Bad Guy Fire and Ice Dragons (Terri Sommella)

[MandyH]

I realize this thread is quite old and I hope it’s ok that I’m bringing it back up today. I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your story .
I just lost my dragon (not from F&I) and am in the process of reaching out to breeders to find my next one. I’m hoping to find a nice citrus leatherback. I thought Fire & Ice had beautiful beardies so I started communicating with Terri via email. When she told me that she does pre-orders on her clutches I got a little bit concerned. It just seemed to be out of the norm for me and now I can see that it most certainly is! I do not like the idea of not having a choice of which beardie I’m being sent. She said in the email that she loves shopping for her clients based on what they want. Well, for me, part of what I want is to see photos and have a choice, but it sounds as though she does not do that. She just ships you the one she thinks you’d like.

In regards to your story, there were two things that REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. First, towards the beginning when she offered to ship your baby out to you even in unsafe high temperatures so long as you assumed all liability. Then again when she refused to give you a refund (which I see in the end you did get it) without first shipping you the dragon and then you shipping it back to her. In both cases, these clearly demonstrate to me that her dragon’s health and well being are not a top priority to her. To me, a respectable and reputable breeder would not ship their dragons if it was unsafe nor would they ship one knowing that it would just be shipped right back which would just double up on the stress. It’s just a horrible practice and she definitely lost me as a potential customer.

So, thank you again for sharing your story. I’ll continue my search with a new breeder…

 

[JeffVeit]

My F & I experience

I have had a similar experience with Terri Somella of F&I dragons. My own foolishness and lack of experience contributed largely to me to placing a deposit of $150 on a collector quality, $500 (Yes I know, very stupid) "super citrus" from a clutch that was yet to be laid. That and the fact that I was lulled by super bright pictures of her dragons. When I asked for current pictures of the parent she came up with many of the same excuses: in shed, too busy, etc. When I became suspicious and decided to back out, in large part to the fact that at that time I had limited funds to spend and other personal issues that had recently arisen, she denied me refund, which I thought was a bit odd as the clutch wasnt even laid yet, so it wasnt as if she had to hold anything for me. She then informed me that I should have read her policy regarding "no refunds" on deposits, on her website, which I was unaware of and she did not notify me of when I paid her ther $150. I contemplated taking her to small claims court but did not have the time due to said personal issues that had sprung up in my life at the time. After several emails and adamant refusals by her to refund my deposit she offered to sell me a "Red" hold back quality at a lesser price, I was hesitant but again had other personal issues going and in the end settled on the red dragon that she posted a picture of and claimed it was the actual dragon she was selling me, not a one of the pictures of babies she posts as a representation of what she is selling. I requested other pictures of this dragon and again was told "Its in shed now, and no respectable breeder would sent a picture of a dragon it was selling while it was in shed", which I then informed her was perfectably ok with me, but she still refused. At this point the red flags really went off because it didnt matter as I had already paid for the thing, so what difference did it make. Despite my continual requests for a picture she kept refusing. It was advertised as "Holdback" quality, but when I finally recieved it, it turned out was nothing of the sort.

I have also heard from many people that her pics are doctored. Plus the fact that I was denied a refund of my deposit on a dragon from a clutch that wasnt even laied yet left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I still have the red I bought from her, its a good eater if a bit under-sized, but the color is barely visible, and not at all what I'd consider a holdback quality. All in all I felt that the way she conducted business was extremely shady and will never deal with her again, nor would I ever recommend her to anyone else. Im not out to destroy anyone, I blame mostly myself and at that time lack of experience for not researching a breeder beforehand and sengint someone money on a beardie that was not even born yet. This is just an honest account of my business dealing with Fire and Ice dragons.

Experience is the best teacher.

 

[tonyamoore]

fire and ice dragon

I bought a fire and ice Dragon from Terri. He is very healthy and his colors are getting brighter with each shed. I had to wait about 6 tov7 weeks before he was shipped. He had to be a certain weight. But he's a awesome dragon. So be patience I think you will be happy with your purchase

 

[JeffVeit]

I bought a fire and ice Dragon from Terri. He is very healthy and his colors are getting brighter with each shed. I had to wait about 6 tov7 weeks before he was shipped. He had to be a certain weight. But he's a awesome dragon. So be patience I think you will be happy with your purchase

Pictures please, because I find that hard to believe.