I have just finished reading this entire thread, as well as the others involving Touch of Class (a misnomer if there ever was one).
In most situations of this sort one can only hope that the vendor has the character to make the situation right since the dollar amount is usually too small to pursue it further. I believe Kelvin to be the sort of "businessman" that is in it for the quick buck and not one to understand the importance of building and maintaining a good reputation and customer base. Having repeat buyers is but one of the keys to growing a business and being successful. Another being quick to address a customer's concerns/complaints immediately and quickly resolving any issue to the satisfaction of the customer. I could go on as to the mistakes made by Kelvin, but we all get the point.
I think that Jason may have a good legal case here (I am not an attorney) and may be entitled to more than just compensation for monies spent. If it were me, I would at least ask an attorney to look at all of the evidence and offer his/her opinion. Along those lines, Jason, I would not accept any offer from Kelvin unless it is far and above any he has made to this point. It might be construed as acceptance of a resolution.
In Kelvin's shoes (and I have been a seller online) the initial offer should have been a full refund of the original transaction, full compensation of all costs incurred by Jason, and an offer to let him keep the remaining animal. However, at this point the offer should be all of that AND an offer of TWO replacement snakes (I don't blame you for refusing the latter Jason). Otherwise Kelvin could find himself having to cover all of that in addition to compensation for time spent on caring for the sick animals, attorney's fees and possibly pain and suffering!
I know this sounds like I know what I am talking about professionally, but it is only based on my layman's experience in today's world and we all have heard of much more outrageous lawsuits being won.
What burns me most is that it is a shame that people such as Kelvin are able to make money at the expense of those of us who believe there is honor and goodness, at least in some amount, in all people. Sadly there is very little of that these days.
I have been quite interested in some of the animals TOCR has placed on KS, but will no longer consider any of their offerings from here forward. Kelvin, if you read this (which I doubt) I hope you will see how bad it is for you and your business to have failed to resolve this before it reached a public forum. You have not only lost 1000's of customers from those that have read this, but also all the people those 1000's know, and on and on. At this point, full restitution and a sincere apology MIGHT be enough to POSSIBLY salvage SOME of your already questionable reputation. Otherwise, I would not be surprised to find you out of business within weeks.
Jason, you have maintained remarkable decorum through all this and are to be commended. I do hope this works out for you in the end, but I feel the outlook is dim. I hope this doesn't muddy your view of other vendors as there are plenty of reputable breeders/dealers out here.
I apologize for this lengthy post, but I have dealt with situations like this from both ends many times and I have strong feelings when it comes to dealing with less-than-forthright people and companies.
Jeff
Sometimes, I miss the "tongue-in-cheek remarks..they do fly bys over my head...
