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SS Exotic Animals-- Deal with them and lose your money!

J

JeffNichols

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I received a snake dead on arrival from SS exotic animals on February 6th. I was never informed how SS exotic animals was going to ship the snake until after it had already been shipped. DHL, the company they used, prohibits the shipping of snakes and does not guarantee live arrival on the few animals that it does allow. Why would anyone ship live animals under these circumstances?

The humane society is going to love this. I told Suzette the temperature here in NY would be 43 degrees the night she shipped; she said it would be fine. The snake was packed in a cardboard box-- inadequate for winter shipping. She placed two large heat packs directly under the snake within a small box. This is probably what killed the snake. They should be taped to the inside of the cover. Moreover, the poor quality heat packs were already cold on arrival. Suzette never returned e-mails on the 6th, 7th, or 8th (at least 6 phone calls and she was never available). When I finally got her on the night of 2/8, she claimed to have told me that there was no guarantee-- this is a lie. Anyone could ship dead snakes.

I tried speaking to her like a gentleman, and she called me stupid, Dude, and a girl. She hung up on me 3 times. I had opened the box in front of DHL's Driver, Ralph Rodriquez (rt 802), and he witnessed that the snake was dead on arrival. Suzette chose to take no insurance. She does not care about the animals or the customers; she does not belong in this business.
 
I would make a complaint to kingsnake or wherever you saw her add and bought the snake from, but the Humane society would not be a good idea They are already against keeping reptiles, so it would just fuel there fire against us, so no reason to give the enemy any help.

You can also try to contact your credit card company if you paid by c.c.

Good luck.
 
JeffNichols said:
I was never informed how SS exotic animals was going to ship the snake until after it had already been shipped. DHL, the company they used, prohibits the shipping of snakes and does not guarantee live arrival on the few animals that it does allow. Why would anyone ship live animals under these circumstances?
Click to expand...

Not that any of this excuses any of their behavior in the least, but....I ALWAYS ask how the animal is going to be shipped before making any purchase. If it is an unacceptable carrier, I decline the purchase. And.....NONE of the major carriers guarantee nor insure live reptiles. So....your choices are pretty limited.


And as JnJ said....the Humane Society won't do anything to the shippers, but will create a lot more negative press for us reptile keepers. It could very well create much more problems than it would be worth even bringing them in on it.

Was the cardboard box she shipped in completely uninsulated?
 
S & S guarantees

Excerpts from their site:

http://www.sandsexoticanimals.com/order/guarantee.html

Our guarantee policy for animals you purchase at our store is the following:
We do not offer any type of guarantee on our animals. We are confident that our animals are healthy.

Once you walk out the door of our store with your animal, you assume full responsibility for it. We do not offer refunds, returns or exchanges.

Our guarantee policy for animals you purchase and have shipped to you is the following:
We offer a live arrival guarantee only on animals sent airport to airport (Delta or Continental).
We do not offer live arrival on shipments sent via DHL, Federal Express or UPS.

***************************************************************************

Wow, they really stand behind their stock! A guarantee of no guarantees. Looks like you are definitely SOL Jeff.
And I have to agree with Cat; never, ever make a deal until you know what shipper a seller will use and how they will pack.
Did you take photos of the dead snake in the box upon arrival?

~ Laura Bolt
 
Our guarantee policy for animals you purchase and have shipped to you is the following:
We offer a live arrival guarantee only on animals sent airport to airport (Delta or Continental).
We do not offer live arrival on shipments sent via DHL, Federal Express or UPS.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how that differs from those that state "not responsible for carrier delays"; and I would say that it's the majority. As far as involving the Humane Society...big No No!
 
Have you sent them an email letting them know about this thread??

I've done business with them in the past but only in their store never had them ship. I was satisfied with how things went but have to say that not guaranteeing live arrival and shipping without using an insulated box is just piss poor service. Randy
 
I'm not sure how that differs from those that state "not responsible for carrier delays"; and I would say that it's the majority
Click to expand...
I suppose it differs only because most of the sellers I have dealt with do offer a live arrival guarantee with the stipulation that 1) someone must be present to sign for and accept a delivery and 2) the seller is not held responsible for shipper delays.
Naturally, if either one or both of those conditions exist, the TOS or guarantee of the seller is null and void, as it rightfully should be.
In this case, there has been no mention of either shipper delay or an unsuccessful first delivery attempt. The snake simply arrived dead, according to the OP. I do however, realize there may be more to the story than what is posted.

That said, there appears to me to be no clause in S & S Exotics TOS or guarantee policy that would allow the OP to either recup his money or receive a replacement animal. Perhaps I'm missing something....


~ Laura Bolt
 
Well it might be interesting to look at the state laws involved .. Could be one of those states where the buyer must get what they paid for reguarless of any TOS of the seller.. Randy
 
S & S guarantees ?While I'm sorry for your loss that guarantee is by far the worst Ive ever seen posted.That snake could have been shipped dead and they would get away with it.Always ask questions and if you feel uncomfortable with the deal back out politely.
S&S I dont see much of a future for you guys.
 
LauraB said:
I suppose it differs only because most of the sellers I have dealt with do offer a live arrival guarantee with the stipulation that 1) someone must be present to sign for and accept a delivery and 2) the seller is not held responsible for shipper delays.
Naturally, if either one or both of those conditions exist, the TOS or guarantee of the seller is null and void, as it rightfully should be.
In this case, there has been no mention of either shipper delay or an unsuccessful first delivery attempt. The snake simply arrived dead, according to the OP. I do however, realize there may be more to the story than what is posted.

That said, there appears to me to be no clause in S & S Exotics TOS or guarantee policy that would allow the OP to either recup his money or receive a replacement animal. Perhaps I'm missing something....


~ Laura Bolt
Click to expand...

Laura,

So to make my point clear, I'm not in agreement with those that say they are "not responsible for carrier delays". You are supposed to deliver a live and healthy animal regardless. That's what the buyer paid for. If the carrier makes a mistake that's part of the seller's risk, and should not be transferred to the buyer. A different story is if the buyer is not there to sign for or receive the package, then that's entirely the buyer's fault. :)

Regards.
 
The BoidSmith said:
Laura,

So to make my point clear, I'm not in agreement with those that say they are "not responsible for carrier delays". You are supposed to deliver a live and healthy animal regardless. That's what the buyer paid for. If the carrier makes a mistake that's part of the seller's risk, and should not be transferred to the buyer. A different story is if the buyer is not there to sign for or receive the package, then that's entirely the buyer's fault. :)

Regards.
Click to expand...

Absolutely 100% agreed Dan
 
The BoidSmith said:
Laura,

So to make my point clear, I'm not in agreement with those that say they are "not responsible for carrier delays". You are supposed to deliver a live and healthy animal regardless. That's what the buyer paid for. If the carrier makes a mistake that's part of the seller's risk, and should not be transferred to the buyer. A different story is if the buyer is not there to sign for or receive the package, then that's entirely the buyer's fault. :)

Regards.
Click to expand...

Exactly, Dan. S & S has effectively taken a "no responsibility for anything" stance with their written policies, whether the purchase is made at their store or paid for online and shipped. They can screw up all they want, they can ship in totally inappropriate containers with inferior packing, they could even conceivably ship a dead snake .. doesn't matter ... buyer loses. That's a total crock! I think we both agree. :)

~ Laura Bolt
 
S&S SUCK

I purchased a trio of adult emeralds from them(7 months ago) On the phone when inquiring about this ad Suzette told me these animals were captive bred and feeding on frozen thawed rats whenever offered. I paid in full immediately by visa and arranged shipping. they arrived via DHL to my door alive for the most part. They were not the same emeralds posted for sale. these were half the size. sexing was to be 1.2 guaranteed. All were horribly dehydrated, covered from end to end in ticks, and loaded with internal parasites. after re hydration with lactated ringers and pro bios for the internal issues, and eliminating the mites. I gave them 3 weeks to settle in then tried attempting to feed. they never did. I tried mice,rats,gerbils,hamsters,asf,and parakeets to no avail. over the next 3 weeks I would discover one at a time dead and overturned. also only one was a female. folowing this episode I did some research and soon discovered this women to be the bottom of the barrel. she is notorious in the mammal world for sick and dying animals. The ad I responded to was on k snake and they seem to have little interest in preventing this type of behavior. This woman has Zero regard for anything living even if it profits her. I will never buy from her again and will continue to tell anyone willing to listen to avoid her. There are many reputable people to deal with and I will not be drawn into the low price deal again. You get what you pay for and with Suzette you don't get anything except the feeling of complete loss and wishing you had received the animals earlier to have a chance at survival. I wonder is she sends her children to school in these same conditions. again a total bottom feeder. avoid her.
 
Thanks Dennis

While not actually relevent to the OP's experience, I did find some interesting articles about Ms. Stidom. She's quite the exotics collector!

About her pet tiger:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A27571-2002Sep2?language=printer

More about her tiger and her lioness:
http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2002/exotic_pets.html

An exerpt from (scroll down or use "Find" feature on toolbar to find her name):
http://www.podarcis.nl/news/digest/HERPDIGEST_Sunday_March_27_2005.txt

"Suzette Stidom, owner of S&S Exotic Animals in Houston, has a red kangaroo
named Jake that watches "Animal Planet" on television from her living-room
couch. Ms. Stidom agrees that exotic pets are not for everyone and says
she always questions prospective customers carefully.
It's not a spur-of-the-moment purchase," said Ms. Stidom, who sells
birds, reptiles, spiders and small animals. "Buyers should have looked
around. I'm in it for good, and I'm not getting rich doing it. You have to
do your research. Make sure you can afford it for the life of the animal.
Take into consideration having kids around them, if you have them or are
going to. I don't have any. These are mine."
**********************************************************
To be honest, I didn't enjoy seeing photos of a scared looking little monkey being passed around for photo opps in her site Anniversary photo gallery. And while it probably doesn't bother others, it did bother me to see sloths (sloths!!), a baby baboon, Servals, femurs, Patagonian Cavies, an anteater, even the Opposums and exotic squirrels all in wire cages. But that's just me.

~ Laura Bolt
 
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