LLL Reptile-Beware!

Hello,

My name is Eric Favez and I am posting this as a result of my experience with LLL Reptile Co. in the hopes that others will be warned of the subpar business practices and ethics displayed by this company.

In November of this year (2009) I purchased a single Cork Bark Gecko (Uroplatus pietschmanni) from them. The price of the animal was $160 + shipping, so the total was $200 even. I paid for the animal via Money Order. The animal was stated in their ad on Kingsnake.com as being in excellent health and flawless. I found this not to be the case upon receiving the animal. The gecko was infested with mites upon arrival (not the typical black snake mites, but a red mite) that can be seen here in these pictures:





I know they can be a bit hard to see due to the animal's coloration, but there are several red spots (mites) visible....there were also many more that I could not capture adequately in a photo on the animal's toe pads and on the face region. In short, I received an animal that was flawed and teaming with unwelcome guests (in my opinion, a violation of LLL's claims of selling healthy, flawless animals).

I did what any person would do and attempted to rid the animal of the mites....I did so with un-abrasive chemicals such as Reptile Relief and anti-bacterial soap and q-tips. I did not use strong chemicals such as Provent-A-Mite because I knew that geckos, in particular Uroplatus species are very sensitive and this would jeopardize the animal's health. Unfortunately the gecko died approximately a week after I received it.

After the gecko died, I called and spoke with a representative from LLL and we came to agreement that neither party was 100% at fault for the animal's death (even though they sent me an animal with mites) and that I would receive half of the animal's value ($80) in store credit as reparation for the gecko dying. I called them today to try and cash in on my store credit (my intention was to get a Tree Frog and some supplies worth the amount of my credit)....at first, they did not even have the species I wanted, despite having it listed on both their website and their most recent Kingsnake.com advertisement, so we agreed upon another species.

Then the representative informs me that there would be a shipping charge of $40 to ship the frog to my house, making the total cost of the frog alone exceed my $80 credit....this of course did not sit well with me, because I did not feel that the burden of the cost of shipping should rest with them, because I had already paid shipping for my gecko that was infested with mites and is now dead. This means that I would receive only $40 in credit, when they had agreed to give $80. This does not seem like a fair recourse, seeing as how I am already out $200 for the cost of the gecko. This may not seem like a lot of money to some people, but I am merely a humble hobbyist who works hard to pay for the hobby that I enjoy. $200 is a fair chunk of change for me to just toss down the drain in this economy.

LLL Reptile sent me a flawed, unhealthy animal that died as a result of their shortcoming (the mite infestation), then tried to tag me with additional shipping charges when I tried to incur my due credit as a result of the gecko dying. All of my interactions with them have been on the phone, so I have no tangible record of our correspondence, but I have proof of the gecko having mites and being dead. I wold warn others to beware of doing business with this company in the hopes that they do not receive the short end of the stick as I did.

Here is a picture of my $200 investment from LLL Reptile....money well spent!





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I am a good friend of Eric's and I have known him for many years. I personally witnessed the gecko's mite infestation myself and can vouch for everything he has posted here.

He takes great care of his animals, many of which are rare and unusual in husbandry requirements. Had LLL sent him an as-advertised gecko, I have no doubt it would be alive and thriving in his care. Their failure to honor their agreement and stand behind their livestock speaks volumes as their character and priorities when dealing with customers.

I am very sorry for your loss. I do see the mites on the animal in the first few photos. I CERTAINLY wouldn't want anything like that anywhere NEAR my collection.

Originally Posted by Eric Favez

After the gecko died, I called and spoke with a representative from LLL and we came to agreement that neither party was 100% at fault for the animal's death (even though they sent me an animal with mites) and that I would receive half of the animal's value ($80) in store credit as reparation for the gecko dying.

Why didn't you contact LLLReptile when you first received the sick animal instead of trying to treat it yourself? I would have told them that i'd like to send the animal back immediately. You probably would have received full credit instead of half, and you wouldn't have had to deal with a mite infestation potentially threatening the rest of your colony.

Well I didnt notice the mites the first day which was on a friday. When I did notice the mites late at night over the weekend the store was closed, so I left a message for them and started treatment right away.

Okay...and did they ever get back to you the following Monday? Or are you saying that it took them a week to get in touch with you? Did you try to call them back?

Originally Posted by Eric Favez

I received an animal that was flawed and teaming with unwelcome guests (in my opinion, a violation of LLL's claims of selling healthy, flawless animals).



Then the representative informs me that there would be a shipping charge of $40 to ship the frog to my house, making the total cost of the frog alone exceed my $80 credit....this of course did not sit well with me, because I did not feel that the burden of the cost of shipping should rest with them, because I had already paid shipping for my gecko that was infested with mites and is now dead.

Very sorry to hear about your bad experience with LLL Reptile.

Shipping is something we all hate to pay because of the high costs. they are within their rights to charge you shipping on the second frog they sent to you.

Send an email to kingsnake if you purchased off that site they take that sort of thing seriously.

It would really help if you could provide us with SOME type of time/date idea as far as what happened when. Heresay (sp?) gets a little confusing around here...

I have had problems with LLL Reptile before and they took care of the problem immediately. I don't know what may be different in this situation but it is still saddening that the gecko died. I am assuming you have spoken to a manager, but have you dealt with just one store or both? What was there reason for not replacing the animal after the weekend was over? I am curious to know for future purchases with them.

They did get a hold of me the Following Monday...I told them That it was infested and I had started treatment myself. They told me that red mites were not bad and only eat dead skin..lol Well I DO NOT have any kind of mites whether theyre red green or blue...doesnt matter to me, I will not have them. So they just told me to keep in touch and let them know how my treatment goes. Well we all see how it went, I Imagine it was just too much stress. So If they are trying to make me pay for shipping AGAIN...that that would only be $40 credit, not even half.

Oh and the Owner of the store would not talk to me. I asked to talk to the Owner directly today and I was told that he doesnt do interactions with customers..lol Just his little helpers do