Bad Guy Underground Reptiles

[JBC86]

I recently purchased a $250 sub-adult lavender mosaic Brooks kingsnake described as "male" and "approximately 43 inches". The snake I received is a 27 inch female. The snake appears healthy but I feel like such an obvious discrepancy is a deliberate misrepresentation.

 

[tlmoon]

Sorry to hear that...have you contacted them to see if they will remedy the situation?

 

[UndergroundReptiles]

I'm very sorry to hear this. I show no order under the name you have listed on this Fauna Account. If you were sent the wrong animal I will gladly pay to have it sent back, and provide you the proper animal or a full refund. Please tell me if there is a different name on the account and your order number. I apologize for the inconvenience and we will definitely make this right with you.

Rian Gittman

 

[JBC86]

The name on the order is exactly as it is here, Jon Chrismond. I purchased the last lavender mosaic in stock, and your website now says out of stock, so I don’t know what you could possibly replace her with.

 

[UndergroundReptiles]

I'm sorry the name here said Jon Benjamin. That's where the confusion is. I show you received your shipment on the 3rd and we sent a follow up email to find out how the shipment was. I also called, but your voicemail is not set up. I need you to email me when you can with a picture of the animal on a tape measure, and I will get this animal shipped back for a full refund and I will also send you an additional discount for your next order to make up for this. Please send those photos to [email protected] today, and I will get this taken care of for you right away. Thank you.

Rian Gittman

 

[Vorlon1]

So many of us assume ill will when we don't get what we want. You said you don't know what they could possibly replace her with. Now that is the truth. You are not a reptile wholesaler that buys and sells hundreds of reptiles each week. So you wouldn't know...

I bet Rian Gittman will get it right. But...... Oh my gosh it might take a week or two....

I don't work for underground or even know them well. But if they want to stay in business they will satisfy their customers....

 

[BlueCrowned]

Well shoot, if you hate her that much I'll take her... lol

 

[Vorlon1]

Also think about the fact that 4 days a week they ship between 75 and 200 animals. All boxed and packaged by minimum wage employees. Florida is a right to work state, so their minimum wage is considerably less than other states. My guess is they shipped out 5-8 of those snakes and put the wrong one in the wrong box.

I F'up several times a day. Be assertive and get what you paid for, but nothing is obvious. I am pretty sure that they did not purposely send you the wrong animal.

 

[Vorlon1]

By the way, I have been catching and buying reptiles for more that 45 years. Businesses that don't serve their customers don't last very long. Yes, I am 60 years old.

 

[Vorlon1]

If it were me I might even cut a deal with them. Rather than them paying to ship the girl back and ship another male. I would try to get them to ship a male for 1/3 the total cost..... A male can breed with several females in the same year....

Use this to your advantage....

 

[cbeal1]

Why would you instantly assume that this was done on purpose and not just an honest mistake. They are well known in the community and have a good reputation. And I'm sure the snake that you got would still sell just fine for what you paid. If your not happy then take the refund. He even offered to pay shipping

 

[snowgyre]

I wouldn't say Underground Reptiles has a good reputation. Even on here, threads bounce between positive purchases and outright horrible experiences (especially with disease issues). I have also seen advertisements with clearly mislabeled animals. In particular, I remember them selling a "Sinaloan" milk snake that was clearly a hybrid animal here on Faunaclassifieds. They also sold wild caught Nerodia that later tested positive for the deadly snake fungal disease. Indeed, the water snake photo they use to advertise for wild caught animals exhibits lesions characteristics of snake fungal disease. Most recently they sold a green tree python to a customer at the Daytona show in 2017 that died and tested positive for nidovirus (this is on the Facebook FBI page posted by Gracie Graves out of Tallahassee, you can read about it here). Granted, they did offer a replacement or store credit, but who honestly wants a replacement or store credit from a business who sold you a diseased snake?

There are also several negative threads on Underground Reptiles here in the Board of Inquiry. In short, they do not have as positive a reputation as you may think, and many folks consider purchasing from them a gamble.

 

[snowgyre]

Apologies, the hyperlink I used above for the FBI post didn't work, but you can hop on Facebook, join the FBI - Feedback and Inquiries for Reptiles page, and do a search for Gracie Graves. It will pop up then. I asked her to post here on the BOI in addition to that site but she has not yet done so.

 

[Vorlon1]

Yep mistakes are made another vendor here was selling "Oregon Pike" rosy boas....
I simply corrected the error, but e vendor never changed the ad. Made he/she didn't want it known that these animals might have came from Organ Pipe National Monument (or Ajo AZ.).

 

[Hidalgotexas]

What he said ^

 

[Lucille]

Yep mistakes are made another vendor.

Probably best to discuss other vendors elsewhere.

 

[Vorlon1]

Lucille if you would have bothered to search "Oregon Pike" you would have seen that it was discussed elsewhere. Mistakes are made frequently.
When a they admit they were wrong and attempt compensation, this is not the place to negotiate. At the conclusion, if the buyer is still unhappy that is different. But there was little or no communication with the seller prior to the first post.

 

[tlmoon]

Vorlon, it's confusing to bring another vendor's issues into a thread, so I imagine that's why Lucille mentioned it. I'm not clear now that this has been mentioned, was Underground mislabelling rosy boas, or is that a separate vendor's issue?

In any case, it is certainly understandable that mistakes happen and I applaud Underground's responsiveness to the issue.

 

[MikeCurtin]

Regardless of history, it sure appears that Rian wants to do everything in his power to make this right with either a refund or replacement.

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

I wouldn't say Underground Reptiles has a good reputation. Even on here, threads bounce between positive purchases and outright horrible experiences (especially with disease issues). I have also seen advertisements with clearly mislabeled animals. In particular, I remember them selling a "Sinaloan" milk snake that was clearly a hybrid animal here on Faunaclassifieds. They also sold wild caught Nerodia that later tested positive for the deadly snake fungal disease. Indeed, the water snake photo they use to advertise for wild caught animals exhibits lesions characteristics of snake fungal disease. Most recently they sold a green tree python to a customer at the Daytona show in 2017 that died and tested positive for nidovirus (this is on the Facebook FBI page posted by Gracie Graves out of Tallahassee, you can read about it here). Granted, they did offer a replacement or store credit, but who honestly wants a replacement or store credit from a business who sold you a diseased snake?

There are also several negative threads on Underground Reptiles here in the Board of Inquiry. In short, they do not have as positive a reputation as you may think, and many folks consider purchasing from them a gamble.

Agreed. I appreciate the show of good customer service in this thread, but I wouldn't buy from a seller that regularly sends out diseased animals to begin with. You don't have to sacrifice good customer service to get healthy animals, or vice versa.