Bad Guy Lou Rodrigues, Designer Ball Pythons also on Kingsnake.com

[SierraMarie]

I would also be on the phone immediately Kevin but he still hasn't provided his proof for that statement. He is providing his timeline with no proof and it hasn't been confirmed or denied. To me it appears that Lou is looking for whatever loopholes he can find in order to not have to take care of his responsibility in this.


We will never how many heat packs were in the box. Neither can prove it one way or another.

But the timeline of phone calls and texts that Lou is claiming should be able to be proven.

 

[Paul Kent]

Gotta agree with Lou on this one. When I have a DOA... I dont wait... Im on the phone ASAP

Thats fine. But not everyone is like that. There are 100 situations that can come up that delay an email or phone call.

 

[chris allen]

With all due respect, your analogy is a bit extreme. his mistake was minimal at best given the situation and IMO didnt cause the death of the snake. Im not saying your some terrible guy who needs to be tarred and feathered, Im saying it was an honest mistake (on both sides to some degree) and he as the customer should get the benefit of the dought and at least get a 50% refund.

Throwing the 3 heat packs out the window(which is what I still believe was the cause of death and completely ridiculous) I agree with this post 100%. If it were my customer they would have already had either a similar replacement, or full refund. Had you done that, you may have made more money off of him and others in the long run.

 

[kylestl]

I still do not know who is at fault here because there is a lack of proof on either side on weather or not it is the buyers, sellers or UPS. However I do believe the burden proof in this situation lies with the seller and I know that Eddie purchased a snake that was DOA and your own quote says that the 4 hours should not matter. With that being said by you there isn't a way it could be the buyers fault. As far as doing business with you or him. I would have done business with both of you just with caution until this statement. If I ever shipped Eddie an animal I would require him to pick it up at the hub so this problem would not arise.

However, you not taking any responsibility, yet admitting that "4 hours should not matter" and refusing to refund at least part of the money, I would not do business with you in fear that something might go wrong and you would again take no responsibility.

Agreed, i think what he is trying to say is 4 extra hours wouldn't matter in his "ideal snake cooling basement." I know I would never do business with you either. A partial refund should happen if not a full one. So let's say the snake was delivered the first time but was DOA but he called you 4 hours later to deliver the news. Surely you wouldn't refund him his money because his wife might have signed for him and brought the snake inside to room temperature with a heat pack. Story sounds a bit familiar..........

 

[selitper10]

as i said before i did offer a replacement and he did not want another animal from me. he wanted all his money back.

 

[Southern Wolf]

I would also be on the phone immediately Kevin but he still hasn't provided his proof for that statement. He is providing his timeline with no proof and it hasn't been confirmed or denied. To me it appears that Lou is looking for whatever loopholes he can find in order to not have to take care of his responsibility in this.


We will never how many heat packs were in the box. Neither can prove it one way or another.

But the timeline of phone calls and texts that Lou is claiming should be able to be proven.

Should be able to prove... but he isnt wanting to put that proof out there. So part of me has to wonder if it exists.... guess that part of me goes back to what I do for a living... I dont trust noone till I see proof

 

[kylestl]

as i said before i did offer a replacement and he did not want another animal from me. he wanted all his money back.

I read you offered him a smaller spider at a lower price and a normal female. Sorry I'd take a spider over a normal any day. You keep going higher and higher with the temps. ow it imagine sitting in a truck with 85 degree temps outside pretty intense for a snake from Africa. Would you offer him a refund on my hypothetical situation you didn't answer.

 

[SERPENTS DEN]

The purpose of a double insulated box is to keep the contents from extreme temperatures whether it be from high or low temps. Also who's to say that snake would have been alive if it was delivered on time instead of 4 - 5 hours later?

 

[SierraMarie]

as i said before i did offer a replacement and he did not want another animal from me. he wanted all his money back.

The replacements were for a normal or a smaller spider where he pays the shipping. I might of considered the smaller spider where you pay the shipping had it been me. But now the spider isn't available so that isn't an option anymore. But you still need to find a common ground with Eddie and resolve this. If you do not have a similar animal then a refund is in order.

 

[eddieriv]

as i said before i did offer a replacement and he did not want another animal from me. he wanted all his money back.

I never refused i said i wanted to figure out whether i wanted to pursue breeding Bps because i had just lost 350 and u wanted another $100 from me. I ideally wanted my money back because i lost interest in breeding them due to this experience. A replacement normal is an insult.

 

[Paul Kent]

as i said before i did offer a replacement and he did not want another animal from me. he wanted all his money back.

Well, he paid you for that particular animal. You can offer a replacement, and thats good, but if he decides against it than he has a right to his money back. Especially if the replacement is sub-par compared to what he paid for and he had to pay extra for another animal (even at a discount)

 

[Paul Kent]

Im trying to think about how broke Id have to be to go through all of this for $300...lol.

(not saying your broke but Id have to be)

 

[eddieriv]

The replacements were for a normal or a smaller spider where he pays the shipping. I might of considered the smaller spider where you pay the shipping had it been me. But now the spider isn't available so that isn't an option anymore. But you still need to find a common ground with Eddie and resolve this. If you do not have a similar animal then a refund is in order.

He wanted $100 for the spider or normal shipped so that would make me out $450 for a non breedable animal.

 

[eddieriv]

Im trying to think about how broke Id have to be to go through all of this for $300...lol.

(not saying your broke but Id have to be)

I just recently graduated from university $350 goes a long way i could of paid two months of school loans instead i bought a snake to start another hobby. I'm not broke at all but its more of the principle that counts here. Its pretty much like taking $350 and putting a match to it

 

[Paul Kent]

I just recently graduated from university $350 goes a long way i could of paid two months of school loans instead i bought a snake to start another hobby. I'm not broke at all but its more of the principle that counts here. Its pretty much like taking $350 and putting a match to it

No no no. Sorry, I was reffering to Lou. Hes losing a fair amount of credibility over $350. Im with you on this. Ive made more of a stink over less myself..lol. Based on principle.

 

[kylestl]

Im trying to think about how broke Id have to be to go through all of this for $300...lol.

(not saying your broke but Id have to be)

He isn't going through much all he is doing is typing and took a couple of pics. This could have been a 1000 dollar snake. Nobody wants to lose 350 dollars and I'd sure do some typing to try to get my money back or inform people. No harm done with what he is doing and why does lou deserve the money more then he does.

 

[kylestl]

ooops sorry me and Ed made the same mistake.

 

[Paul Kent]

He isn't going through much all he is doing is typing and took a couple of pics. This could have been a 1000 dollar snake. Nobody wants to lose 350 dollars and I'd sure do some typing to try to get my money back or inform people. No harm done with what he is doing and why does lou deserve the money more then he does.

Yeah that came out wrong. I was referring to to Lou on that one. Ill stick to asking questions and leave the smartass out of future comments...lol. Always seems to backfire..lol

 

[kylestl]

Yes I think Lou will turn out to lose money on this one. i hope to get into BP's someday sooner then later and Lou would not be someone I'd buy from. I don't like to see anybody screwed over but at this point everybody lose Snake,Lou and Ed

 

[StrictlyExotics]

Heres what I am seeing through this thread, including a lack of proof and a lot of excuses...

Lou...
Eddie received a dead snake from you. Regardless of whos fault it is Lou, do you NOT guarantee live arrival? If you DO guarantee live arrival, what is your TOS? You keep mentioning they have to sign on first delivery attempt, however, you dont make it a "signature required" transaction? That, to me, makes no sense.

Sure, you may have all these emails supporting you and a ton of people stating that they will buy from you, but... I dont believe you for the simple fact that you will not or cannot post any of your evidence OTHER than the fact he didnt sign on first attempt.

I used to live in Las Vegas where on Christmas its 85+ degrees by 8AM. There is no excuse for an animal to arrive dead if packed right, even if its received late.

You also offer a replacement snake if he pays you MORE money. What is this? You say its for shipping right? 100.00 to ship a Spider using SYR.com? How much money do you need to milk out of this guy to make things right? You just need to stick to local sales until you actually learn to ship according to weather. The simple fact that you EVEN used a heat pack for a shipment to somewhere where its 85 degrees is a joke in itself. You say its 33 degrees when you shipped out in your hometown but you DO realize that the snake RARELY stays in your area for very long right?

Eddie...
Whether he used 1 or 3 heat packs, you should REALLY be aware of your local UPS or Fedex drivers for your area. Get to know them as well as the local hubs. When I lived in Vegas, I used to get so many shipments that Fedex would hold my packages for me at their location so I could pick them up there or make sure I was in the office for delivery. They even knew me by name and stuck around to see the newest snake I received.

One BIG thing I would suggest is make sure you are dealing with someone who first and foremost, has enough of a reputation to make sure you will get living animals that can survive at least 30 hrs in transit, no matter what the weather is Sometimes, shipping companies will lose animals for a day and you will really want to make sure you are dealing with someone whos NOT going to make you eat the costs, regardless of what their TOS is.

You have some reputable friends, like Chris, that you should hit up for advice prior to making a purchase so they can help steer you into making a better decision as to whom to buy from. Dont always look for the best price or best deal because, unfortunately, this is generally a product of what happens when it comes to dealing with inexperienced dealers. Make sure you always get some sort od TOS in writing too so you dont have to go through this in the future.

I DO have one issue with you though... Were you planning on quarantining this new animal before trying to breed it with your female or were you just going to throw them in with each other and make a go of it? If you were, in fact, planning on a quarantine period, the size of your male shouldnt matter all the much being that he only needs to get to 500ish gr before he can breed.

To sum this all up...

Lou, as a seller, you have TONS more to lose than Eddie does as a buyer in the long run. If there is no good closure at the end of this transaction, you wont just lose 350.00 in sales. I would estimate your losses at least 10 times that amount, at a minimum. Just look at how many people have viewed the thread already Once they see that your animals cant stand travel, how many do you ACTUALLY think will buy from you that cannot pick up from you directly or havent dealt with you in the past?

Regardless if he didnt pick up the animal on first delivery, the fact still remains that your snake was not in any condition to survive the transit to begin with as 85 degree temps would NOT kill a Ball Python or a Boa for that matter, if packed right. You didnt even give him 72 hours to make sure he was healthy and satisfied with his purchase. If this guarantee is null and void simply because he received his snake a mere 4 hours AFTER he should have, you might as well NOT ship since there will be more times than not that a package will arrive late.