LLL Reptile - My experience.

I can't say my experience with LLL was negative nor positive. I'll merely list the facts, as they are, and the events as they happened.

I found the LLL website via Google, and I was amazed at the amount of different animals they sold. I was on cloud 9 when I saw their prices. And when I saw that they had amelanistic cornsnakes of the exact size I wanted, I immediately added one to my cart. I also purchased a male ghost hatchling. I immediately informed them via the "shipping instructions" thingamabobber at checkout that it was very, very cold here (single digits) and that I'd like extra heatpads. I received a message back from a sales rep stating that heat packs were $1.75 each (or something close to it) and that I wouldn't need more than two. I said okay and that was the last I heard from them until shipping day, when they told me my credit card wasn't working. Turns out I was two dollars over and my address wasn't registered with my credit card, and their sales rep was extremely helpful and patient with me and talked me through the whole thing. I made the shipping deadline by little more than ten minutes, thanks to this sales rep.

They were shipped via FedEx overnight, and I was super anxious/nervous about being home when the box arrived, so I plastered my doors and windows with signs that said "put the box inside, door's unlocked" (and yes, I did get robbed by the neighbors) and when the FedEx guy didn't come at 2:00, I drove into town looking for the van. I drove for ten minutes and decided to head back for home, just incase he left the box on the doorstep, and I met him coming the other way, floored my gas pedal, and sprinted to the door. Box wasn't outside, so then I was scared he took it back to the FedEx office. I went inside, and behold, my reptile treasure chest right where I wanted it!

I opened the box (I was very happy with the packaging) which was lined with thick styrofoam which was very airy and nice. It also had those big.. Air cushion.. Things. You know, the plastic things filled with air. Anywho. The snakes were in delicups with shredded newspaper, which was very clean. The heat packs were taped to the top of the box, and still quite warm. My snakes weren't just alive, they were active!

I immediately started to take them out of their deli cups. I took out the little ghost first, and I must say, I have never seen a more beautiful, perfect representative of the ghost morph in my life. I was so extremely proud of him that I put him around my neck then and there!

Next, I started to unpack the female amel. Before I'd even opened the container, I was like.. "Wha... What on earth is this?" Her tail looked like it had been through a microcrimper, and she had a deep dent near her vent (but on the top side). She's at the vet as we speak, and I'll be picking her up at 2:30 (it's 10:45 now). I did take pictures with my phone, but (for some reason) I was unable to send them to my email address. I got a message back on my phone saying something about "unbearable carrier" or some mumbo jumbo.

I wouldn't mention this at all, other than the fact that the sales rep knew I wanted both snakes for breeding. I will say that the prices on them were unbelievably low, but the fact of the matter is, I wasn't informed about the female's condition, and I definitely won't risk breeding her now. She might not even be capable of defacating for all I know. I won't know until she gets back from the vet, at which time I'll be posting everything the vet has to say.

Since I could not provide photos within the 24 hour time frame required by their TOS, nothing can be done about this, and I'm sure that the temperature will come into play if I do start a big ol' spat about this, so I'll conclude with the following:
Their prices can't be beat.
Their staff are very friendly.
They sell some very gorgeous animals.
They will ship in cold weather.
Their packaging is good.
They posess some less-than-quality animals, as many wholesalers do.
I have heard both good things and bad about them. I will not buy animals from them again (due to my own clinical paranoia), but I will definitely look into purchasing some of their inanimate products.
All in all, they are a nice company with very helpful staff. I think I probably just got unlucky with my female. She is very beautiful, and she will make a lovely, lovely little pet.

After getting screwed with not getting what you paid for,not to mention a vet bill that you will pay for, you would buy from them again (supplies)?

Considering their positive reputation and good prices, yes, I will most likely buy from them again. Most vivs/dishes/meters don't come with a vet bill. The only problem I had was with one snake. The shipping was fast and affordable, the staff were friendly, and the prices were great. I won't buy live animals from them again because of this experience, but I see no reason why I couldn't buy supplies from them.

I do appreciate your concern though. I don't normally get that.

I should let it be known that on cornsnakes.com I am a notorious jerk, for people here who aren't.. Well, there.

So if you noticed that the snake had an issue right out of the box, why didn't you immediately inform LLL?

Oh, I tried. I sent them an email via their "Contact Us" linkage, and I received a "Delivery Failure Notification" message back. Could be my cruddy internet. I'll give them a call once Rosie gets back from the vet.

Call them now. I have dealt with them in the past, and will in the future. I have purchased from them and sold to them and have found them excellent on a customer service level. I had a problem w/ some WLP's feeding the vent on one (looked like it was injured when they popped it), and after working with me over the phone for about a month to get them feeding to no avail, the gave me a credit, including return shipping.

We see all the time how it's not the # of good deals, but how the "bad" ones are handled. Well, they handled my dissatisfaction exceptionally. Most would not have been as accomodating.

Again, give them a call....they're good guys in my experience.

I called per your suggestion, Mike, and quoted, word for word, is my conversation with the (male) phone answerer guy. I'm in bold. (I stutter sometimes, I wanted this to be as realistic as possible.)

Hello, this is triple L reptiles.

Hi, I have a question about a snake I received on Tuesday.

Okay.

I ordered an albino juvenile.. Uh, female.. And a male ghost... Hatchling.

Oh.. Cornsnakes? Er..

Yep.

Okay.

The male is a very lovely snake, and I was pretty impressed (with him).. But the female, when I took her out, she had a big dent in her back... Uh, her tail..

(Surprised tone) Oh, really? Usually...

Yeah, but it looks like an old injury from... Uh, a lid... From being closed in a lid or something.

Oh really? Usually we check them over pretty well before sending them out.

Well, I'm just... Uh, the sales rep knew I wanted them for breeding so.. Uh, I just wanted to know if it was an injury or.. Uh, congenital, you know?

Okay. Yeah, it sounds like an injury, but...

Yeah, I thought so. She's at the vet right now, so...

Oh. Okay. Well, if there's any nerve damage, let us know.

Yeah, she doesn't seem to... Uh, it doesn't seem to hinder her much. She likes to climb and stuff.. So..

Okay. That's really good, but be sure to call if there's a problem.

I'm not too worried about it, but I'll let you know how everything.. Uh, how it all goes.

Okay, I'll talk to you soon.

Alrighty. Bye.

Bye.
-------

Sounds like a good guy to me, after all!

The one thing that stands out, to me, is this statement:

I'm not too worried about it, but I'll let you know how everything.. Uh, how it all goes.

The impression I got from reading your initial post was that you were unhappy with the condition of the female. Maybe you were trying to not to be a jerk, but why say that you aren't too worried about it. Just be honest, and tell them that you are unhappy with one of the animals they sent (and that you would like a replacement, or whatever your preferred resolution would be).

Also, there is no reason for temperature to become a factor in the discussion when the problem is clearly not related to shipping temps. What is more likely to be a factor is that they weren't notified as soon as you opened the box. (I'm not saying it will, I don't think I've ever dealt with LLL directly).

I was trying to be polite, yes, and perhaps I could have been a little more forward about it, but I was a tad bit worried that it would make things worse for me. I'm extremely nervous about ordering from people far away, because I know that if they wanted to, they could hang up on me and I'd never be able to speak to them again. I tried emailing them, and perhaps I should have called instead, but I didn't have any proof aside from pictures on my phone that wouldn't send anyway.

Rose is back from the vet after an X-ray (which, I hear, she did not enjoy) and there is no nerve damage, and her spine is functioning as it should, but it is a bit crooked. The vet informed me that although she couldn't say with 100% certainty, she is sure it is an old injury, and that Rose would be breedable. I don't think I am going to breed her though, as we have no way of determining whether her kinky tail tip is from an injury or a genetic defect. I might do one clutch and see how it goes, but that's a big maybe. No reason this little beauty couldn't be my kinky little pet!

If anyone is interested, I will take pictures (with a suitable camera) and post them here, incase anyone wanted to observe the extent of the damage to her tail. I don't see any scar tissue (but I don't really know what it looks like) and she doesn't appear to be missing any scales. It looks to me like it has healed over quite well.

I'm noticing all of these moderator(?) replies on other threads about personal info, so I'm going to post mine below:

Adam Keith Boots
Hidden Hollow Haven / Herp&Horse Hobbyist.
Shingobee Tri-Town Neighborhood 1 (Walker-LaPorte-Benedict)
North-Central Minnesota.

I've bought some good stuff from them in the past, but one purchase leaves a sour taste. in 2005, I bought a satanic leaftail (U. phantasticus) from them at the NC reptile show in Raleigh for approximately $160-180. It seemed a little dehydrated, but not worse than what I had dealt with before. 2 days later, it died. I called them and talked to the owner. He told me that normally, they have a 1 week health guarantee on their animals, but anything they sell at shows has a 24 hour guarantee. He went on saying that Uroplatus are sensitive animals, etc. I had been breeding phantasticus for approximately 3 years at that time.

In the end, he offered me 20% off my next purchase. I don't know, maybe he thought I was new and didn't know what I was talking about. All the people I talked to about it said it was uncharacteristic for that type of "resolution." Well, given that he made almost $200 for something that soon after died on me, I figured the only real resolution I was going to get from them was to discontinue any business with them.

That being said, I did have 1 purchase before that incident that went well. Adult female crested gecko bought at a separate show, did great. And I do have to hand it to them, they do carry a great variety at the shows, and often some very nice animals. In the end it was the customer service that did them in, for me. I am not a pushy, demanding person. I was being very civil in asking for some more compensation than I was offered, which really did nothing for me anyway since I could pay less than his discount for the same animals elsewhere.

Another expensive lesson learned.