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Maureen & Les Panek

Tere Salazar

Tere Salazar

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I just wanted to let everyone know what a good experience I had with Maureen and Les Panek, www.reptilesandtarantulas.com. I purchased one of their tiger striped bearded dragons, which they shipped on Tuesday, February 1. Since UPS has upped their rates, the dragon was shipped USPS express mail. USPS assured Maureen and Les that the dragon would be delivered by 3:00, Wednesday, February 2.

The dragon was scanned in Orlando as being received, but never showed any other tracking information, and of course the post office didn't have a clue as to where the dragons was. As the days came and went, Maureen and I communicated back and forth and her and Les were very concerned and upset about the welfare of the dragon. Not a day went by that Maureen didn't contact the post office (or whomever else would listen) to try to locate this dragon.

We had all concluded that no dragon could survive this long with no food, water or heat. Maureen had even offered one of her sisters as replacement.

We just picked the dragon up at the post office at 2:30 this morning, expecting to find an expired dragon. She is alive and well, and is now fat, happy and very warm. She is just beautiful.

If anyone is considering buying a dragon from Maureen and Les Panek, I would say go for it!! They have been absolutely wonderful to get thru this ordeal with an I recommend them to anyone!

Tere Salazar
 
Uhmm...wait a second....

I just recieved a dragon from these guys with a similar experience, that I feel was not a very positive one. They also "tried" to send the dragon U.P.S. and then at the last minute shipped him U.S.P.S. and "said" that it was due next day by 3 but it was clearly marked on the box as second day by 3. You should double check the box you recieved them in. I looked like a fool because I raised hell with the post office under the misconseption that was told me. I spent time away from work to check in at the post office only to find out that it was all a waste of time because even though Maureen told me that the dragon was next day, it was not. She also said that the dragon was flawless and perfect but it had a missing fingernail. She refunded me 30.00 on the purchase but I feel if (and I have e-mails to back all of this up) you tell someone it will be there next day by 3, and that the dragon is perfect and I find out that the dragon has a missing nail and guaranteed second day by 3 you should get a full refund. He is a pretty dragon but is very lathargic and hasn't eaten since his arrival. He was in transit for 2 days with temps dropping into the 20's here. I hope he makes it. By you posting this also tells me that they lied to me 3 fold. They also stated that they will "NEVER" ship with U.S.P.S. again no matter how much money it saves them.

So to sum things up that I can back up with e-mails sent to me by them:

Told me next day by 3, but ended up being second day by 3.

Told me dragon was perfect, but actually had a missing fingernail

Told me that the would never use U.S.P.S. again, but did!

These practices are misleading, and the herp trade should know this. How can you say the experience was positive!?! They seemed to lend me "support" but was only a gimmik in my opinion.

I would never deal with these guys again. I am enclosing a picture that they sent to me before hand that shows the nipped fingernail, but I didn't notice it before they shipped him out.

Jeff Janes
[email protected]
 

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Standing Up

Well, I will continue to stand behind Maureen and Les, and here is why:

You said that at the last minute they decided not to use UPS...which is exactly what I stated. The charges were too high and Maureen stated that they haven't needed to ship since the new rates went into effect, and weren't aware of the high rates. Have you checked UPS overnight rates lately? I won't be using them for shipping my reptiles either. Also, how much did you pay Maureen and Les for shipping? I paid $20. Now, if you look at the new UPS rates for overnight, there is absolutely no way any size box that could hold a dragon and several heat packs could be shipped to you for $20. Why would Maureen and Les charge $20 to ship when it costs closer to $60? I did look at the box my dragon came in. It was clearly marked next day by noon. In my opinion, when the someone pays the post office to ship something next day delivered by noon, and the post office guarantees that or you get a refund, that's what should be expected. How is that Maureen and Les' fault? Furthermore, my dragon and your dragon were shipped by Les on the same day at the same time. How could they have used USPS "again" when both dragons were shipped at the same time? When Maureen offered me a replacement, she stated she would not be shipping it USPS. I can't speak for what happened with the labeling or delivery of your box. But in my case, the problem was clearly with the post office, not Maureen and Les' shipping.

I absolutely do not feel their support was in any way a gimmick. I spoke with Maureen on the phone and she sounded horribly upset and distraught. Her emails had the same tone. She was on the phone with the post office while Les was at the post office trying to figure out where this dragon was. That's how I can say my experience with them was positive. Maureen was as upset, if not more so, than I was about the situation. She was also quite upset and concerned about the situation with your dragon, because he was enduring such a high amount of stress. If Maureen really didn't care and it was all a gimmick, why would she bother telling me how upset she was because your dragon was late and was stressed?

As for the fingernail thing, I have no comment because I wasn't privy to any of that conversation. Maybe you should be glad she refunded you part of your money. I just received 2 dead dragons (arrived dead in the box) and the guy I bought them from decided not to refund me any money.

I also have the emails between Maureen and I to back up everything I'm saying.
 
Maybe you didn't read my post correctly....

The post office DID NOT guarantee next day by 3, they guaranteed second day by 3 and it was clearly marked on the box, that means that she got a copy of this also, but proceeded to say that it was guaranteed next day by 3.

This is not a good business practice. Also, she said she was going to ship U.P.S. and I hate it that their rates have gone up and do not like it, but tough. I agreed at the last minute to take it U.S.P.S., but told her only if they guaranteed next day.

I can post the e-mail that states that the dragon was perfect and flawless, but as you saw in the pictures she sent me it shows a defect in the dragon.

I paid her around 150.00 total for the dragon with no specified shipping amount.

So, what I'm saying is she sold me something flawed that was desribed to be perfect, and she told me next day, but post office guaranteed 2 day.

Jeff Janes
 
No, Maybe You Didn't Read Mine Correctly

I never said the post office guaranteed anything on YOUR package. I said, in fact, that I couldn't speak for what happened with your package. I DID SAY that I checked what MY package said, and MY package was clearly labeled "Day of Delivery-Next is checked, Scheduled Date of Delivery-Wed 2/2, Scheduled Time of Delivery-Noon is checked. I'll say it again, as for the shipping, once Maureen and Les found out about UPS' rate hike, they asked if I would accept USPS Express Mail Next Day shipping and I agreed. In my case, Les and Maureen did exactly as was promised...USPS Express Mail Next Day.

That, to me, is good business practice, as is everything else that happened in MY experience with them.

Tere Salazar
 
Ok, let me jump in here!

I am SO happy both dragons came through all right through the post office ordeal, and our former little girl is now in her new loving home - after 5 1/2 days in a box due to the US postal service! Talk about miracles!

Lessons learned:

1. Really, really, never use the post office. We didn't want to raise shipping rates, because as it tends to be, good people don't often have good income and we just want our babies in good, caring homes. But we learned the very hard way asking for another $15 to use a more reliable carrier is the only way to go, and we're continuing to sell this clutch at 1/3 what they are worth.

2. Be prepared to be slammed by those who have had bad experiences... even if the experiences weren't THAT bad. I can't say I'm sorry enough to Mr. Janes... I don't understand what more he would like, blood? I'm sorry about the fingernail, I'm a blonde. I'm sorry about the shipping - see the lies the post office told me below. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I thought we'd been through this in e-mail, I'm sorry... I apologize... all is well, can we all just relax?
I refunded him 1/5 of the total selling cost for the beardie because of the fingernail. This is not a genetic trait - he got nipped as a baby. That's why we house them seperately now, we learned about nipping brothers and sisters the hard way. Never was their any intentional deception... not shipping, not fingernails, not anything. I'm at a loss as to why he thinks we're the spawn of satan and exist to make shipping a dragon to him a hellish experience. There were problems with the post office, and with my hand on the bible, 2 people told us to our faces he would be shipped out with that evening's Express Mail and arrive by 3 the next day, the rest was for "paperwork purposes"... and one of those 2 people was a trainer (just obviously not a good or honest one). I would never intentionally send a live creature whose life truly does mean a lot to me 2-day mail, I'm just dumb sometimes and trusted the man whose hand I put the box in. I promise not to trust the government anymore and to always get things in writing.
We can see he didn't do well with either box... one arrived in 2 days, one in over FIVE.
I'm just glad the beardie is ok.

3. Don't trust the US postal service. Yes, I know I said it once... it has to be said again. We will not ship USPS ever, ever, ever again, and you can sic my nile monitor on me if I'm lying.

All we want is our "kids" in good homes. Why else would we sell them so cheap? I could sell them to a pet store if I didn't care woh they went to or what they overcharged for them, but I DO CARE.

We've had previous clutches sent everywhere from Maine to Washington, and have never had a "POP" like this... a "post office problem", if you will. Lesson learned. No post office. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Janes.

So, if anyone has any questions for me or problems with me, I'd appreciate if you would address me directly. My e-mail is available to everyone: [email protected].

Thank you, Tere... I am so happy Tigress is with you, I can't wait to see her picture!

Maureen
 
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