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Bad Guy First Choice Reptiles - I feel for it

I have heard bad things about First choice. I bought a w wild caught Rufous beaked snake & had no issues. The only thing was it was way smaller than advertised. They do not reply to most emails & do not send pics upon request. All of the pics on their site are generics pulled from the net, NOT the actual animals they have!, which i don't like.
but i had no issues with my purchase & the snake is alive & doing well.
 
englishaussie said:
I had no issues. i had no issues with my purchase
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englishaussie said:
(1) it was way smaller than advertised.(2) They do not reply to most emails & (3)do not send pics upon request.(4) All of the pics are generics pulled from the net, NOT the actual animals they have, which i don't like.
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Care to rephrase your "no issue" statement?:shrug01:
 
Post to upload shipping pictures.
 

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Post with Shipping info as attachments. The only reason I had a tracking number to find out how they shipped it was due to the label on the box I received. They did not send me any notification that the reptile was shipped and they went against their shipping methods stated on their site about only using FedEx and never shipping on Friday. Also the box was just left by the door and signature waved.
 
shipping info.
 

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Emails I actually received from them. And now its officially been over a month since I ordered and still no resolution. Tried calling and emailing. I have a pending dispute opened with my bank.

These last few post where just me converting my pics to actual attachments, didnt read the fine print in the posting guide lines :crap:

And other news, sadly the Uromystx I did receive from them, took a turn. Already checked everything, and to my dealings and research he should be fine. Off to the vet tomorrow.
 

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Forgive me if this was already covered, I am about to get to sleep. But it looks like the animal was shipped via USPS. Is it not illegal to ship animals through the post office (besides being unsafe for the animal)?
 
meowmeowkazoo said:
Forgive me if this was already covered, I am about to get to sleep. But it looks like the animal was shipped via USPS. Is it not illegal to ship animals through the post office (besides being unsafe for the animal)?
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Some animals are against USPS policy. Others are acceptable within USPS policy. Most lizards are generally fine by policy (safety aside). It has been a while since I have looked since I simply do not use USPS for reptiles at all and typically just use USPS for inanimate stuff like electronic parts or books, but I think I remember non-Helodermids being considered okay per policy. My mother-in-law works for the post office and is irrationally over-loyal to it, so these conversations have come up often when she would try to promote services that were of no relevance to my activities and I would express how the USPS service set offers me no value over FedEx for my vertebrate shipping needs. :D Circling back, a Uromastyx ought to be fine by USPS policy, although I would elect to use FedEx Priority Overnight were I shipping one for some reason (I do not own them, so it is a moot point there).
 
525 Nonmailable Live Animals

Nonmailable types of animals discovered in the mailstream must be reported to the PCSC in accordance with the instructions in POM 139.118. Additionally, the mailer and the Post Office of mailing must be notified to prevent future shipments from being incorrectly accepted for mailing.
525.1 Live Birds

Day-old poultry vaccinated with Newcastle disease (live virus) is nonmailable. Day-old birds, except those specifically permitted under 526.3 are nonmailable.

525.2 Live, Warm–Blooded Animals

Warm-blooded animals, except for adult birds and specified day-old birds under the specific conditions in this section, are not mailable.

Cats or kittens.
Dogs or puppies.
Guinea pigs.
Hamsters.
Mice.
Rabbits.
Rats.
Squirrels and flying squirrels.

525.3 Reptiles

All snakes, turtles, and poisonous reptiles are nonmailable.

525.4 Poisonous Insects and Spiders

All poisonous insects and all spiders, except scorpions under limited circumstances (see 526.5), are nonmailable. Other nonpoisonous and non-disease-conveying insects are permitted as stated in Exhibit 526.6.



OP initiate a charge back at this point for the amount of the animal not delivered and the other part of the shipping they did not use. I doubt they ever have any intention of sending it to you.

You cannot be prosecuted for a charge back when you have not received the goods you paid for. That aside, you have proof of them claiming the package would arrive on a certain day and it did no and they no longer are having active communication with you.
 
For what it's worth, I saw their booth at the Orlando Repticon this past weekend. Didn't know much about them. Asked to look at an eryx muelleri they had for sale. Looked emaciated and as I ran my hands across it, I noticed mites. Scary.
 
I experienced issues with first choice reptiles as well. I already started a thread but just want to caution people. Do not purchase through first choice reptiles! It isnt worth it. Maybe youll get lucky and be satisfied but dont chance it my halmahera gecko was shipped without notice, and sat for hours on my porch in cold weather before i got home SURPRISED that i had a package. It also said live frogs on the package. I tried contacting them through multiple avenues about this issue and never received a response.
 
I ordered some animals from FCR.

After several weeks, I had changed addresses and moved 3 hours away. I got in touch with them and they acknowledged the change in address via email.

They did not notify me prior to shipping....simply got a notification email that they were shipped. But to which address?

It turns out they went to the old address. They ended up sitting on a table in the office for a week...I was notified by a colleague a few days after they arrived and drove 6 hours to fetch them. They were very much alive but the whole thing was incredibly unprofessional. I did not even get so much as an apology from FCR.
 
I found their Facebook page a few weeks ago. Others had some similar issues, but they since deleted all negative threads.
 
courtanee said:
I experienced issues with first choice reptiles as well. I already started a thread but just want to caution people. Do not purchase through first choice reptiles! It isnt worth it. Maybe youll get lucky and be satisfied but dont chance it my halmahera gecko was shipped without notice, and sat for hours on my porch in cold weather before i got home SURPRISED that i had a package. It also said live frogs on the package. I tried contacting them through multiple avenues about this issue and never received a response.
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Seems to be there MO with the live frogs and no notice on shipping. In my case they shipped it on a Friday by USPS and it set in limbo for 3 days.

As for the Uro I did receive it is very malnourished, no mites thankfully. Im almost happy they didnt ship the rest of my order.
 
And bad news. Came home and the uromastyx passed on. I know I had Temps right feeding right everything this wasn't my first Uromastyx. First lizard to die on me in along time and I only had him for 2 weeks.

With this I am glad they didn't ship the rest of my order. The poor Uro sat in holding for 3 days and who knows how they held them at the shop, and a 350 vet bill, (which came back with MBD)
 
What a shame. Sorry the uro passed on. Thanks for bringing this up so others know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have sent them a link to this thread and to the one i started. They should be aware of the bad reviews theyre getting. Even if the reviews are justified.
 
Yeah i think a lot of people hope that maybe they wont be the one to get burned, maybe theyll be one of the few to have a good experience. But i would warn people, dont take the chance. If you're looking for cheap prices, i would rather take a chance with backwater reptiles or underground reptiles.
I still haven't gotten my halmahera to eat and i cant even get an answer from them as to what she was eating before being shipped. Dont support a business that has burned this many people. Its just not right.
 
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