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Todd Seadorf of Palm Beach Exotics.....

DavidBeard

DavidBeard

The Louisville Lip
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A couple of weeks ago, Todd had advertised on KS that he had a female Borneo Blood python for sale/trade. I was looking for a female Borneo and I had some colubrids I wanted to move, so I contacted him about a possible deal....we agreed to trade the '02 Female Borneo Blood for 1.1 2003 Cal Kings and 1.1 2003 Chinese Beauty Snakes. I shipped first in the deal. He received the snakes on 11/21/03 as scheduled. They arrived in perfect condition. He shipped out the Blood on the following Monday. I had him ship the blood to a close friend of mine's house because I would not be there to receive the package. The blood arrived sometime in the AM on Tuesday. We do not know when the package arrived exactly because he used Airbourne Express, which does not have a sign-for-the-package policy. The delivery man just dropped off the snake....it was in the 30s here in Louisville, KY that day.....

Not a big problem, had the snake been packaged properly. Todd put the SMALL heat pack on the bottom of the box, where it could get no oxygen or release any heat AT ALL. The snake was WITHOUT HEAT for the whole time it was in transit from Palm Beach, FL to Louisville. Well, when my friend opened the package, she called me at work and explained there was a few problems......

1-the snake was ice cold, due to the improper shipping....still alive but COLD.
2-the snake had an obvious injury on its back due to who-knows-what.

Here are some pics of the injury and of the heat pack:

Borneo_injury_2.sized.jpg


Borneo_injury_1.sized.jpg


Borneo_injury_heatpak_3.sized.jpg


I called and e-mailed Todd and informed him of the situation. Here is what he said in his e-mail (he said pretty much the same thing on the phone):

Tuesday, November 25, 2003 3:39 PM
From: "Todd Seadorf" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book
To: dcbear01
Subject: RE: Snakes on the way!
Status: Urgent New
David,
First let me apologize.......
As for the delivery, we both need to file a complaint with Airborne
express.
In the past with shipping the 1 heat pack has always been sufficient as
long as the snakes have gotten in out of the cold and not left on the
door step. This was an unforeseen issue on my part.
As for the respiratory problem, and the sore. When I shipped her she was
CLEAN, there were no visible marks on her, that I give you my word. I
can not explain how she got it. When I get any snake whether it be
import or CB I flagel and baytril them all, just to be on the safe side.
I also make sure all are eating at least twice.
If there were ANY problems I would have informed you in advance. This concerns me greatly and I am also VERY upset about this; I don't
like anyone to get shafted.
I hope we can work this out and I can keep your trust. I am in the process of packing to go out of town on vacation for the
Holiday.
Please let me know



Todd and Patrick Seadorf
561-433-8813
Palm Beach Exotics


This was the last time I heard from Todd. I have sent him several e-mails since then and he has not responded to any of them.

To top it all off, because of being exposed to the cold for so long, the Blood has developed a nasty respiratory infection that is being treated now....I am having to pay out of pocket for the vet expenses ($77.40 as of now). He has made no effort to repay me for the vet bills or make any kind of reparation for his mistakes.

I suggest that you do not do business with Todd Seadorf in the future.
 
Well.....I just checked my e-mail and there was a reply from Todd. Interesting that he replies as soon as I mention posting about our deal here, isn't it? Here is the e-mail:

Wednesday, December 03, 2003 7:39 PM
From: "Todd Seadorf" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book
To: dcbear01
Subject: RE: Times a tickin.......
Status: Urgent New
David,
I have not been avoiding you. I have been out of town on vacation for
the holiday and just getting around to checking ALL of my email. 200
plus of them. I got your other message in reference to taking her to the
vet. You stated that your vet has you giving injections. Make sure you
do not give them in the same area, it can cause sores. I only give
Baytril orally. It is a little safer. Did he say about the sore? He have
any ideas. Again make sure you keep the heat at 100 plus. Let me know how Dec 4 goes. I will be out of town from Friday till
Monday, I have to teach a motorcycle safety course on the west coast.
Keep in touch

Todd and Patrick Seadorf
561-433-8813
Palm Beach Exotics
 
Did the wound appear to be fresh when you received it? (kinda hard to tell from the pic).
Have you told him what you expect from him yet? (i.e. your animals back, vet expenses, or some other arrangement).
I'll agree that his shipping practices weren't very good and the snake never should have been shipped if it had an open wound.
So far, he atleast seems pleasant....maybe he'll be willing to try and fix this deal.
By the way, his statement about the Baytril injections is accurate (if that's what your vet prescribed).
 
Gila, the wound did not appear to have happened in shipping. It had to have been present before he shippied out the snake, which he denies.

I have asked him to cover the vet bills, and he has refused to do so. He is blaming it on the delivery guy. I don't think he is willing to fix the deal.....if he was, he would have responded to me before today and would have agreed to cover the cost of the vet expenses for treating something that never should have happened.
 
I just wanted to state for the record that it was my husband (Donnie Smith aka Morti) and myself that received the Borneo for David. David had called to ask whether or not she had arrived yet, and I told him that there has been no knock.... Donnie asked what carrier, then ran to the door when I told him. He opened the door and said, "I was afraid of that."

She was VERY cold so I had Donnie place her on my bare legs to warm her up while we looked her over. The wound wasn't real fresh, maybe a few days old. Donnie would have to clarify that point. Her breath was a little rattly and she had a small amount of fluid coming from her nostrils when she exhaled. When David came to get her, I instructed him to get her home and get her WARM! He then made a vet appointment for her shortly thereafter.

We are also the ones that are helping him adminster the Baytril injections since she is as strong as a horse and bucks like one! LOL Don't worry, we are experienced in treating sick animals and know all about Baytril. I am actually going to have David bring her here to stay for the rest of her treatment so as to lessen the stress on her. Hopefully we can get a stool sample while she is here so Donnie can check it for parasites. David was also given silver sulfadiazine cream for the wound and it seems to be helping quite a bit.

David, I hope Todd does the right thing and pays for the vet visit. Since he is out of town now, we will just have to wait and see.
 
Well, it seems Todd has come to his senses. He has agreed to pay for the vet bills and is going to send me the $ via PayPal.
 
Oh, and my vet echoed what Donnie said about the wound not being fresh, as in it happened during shipping, but that it more than likely happened a few days prior to shipping. This means that the animal had this injury and Todd failed to tell me about it. I saw pics of the animal before I agreed to the deal and the injury was not there.
 
Well.... to be honest.... I don't think the URI was Todd's fault.... because of this statement....

....David had called to ask whether or not she had arrived yet, and I told him that there has been no knock.... Donnie asked what carrier, then ran to the door when I told him. He opened the door and said, "I was afraid of that."....

It seems that either Donnie didn't tell Michelle or "Uncle Morti" what shipper was being used, or Michelle didn't relay that info to Morti in time.... it's obvious that as soon as Morti knew what shipper it was, he went right to the door.... at that point, it was too late....

HOWEVER.... there is NO WAY that wound happened during shipping.... it's already starting to heal over??.... It's very nice of Todd to offer to pay for the Vet's bill, but I really think PART of the Vet's bill should be incurred by David.... for the URI meds.... Am I wrong??

Neil
 
Neil....the URI is without a doubt Todd's fault. He improperly packaged the box, so if the heat pack had been working, the snake would have been fine.

Also, Todd did not offer to pay for the vet bills.....he finally relented after I asked him several times and posted this thread. I think he just wanted to save face here. He only even responded to my e-mails after I told him I was going to start this thread.....too convenient if you ask me. He also did not tell me about the wound.....I have nothing to hide, but it sounds like he does. The animals I sent him arrived in perfect condition and were 100% accurately represented. Why should I not expect the same in return?
 
DavidBeard said:
Not a big problem, had the snake been packaged properly. Todd put the SMALL heat pack on the bottom of the box, where it could get no oxygen or release any heat AT ALL. The snake was WITHOUT HEAT for the whole time it was in transit from Palm Beach, FL to Louisville. Well, when my friend opened the package, she called me at work and explained there was a few problems......
Click to expand...


David,

Not to try and justify him sending the animal with the injury but packing with a heat pack on the bottom does not mean it was not packaged properly. I package with heat packs on the bottom and sometimes on the top. There is enough oxygen to allow the heat pack to get warm when it is on the bottom. Also heat rises. I have found that shipping with the heat pack on the bottom(when they are working) tends to more evenly heat the box. Now I would say there is a possibility that the heat pack might have failed (which I have had a few fail myself) and that would not have been due to his packaging, But even if the heat pack had failed it is his responsibility to remedy the problem. Also you said the heat pack was small. Well the heat pack in the picture looks exactly like the normal 40+ hour heat packs that are sold and used all the time so there is nothing wrong with it's size. The ones that some people use for shipping that are the hand warmers are about half that size and only last about 4 hours.
 
I knew I forgot something yesterday.... Rob is absolutely correct.... heat rises, and putting the heatpack on the bottom is usually where you SHOULD put it.... Were there airholes in the box??.... That could be the reason the box LOST all the heat.... Usually (in WINTER) you should use NO airholes in the box AT ALL and you should seal EVERY OPEN EDGE of the box, so the heat stays IN the box.... if you ship next day air, there is plenty of air in there for the trip.... I have NEVER had a problem doing it like that.... just something to consider....

Neil
 
There were NO airholes in the box and the heat pack was cold! After puling it out and setting it on the table it began to warm up. How can heat rise when there is no heat?
 
Well.... before putting the heatpack in the box, you MUST shake it up and mix the chemicals together, or it might NOT work.... or, it could have just been a "dud" heatpack, which does happen from time to time....

Neil
 
I have only shipped to cold states a couple of times but, I have always waited until I felt the heat from the pack before I put it in the box. I would think that a minute or two would not be too long to make sure it was working before taping the box up.

Between the old wound and the heat not working I would be very displeased myself.

I hope it all works out well.

Wes Pollock
 
I have a screen shot of the tracking posted below. You can see she had to go through OH to get to us in KY. She was in OH all night. According to Airborne she was dropped off at 10:40am. David called at about 11am and Donnie brought her in the house immediately following the call. So she was on our doorstop no more than 25 minutes.

David, please confirm the time you called and when I called you back if you can.
 

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I had a Doctor's appointment that I finished up with at about 11:15 am that day and called Michelle to see if I could stop by (I was two miles away) and got to their place by 11:30am. The Borneo was still cool and I saw the wound and the box. The heat pack was still cold and Donnie was showing me how to activate it and after a few minutes it actually increased its temperature. So I am posting this as an eyewitness to the fact that the heat pack was cold.

Kevin Scott
 
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