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Need opinions....

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FireStorm

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So, I have a strange situation. A customer purchased 3 BPs from me a few months ago. All are 2012s. He loves 2 of them, but now he wants a replacement for the 3rd one because he says it is mean. I'm really not sure how to handle this...he never asked about the snakes' temperaments before the purchase, and they weren't exceptionally aggressive when I had them. I want the guy to be happy, but I don't really feel like its fair to expect me to come out of pocket for a replacement. Especially since I'm pretty sure the snake will calm down with patience. Any thoughts?
 
Tough call. There's no claim as far as I can see if there was no mention of temperament (and even if there was, temperaments can change with a new, unfamiliar environment). But I can appreciate you wanting to keep your customer happy.

If it were me, and if I had a replacement to send of equal value, I would offer to replace it (assuming that I receive it back in the same healthy condition that I sent it), BUT I would ask him/her to pay for the return shipping and the shipping for the replacement. As long as you met all of your terms of service, there's no reason for you to have to eat the cost of replacing it.

JMHO
 
I agree with John.
You are under no obligation to provide him with another animal because he doesn't like the temperament...especially after months have passed. If you have a replacement, and you don't mind, go ahead and make the swap - but since it isn't a health defect, you shouldn't have to lose money on the deal by paying shipping.
How mean can a ball python be, anyway? :rofl:
 
TheFragginDragon said:
Tough call. There's no claim as far as I can see if there was no mention of temperament (and even if there was, temperaments can change with a new, unfamiliar environment). But I can appreciate you wanting to keep your customer happy.

If it were me, and if I had a replacement to send of equal value, I would offer to replace it (assuming that I receive it back in the same healthy condition that I sent it), BUT I would ask him/her to pay for the return shipping and the shipping for the replacement. As long as you met all of your terms of service, there's no reason for you to have to eat the cost of replacing it.

JMHO
Click to expand...

I was thinking along those lines...the only thing that makes me hesitate is that we have spent a ton of time helping this guy with husbandry issues, so I'm afraid the aggression is stress related. I am going to be pretty frustrated if I send out a replacement and he has the same problem again. In other words, I don't mind replacing once, but I'm not really inclined to do it over and over again...I guess the best course is to make it clear that this is a 1 time deal.
 
Setting aside my personal opinion of the stupidly of the claim "the snake is mean, I want a replacement", I guess I would ask what is your normal terms.

It has been a couple of months and you delivered what was promised. I don't think it fair for you to incur the cost of shipping back and shipping a new one out unless you outlined that in TOS that you would.

If you have no such regular policy months after the purchase you could go above and beyond your TOS as a customer service issue but I wouldn't expect you to bear the brunt of the return.

There are several avenues to take instead of just saying no.

You could offer the person to return the snake at his/her cost and issue a refund for the one. Offer an appropriate exchange but the person should cover shipping on both.

If the person thinks the snake is to aggressive I'm assuming they wouldn't want to get a discount on a future purchase and keep the snake, or keep the snake and ask for a discount for it.

If they asked for that I would assume it was a ploy.

Hmm, maybe the best possible solution instead of just saying no is to have them return the snake at their cost. If that is something you would do. If not, then just say, No.



Offer
 
Can the buyer describe the "mean" behavior? Or can he send you a video of the snake being mean?
 
bcr229 said:
Can the buyer describe the "mean" behavior? Or can he send you a video of the snake being mean?
Click to expand...

From what the buyer said, he strikes when you try to get him out of his hide. The buyer says he only wants snakes that anyone can handle at any time. So, we have reminded him that these are essentially wild animals, so it is imossible for us to guarantee that (we would have told him that from the beginning if he had asked) We've offered him the opportunity to swap out the snakes if he pays shipping both ways and makes up his mind in the next few days, as I only have one potential replacement and won't be keeping it indefinitely. We suggested that, given the expense of shipping, it might be better for him to familiarize himself with body language a bit more, since it sounds like the snake is just startled and defensive.
 
I'm always leery of bringing a snake into my collection, let alone one from someone who obviously isn't too experienced. You never know what's coming back with the snake.

I would go the route of educating, and working with him that way.

I get you want to make him happy...but at what cost, for something that isn't really an "issue".
 
FireStorm said:
From what the buyer said, he strikes when you try to get him out of his hide. The buyer says he only wants snakes that anyone can handle at any time. So, we have reminded him that these are essentially wild animals, so it is imossible for us to guarantee that (we would have told him that from the beginning if he had asked) We've offered him the opportunity to swap out the snakes if he pays shipping both ways and makes up his mind in the next few days, as I only have one potential replacement and won't be keeping it indefinitely. We suggested that, given the expense of shipping, it might be better for him to familiarize himself with body language a bit more, since it sounds like the snake is just startled and defensive.
Click to expand...

How is he getting the snake out of the hide? if he's stickin his fingers in the hide and dragging the snake out that is probably making the snake think something is trying to eat him. I always flip the hide to the side and get the snake out that way. I have yet to receive any aggressive behaviour, unless I have food of course :D
 
Ive never met a "mean snake"
Quite a few over the years have been pretty "defensive",snakes dont have the capacity to be "mean or aggressive".
Customer needs to "glove up" and deal with it IMO
 
Another thought if this hasn't been resolved yet - would it be possible to find someone experienced with BP's who lives close to this buyer, who could potentially investigate in person what exactly is going on? I just thought of it based on a horse my trainer sold a few years back, it was sweet as pie for her but it started bucking for the new owner after a few weeks. The problem was a poorly-fitting saddle, not the horse, but that was only discovered after the trainer had someone go investigate for her. The horse had been shipped a long ways away so it wasn't convenient for the trainer to visit in person.
 
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