WOW...
I feel the need to chime in here and
really muddy the waters for you a bit!
I also received a gecko today, but I ordered mine from Stephanie. The packing was impeccable and the heat pack was still working when I opened up the box.
I do not know what they did to those boxes during shipping, but the poor fellow I got today looked like he had parkinson's disease when I put him in the quarantine rack. (No offense to you, Stephanie, I quarantine everything I get)
I called and mentioned this to Stephanie about a half hour after I got him settled in. I have been observing him most of the day and have come to the conclusion that he is in some kind of shock from shipping. He shakes badly, it's almost something I will have to get a video of for you to see. It is confined to the head, neck and front legs. It gets worse if I disturb him. I also called her to say he was doing better than he was right after setting him up, which he is as long as I speak and move softly.
He sees the vet tomorrow to rule out any chemical contaminant and so he can be observed there for his records. I also planned on breeding him next year.
All the above being said, I place NO BLAME whatsoever on Stephanie. I have the original shipping box and it is in pristine condition and was packed to a "T".
If I had to guess I would say he has been traumatised during shipping somehow. He acts as if he's scared silly. Wouldn't suprise me if they played football with the box only it wasn't damaged- hmmmm. Thank goodness my house is so quiet. Hopefully he'll be doing much better once he gets completely comfortable here.
Now, I know this situation may not pertain to the OP's original complaint and that it is nowhere near comparable. I just wanted to let those that were ready to vilify Stephanie that I believe DHL did not treat those boxes with the care they deserved during handling and shipping.
Also, on another note, Stephanie shipped these geckos for her friend. She did not engage in the sales transaction with the OP and is not responsible for their condition as she did not raise them.
I am quite sure if she noticed anything glaringly wrong during her casual observation of them during the packing process (remember she didn't do that part either) she would have mentioned it to the seller. I know I would have and I have spoken enough with Stephanie to be confidant she would have pointed out something disturbingly obvious.
I hope the OP and the seller have no problems during your refund process. Please keep in mind that if the original problem wasn't plain to see while he was advertising them you would never have purchased them! I really do believe that DHL exacerbated whatever problem there was and by the time you got her it was aggravated to the point that you could see.
