I very confusing customer issue "need help""

I just had on of my customers contact me about a transaction that accrued 1/6/03.
She purchased a male hypo tangerine leopard gecko that was priced at $525.00 and asked if we could add 2 juvenile albino leopard gecko females to the deal because she owed them to a friend in some other deal. I agreed and shipped the geckos to her next day air.
She called me the next day to inform me that they had arrived and the albinos were in great shape but the male had chewed his own tail halfway off while in transit.
She said that this happen to her before and it wasn't a big deal.
I have never heard of such a thing but she wanted to keep him anyway so I didn't question it.

Today she e-mail me the following:

Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 10:53 PM
Subject: albino female died


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Hi Nicole

The male is doing well-his tail did fall off but its growing back nicely-one of the female albinos had problems eating from when we got her-2 weeks later she died-I tried force feeding her-everything-Ive been trying to contact you for about 3 weeks but grandmother is dying and most my time is at the hospital-this is about the 7th email Ive sent-please let me know if you receive this-I saved some dig pics if you needed some proof of her demise-very hard on my kids
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I didn't receive any of the 7 e-mails she said she sent to me over the last 3 weeks. And I would think she would have called us on the phone because we had several long conversations prior to the shipping of the geckos.

she stated in the e-mail that she started to force feed her and she died within 2 weeks. Sometimes geckos can take a few days to get accustom to their new environment and I think force feeding within the 1st week of her arrival could have caused undeserved stress on an already stressed gecko.

If she would have contacted me I could have discussed these issues with her but I was unable to provide any help because I was unaware of the problem until 3 weeks after the death.

My point here is what should I do.
I don't have a problem replacing an animal that was lost but was this my fault.

Also on the bottom of every receipt it states if you have any problems with your order please contact us(phone number provided) within 24 hours.

Thanks in advance.
Nicole Elliser
K&N Reptiles

Hi Nicole -

Sorry that you're in this situation.

My first thought is that if I had sent someone 7 emails about a dead animal, I wouldn't start off by asking if they'd received the emails, but rather would be questioning why they were ignoring me. That just doesn't sound right.

Secondly, your guarantee is for 24 hours. Period. You can only be responsible for selling healthy animals. If someone is not equipped to get them through the adjustment period, that can't be your responsibility. It's sad that an animal was lost, but how can you oversee the care it gets after the buyer receives the animal?

I don't believe that you have any responsibility in replacing this animal or refunding any costs. If you choose to give her a specific $ amount towards the purchase of a replacement animal, that might keep a customer and make her feel a bit better, but I think even that is above and beyond the call of duty here. It sounds like you made her a good deal, and unfortunately one of the animals died at a later date. Period.

Good luck working this out to your and your customer's satisfaction.

I wonder, if you ignored this email, would the next one say, "Did you ge the previous 8 emails?" or would it say, "Why didn't you respond to the last one?"

Hello Nicole,

I completely agree with Terese on this issue. You sent her two healthy Albino Leopard Geckos. When she got them, she CALLED and told you that they were in great shape. However, when she started having problems with them, she didn't bother to call but instead (supposedly) sent 7 emails? That doesn't make much sense to me. Also, you mentioned that she wanted to add to Albino Leopard Geckos to her order because she "owed them to a friend in another deal". So if this is the case, then what is she doing force feeding the gecko? Shouldn't the Albinos have gone to her friend? If you haven't already, you might want to ask her about that.

Anyways, it's sad that an animal died, but you guys shouldn't be responsible for it and you weren't even given the opportunity to help the customer out in this situation because she contacted you when it was already too late. Just my 2 cents.

Celia Chien

I agree with the prior posts. If the customer had problems, it was outside the guarantee period, and the customer had already called and confirmed that the animals arrived in good condition.

The loss -- if there was one -- seems to be bad husbandry on the customer's part. If it died after two weeks, at what point did she try force feeding??

Nicole,

Personally I dont think you should HAVE to replace them, not your fault. However it is offen much easier just to replace them, and write the losses off on your taxes. It is easier to replace a few geckos that cost you a few bucks each to raise, then have someone bad mouth you and cost you many sales. All in all, your in the right.

However, if you fear she will improperly keep and care for the animals, I would tell her to get lost. I have repeatively told customers to get lost, if I did not think highly of there skills.

I have had one gecko eat her on tail, wellabout 3/4 of an inch. Adult female patternless (Hammack stock, my favorite gecko). Housed in a 4qt container, fed VERY well, one day, last 3/4 ofher tail was missing, no where in the cage. Was strange.

Corey Sawyer

is limited to your terms of business. But if I may make a sugesstion, in the future when you ship geckos or any animal, try to get an email from the customer as opposed to a verbal acknowledgement that the animal arrived well. Anythng written will far outweigh and leave no doubt about the customers satisfaction . You owe her nothing, and contrary to what Corey Sawyer may have said about replacing the gecko, if you do so , you are indirectly acknowledging that their was a problem. That would be against your own terms.

When you develop terms, they should be written , and you should allow for any kind of contingency that may occur. Including the loss of an animals and the limits to which you will replace it. JERRY TRESSER

and asked if we could add 2 juvenile albino leopard gecko females to the deal

Was she charged for these?

I may have read it wrong, but it seems like they were "thrown in"

Something else to add to your case is that she "took action" without consulting you...I think it is one thing if she contacted you right away with any problems she was having, but she decided to start forcefeeding instead--there are other things I would have done before forcefeeding in only the 1st or 2nd week (died 2nd week). Why were you not contacted then? Her story is unfortunate, but you were never given the opportunity to help along the way, and now you are to be responsible for the outcome?
Also, I've never heard of the chewing the tail off thing before. Photos might help. I would probably tell her sorry unless you have any doubts that they were in perfect health prior to sending. Then you might want to do something.

Dana

If you are to believe that she is telling the truth, it is a strange case. A leo that recieved proper care would not die within a month, almost no matter what stress it was put under.

For a leo to die in 2 weeks, there had to be other causes. Obviously not starvation. I agree 100% that to force feed a leo so soon after arriving was foolish.

You said she called the next day to report on the geckos. Do you mean the day the arrived or the day following?

I may have been lucky, but at least half of my leos have actually eaten the first day here. If they didn't, I certainly wouldn't say they were doing great, I would say they look wonderful and are currently adjusting to their surroundings.
On the other hand, my very first leo took 5 weeks to start eating.




Anyway, as for what this individual emailed you... is she trying to get sympathy telling you about her grandmother?


You didn't mention if she paid for the albinos or if you just threw them in. Obviously if it's the latter then you don't owe her anything.


It really comes down to if you want to please the customer at your expense. It doesn't matter who's right or wrong at this point.

I do not believe you are the slightest bit at fault. But this individual did spend a good deal of money.

You may want to send her another one, just to insure a happy customer. Send the cheapest one you still have, and tell her you're very sorry to hear about her circumstances and this is the best you can do right now, but if she's interested in anything else this coming year to let you know and you'll try and work out a deal for her.

I don't know... it's up to you in the end. I'll reiterate, I do not believe you are at fault or responsible and it comes down to how far out of your way you want to go for this customer.




Oh and the two bold jungles you sold me are well over 55 grams last I weighed them, currently gravid from my Bell albino male. I am a very satisfied customer of yours!