Salzy
New member
I have never wanted to post one of these, but after years in the hobby I guess we would inevitably run into the situation. 
I wouldn't recommend anyone work with Kyle Matuszak of KMDragons due to his shipping practices and his reluctance to work with a customer after receiving an improperly shipped animal in poor health.
Last week Wednesday I found an ad posted by Kyle (KMDragons) selling a supposed 2 year old CB proven female Lygodactylus williamsi. I jumped on the opportunity. I quickly did some searching on him and didn't find anything negative, so I figured everything would be okay.
The transaction appeared to go just fine. Communication was good and I sent payment on to him.
Later that day he sent another message saying that he was shipping...even after I told him that our weather was not good in WI. I'll admit that I made the mistake of not being more adamant and trying to talk him out of shipping, but I was quite startled and upset that he was attempting shipping when there was going to be a storm that night. He never responded to my last message.
The next day my wife was off work due to spring break, so she could get to the hub and get the package. I was at work until noon. I received an automatic text notification from FedEx that the package was at the hub. The text came at 10:02. The real tracking online said that it was ready for pickup at 9:45, so there was just a bit of a lag in the update. I texted Krystal as soon as I saw the text, which was at 10:06. She was there at the hub and had signed for the package by 10:27. By 10:28 she was already calling me to tell me that the gecko was alive, but was adhered to the side of the deli cup. I had her get the package home and leave it alone until I could get off work and assess it myself. By about 12:15 I was home and checking it, and it was still stuck to the side of the cup. It stressed out at that point and ripped itself off without any assistance from me.
The seller is saying that we neglected the package...I'm unsure how 45 minutes in the safety of our hub is considered neglect.
The packaging was not up to reptile shipping standards...Hot Hands handwarmers for heat packs and no styrofoam insulation. It was also shipped at a poor time, when the weather was very questionable. Holes were punched in all 4 sides of the box and were probably allowing a lot of cold air into the box with only 3 sheets of newspaper used as padding and insulation. All the weather reports for our zipcode were showing a strong snowstorm that night, and Kyle didn't even ask us or set up a day to ship...he just decided to send it out that day.
The gecko was in pretty rough shape from the trip and looked very small, malnourished, and dehydrated. (In my eyes, it doesn't look 2 years old, CB, or proven by any means) I took some photos quickly of everything and messaged the seller right away to let him know what was going on, and that I wanted at least a partial refund due to the condition of the gecko.
The rest of the interaction can be seen in my attachments, screenshots, etc.
The gecko is still currently alive, but not doing well. If I can somehow keep it alive, it probably won't be the quality breeder I was hoping for. I'm expecting it to pass away...but unfortunately I'm not expecting a refund from Kyle after how he has conducted himself, hence why I'm not hesitating to post this BOI thread now.
I have contacted ShipYourReptiles and they contacted Kyle as well. I have also filed a dispute through Paypal, and whether or not I receive any funds back is irrelevant since it is now about the principle of this whole situation that is more important.
If you have any questions or I missed something, please comment and let me know. I have as much documentation, photos, etc. as I could compile in order to make this post.
Thanks
I wouldn't recommend anyone work with Kyle Matuszak of KMDragons due to his shipping practices and his reluctance to work with a customer after receiving an improperly shipped animal in poor health.
Last week Wednesday I found an ad posted by Kyle (KMDragons) selling a supposed 2 year old CB proven female Lygodactylus williamsi. I jumped on the opportunity. I quickly did some searching on him and didn't find anything negative, so I figured everything would be okay.
The transaction appeared to go just fine. Communication was good and I sent payment on to him.
Later that day he sent another message saying that he was shipping...even after I told him that our weather was not good in WI. I'll admit that I made the mistake of not being more adamant and trying to talk him out of shipping, but I was quite startled and upset that he was attempting shipping when there was going to be a storm that night. He never responded to my last message.
The next day my wife was off work due to spring break, so she could get to the hub and get the package. I was at work until noon. I received an automatic text notification from FedEx that the package was at the hub. The text came at 10:02. The real tracking online said that it was ready for pickup at 9:45, so there was just a bit of a lag in the update. I texted Krystal as soon as I saw the text, which was at 10:06. She was there at the hub and had signed for the package by 10:27. By 10:28 she was already calling me to tell me that the gecko was alive, but was adhered to the side of the deli cup. I had her get the package home and leave it alone until I could get off work and assess it myself. By about 12:15 I was home and checking it, and it was still stuck to the side of the cup. It stressed out at that point and ripped itself off without any assistance from me.
The seller is saying that we neglected the package...I'm unsure how 45 minutes in the safety of our hub is considered neglect.
The packaging was not up to reptile shipping standards...Hot Hands handwarmers for heat packs and no styrofoam insulation. It was also shipped at a poor time, when the weather was very questionable. Holes were punched in all 4 sides of the box and were probably allowing a lot of cold air into the box with only 3 sheets of newspaper used as padding and insulation. All the weather reports for our zipcode were showing a strong snowstorm that night, and Kyle didn't even ask us or set up a day to ship...he just decided to send it out that day.
The gecko was in pretty rough shape from the trip and looked very small, malnourished, and dehydrated. (In my eyes, it doesn't look 2 years old, CB, or proven by any means) I took some photos quickly of everything and messaged the seller right away to let him know what was going on, and that I wanted at least a partial refund due to the condition of the gecko.
The rest of the interaction can be seen in my attachments, screenshots, etc.
The gecko is still currently alive, but not doing well. If I can somehow keep it alive, it probably won't be the quality breeder I was hoping for. I'm expecting it to pass away...but unfortunately I'm not expecting a refund from Kyle after how he has conducted himself, hence why I'm not hesitating to post this BOI thread now.
I have contacted ShipYourReptiles and they contacted Kyle as well. I have also filed a dispute through Paypal, and whether or not I receive any funds back is irrelevant since it is now about the principle of this whole situation that is more important.
If you have any questions or I missed something, please comment and let me know. I have as much documentation, photos, etc. as I could compile in order to make this post.
Thanks
