MDRcypress
New member
I recently made a purchase from Chris Van Aken ( www.chrisvanaken.com ) and have been VERY disappointed with the entire thing. He claims to be a Uroplatus breeder but i highly doubt that.
Chris Van Aken has/had a FS on Pangea Forums for 1.1 proven CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus $560 + shipping. Upon contacting Chris and buying these he also offered up another 1.1 pair of CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus and 1.1 CB Uroplatus Ebenaui which we made a deal on for $650 for the 4. Soon after that he decided to sell a 1.1 CB Uroplatus Henkeli for $450 which i also purchased. when exchanging emails i did ask if these were WC by any chance because i knew a import shipment had just come in and he told me that NO they were not WC.
i ended up being out of town for a few extra days so had Chris Van Aken delay the shipment until i could be there for arrival which he did. in the meantime he pulled the second 1.1 pair of CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus because the female looked in poor shape and made him "nervous" then he refunded me $325 out of the $650 (the Fimbriatus are worth more than the Ebenaui) for the Fimbriatus/Ebenaui combo.
when they arrived on 4/4/2012 we opened the package and it was shipped with no heat pack. packing was good but the box was COLD. We (me and the GF) inspected the animals and found mites on the 1.1 CB Uroplatus Ebenaui and the 1.1 CB Uroplatus Henkeli. I immediately took pictures and emailed them over and his response was "Well crap, I'm going to look through my collection to make sure all my things aren't infested. I didnt even look for them since they are healthy. That would be horrible. Keep me posted on how they do. Do you know how to treat them? If not, I can help. Thanks!" -- yeah, seriously --
at this point in time i suspected i have been taken and got WC instead of CB like i ordered and paid for. i could have bought these WC for $600 shipped and been as happy as a clam because with WC it's a gamble, risk, etc. and they can have mites on arrival at the least + many other parasites. I bought CB to avoid these issues......
4/11/2012 I finally get around to emailing Chris Van Aken to let him know what I thought of what I got in, etc. and that he needs to make this right. He emails me back stating he will give a response soon. -- It took me a while to simmer down enough to write a decent email as this issue REALLY IRRITATES ME... still.
4/12/2012 The female Henkeli went from doing fine to dead within a few hours. Again I dispatch a email to Chris Van Aken and he is "very sorry" and offers to send me another female Uroplatus Henkeli. Instead of a replacement he refunds me $225 through paypal which just cleared today.
Through emails i have explained this situation quite clearly and have asked him to make this situation right but the closest thing he has done toward making anything right is sending a refund for the dead female Henkeli.
I do have pictures and every email we sent back and forth. At one point I did attempt to call his # but there was no answer (before there were issues) and I didn't try to keep calling until i got an answer.
I would suggest that ANYONE dealing with Chris Van Aken take a good hard look and evaluate their purchases. He does a really good job photoshopping the specimens he is selling to make them look more attractive so don't go by the photos he sends.
other issues i listed to Chris about this transaction were:
1) did you ship with a heat pack -- NO
2) did you ship me 4 uroplatus with mites - YES
3) do i have pics of said mites -- YES
4) did you ever offer to make things right in regards to mite infestation -- NO
5) do i honestly believe i bought all CB uroplatus -- NO
6) did a female, mite infested, henkeli die within a very short amount of time after arrival -- YES
7) did you offer to send a replacement female henkeli -- YES (but i digress i got a refund instead)
Uroplatus Ebenaui with mites:
Uroplatus Henkeli with mites (hard to see on toe pads but you can make out the reddish spots):
Deceased female Uroplatus Henkeli:
Chris Van Aken has/had a FS on Pangea Forums for 1.1 proven CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus $560 + shipping. Upon contacting Chris and buying these he also offered up another 1.1 pair of CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus and 1.1 CB Uroplatus Ebenaui which we made a deal on for $650 for the 4. Soon after that he decided to sell a 1.1 CB Uroplatus Henkeli for $450 which i also purchased. when exchanging emails i did ask if these were WC by any chance because i knew a import shipment had just come in and he told me that NO they were not WC.
i ended up being out of town for a few extra days so had Chris Van Aken delay the shipment until i could be there for arrival which he did. in the meantime he pulled the second 1.1 pair of CB Uroplatus Fimbriatus because the female looked in poor shape and made him "nervous" then he refunded me $325 out of the $650 (the Fimbriatus are worth more than the Ebenaui) for the Fimbriatus/Ebenaui combo.
when they arrived on 4/4/2012 we opened the package and it was shipped with no heat pack. packing was good but the box was COLD. We (me and the GF) inspected the animals and found mites on the 1.1 CB Uroplatus Ebenaui and the 1.1 CB Uroplatus Henkeli. I immediately took pictures and emailed them over and his response was "Well crap, I'm going to look through my collection to make sure all my things aren't infested. I didnt even look for them since they are healthy. That would be horrible. Keep me posted on how they do. Do you know how to treat them? If not, I can help. Thanks!" -- yeah, seriously --
at this point in time i suspected i have been taken and got WC instead of CB like i ordered and paid for. i could have bought these WC for $600 shipped and been as happy as a clam because with WC it's a gamble, risk, etc. and they can have mites on arrival at the least + many other parasites. I bought CB to avoid these issues......
4/11/2012 I finally get around to emailing Chris Van Aken to let him know what I thought of what I got in, etc. and that he needs to make this right. He emails me back stating he will give a response soon. -- It took me a while to simmer down enough to write a decent email as this issue REALLY IRRITATES ME... still.
4/12/2012 The female Henkeli went from doing fine to dead within a few hours. Again I dispatch a email to Chris Van Aken and he is "very sorry" and offers to send me another female Uroplatus Henkeli. Instead of a replacement he refunds me $225 through paypal which just cleared today.
Through emails i have explained this situation quite clearly and have asked him to make this situation right but the closest thing he has done toward making anything right is sending a refund for the dead female Henkeli.
I do have pictures and every email we sent back and forth. At one point I did attempt to call his # but there was no answer (before there were issues) and I didn't try to keep calling until i got an answer.
I would suggest that ANYONE dealing with Chris Van Aken take a good hard look and evaluate their purchases. He does a really good job photoshopping the specimens he is selling to make them look more attractive so don't go by the photos he sends.
other issues i listed to Chris about this transaction were:
1) did you ship with a heat pack -- NO
2) did you ship me 4 uroplatus with mites - YES
3) do i have pics of said mites -- YES
4) did you ever offer to make things right in regards to mite infestation -- NO
5) do i honestly believe i bought all CB uroplatus -- NO
6) did a female, mite infested, henkeli die within a very short amount of time after arrival -- YES
7) did you offer to send a replacement female henkeli -- YES (but i digress i got a refund instead)
Uroplatus Ebenaui with mites:
Uroplatus Henkeli with mites (hard to see on toe pads but you can make out the reddish spots):
Deceased female Uroplatus Henkeli:
I'm sorry! You did save me though! Thank you! I would have been FURIOUS if animals I was so excited about and paid so much for showed up in that condition and with mites. I don't blame you for a refund considering the state of the animals, I wouldn't want a replacement either. Once again, I seriously thank you. I just decided to look him up before I ordered and I am seriously happy I did.