• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Bad Guy First Choice Reptiles - I feel for it

saicam

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Watauga, TX
I read the reviews, and some where mixed. But I was really looking for a Desert Iguana and they where the only ones to show that have them at the time, and decided to make a small order. So I ordered a Desert Iguana and a Red Uro, only 150 to try them out. Lets say paying that was the easy part.

Its going on a month now and I have still to received my full order.

On their website it says they do not ship Fridays and that they use FedEx. Well On received a package on a Monday and and was able to pull up tracking info off the label and the package showed to ship on Friday. Now since no one is around on the weekends, my poor Uromystx waited in limbo for almost 4 days before being delivered. On top of that they used USPS and shipping was only 23 bucks not 40 they charge, along with the box being left by the door and the label saying signature waived.

ship_zps2gh4l8cd.jpg


track_zps0blukx8z.jpg


At first I thought maybe it was because they where out of stock on the Desert Iguana, however I found recent adds on Kingsnake saying they had them, and when I brought that up I got an email back saying it was processing. Basically my emails resoponses from them concerning the other half of my order went like this:

Nov 9 - Order status updated to "Awaiting Shipment"
Nov 13 - email stating that order will be shipped 11-16-2015
Nov 16 - We are processing it to ship
Nov 24 - We are shipping it at close of day or on Friday
Dec 2 - We are processing it to ship this week

Now it is end of day Dec 7 Friday, and still nothing. Cant get a refund, and on their website they try to say charge backs are illegal and might prosecute. Is this just a scare tactic?

This was my first time to order online for reptiles and almost soured it to me, thankfully I found a good place and got some healthy reptiles on time.

On a positive note, the Uro was freezing cold, but I got him set up and he seems to be doing fine. Still watching him though.
 
IMO.. No reputable breeder should never ship past Wednesday.. Packages get lost everyday with the postal service. I am waiting on a pkge that has been lost now for 7 days, luckily it's not a live animal.. Fedex priority overnite Monday - Wednesday.. Nothing else is acceptable... My 2 cents.
 
I agree. There website states they do not ship past Thursday and use only FedEx. However they shipped on Friday by USPS and due to no one being around it did not get delivered untill Monday. They didn't even send me notice or a tracking number.
 
I would never ship or ask someone to ship Thursday.Only bad could come of it..
I'd stay clear of anyone who doesn't get that..
 
Guess live and learn. Just hope others learn from mine and the others that made the mistake and ordered from them. But I like your rule to live by. Used to just wait for the convention to buy reptiles. But the good ones are few and far between right so branching out to online now.
 
I haven't seen Desert Iguanas on the market in nearly 35 years, but then again I haven't been looking.. I was at the Whiteplains show and a guy had over a dozen..brought back memories .. Good luck with your animals
 
Now it is end of day Dec 7 Friday, and still nothing. Cant get a refund, and on their website they try to say charge backs are illegal and might prosecute. Is this just a scare tactic?
I think you meant it's the end of the day, Friday Dec 4.

Yes the verbiage on their web site is just a scare tactic, chargebacks are not illegal, especially if it's been 30 days, your animal hasn't been shipped yet, and they are refusing a refund. Call your CC company to complain. There is nothing to prosecute here, your dispute with FCR is civil not criminal.

My business also takes credit cards and according to my merchant processor contract, I need to ship the product or provide the service within 30 days of running the card.

If the animal you did get gets sick or dies due to the sub-par shipping then you can dispute that charge also.
 
Wow, that's really shady that they say they will prosecute for charge backs. I hope they make it right for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would never ship or ask someone to ship Thursday.Only bad could come of it..
I'd stay clear of anyone who doesn't get that..

I disagree. If nothing bad comes of it, then good instead of bad could come from it. If I shipped something on a Thursday and it arrived safely on Friday morning, then nothing bad came of it.

While I do tend to try to confine my out-bound days to Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, I make exceptions for scheduling difficulties on the buyer's end that are largely unworkable otherwise. Some people have challenges that they face that are greater than my own and I feel fine helping out with that if other factors for risk are not at extremes. I find this a less cut-and-dry topic than the statements you are making. Several aspects would feed into my decision over whether I might accept or deny a shipment date (at any particular time). Risk tolerance, the weather (over a string of consecutive days), the species, the age/size, the nature of the recipient and the scheduling demands, and more would be taken into consideration.

What I take issue with here is the overcharging for shipment, the missing animal, the use of an unstated shipping method, the lack of proper notification of shipment, the lack of coordination of shipment, and the anti-resolution scare tactic. I might also take issue with packaging. Michael would have to post more extensive photos of the packaging used before I could speak to such a topic specifically, though.
 
I think you meant it's the end of the day, Friday Dec 4.

Yes I meant 4th. Here are the boxing pics I have. Here are the ones my wife sent me when she got it. Inside the box there was no other packaging beside the plastic container the Uro was in.

Side of box, for some reason its labeled as frogs, and only had a puncture for air.
ship1_zpshpjuu1qh.jpg


Inside of box:
ship2_zps5iikbtnq.jpeg


The actual package and reptile:
ship3_zps4tyfcowm.jpeg


Also here are the emails.

Nov 13th:
email%20Nov%2013_zpswqkkif51.jpg


Nov 17th:
email%20Nov%2017_zpsdeclvits.jpg


Nov 24th:
email%20Nov%2024_zpsnow1dqhj.jpg


Dec 2:
email%20Dec%202_zpsgvjgrf0q.jpg
 
Please repost the images as attachments so they are not lost in time to a hosting change. There is a rule about this.

Was there a heat pack or was there no heat pack? I know you said there was nothing else in the box, but I want to be sure. Also, was there any cushioning above the deli container? Was there a styrofoam panel on the top? Was there a styrofoam panel on the bottom?

This "harmless frogs" labeling for what are not frogs seems to be a repetitive event based on others receiving non-anuran packages. I am not a legal professional (I am but a caveman), but that appears to be an unlawful act according to section 3372(d) of the Lacey Act.
 
Please repost the images as attachments so they are not lost in time to a hosting change. There is a rule about this.

Was there a heat pack or was there no heat pack? I know you said there was nothing else in the box, but I want to be sure. Also, was there any cushioning above the deli container? Was there a styrofoam panel on the top? Was there a styrofoam panel on the bottom?

This "harmless frogs" labeling for what are not frogs seems to be a repetitive event based on others receiving non-anuran packages. I am not a legal professional (I am but a caveman), but that appears to be an unlawful act according to section 3372(d) of the Lacey Act.
 
Please repost the images as attachments so they are not lost in time to a hosting change. There is a rule about this.

Was there a heat pack or was there no heat pack? I know you said there was nothing else in the box, but I want to be sure. Also, was there any cushioning above the deli container? Was there a styrofoam panel on the top? Was there a styrofoam panel on the bottom?.

No heat pad no top cover. The poor Uromastyx was freezing cold. Since I got notice of shipping and it being delivered on a Monday the tank wasn't warmed up. Luckily I had another spare tank I was working on and had it heated up.
 
I checked on his booth for you today in Orlando, Michael, just to see. No dorsalis were present.

Thanks. I know I took a risk on this guy. Mixed reviews and all bit the dorsalis is something I been looking for awhile now and took a chance. After doing more digging I found the positive reviews to seem to be fake. The big issues that this guy seems to have is poor customer service, poor shipping, poor communication and the positive reviews seem to go out of their way to say that they are the best at those.

We got the NARBC coming soon and another new convention that's supposed to be big Herps Dallas maybe I'll get lucky and find a Dorsalis.

Sadly beyond the conventiond and what seems to be houndeds of Beardie and Leo gecko breeders here we don't hAve much choice in selections beside petco and mart, which I refuse to buy an animal. So I have to use online breeders. I'll just have to do better in my vetting next time.

And I just started a dispute with my bank on them.
 
I buy mostly online and am pleased more often than not, but yes. Due diligence is warranted. Try to stay positive regarding the potential for good experiences with other online vendors.

Do not forget to repost the images as attachments so as to avoid an infraction in the near future. Rules and all.
 
I buy mostly online and am pleased more often than not, but yes. Due diligence is warranted. Try to stay positive regarding the potential for good experiences with other online vendors.

Do not forget to repost the images as attachments so as to avoid an infraction in the near future. Rules and all.

New to the online community 1st time got burnto. But my 2nd time I got an awesome Red Ackie and a spiny tail similis iguana on my 2nd try from another shop.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
Back
Top