Scott Seavey of CV Exotics

I put a deposit down on 2 female hognoses in October of 2017. Payments were made with the final payment made in January. I advised Scott our weather was terrible at the moment to let me know when he wanted to ship and he followed up a few days later asking to ship on a Thursday for Friday delivery even though the temps had been colder than normal. I agreed to shipping as temps were still holding steady and he would let me know if anything changed when he printed the shipping label.

I was unaware they would be going to Memphis and was under the impression they would be flying straight to Columbus from New Hampshire. Had I known that, I would have been checking the weather and held off on the shipment due to a storm that grounded planes and delayed shipments. I e-mailed Scott Friday morning to see if he knew anything and called FedEx as well who advised me of a delay. He said he wasn't advised of any delays but placed 2 40 hour heat packs in the box. Snakes finally arrived Monday after staying in Memphis all weekend. I picked them up as soon as I could get to the hub and found they were both DOA. The snakes were shipped in tubs that were entirely too big for their size with both weighing under 15 grams when I weighed them that night.

I immediately called Scott who had no empathy in his tone but was more confused that a buyer was calling his cell phone directly. He made no offers to make it right but simply said they probably just looked dead but would come around when warmed at room temps which I had planned to do already. After a few hours, it was clear they were gone and Scott was e-mailed with proof of death. When I called and talked to him I told him I would be following up with him via e-mail with an update. He failed to respond in a timely manner then promptly placed the blame on FedEx and stated that it wasn't his fault as he wasn't responsible for carrier delays. I trusted Scott's knowledge and to check the weather. While I should have been checking the weather in Memphis, as stated, I was unaware they would be going to that hub and learned after the fact how to check where a package would be going for sorting.

Scott has since contradicted himself by saying he wouldn't issue a refund then went on to say that he was going to help me out until I started bashing on his packaging and giving false facts. Scott's TOS on his site state that he does not ship in weather below 40 or above 90. Lows in Londonderry where he shipped were below 40 and Memphis was at 21. Scott states the weather was above 40 when he dropped the snakes off but there is no mention in his terms that temps must be above 40 when he drops the package at the hub and then it's no longer his problem. Total amount of the snakes with shipping was $611.21. Scott also said that insurance wasn't purchased when I placed the order. The option of insurance was never mentioned in his terms at checkout nor is there a single mention of insurance on his terms page of the website. A minor thing but at this point I feel should be mentioned as well is that Scott was repeatedly asked for hatch dates on these 2 and failed to provide the requested information and ignored the request even it was asked during the shipping issues.

Attached are e-mails between Scott and I as well as pictures of deceased snakes.

Additional.

Additional 2

CV Exotics has a long history of poor business practices that also had some legal ramifications if I am not mistaken. I feel bad for your situation but I heavily doubt that it will be made right after watching Scott in action over the years. Moving forward, definitely check on here before sending money, it could potentially save you a lot of headache and heartache. People who endanger animals like this have no place in the hobby.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Any reputable seller should know never to ship on Thursday for Friday because of situations like this, along with that fact that the weather has been terrible all around the country. Sounds like he was just in it for the $$ and does not care about the well being of the animals.

Please moving forward don't let anyone talk you into allowing a shipment to go out past Wednesday. If you have to wait a few more months for good shipping so be it. It's not worth risking the animals life.

I hope you guys can work something out.

I would agree with all the above. We have had to postpone all shipping pretty much to all states. The issue for us is: If using FEDEX which we use primarily ( and they have been very reliable) all shipments from our point of origin go through Memphis. We will always check the weather in Memphis, especially overnight weather, and the weather at the destination location. So far, it has been a no go for the past 4 weeks. We will not even ship via Delta due to same weather issues. Even with heat packs in the box, we are unwilling to ship due to the possibility of delays and mishandling of the box. Best to wait until there is a break in the weather and then ship. Most serious collectors understand this situation and would be willing to wait to guarantee a live, healthy arrival. The best recent ship for us was, when we shipped a tortoise to Ariz. It was cool but not cold. The receiver opened the box at the airport and the tortoise popped out of the box ready to go. That is what we strive for. What was previously mentioned, do not ship end of the week unless there is a Saturday delivery allowed ( costs extra)

Sorry this happened to you Andrew

There are a few things here

Until animals arrive safe and sound to a customer those animals are the breeder's responsibility.

As a breeder your job is to keep himself informed on temperatures which includes main hub through which the package will travel (usually between 11pm to 5 am), but you also need to keep up with various fedex alerts which are posted here http://www.fedex.com/us/servicealerts/. Those alerts were even posted on sites like Reptiles2You, SYR and Reptiles Express which were all discouraging people from shipping last week. That job was not done it's also your job as a breeder to say NO to a customer when conditions are too risky. It's not the job of a customer to know all that.

I noticed that he shipped with 2 heat packs, while this can be done with a fairly large box and if done properly, doing so with a small box (which I would expect with hognose) could have easily killed those animals even if had not been any delay (but we will never know) https://www.shipyourreptiles.com/en/...s#question-275

As a breeder if you offer live arrival guarantee you just offer live arrival guarantee and you do not put conditions afterward such as "well you should have take insurance" (which BTW was not available on SYR last week due to the issues Fedex was experiencing, the insurance would also have been void due to the use of 2 heat packs in a 12x9x6 box)

As a breeder if an animal is DOA you refund your customer or if you can you replace the animals with similar animals, a transaction and it's responsibility is not over until the customer is 100% satisfied.

As a breeder a DOA often means being out of pocket but that's a risk we all take when we offer live arrival guarantee (breeders have always offered live guarantee even before insurances were available)

There is no doubt he should issue a full refund.

So sorry for your monetary loss and the needless death of this pair of poor animals which most definitely could have been avoided.
NO REPUTABLE seller I know of will even consider shipping Thursday for Friday and I have had to tell a number of buyers that I will not do this at any cost or reasoning on their part.
Also the vast majority of live reptiles delivered by Fedex go through Memphis unless it is an instate delivery and then it is usually done by local truck.
There is no doubt that the seller is at fault here and I truly hope he mans up and issues a full refund
Good luck

Have you let Scott know about this thread?

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ber.php?u=8915

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've filed a claim with the bank to have a chargeback processed as the funds can be recovered through visa. I've been on the fence over whether I want to keep fighting with him and pushing by pointing out all the places I've posted feedback on or whether I should let the chargeback be processed and move on.

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