequate enough time to do so. Some suppliers / breeders are not large companies but mom/pop setups that want to make their customers happy but they may have a million things going on right at the moment that the occurrence was noticed and reported. Plus there is always human error and we are all humans.

[Randy]

If you have ever seen the horrid conditions some of the poor animals arrive in ( a lot of them end up dead you'd have a bit more sympathy for them. I'm not going into detail here but i have received dead animals where the seller lied straight up to me about when they were shipped .Frozen to death or smothered .If someones going to mass breed for pure profit they are as bad as those that mas breed dogs cats etc..and should be regulated.

[Kelsieb]

If you have ever seen the horrid conditions some of the poor animals arrive in ( a lot of them end up dead you'd have a bit more sympathy for them. I'm not going into detail here but i have received dead animals where the seller lied straight up to me about when they were shipped .Frozen to death or smothered .If someones going to mass breed for pure profit they are as bad as those that mas breed dogs cats etc..and should be regulated.

I agree! Even with staff I dont understand how breeders that own hundreds of animals can possibly give them all proper care and space requirements. I can think of one big name breeder off the top of my head that keeps full grown retics in 6ft by 3ft tubs and showcases it on youtube like there's nothing wrong! How can anyone consider that humane?? I have 10 snakes and can sometimes barely keep up with who wants to come out for some roaming time to stretch their muscles. Just because they can't wine and bark like dogs somehow makes it okay to keep them in dark tubs with no hides or light? Argh! Okay, getting off my soapbox!