Info Shipping faux pas from Bri Martin

My name is Vickie Kestler and I bought a couple of adult female bearded dragons from Bri Martin May 3rd. She seems like a very nice lady and has given me some very helpful information that I, as a nervous newcomer to the hobby, am very grateful to learn. Sadly, I cannot deem this transaction a success due to her shoddy packaging and irresponsible shipping of my dragons.

The seller and I corresponded back and forth numerous times and I told her I preferred Fedex overnight express because it was the most reliable reptile courier in my area. Bri emailed me May6th to let me know that she had packaged my females for shipping the next morning. When I opened the email with the tracking number, I knew it wasn't a Fedex tracking number so I emailed her back and asked her about it. She replied that she had forgotten that I preferred Fedex, and that she would go retrieve the package and correct her error. Upon arrival at the Fedex facility she was informed that she had missed the deadline for express that day so, instead of leaving it there so that it would surely have not missed the deadline the next morning, she took the package home and returned with it on the following morning(Tuesdat, May 8th) where she was again informed that she had missed the deadline for express that day. On that occasion she filled out the paperwork and completed the transaction to ship my package. She sent me the tracking number and I discovered to my horror that the package wasn't going to arrive until Friday May 11th. Upon further delving I discovered that she had shipped my animals Fedex Ground rather than Fedex Overnight. My dragons didn't leave the facility until Wednesday morning to begin their journey and it turned out to be a very stressful trip for them.

The package finally arrived around 6p.m. Friday, May 11th, and it was a tiny box that wasn't labeled "Harmless bearded dragon" or any other words that would have let the courier service know that there were live animals inside. When I removed the tape from the top of the box the lid popped open and the dragons, LOOSE in the box, sprang up like a couple of jack-in-the-boxes. They seemed very relieved to be out of that box. The inside of the box had poop on all sides so I can only surmise that it must have been tossed around quite a bit. The dragons were extremely thirsty. I soaked them twice that evening and they drank a lot of water. One of them is gravid and I was most concerned about her because she seems to have put off laying her eggs due to the shipping stress. Of the 2, she was the first to regain her composure. The other female was unresponsive to her surroundings until Sunday evening, when she became alert and interested in her surroundings. She finally ate Monday May 14th, and I am optimistic that both of them will resume a normal feeding schedule. I remain concerned about the gravid female and will continue to worry about her until she lays her eggs and hopefully gains some weight. She only weighs about 240 grams right now and is supposedly ready to lay her clutch. I hope her eggs hatch out into healthy babies.

I am attaching pics of the box so everyone can see that it was an uninsulated box and that the dragons were placed inside loose, with a couple of loose, unwrapped handwarmers, and packing peanuts. Neither of the dragons has defacated any packing peanuts so I am becoming more optimistic by the day that they didn't ingest any of them.

In conclusion, may I say that the seller did finally apologize to me for her unacceptable shipping protocol and she told me that she takes full responsibility for her actions, but she has not offered to refund the unused portion of the money I sent her for shipping. I feel it is only right that she should do so if she intends to run an ethical business. I haven't mentioned it to her yet because I was hoping she would offer to do so on her own but I begin to lose faith in her intention to make things right between us. I am going to send her a link that will show her the proper procedure to packaging reptiles for shipping and let her know that I feel that a refund of shipping costs is warranted. Her carelessness caused me to endure a very stressful week, and I wasn't stuffed in a box and thrown about for several days, so I can only imagine how those poor little dragons felt.

That's just awful- those poor dragons! They also look awfully big for that box. Poor things were seriously cramped in there, in addition to the discomfort they had to endure being thrown about. I also see she used "Hot Hands" which is a huge no-no with reptiles. They don't stay warm for very long, and they can burn the animals!

So glad that they arrived (mostly) safe & sound! Did you pay for overnight shipping? If so, I'd ask for your money back since ground costs significantly less.

was this by any chance mismohawk (looks like get dragons and from NJ) you really should of read the BOI 1st (unless she changed her email)http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314852
few things
1:a bearded dragon at that weight should not be bred at all you can do damage to the dragon
2:shipping deadlines for overnight priority by me is 4pm to arrive by 10-11 am (100% refund for the shipping is necessary)
3:where did you come into contact with this person (you should post a warning about her)
4:with the shape of the shipping and dragons as arrived get a health guarantee that kind of shipping can add alot of stress might not be DOA just to make sure no other problems arise
everything should be fine but you have to protect yourself

I too am so glad they made it. Poor things.how can anyone not know that is wrong?
Come on BRI.

Hmm...It could be her...Bri Martin isn't far off from Bionca Martin.

Those poor dragons...their ship job was a joke!

Wow where do I start?

First I hope this person was made aware of this thread and I hope that they will come and chime in.

This is totally UNACCEPTABLE

Both animals should have been place in secured containers, they should have been shipped in insulated boxes and finally they should have been shipped priority overnight.

The box they were shipped in would have never passed the crush test at fedex and if this person is certified I would actually contact fedex regarding this specific shipping.

This person has no regards for the life of the animals they are shipping but they also seems to have no regards for their fellow herpers that because of shipments like those could one day see their ability to ship live animals jeopardize.

Again NOT ACCEPTABLE and NO EXCUSE for this.

Off my soap box.

Yes, it is Bionca Martin from Rage Dragons. Her email says "Bionca De La Prida" rather than "Missionhawk".

I am new to the hobby and am obviously naive. As for shipping fees, she told me it would be $70-$80 for overnight, and told me to send $40 and that she would pay the rest. I thought that sounded too good to be true but didn't question her. I just paid the paypall invoice she sent.

well overnight can be that much last time i shipped 3 dragons from ny to Idaho it was $80
i use reptiles express for shipping you can get shipping quotes from the site just need package info (size and weight) and zip codes its a good reference tool

figured it was her recognized the dragons from when they were offered to me as part of a trade/sale plus same last name is the same 1st name was close and from new jersey

I received an email from Bri awhile ago telling me that she had missed the deadline for overnight shipping on Monday so she had overnighted them the next day. This forced me to search through a mountain of emails and fwd the one to her where she admitted shipping Ground because it was cheaper. I don't like to be lied to. If she had overnighted the package it would have gotten here OVERNIGHT as the name emplies and all of this hassle would have been avoided because I would have jotted down the undersized dragons to"Oh, well, I am visually impaired and couldn't tell much about the pictures", and would have thought Caveat Emptor. I feel that she should re-imburse me the full shipping fee I paid due to all the stress she has put me through!

eww horrifying this is actually illegaland doesnt comply with the shipping standards. She should be fined but this gives us other people who shipanimals beautifully safely and as comfortable and sterile as possible a bad name .

i ship feeders via usps priority its 2-3 days ground Tuesday i sent out a box 12x12x8 about 4 pounds it cost me $10.80 thats very far off of $40 you paid
i cant see it being much more if any to ship via fed ex ground

Wow what a total lack of care and respect for those poor dragons.

Ity looks like that box would never pass a crush test. I dont see any insulation atall either

Not to mention they could have ingested the packing peanuts..

those beardies are definitely warriors...

The box had no insulation and it WAS a little crumpled here and there. The label listed the weight of the box to be 1.2 lbs.......

You can ship an express(overnight)package at a fedex facility until they close at 7:00 pm that will arrive the next day.I do it all the time just to limit the time the live animals spend in the box.

thats definaately some basic info that anyone should know before attempting to even come close toshipping a living breathing helpless creature.

I would also like to have the link sent to me about proper shipping of bearded dragons.
Darla Running