Sandfire Dragon Ranch

SANDFIRE DRAGON RANCH IGNORES THEIR GUARANTEE!!

I have been a little hesitant to post against such a big named breeder,with that said let me state for the record that the service I have received fron SANDFIRE DRAGON RANCH, one of the nations largest breeders of bearded dragons and co-author of the book GENERAL CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF BEARDED DRAGONS has been among the poorest that I have yet to see.

I bought 3 red/gold dragons from them at this years Daytona Expo. I received a caresheet that stated that they guarantee their animals for 30 days from the time of purchase. They also state that if you have a problem with an animal to get in touch with them as soon as possible. But what the obviously dont guarantee is that they will get back to you.
1 of the 3 dragons are doing great, another is doing OK but the 3rd hasn't wanted to eat from day one. I sent a detailed account to Bob of SANDFIRE, which included how they are housed and fed, and included the weights of each animal at purchase and at the present.
Would you like to know what his responce was?
Yeah that makes two of us. That was 2 weeks ago and still I've heard nothing.
Sooo, yesterday I sent an email to another guy at SANDFIRE. I guess they are waiting for the 30 day guarantee to be up until they answer me.
The 30 days was up yesterday but the animal is not going to make it despite all I can do with several years experience breeding dragons.

The moral of the story is this, even if you are dealing with a big named breeder doesn't guarantee their animals are any better than Joe Shmoe breeder of whatever.
I have aquired dragons from Sandfire before, bred them, and have produced good offspring. But you can never tell the integrity of a dealer until problems arrise.

One a positive note-I did pay for these with a credit card and can take them to task when the bill comes any day now.

Ron Hurst

I have found that the Sandfire Dragon Ranch is easier to communicate with by phone. i know - if they have an email address, they should answer it - but I have found out that they are much better on the phone.

On that note, I should mention that I've only worked with Allen Repashy on the SDR, so my experience is limited.

I think that if I had a problem with them like you experienced, I'd be on the phone. I'm not criticizing you - just giving my 2 cents worth.

I hope everything works out for you. My experience with them was top-notch with crested geckos.

I e-mailed Bob to let him know about this thread. Hopefully you guys can work things out. Good luck!

One a positive note-I did pay for these with a credit card and can take them to task when the bill comes any day now.

Just out of curiosity, how exactly would you plan to take them to task? You bought them in person and walked away with the merchandise. Non delivery of goods is grounds for disputing charges, but if your credit card issuer gives two cents about the quality of goods you purchased, in person no less, I'd be interested in getting a card from them myself.
Bottom line is, this is between you and Sandfire, who I would be willing to bet will work with you on it, but the credit card company isn't going to do anything for you.

Here are a couple of points i would like to make about this thread,,,
Have you ever seen any bad threads about Sandfire Dragon Ranch..?
So how did you Ron, come to the conclusion that they were avoiding your email reply until the 30 day warranty period was up..? That is just the dumbest thing i have ever heard! I have purchased from Bob before, and I have never had any problem getting them on the phone...
If you sent an email and did not get a reply in 3 days,,, why did you not just pick up the phone and call them,,( if you were that concerned) ..? also you actually got to pick out your dragons By hand and see what you bought , I am assuming you picked out dragons that were in overall healthy condition with good weight, do you suppose maybe something you have done or not done could have caused the stress for the weight loss and causing the dragon not to eat..?I am not saying you don't know how to raise baby dragons,, but if they were in good condition when you picked them out, you got to actually see what you got before you even had to pay for them,, and that is better than probably 90% of people who buy dragons "mail order".......... yet you are posting a "negative post" for Sandfire Dragon Ranch....

Something else that came across my mind is how do you know your email even reached Sandfire Dragon Ranch..?
I have been getting 800 emails a day from the "Sobig Virus" and since i have installed a firewall,, they have decreased.. it may be possible that your email did not even get through with all of the viruses and protection measures most of us have had to put in place!
In Short, i think this thread was completely unfounded..... if you did call them and they told you there was nothing they could do,, or they were not gonna make good on there warranty period then this thread should exist,, but that is not what happened,,,
you sent one email,, ( that we are not even sure got through) and then came up with this "theory" that they were waiting until the 30 day period was over to reply,,, is just crazy! I breed hundreds of bearded dragons and i know i would do what ever it takes to make a customer happy,,, and you don't get as big as Sandire Dragon Ranch by doing people wrong especially over one dragon that the customer even got to pick out!
Ron you are at fault for not picking up the phone and trying to contact them,,,, if you did make an attempt to do that, then this thread does not need to exist,,, all this over one stinking email,,( that you cannot say for sure even got through). I don't know Bob Personally , but i have purchased from them before,, and i doubt if they got your email, they would not reply,,, afterall you don't get as big As Sandfire Dragon Ranch without taking care of customers and without great quality animals!

Bob from sandfire dragon ranch wrote me an email today. He had gotton my email and said that he had forgotton to get back with me on it. Anyway, they are going to replace the dragon. I feel that I should apologise to Sandfire D. R. for not calling them, and Monte I thank you and geckosunlimited for your mature responces to this post and for your help. I was very frustrated after the 2nd email attempt (herpcondo you should reread my post above) went unanswered. That said I don't regret posting here, but I am willing to come back and admit that I was wrong to assume that they were stalling. I have had other dealers do this and after the time pasted said that it was too bad. So, naturally, I thought Sandfire was doing the same. Anyway thanks again those of you who answered this post and offered your help and input. Clay, I liked your website articles also. I would also like to say thank you to Bob at Sandfire Dragon Ranch for his willingness to work with me on this also.

I have had a similar problem with sdr in that I bought a few red golds that arent doing so well. I also emailed bob and told him what was happening, and he never answered. I then called and he was very polite, helpfull, and understanding. We worked things out, and I am VERY satisfied. You cant really expect someone who cares for that many animals to respond to emails very fast. I am just stating my opinion, but I definately dont think that bob is trying to skrew you, its just a misunderstanding.

you are right. Bob did contact me today. Someone told them about the post here and he emailed me and said that he had forgotton to get back to me. I dont hold this against them, but I have had this very thing happen in the past with another big named company, and when they finally did get back to me it was to say that it was too late. Even though it was DOA's that I wrote them about the day of delivery. They responded a month later to say, "sorry but the guarantee is up." I began to have thoughts that this was happening here also. I replied to his email and stated an apology for my conclusion that they were avoiding me. I really dont believe that they only responded because I posted here after hearing from some of you. Most everyone here has offered good info and been very supportive. I thank each of you for that. Let me state for the record that I would do business with Sandfire again, only I will use the phone, and not the email.
Thanks gentleman.

I think that most people who are on the computer every day and email alot (me included) sometimes forget that much of the world does not check email multiple times a day. I have friends who only check it every 2-3 days. Anytime that you have a problem with a live animal, as it is a living thing, you should pick up the phone. It does not seem nearly as important if it is via email and most people will answer the phone or a message much sooner than an email. just a thought. Evan

I've purchased dragons from Sandfire Dragon Ranch in the past and I was always very happy with the quality I received.
I actually saw Bob hand someone a free sandfire dragon at the Daytona show because the customer told him the dragon he bought the year before hadn't developed the color he was expecting it to. The customer didn't even ask for a replacement...Bob just said "hopefully this one will meet your expectations".
Needless to say, I was very impressed!