Tara Leigh's Cresties - a Labor of Love...
This feedback concerns a shipment of two geckos that I received from Tara March 12th, 2013.
I first contacted Tara before Christmas to inquire about a handsome juvenile crème gecko (Dandelion) that Tara posted for sale on her Facebook site. I found Tara to be extremely kind, considerate, and knowledgeable. Tara’s work with geckos is truly a “labor of love” which is evident from your first communication with her. Because of this love, she is always happy to patiently answer questions and provide information regardless of your experience (or lack thereof) concerning geckos and their care.
You can depend on Tara to treat everyone with respect and kindness (including her geckos
). I’ve met and done business with quite a few lovely people in this field, and Tara was one of the first to answer my many questions with a seemingly endless supply of patience and grace. In short, I have come to consider her a valued friend.
Regarding Tara’s business and ethical standards, they are unparalleled; every step of the process was a pleasure. When you purchase from Tara, you are not merely “buying a gecko”, rather she is allowing you to adopt one of her much loved family members, so that they in turn can become a member of your own family. Rest assured that she will be delighted to have you provide updates and photos on your new gecko’s progress.
Regarding photographs, Tara provided an “added bonus” that to me, is invaluable - shortly after I took receipt of the geckos, I was excited to see that she transferred the geckos iHerp pages to my userid so they immediately displayed under “My Animals” group. The gecko progress photos are beautiful and imaginative works of art (as are the geckos that Tara selects and produces) and they are yet another beautiful display of her feelings toward these unique creatures. Additionally, when I pointed out particular traits that I love about Dandelion, Tara made sure that the next photo shoot included macro shots of my favorite things about the gecko - for instance, when I mentioned how I just LOVE Dandy’s orange crests.
Although Dandelion was a gecko selected by Tara as an unsexed gecko (the majority in the group later proved to be males so she had to make difficult decisions regarding hold-backs) she was still able to provide me with pictures of Dandelion’s Dam & Sire, along with photographs documenting Dandy’s complete growth from five-weeks to shortly before he was sent to me.
With frequent pictorial updates and contact from Tara, I was quite in love with Dandelion before he ever arrived at my house. Along with Dandelion, I selected another little beauty to be Dandy’s travel partner - Yamaka, a delightful little red and yellow Harlequin with unique markings that was produced by two of Tara’s top quality geckos (Papaya X Bizerk).
Impressively, Tara went far above and beyond “average” customer service before, during, and after the sale, and she was so kind and helpful in each and every step of the process. The months of waiting for warm weather (and as soon as there was a safe break in the cold weather Tara was quick to schedule a shipping date with me) were actually enjoyable, as the updates helped me become familiar with the gecko that was being shipped to me. I felt like I had a relationship with him (via Tara) before I ever saw him in-person.
Assistance with selection, quality of Tara’s geckos, a flexible payment schedule, careful shipping and communication (Tara will only relax when she knows that her geckos have arrived to your home safe and healthy) along with all the aforementioned “extras” leads to an unusually high level of customer service that for Tara comes naturally, right along with her love of the beautiful geckos you receive from her.
Please feel free to contact me directly if there is anything about this experience that I have neglected to share, and I look forward to having the honor of doing business with Tara in the future.
