Bad Guy Kimberly Lucas Gorgeousgecko.com con artist!!

[Iraqvet]

In my eyes... her TOS alone makes her a bad person. How are you gonna tell your customers that they cant say bad things or it voids your guarantees.

That is beyond stooopid and is some of THE worst customer service I have ever seen.

Seriously bro....I think she is related to Ed and Nichole..Yeah lol..It could be possible ..

 

[lanceheads]

I really wonder how she cages all her animals. I attended a show this summer she was vending at. I noticed many of her geckos had nipped tails. Personally, I separate geckos when they look like they are being picked on. They aren't in the wild and can't run away, so it doesn't seem right to keep them caged with a bully.

She should have told you what the tail looked like, but I do agree it is a great looking gecko. Once the tail has healed up, that is going to be a fantastic adult!

You being from Utah, I wonder what show you saw her vend at? Was it a show in Utah?

Just wondering.

Randal Berry

 

[tomb9712]

In my eyes... her TOS alone makes her a bad person. How are you gonna tell your customers that they cant say bad things or it voids your guarantees.

That is beyond stooopid and is some of THE worst customer service I have ever seen.

 

[LauraB]

She should have been completely upfront about the condition of the tail.

AND the missing toe ... if even in a private conversation, as I said before.

 

[bertopia]

You being from Utah, I wonder what show you saw her vend at? Was it a show in Utah?

Just wondering.

Randal Berry

Nope - it was the Super Show in San Diego. I drove down there to attend the show.

 

[Ihkura]

If you all will remember Kimberly did state that he was missing the tip of his tail when she made me this offer. What she failed to say, is that he lost the tip of his tail recently. Very recently. I'm talking there is still an open wound and dried blood where he lost the tip. It looks like it has barely healed at all, and looks infected. From the tip up about 1/4-1/2 inch is noticeably darker, doesn't bend, and looks as if it is all dying. I'm worried if it doesnt clear up fast, i may be have to force him to drop the entire tail, especially if the part that looks infected reaches any further up the tail. Pics posted below

The wounds are fresh(Two weeks old tops) and certainly not pretty to look at, but it is not major if you keep the enclosure clean while it heals. It doesn't appear to be infected or necrotic, there's just the end missing(bone apparent and exposed) and some tissue damage. Give it time and it will heal up, you likely will not need to remove the tail at all. A truly necrotic and infected tail will be black and shrunken at the end and swell up where it is infected.

An example of a necrotic tail that was deemed needing removal.. it began to swell and continued to crawl upwards on the body after this picture was taken: http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/1097/necrotictail.jpg
An example of a tail nip that was similar to your gecko's, healed over: http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/4052/healedtailnip.jpg

As for the missing toe, it's an inner toe, and they happen to be small, so it is very easy to miss a missing inner toe. Give her the benefit of the doubt here, as such a small toe on the inside of a crested gecko's foot is sometimes hard to see closely, especially if they are energetic, stressed, or squirmy.

If Kimberly had not been upfront about the tail damage, there would be a problem. She wasn't concise about how much damage or how recently the damage was done, but then it does not appear that you inquired too deeply, either. She provided a picture, and you accepted the gecko. Granted, the picture makes the wounds seem older and thus better healed, but you can still see skin sticking up at the end of a tail, denoting the wound's freshness.

That being said, Kimberly has lost any potential business from me just from her attitude.. Her ToS are nightmarish to a potential buyer such as myself, but the way she handled this tells me she's only looking out for herself.

I hope the gecko's tail heals nicely, and I hope that this issue can be considered resolved.

 

[Killer Chams]

Kim, why would you not take back the orginal animal and give the man his money back? Why give him another gecko that you valued at 400 on your web site? Why, because the animal was damaged and you could no longer sell it for top dollar. Brian, sorry that happened to you bro. At least you have the possiblity of breeding that dalmation after his injuries heal up. He does have great looking color and spots. So sad that someone who has obviously worked on her bloodlines and animals cant be trusted enough to do business with. I hope she changes her TOS and her business practices because she obvuiously has good quality stock.

 

[Saille]

Beautiful animals still don't make crappy POS-TOS and crappy customer service worth it in my book. while the Super D is a nice gecko, (though injured) I still think she should have refunded you your money and been done with it. She's basically crapped her nest with a LOT of potential buyers, myself included, which has probably cost her immensely more money in the long run than refunding would have.
Just keep in mind folks, you are judged by the company you keep!
Bad business is bad business. @ the OP, Sorry you had to go through all this, best of luck with the tail. Thanks for letting people know about all this.

 

[omni]

Wow. I'm so sorry for you Brian. You spent a lot of money and are unhappy with the animal. And for a supposed 'peace offering' the dal is fit for adoption only, not something to be selling at those prices, lineage notwithstanding.
I was ealier going to reply that Kimberly's customer service has cost her at least 10 future customers of animals maybe as much as $3-4000 in sales as result of this thread. Now, seeing this 'peace offering' and the mentality of selecting this particular gecko to send to Brian, imo no doubt has cost her future sales by 2x that.

What a bonehead thing to do. Way to go.

About her TOS, it is the type thing that someone would come up with to cover themselves if they did happen to (or intentionally) mess up/make mistake or try misrepresent an animal.

Kimberly could you have possibly sent a more poorly chosen animal as compensation for Brian? wowzers. And this is a high-end breeder?

DNBFOSTL

 

[dragonlvr64]

And for a supposed 'peace offering' the dal is fit for adoption only, not something to be selling at those prices, lineage notwithstanding.
About her TOS, it is the type thing that someone would come up with to cover themselves if they did happen to (or intentionally) mess up/make mistake or try misrepresent an animal.

Kimberly could you have possibly sent a more poorly chosen animal as compensation for Brian? DNBFOSTL

What, adoption only?? How do you figure??? It is missing a tiny little toe and it's tail does not affect it at all. Anyone with any knowledge of crested geckos know that most in the wild don't even have tails. Neither issue qualifies this animal for adoption only. It is hardly a rescue!!!!!!!

 

[JordanAng420]

What, adoption only?? How do you figure??? It is missing a tiny little toe and it's tail does not affect it at all. Anyone with any knowledge of crested geckos know that most in the wild don't even have tails. Neither issue qualifies this animal for adoption only. It is hardly a rescue!!!!!!!

IMO, any animal that you haven't PERSONALLY witnessed become injured and deformed as a result should absolutely be considered pet only. You never know, and the offspring shouldn't have to suffer if it does by some very slim chance prove to be genetic.

This is why I have a very strict culling policy as far as deformed animals that I hatch.

JMO. Others are more than entitled to their own.

 

[dragonlvr64]

Not too many people witness one gecko nipping another one. They see the aftermath of it....

So you are saying that if one gecko is nipped by another and it was not witnessed, you think Kimberly should have culled it or sold as pet quality. Look at all big breeders/small breeders too for that matter that have nipped tails/toes. Gargs are like that a lot! What about beardies?? Babies love to nip a moving object. The breeder rarely sees such an activity

 

[omni]

I say as adoption only, since the gecko is not yet recovered from recent injury. Missing toe also takes away from it being a great display animal. It will probably be ok for a breeder, but that's later. Brian was sent an animal now that requires a little more special care for a while.
We keep Leos, and I'm aware that geckos get nipped. Those are not lizards in top display appearance. Tails come back, but it takes time, and some scars will always be there.

My point is why send something to appease that isn't something a buyer really would ever select for purchase unless it was super cheap?

 

[JordanAng420]

Not too many people witness one gecko nipping another one. They see the aftermath of it....

So you are saying that if one gecko is nipped by another and it was not witnessed, you think Kimberly should have culled it or sold as pet quality. Look at all big breeders/small breeders too for that matter that have nipped tails/toes. Gargs are like that a lot! What about beardies?? Babies love to nip a moving object. The breeder rarely sees such an activity

I cull all animals that hatch with any kind of deformity. That being said, if I am POSITIVE the injury is caused by another hatchling, I will say so if I decide to sell it.

What I am saying, is that if Kimberly is confident that these injuries are caused by nips from siblings, then yes, she SHOULD have sold the animal as pet quality, and she should state that in the ad and/or description of the gecko.

However, after this thread, i'm not sure how many people would really wanna "take her word for it".

PLUS, this was supposed to be a replacement gecko, which should be NOTHING less than perfect, if you're trying to reimburse a customer for a mistake you made.

 

[JordanAng420]

On a side note...in an effort to prevent toe nips/tail loss...hatchlings should be housed individually.

 

[Abby]

On a side note...in an effort to prevent toe nips/tail loss...hatchlings should be housed individually.

The fact is there is no way to know whether or not the gecko was born missing a toe, or if it was nipped. Personally that would concern me, especially since she didn't even disclose that information... So not even Kim can say if it was born with it or not.

 

[gallerygeckos]

To me, shipping a gecko with ANY kind of un-healed injury is just beyound wrong. Shipping is very stressful. Stressed out animals do not heal as well nor as fast. That poor thing should have been put aside in a hospital tank (on paper towels if he was not already) and given special attention to be sure he was eating well, shedding well and healing well. Not put in a box and shipped. The rest of this deal is very unimpressive to me, but the fact that an injured gecko was put through further stress of shipping really bothers me, a lot.

Sarah Dukart

 

[Iraqvet]

To me, shipping a gecko with ANY kind of un-healed injury is just beyound wrong. Shipping is very stressful. Stressed out animals do not heal as well nor as fast. That poor thing should have been put aside in a hospital tank (on paper towels if he was not already) and given special attention to be sure he was eating well, shedding well and healing well. Not put in a box and shipped. The rest of this deal is very unimpressive to me, but the fact that an injured gecko was put through further stress of shipping really bothers me, a lot.

Sarah Dukart

I really dont think the seller cares about her animals anyways..She cares about the measley amount of money she steals from sellin them..She watches this thread but never chimes in cause she knows there is nothing she can say...

 

[ZoeStevens]

The fact is there is no way to know whether or not the gecko was born missing a toe, or if it was nipped. Personally that would concern me, especially since she didn't even disclose that information... So not even Kim can say if it was born with it or not.

If she closely examines the animals she produces when they hatch, she would know if they had all toes.

My immediate concern was also that the missing toe might be genetic. It is far more likely a nip from a cage mate but if she had toe counted when she baby hatched she could have saved someone a lot of potential heartache down the road (a local breeder here lost a lot of money when his super nice pinstripe line started sprouting extra toes).

 

[pei8147]

(a local breeder here lost a lot of money when his super nice pinstripe line started sprouting extra toes).

If its truly genetic... He could have bred the gene out. Such a loss to rule out an entire line of pinstripes due to spare toes.

I can think of many health related issues to not breed an animal, but a spare toe. Such a waste.

Will