Bad Guy Crappy Shipping Practices-Kevin Olbrych owner Suncoast Reptiles

[imabirdmom]

I'm sorry videos don't lie and neither do pictures. I will be posting screenshots as soon as I get home from work of every single email the two of us exchanged. I haven't even known you for weeks. and I only received my tortoises on Tuesday so unsure how I harassed you for weeks. I voiced my concerns and discussed directly to you you brush them off and told me to go enjoy my tortoises. I then decided to let you know that I was posting this here as a courtesy to you so you couldn't come back and say I did something behind your back. I have not contacted you since then not even when you provided your phone number and asked me to call you. I have every right to be unhappy with this shipment. I told you in advance what I what I expected and told I'd had a recent bad experience shipping in tortoises. you could have at that time let me know you were going to be shipping them in in nothing more than a cardboard box. and I could have chosen not to do business with you. I have made twoI have made two purchases on on Fauna and both of them were poorly packed for shipping and yes I have review them both here. I wish others before me had done the same. in both cases I googled the the names before before buying and found nothing. now in both cases I have found others who had similar or worse experiences with these sellers. I wish they had had the courage to let others know. it would have saved me doing business with people who treat animals with so little regard for their health or safety.

 

[Craig Wyatt]

If what the OP is saying is true (my guess is yes) I bet her torts were packed tight too. In a tiny box like that anything would be tight.
Can you please post some proof to your side of the story. I would like to see where she is lying and what she's lying about.

 

[imabirdmom]

That is not what I'm saying. They were free to slip about the 9" x 6" box. There was nothing to stop them from being crushed. Just a regular mailer that shipper cut and inverted to disguise that it was a free box you can pick up in an post office. You know the ones that are for shipping VHS tapes in. Not even a thick corrugated box not that it matters because as soon as you cut any seam on a box you've made it unstable. The torts had no padding between them and box. They were not marked in any way to indicate which side was up. He had written "live harmless reptiles" in tiny letters and in fat black marker on the tape which is smeared and barely legible. Our FedEx driver was all apologies for being late but then was horrified when we told her she was carrying our baby tortoises sideways. She had no idea it was a live shipment at all.

 

[WebSlave]

Well, the question that comes to my mind immediate is "Is Suncoast Reptiles/Kevin Olbrych an authorized shipper via FedEx?" There are specific requirements that people have to meet in order to be an authorized shipper with FedEx, one of which is to submit examples of the boxes they will use (that need to meet FedEx's own requirements) in order to gain that approval to ship live animals via their service. I would be EXTREMELY surprised to learn that the box used in this example of shipping has met FedEx's acceptable standards and been pre-approved.

IMHO.

 

[Guy Castro]

BEWARE OF DOING BUSINESS WITH IMABIRDMOM! EVERYTHING YOU SAID IS A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT! THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL! IMABIRDMOM HAS BEEN HARASSING US FOR WEEKS, I HAVE EVERY EMAIL. SHE ALSO STATES ALL THE BAD EXPERIENCES SHE HAS ON FAUNA .WE HAVE ALOT OF VALUED CUSTOMERS FOR MANY, MANY YEARS THAT ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AND NEVER HAVE HAD ANY ISSUES, THANKS

This is how guilty people respond. How about some proof?

 

[imabirdmom]

I am on hold with FedEx right now. yes you are correct in order to become an approved in order you have to show approvable shipping containers to prove you know what you are doing. But you only have to do that one time and then they approve your shipping method. nobody checks up on you unless there is a complaint. well they are getting a complaint today.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

I received an animal in similar packaging as shown here on Wednesday. I am very happy with the turtle I received, but I prefer to implement very different packaging. Likewise, I prefer folks I buy from to employ packaging that is more compliant with the shipping service expectations and provides more in the way of safety for the life or lives encased within (both in terms of structural resistance to damage as well as insulating properties). One can have good fortune most of the time, but if bad fortune hits, I appreciate an extra measure of safety that more durable and extensive packaging may provide. Whether one wants to look at it from a retention of live and healthy animal ($) perspective or for the sake of protecting the life that is being subjected to risk in transit, I consider it worthwhile.

I think the typical corrugated box with six styrofoam panels or a unibody styrofoam shell, a form of direct/primary containment with cushioning, and something to fill void space form a reasonable way to approach things in many if not most shipping instances for smaller live animals. If bought in bulk, the cost does not creep up too high for the smaller sizes, either. There are other nuances, but I am not writing a tutorial here.

I hope this can be taken in full as a learning experience to explore room for improvement in practices for packaging.

 

[imabirdmom]

ok I filed a complaint with FedEx. There most certainly is requirements when shipping reptiles through them. animals have to be secured in an escape proof container or bag inside a box that has been reinforced to withstand being crushed. ideally it should also be insulated to protect the animal from weather extremes. to become a shipper through them he would have had to provide such an example to them. the box also must be clearly labeled that it contains live harmless reptiles and must have arrows or signage indicating which side is up.

 

[imabirdmom]

How do I do print screens of the emails so I can post them here? Seriously this guy has ticked me off not calling me a liar. What could I possibly be lying about?

 

[imabirdmom]

Emails between Kevin and I from the begining of our contact

Here they are.

 

[imabirdmom]

More emails

more of the dialog

 

[imabirdmom]

Final email through hotmail but he's sent message through fauna

I will try to figure out how to screen shot the message he sent me through fauna today.

 

[imabirdmom]

wait that's not the end of the dialog hang on

 

[imabirdmom]

More emails

Ok figured it out

 

[imabirdmom]

More emails

Sorry so long

 

[imabirdmom]

Last email series

This is the end of it other than the screaming message he sent to me through fauna. Am corresponding with another buyer through fauna who Kevin is also calling a liar and trying to intimidate her into silence. Not cool. These are really the kind of people who sell through here?

 

[imabirdmom]

Sorry for how long this is and I tried really hard to make it as clear as possible the flow of the emails. I am NOT a liar. What am I lying about?? The video and pictures speak for themselves.

 

[imabirdmom]

Here is the message he sent to me privately through fauna

Private Message: KEVIN OLBRYCH
05-29-2015, 07:35 AM
kevin Olbrych
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 16
Name : Kevin Michael Olbrych
kevin Olbrych is an unknown quantity at this point
Trader Rating: (0)

KEVIN OLBRYCH

THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED! YOU HAVE LIED ABOUT THE WHOLE SITUATION AND BEEN HARRASSING US FOR WEEKS!

 

[caffeinecynic]

These are really the kind of people who sell through here?

Not to derail your thread, but you shouldn't let one bad egg reflect the quality of the people who buy and sell through FaunaClassifieds. With any resource for buying and selling merchandise (be it a living creature or otherwise) through multiple independent merchants, you will encounter some bad experiences. That is to be expected unfortunately.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but it is certainly not Fauna's fault. It is solely in the hands of the seller, Kevin Olbrych/Suncoast Reptiles. It's not really the admins of this site's responsibility to make sure all of their sellers are 100% polite or professional, either. That's what the BOI is for. They do a good job banning known scammers, but in situations like this, sometimes saying nothing says more.

I know I would never do business with Suncoast Reptiles, seeing this thread - and I'm glad for it, because I live in Tampa and frequent conventions. It's good to have the warning.

I'm glad your tortoises are okay, OP.

 

[neilg]

Looking forward to updates on:

1) Any Postal Inspector involvement, considering it is unclear from the OP video(s) whether the USPS box was recyled or not?

2) The method in which OPer made payment and if the payment (for the $68 in shipping amount) can be/is being disputed with that method and/or reversed?

3) Kevin's more detailed response/explanation/apology on FC, other than just 'denying everything'.

I'd also wonder what exactly the OPer meant/implied by stating to Kevin 'you're off the hook' because the 2 CH's arrived alive; as well as why arriving at 68F (this time of year) might be a cause for concern, but those 2 queries are minor compared to the 3 i've listed above, imo.

In this day and age with your average liberally litigious consumers galore today wielding cameraphones, uploading 'UNBOXINGS' on YT, and sharing detailed experiences across the interwebs including on sites like yelp as well as FC; it perplexes me that any online business would be so careless in their shipping choices and then be so apparently evasive (thru denial) than apologetic & accommodating, indeed!