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Info Heads up on Gourmet Rodent

SPJ

SPJ

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Posting this as a heads up to people who may consider buying from gourmet rodent. They did refund me the full amount but that would not have been necessary IMO if they packed correctly. 2 snakes arrived dead and I am positive that a better packing job would have prevented the deaths. Attached are photos. You can decide for yourself if you want to risk a purchase. Like I said, they did refund me but the deaths could have been prevented.
 

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I am glad they made it right, however it still surprises and sadden me that nowadays some people still ship like this??? :angry:

It's not like there is not ton of info out there on optimal ways to ship live animals.

<sarcasm>Maybe be they are out of touch with shipping live creatures after shipping dead ones for so long??? :ack2:<sarcasm>
 
Looking at this picture it looks like the box with the reptiles is inside an outer styrofoam lined box. Is that correct? If so, that would mean there is an outer cardboard box, a middle styrofoam layer, and inner cardboard box, then crumpled paper. That, to me, is an impressive shipping container. Multiple layers of insulation basically. I assume it had a heat pack also? This picture looks deceiving as if the snakes were shipped with no styrofoam. Additionally, that styrofoam looks to be 1", which is good, and there is inner material (crumpled paper), to hold heat. Could you picture the actual shipping box fully.

Warren
 
Warren_Booth said:
Looking at this picture it looks like the box with the reptiles is inside an outer styrofoam lined box. Is that correct? If so, that would mean there is an outer cardboard box, a middle styrofoam layer, and inner cardboard box, then crumpled paper. That, to me, is an impressive shipping container. Multiple layers of insulation basically. I assume it had a heat pack also? This picture looks deceiving as if the snakes were shipped with no styrofoam. Additionally, that styrofoam looks to be 1", which is good, and there is inner material (crumpled paper), to hold heat. Could you picture the actual shipping box fully.

Warren
Click to expand...

Good catch. I missed that the first time though. It makes my stated concern unwarranted. I am now curious about the COD.
 
Doesn't look like the inner box had much paper to keep the deli cups from sliding about during shippe. Also, at the bottom of the first pic is that crumpled paper between the snakes delis or a loose heat pack?
 
Looks like a loose heat pack, or hand warmer, to me.
I agree that there is not enough paper in there (if none was removed prior to the photo being taken)
 
SPJ said:
Posting this as a heads up to people who may consider buying from gourmet rodent. They did refund me the full amount but that would not have been necessary IMO if they packed correctly. 2 snakes arrived dead and I am positive that a better packing job would have prevented the deaths. Attached are photos. You can decide for yourself if you want to risk a purchase. Like I said, they did refund me but the deaths could have been prevented.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, what is it about the packing job pictured that you feel caused the death of the animals? What could they have done better, in your opinion?
 
They wouldn't balk at giving you credit on two inexpensive snakes, even if they weren't at fault. GR has been around for a long time and they know how to pack and ship. I don't think it was a bad packing job that did them in unless the package sat in the cold for too long ... I see you're in CT.

What was it that you think killed the snakes ?
 
I just want to say, we've had three different packages for snakes shipped from Gourmet Rodent and have had absolutely no issues with them. They're always well-insulated and well-packaged. I personally would back them 100% and buy from them again in an instant. Everything we have got from them has been very good quality and perfectly healthy.

Why did you make a post knocking them when they gave you a full refund AND clearly had a very well-insulated package? I don't understand how this warranted a BOI thread, it sounds like they completely took care of the problem.
 
We just wanted to take a moment to address the issue at hand. We are very sorry to see this happen. The Gourmet Rodent ships well over 200 live packages a day, and we strive for perfection on every box that leaves our facility. Even one animal not arriving alive is something that we do not like to see. We did offer Steve replacement animals as soon as we found out about the problem, but he opted for a refund which we promptly sent over.

As with any issue, we have held a staff meeting with everyone involved to help insure that things like this do not occur in the future.

We obviously guarantee live delivery on all our packages. We also offer a 7 day guarantee on our animals. We will continue to always strive for perfection and try to make it right when things don't go as planned.
 
It was ice cold. Nowhere near an adequate heat pack. Nothing to secure the containers to prevent massive movement when the package is handled. Basically compared to how I pack animals when I ship, this was crap. They did refund me but they really need to look into the way they pack their animals.
 
Is it possible the heat pack just failed? Every package we've had from them the snakes have been nice and warm. It looks like it was insulated so a faulty heat pack is the most likely cause of death if they were super cold. I don't think you can really blame them for that, especially since they took care of you.
 
Who just throws a heat pack loose in the box? This was just tossed in. I don't care that they refunded me. 2 animals are dead. The deaths were avoidable. It was a horrible packing job and that is why they died.
 
If the only paper, that was in the box, was what is shown, in the photo, then it was not adequate. It allows room for critters, &/or delis, to be jostled about much more than they would with the proper amount of packing material.

If the heat pack was just a hand warmer, that is not adequate. They do not last long enough, etc.

Whether it was a hand warmer, or a proper heat pack, it should not be thrown in unwrapped and, especially, loose. That just sets things up for the possibility of "cooking" a critter or two.

If a heat pack, and it failed, that may, or may not, be the fault of the seller. Depends on if the heat pack simply failed or if it was not properly prepped, &/or if it was too old, &/or if it is just a hand warmer. However, there is still the matter of its being loose and, also, there is not enough packing material.

The outer insulation was very good though.

I do not consider the Gourmet Rodent as a "bad guy" (not that this was said) because they did refund the buyer along with an apology. However, I do think they should improve upon their packing methods (re. the interior of box).
 
If they died from cold, I don't understand what that has to do with packaging unless the box wasn't insulated or there wasnt a heat pack...which it was, and there was. I just don't follow the logic. The cause of death seems to be a failed heat pack, which I don't think is a result of it not being wrapped up.
 
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