1. We have no proof at all of how many heat packs were in the box. It's just as likely as the seller put in three as the buyer stuck them in there and claimed there were three. No reason to argue this anymore.
2. Unless someone out there has done research as to how long it takes a snake at a certain temperature to go into rigor mortis (and know exactly the temperature in the delivery truck where the package was), we cannot say for certain if the extra four hours killed the snake or not. Again, no reason to argue this anymore because it will get us nowhere.
3. We DO know that the buyer missed the package the first time. He knew UPS has had issues before, but he went ahead with them anyway, and he neglected to be prepared for the snake's delivery. Yes, some of us do actually sit on porches, leave the front door open, sit by the door, etc. when live animals are arriving. And yes, most carriers do have a "guaranteed by such-and-such time" clause. Doesn't mean it will get there exactly by that time, but that means you usually have a small window (a couple hours, maybe?) wherein you will receive the package. If a buyer has "better things to do" than wait on a live animal that is completely dependent on your being there to receive it, then have the package left at the shipping center and go pick it up. There is no excuse for what occurred here unless UPS didn't even stop...and we have absolutely no proof this occurred because the buyer neglected to keep an eye out for the truck.
4. If the buyer waited several hours before calling the seller about the dead snake, then we need to be questioning the buyer's motives/actions. Since not calling immediately about a DOA is, apparently, not as common sense as it should be (after reading here), we should all put in our TOS that DOAs need to be reported as soon as possible or immediately. However, the seller has yet to provide proof of the amount of time between actual delivery and when the buyer called, as far as I can tell, so we should probably throw this "evidence" out as well.
5. The buyer first started another thread, asking for advice. As people kept disagreeing with him, he got more and more agitated and began coming up with more and more stories about what the buyer did wrong. The thread initially started as "I missed the first delivery, what should I do?" and ended as, "Look at all the stuff the seller did wrong!!" This, in addition to refusing the offers and then claiming he did not refuse the offers, throws a huge amount of suspicion on the buyer and leads me to believe he would say anything to get his refund.
As I said in the original thread, if I had been the seller, I would have given the buyer the benefit of the doubt and made an offer on a replacement snake or a refund (and added the buyer to my "do not sell to" list). However, after what has occurred in both these threads, I do not blame the seller for refusing to offer any sort of compensation. The buyer has acted suspiciously, at best, and seems to be unconcerned with making sure an animal is received properly.
At this point, I would agree with some of the others here and offer a half refund so both parties are out the same amount and they can put this mess behind them. If we go the neutral route and say it's UPS' fault, then a half refund makes sense because it was neither party's fault, so both parties have equal losses.
HOWEVER, if the seller's TOS states that the package must be received at the first delivery attempt, then all is void and the seller owes the buyer nothing. And the buyer, who admitted to not knowing the seller's TOS, needs to learn to read and understand a seller's TOS before purchasing.
It's a difficult situation to say the least but hopefully some progress will come of this!!
