FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Terri Sommella Fire and Ice Dragons -- Nightmare

01-12-2005, 03:02 AM

Disclaimer (since I have read the BOI rules):

The following post is written out of opinion and personal experience. No slander is intended, just my opinion being expressed. Like it or not, this is what I personally think.

I haven't really posted in this forum. I'm the girlfriend who spent the money on the little dragon.

I haven't said anything so far because it has been a very trying and emotional situation for me, primarily because I was being made to feel crazy for expecting some normal conduct. I was yelled at over the phone for almost an hour. I didn't hang up because I was truly afraid the dragon would die. I'm not the reptile expert, Jonathan is primarily the one who raises all 20 of our reptiles. I was just hoping to get a nice pet. An animal I could spend a lot of time with, and like Lawndart, I wanted to have a rather unique animal I could raise myself.

I don't normally prefer to go into a business transaction thinking, "Oh, this person is going to screw me" because I'd like to think that people are honest when running a business where reputation is vital. There realistically was no information prior that we were aware of about Terri being such a con-artist. I DID think it was strange that she would not show pictures, but I'd previously known of a couple of reputable breeders who got really paranoid about email viruses. I realized if you run a big operation it's hard to monitor viruses and the like. I realize now that my logic was silly. But at the time it could have made sense to my ignorance.

The matter where Terri is taking the "high road" with her silence (as posted in her email) seems to be a way to rationalize that she knows these customers are beyond dissatisfied, and in fact, feel cheated. I reallllly really do NOT understand the need to lie, hide, avoid, and not come clean on your word. Being in a business where reputation is EVERYTHING (the music industry), this concept is a bit alien to my ethic. Plus, uhm... George Washington?? Come on! She is not a president with matters of state and let's face it, those were far larger fish to fry with far more than A bearded dragon at stake!! She is a poor business person who hasn't honored her OWN guarantee when it was suddenly acted upon. Rather petty in comparison to George Washington I'd think, no?

It saddens me deeply that the animal seems so skittish and scared of normal human presence, when she's been around us for several months now and has had regular handling from both of us. I sometimes feel bad that the juvvie savannah monitor I got a few weeks ago is calmer than the beardie. And this savvie STILL needs to be tamed, since it doesn't seem like it was handled so much. But this to me, is pretty normal and not out of the ordinary at all since he was given to us for free in a deal where Jon got his tegus from a PHENOMENALLY helpful owner. (BTW, HE ROCKED). The savvie is coming around within a matter of weeks. The beardie won't even tolerate much handling, or us entering the room before getting all spazzed out.

I managed to acquire Terri's address from Discover on a copy of the airbill. We were SO stupid for not keeping the box after the first few months. The address on the bill was:

Fire and Ice Dragons
310 Schottie Road
Littlestown, PA 17340-9748

I don't know if this is her address or not. I honestly have no idea. But we should have just not listened to her and sent the animal back with the things in place that Jon mentioned: letter preceding arrival of animal, vet bill of health and then shipped the animal back and have it signed for.

I'm really burned on this experience because I feel responsible for trusting when I shouldn't have. I don't feel I ever want to deal with this situation ever again. I'm 563.00 dollars out for the animal, plus bills for 2 weeks of boarding, and feeling like a complete idiot after everyone has told me this is animal is sub-par. I don't know what I will do with the animal. I may raise her up and trade her to a breeder we know who is awesome with his word and business. He always goes the extra mile to help someone out, like East Bay Vivarium (bless their hearts) even though they didn't even sell the animal originally.

I hope Terri realizes some day she's doing a lot of harm by selling animals and not respecting her own terms when things don't work out. I hope she realizes that losing her temper and screaming at a person already in tears who is worried sick an animal will die is NOT good customer service.

Where do these people come out of anyway? And why do they have to breathe my air?

01-12-2005, 03:02 AM	#159
phaend	Disclaimer (since I have read the BOI rules): The following post is written out of opinion and personal experience. No slander is intended, just my opinion being expressed. Like it or not, this is what I personally think. I haven't really posted in this forum. I'm the girlfriend who spent the money on the little dragon. I haven't said anything so far because it has been a very trying and emotional situation for me, primarily because I was being made to feel crazy for expecting some normal conduct. I was yelled at over the phone for almost an hour. I didn't hang up because I was truly afraid the dragon would die. I'm not the reptile expert, Jonathan is primarily the one who raises all 20 of our reptiles. I was just hoping to get a nice pet. An animal I could spend a lot of time with, and like Lawndart, I wanted to have a rather unique animal I could raise myself. I don't normally prefer to go into a business transaction thinking, "Oh, this person is going to screw me" because I'd like to think that people are honest when running a business where reputation is vital. There realistically was no information prior that we were aware of about Terri being such a con-artist. I DID think it was strange that she would not show pictures, but I'd previously known of a couple of reputable breeders who got really paranoid about email viruses. I realized if you run a big operation it's hard to monitor viruses and the like. I realize now that my logic was silly. But at the time it could have made sense to my ignorance. The matter where Terri is taking the "high road" with her silence (as posted in her email) seems to be a way to rationalize that she knows these customers are beyond dissatisfied, and in fact, feel cheated. I reallllly really do NOT understand the need to lie, hide, avoid, and not come clean on your word. Being in a business where reputation is EVERYTHING (the music industry), this concept is a bit alien to my ethic. Plus, uhm... George Washington?? Come on! She is not a president with matters of state and let's face it, those were far larger fish to fry with far more than A bearded dragon at stake!! She is a poor business person who hasn't honored her OWN guarantee when it was suddenly acted upon. Rather petty in comparison to George Washington I'd think, no? It saddens me deeply that the animal seems so skittish and scared of normal human presence, when she's been around us for several months now and has had regular handling from both of us. I sometimes feel bad that the juvvie savannah monitor I got a few weeks ago is calmer than the beardie. And this savvie STILL needs to be tamed, since it doesn't seem like it was handled so much. But this to me, is pretty normal and not out of the ordinary at all since he was given to us for free in a deal where Jon got his tegus from a PHENOMENALLY helpful owner. (BTW, HE ROCKED). The savvie is coming around within a matter of weeks. The beardie won't even tolerate much handling, or us entering the room before getting all spazzed out. I managed to acquire Terri's address from Discover on a copy of the airbill. We were SO stupid for not keeping the box after the first few months. The address on the bill was: Fire and Ice Dragons 310 Schottie Road Littlestown, PA 17340-9748 I don't know if this is her address or not. I honestly have no idea. But we should have just not listened to her and sent the animal back with the things in place that Jon mentioned: letter preceding arrival of animal, vet bill of health and then shipped the animal back and have it signed for. I'm really burned on this experience because I feel responsible for trusting when I shouldn't have. I don't feel I ever want to deal with this situation ever again. I'm 563.00 dollars out for the animal, plus bills for 2 weeks of boarding, and feeling like a complete idiot after everyone has told me this is animal is sub-par. I don't know what I will do with the animal. I may raise her up and trade her to a breeder we know who is awesome with his word and business. He always goes the extra mile to help someone out, like East Bay Vivarium (bless their hearts) even though they didn't even sell the animal originally. I hope Terri realizes some day she's doing a lot of harm by selling animals and not respecting her own terms when things don't work out. I hope she realizes that losing her temper and screaming at a person already in tears who is worried sick an animal will die is NOT good customer service. Where do these people come out of anyway? And why do they have to breathe my air?