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Bad Guy Reptiles by Rekowski

F

Fede59

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Hi guys I just want to let you all know about the experience I had with this business. I bought a pair of leopard geckos in the February repticon here in ft.lauderdale and I forgot to pick up a business card of the breeder I had bought the geckos from and I finally found the business by looking at repticon videos on YouTube. I bought the geckos from "reptiles by rekowski" he had hundreds of geckos on his table. Anyways the male ate the next day but the female went 2weeks without eating and I thought maybe she was still trying to get used to the new home. Then another 2 weeks passed and nothing. I had to give her a syringe solution and took her to the vet. After about 100+ dollars in vet bills including the check up and test. The vet told me she had 5 layers of shed stuck in her eyes!!! Really rekowski?!?! 5 layers?! Come on man how can you let that slide?!? All I am saying is when somebody is selling reptiles at a show they should inspect each and every one before selling them. And for the people going to the may 12-13 show In ft. lauderdale please inspect every single centimeter of the gecko you will buy from him. Anyways sorry if this was to long I just wanted to bring this to your attention so you don't get ripped of like I did
 
I'm sorry you had this terrible experience. Can you please post pics of your ordeal, ie pics of the animal, vet bills and diagnosis, etc.

Also have you contacted "Reptiles by Rekowski" about your ordeal? What was his explanation?

Last thing.. Inform "Reptiles by Rekowski" so that he has a chance to tell his side of the story. Thank you.
 
ReptileGeek181 said:
I'm sorry you had this terrible experience. Can you please post pics of your ordeal, ie pics of the animal, vet bills and diagnosis, etc.

Also have you contacted "Reptiles by Rekowski" about your ordeal? What was his explanation?

Last thing.. Inform "Reptiles by Rekowski" so that he has a chance to tell his side of the story. Thank you.
Click to expand...

I will post pictures as soon as I get home. No I don't have the vet bill. I can't seem to find her but I do have the text message from the person that cleaned her eyes out
 
I will start by saying that I do not know Rekowski.. Actually, I never heard of him/them... BUT, you did see this gecko prior to buying it, and you did not notice the stuck eye caps either.. So, there is a possibility that they where not aware of the issue..

I sure hope you contacted Rekowski and gave them a chance to rectify this issue PRIOR to starting this Bad Guy thread???... In my opinion, that would have been the right thing to do..

~ Mike Russo
 
ReptileGeek181 said:
I'm sorry you had this terrible experience. Can you please post pics of your ordeal, ie pics of the animal, vet bills and diagnosis, etc.

Also have you contacted "Reptiles by Rekowski" about your ordeal? What was his explanation?

Last thing.. Inform "Reptiles by Rekowski" so that he has a chance to tell his side of the story. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Sorry I wrote that wrong. Lol I meant "no I don't have the get bill I can't seem to find it." I will post the picture of her when I first got her then another picture of her a month after. And also picture comparing her to the male. And a picture of the text message. I will do all of this from 3:30 PMish when I get home
 
MikeRusso said:
I will start by saying that I do not know Rekowski.. Actually, I never heard of him/them... BUT, you did see this gecko prior to buying it, and you did not notice the stuck eye caps either.. So, there is a possibility that they where not aware of the issue..

I sure hope you contacted Rekowski and gave them a chance to rectify this issue PRIOR to starting this Bad Guy thread???... In my opinion, that would have been the right thing to do..

~ Mike Russo
Click to expand...

I know i should have looked at the pair better before i bought it but i disntHonestly after I bought the pair is when I notice she was a bit skinny. I went back to his table and told him that she is a bit underweight so I told him if I could get another one. And he told me "when things leave the table there's no refunds"
 
MikeRusso said:
I will start by saying that I do not know Rekowski.. Actually, I never heard of him/them... BUT, you did see this gecko prior to buying it, and you did not notice the stuck eye caps either.. So, there is a possibility that they where not aware of the issue..

I sure hope you contacted Rekowski and gave them a chance to rectify this issue PRIOR to starting this Bad Guy thread???... In my opinion, that would have been the right thing to do..

~ Mike Russo
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to run him out of business I'm just trying to let people know to look out for little things like this. He has very nice gecko and I'm sure they are pretty healthy as well. But there's little things people have to look out for. And so does he before putting animals for sale
 
I undersand that... But, giving someone the opportunity to fix an issue prior to coming to the BOI should be standard practice..

Keep in mind that this tread is not here forever and the seller had no chance to fix this.. Again, I do not know the seller and have no idea if he would have made this right for you, but you have to ask yourself... What are the odds of him helping you out now??

~ Mike Russo
 
MikeRusso said:
I undersand that... But, giving someone the opportunity to fix an issue prior to coming to the BOI should be standard practice..

Keep in mind that this tread is not here forever and the seller had no chance to fix this.. Again, I do not know the seller and have no idea if he would have made this right for you, but you have to ask yourself... What are the odds of him helping you out now??

~ Mike Russo
Click to expand...

I understand as well. I already tried to exchange the gecko for another one and he didn't want to. Maybe he was trying to get rid of it? I asked him to give me a nice juvenile pair. And that's what he picked. Me being an idiot and taking his word for it, I took the animals and walked away. When I had time I take a look at her i saw how thin she was. I went back and he refused to take her. Even If he didn't see the eye caps. Eye caps mean a leopard gecko was kept very dry and was fed a poor vitamin A diet and I don't want an animal with that type of care.
 
Of course i was not there when the deal went down... So, i have no idea what transpired between you and the seller and I cannot comment on what should have been done for you at the show..

Maybe, let the seller know that you have started this thread, so he can explain his side of the story and have a chance to make things right for you.

Sorry you're having an issue.. Good luck with your animals..

~ Mike Russo
 
How long of a period of time lapsed between when you bought this gecko in Feb. and when you took him to this vet that said he had "5 layers" of stuck shed on his eye caps?

This is NOT standard business practice for Mike. I breed leopard geckos, and a good percentage of my geckos are from him. I think we really need to hear his side of the story before coming to any conclusions, here.
 
JordanAng420 said:
How long of a period of time lapsed between when you bought this gecko in Feb. and when you took him to this vet that said he had "5 layers" of stuck shed on his eye caps?

This is NOT standard business practice for Mike. I breed leopard geckos, and a good percentage of my geckos are from him. I think we really need to hear his side of the story before coming to any conclusions, here.
Click to expand...

About a month after the show. And she had not eaten since I got her
 
Mike has been alerted of this thread. I, for one, really would like to hear his version of this. I'm going to try to keep my mouth shut until we hear from him.
 
Reptilecam said:
Something tells me he was never made aware of this issue.
Click to expand...

No he was not like I said when I posted this. Even if i notified him and the problem was fixed i would have stil posted this just so buyers can be cautions when buying reptiles. i even ended up givin the gecko away the same day that i was notified about the eye caps to a couple that breeds them. I also made clear earlier that I do not want to hurt his business. I just want him and the people that buy his geckos to inspect them a bit more before he puts them for sale and before someone purchases them.
 
Federico.....
This is Mike Rekowski. I have to say that I do not remember you. But I will tell you that it is pretty much standard policy not to take animals from people at shows.....There are many very very nice animals there for sure from very honest vendors to be sure. Let me be sure that I have said this so all reading this do NOT take this as me saying that I am the only one selling healthy animals at shows....There are many many very nice animals offered at these shows as well as extremely honest vendors. Unfortunately there are also alot of imported aimals and animals that may or may not be healthy and carrying something that could be easily transferred to one of my animals......which is also why I advise people to use the disinfectant i provide for them at the shows before handling my animals...so as a general rule I do not like to take animals back that have been handled and exposed to who knows what at these shows. I assure you that it is not done to be hard to deal with or so I can dump unhealthy animals on possibly uneducated consumers as it seems you are suggesting. And i also take care to do the absolute best I can to provide the public with onloy animals I would be proud to sell them. I am not saying that I am perfect.....but i think I go pretty far in inspecting my animals that i put on my table.
I do attend many shows and do my absolute best to spend as much time trying to educate people on care and proper environments needed to help keep their animals thriving.....in fact, I cant tell you how many times people come to me at these shows and ask my advice 0on keeping geckos while holding an animal that was purchased from another vendor in their hand. I spend just as much time with them as I do my own customers....and the main reason is I care about the way these animals are taken care of.
I dont want to bother my friends and/or customers with "coming to my rescue" here (and by the way...some of my dearest friends were once not close friends but customers). I will however mention this thread to a few poeple if it becomes necessary. I am quite frankly a little taken back by the immediate BOI post that you have found it necessary to make. Had I received notice that you were having issues with your animal I would have acted accordingly I assure you. I take my reputation very seriously. I have worked and will continue to work very hard to do all I can to keep the good reputation I have, while striving very hard to educate consumers and provide them with healthy, quality animals that they deserve and will find true enjoyment watching and caring for.
Having said all this I will still offer to provide you with an animal of your liking at the next Ft. Lauderdale show which is this weekend.....if you can not attend that, please contact me with a message through this site and I will be happy to make sure that this situation is taken care of to your liking.....as I would have done had I been made aware of the situation a long time ago....and as I always do as a courtesy to my customers.
Best Regards,
Mike Rekowski
 
miamimike said:
Federico.....
This is Mike Rekowski. I have to say that I do not remember you. But I will tell you that it is pretty much standard policy not to take animals from people at shows.....There are many very very nice animals there for sure from very honest vendors to be sure. Let me be sure that I have said this so all reading this do NOT take this as me saying that I am the only one selling healthy animals at shows....There are many many very nice animals offered at these shows as well as extremely honest vendors. Unfortunately there are also alot of imported aimals and animals that may or may not be healthy and carrying something that could be easily transferred to one of my animals......which is also why I advise people to use the disinfectant i provide for them at the shows before handling my animals...so as a general rule I do not like to take animals back that have been handled and exposed to who knows what at these shows. I assure you that it is not done to be hard to deal with or so I can dump unhealthy animals on possibly uneducated consumers as it seems you are suggesting. And i also take care to do the absolute best I can to provide the public with onloy animals I would be proud to sell them. I am not saying that I am perfect.....but i think I go pretty far in inspecting my animals that i put on my table.
I do attend many shows and do my absolute best to spend as much time trying to educate people on care and proper environments needed to help keep their animals thriving.....in fact, I cant tell you how many times people come to me at these shows and ask my advice 0on keeping geckos while holding an animal that was purchased from another vendor in their hand. I spend just as much time with them as I do my own customers....and the main reason is I care about the way these animals are taken care of.
I dont want to bother my friends and/or customers with "coming to my rescue" here (and by the way...some of my dearest friends were once not close friends but customers). I will however mention this thread to a few poeple if it becomes necessary. I am quite frankly a little taken back by the immediate BOI post that you have found it necessary to make. Had I received notice that you were having issues with your animal I would have acted accordingly I assure you. I take my reputation very seriously. I have worked and will continue to work very hard to do all I can to keep the good reputation I have, while striving very hard to educate consumers and provide them with healthy, quality animals that they deserve and will find true enjoyment watching and caring for.
Having said all this I will still offer to provide you with an animal of your liking at the next Ft. Lauderdale show which is this weekend.....if you can not attend that, please contact me with a message through this site and I will be happy to make sure that this situation is taken care of to your liking.....as I would have done had I been made aware of the situation a long time ago....and as I always do as a courtesy to my customers.
Best Regards,
Mike Rekowski
Click to expand...

I understand mike. Like I said before in the BOI I didn't post this to harm your business because I am aware that you probably live of these animal. And I would never do something like that. For you and for the people that read this I posted this just to make you aware of the issue and buyers to inspect animal at ANY reptile show and ANY vendor. You have some very appealing geckos and maybe I just got unlucky. But anyways I will be out of town this weekend so unfortunately I won't be going to the show. But thank you for replying to this thread. And understand that you care and love your business an that's the way it should be. It's true nobodies perfect. but next time if a gecko looks skinny maybe it shouldn't be for sale. Just saying. Anyways thanks for responding to this mike. And best of luck on this weekends show
 
Fede59 said:
No he was not like I said when I posted this. Even if i notified him and the problem was fixed i would have stil posted this just so buyers can be cautions when buying reptiles. i even ended up givin the gecko away the same day that i was notified about the eye caps to a couple that breeds them. I also made clear earlier that I do not want to hurt his business. I just want him and the people that buy his geckos to inspect them a bit more before he puts them for sale and before someone purchases them.
Click to expand...

Now that Mike has posted (and has very generously offered you another animal- which is a lot more than most folks would offer you after this) I will state my opinion/questions.

It was an entire month between when you bought this gecko and when you brought it to the vet. I have some babies that shed every 7-10 days in their first few months. How many sheds did it go through with you? How was your set up?
 
JordanAng420 said:
Now that Mike has posted (and has very generously offered you another animal- which is a lot more than most folks would offer you after this) I will state my opinion/questions.

It was an entire month between when you bought this gecko and when you brought it to the vet. I have some babies that shed every 7-10 days in their first few months. How many sheds did it go through with you? How was your set up?
Click to expand...

Mike was very understanding and I appreciate that. And it's ok I don't want to take his geckos he has a business to run and that's losing money.

The animal didnt even eat a cricket from the time I had her. She went through one shed which I helped her out with and that was it. I had her in a 15qt rack system with flex watt belly heat on a helix thermostat set at 86-88 hot side I had a hide on the hot side and a moist hide on the cool side with a water dish.
 
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