Bruce Stephenson vs GKO Reptiles EVERYONE PLEASE READ

[Kimjorg]

GKO Reptiles-good guys

When it comes to GKO Reptiles, I have had nothing that is even close to a bad encounter with them. In fact they are one of the few people who I would trust any of my leopard geckos to. I was with Christine and Phillip the whole day that your package arrived without you accepting it and heard every conversation that took place that day. They handled it the best and most professional way that the situation allowed and the same way that I think any breeder would have. They were faced with a very difficlut problem and went out of their way to not only try to mend things up but to make a frustrating situation better. I am sorry that you endured a loss but they did too. As a matter of fact they lost one of their favorites. Please consider the whole situation their loss and yours before you continue your kindergarten name calling in a place that wasn't set up for that. If you need to discuss anything with them or about them their are other places to do such things (or maybe try contacting them now that the situation isn't as fiery and touchy as it was last month) I will always continue my dealings with GKO Reptiles and I know many other more than a satisfied customers that would.

 

[gko reptiles]

Okay everyone, here's the WHOLE story... (I'm going to do this in pieces because I lost EVERYTHING a few minutes ago trying to post it... it was too long; so keep checking, there's probably more...)

Jedi Master Bruce is Bruce Stephenson, a member of this site. About a month and a half ago, he emailed Phillip and me about buying a group of hybinos off of a different classifieds site. The first email he sent us said that he would buy the entire group, and he did not ask for a discount. Phillip and I have sold a SHTCT female to him before, so we decided to take some money off. The ad was for 6 leos: 2 male, 4 female. 5 geckos were $175 +shipping and the last was for $200 +shipping. (That's $1075 +shipping all together.) We told him since he was a repeat buyer that we would sell him all 6 for $950 and we will pay for the shipping charges. To this, he agreed.
The payment and confirmations were made, and the package was sent out on June 26th, 2006 to be recieved on June 27th, 2006. GKO Reptiles has a Live Arrival Garuntee that is posted on our website: ( http://gkoreptiles.com/shipping.html . ) This states that the geckos will arrive alive IF someone is there to recieve them.

 

[gko reptiles]

Part 2:

Part 2:

On June 27th Phillip recieved a call sometime after 9:13AM, (the initial time that the package was delivered.) It was Bruce saying that he did not make it to the door on time and did not recieve the package. He then called and asked FedEx to redeliver, which they agreed to do. Then, around 2:00PM Bruce called us back to inform us that the FedEx driver came back to redeliver, but only ran up to the door, left a note and then "ran away" with the package.
Confused, I called FedEx and DEMANDED to speak with the branch manager, because that is an unacceptable was for a FedEx driver to act. After a long hold I was finally forwarded to the branch manager (something that FedEx does NOT do, EVER, in case anyone didn't know.) The manager, whose name was Christine, apologized and told me that she would call her driver and speak to him immediately. Less than 10 minutes later Christine called me back with an intiresting story...

 

[gko reptiles]

Part 3

Part 3:

Christine tells me exactly what her driver told her minutes before. The driver said that when he arrived at the door, there was a note saying "I'm not home, please call my cell phone and I will come get the package" (the cell phone number was also included and will not be posted on this site). FedEx drivers are not required to call ANYONE, but the driver did anyway. He called Bruce's cell phone and Bruce did not answer. The driver then stood there long enough to fill out a non-deliver form, post it on his door and then walk back to his truck with the package. A few minutes later, Bruce called the driver and threatened to sue him if he did not return with the package. The driver basically told him to 'screw off' and refused to return with or without the package. I apologized to Christine and asked her if she could redeliver. She told me that she had already sent her driver in that direction to attempt to redeliver a THIRD time...

 

[leopardgecko95]

Well I hope the leos are not terrible stressed...

 

[gko reptiles]

Part 4:

Part 4:

After that, Phillip called Bruce and told him that FedEx would redeliver a third time. Bruce said that he had to go to work and now there was no waas for him to pick up the package. Phillip told him that he would call FedEx, have them hold the package, and he would call out of work and personally pick it up and deliver it to Bruce's place of employment. Tampa is 2 1/2 hours away from Orlando... but we'd rather our leo's be safe. Bruce agreed andc gave Phillip directions how to get to the hospital in which Bruce was working.

(I am unable to get the link for the tracking record, but I will post it later when I can access it.)

.......

 

[leopardgecko95]

And, I would request to have the leos sent back to my house and forget him.Yet keep half the money for all the trouble.

 

[gko reptiles]

Part 5:

PArt 5:

When Phillip arrived at FedEx, 5 out of the 6 leos were dead. He was devastated. When I got home from work, Phillip and I tried to decide what to do.

We decide to call Bruce and offer him $200 back as well as the one live gecko left in the package, which we would personally deliver to his home. Bruce refused, was extremely rude, and told us that he would take legal action against us if we did not give him a full refund immediately. Phillip and I refused. We went out of our way to ensure the safety of the geckos we sold to him; he was not there to recieve the package... TWICE. The phone conversation was NOT friendly, and a professional solution was obviously out of the question.
Later that night Phillip and I contacted Bruce via email and offered him half of his money back as well as the one live leo. Again he refused and threatened to sue. I then told him that if legal action was his only option, then we would see ihm in court...

 

[gko reptiles]

Part 6:

Part 6: The end of the story...

Now its been almost a month since we've heard from him, until today. He posted a nasty message about Phillip and myself on a different thread on this site (General Discussion > Debate: Tang Tornados) forcing me to throw out dirty laundry out in the open. Please, if anyone has any thoughts, post! And Bruce, if you believe that I have mis-stated anything, correct me if you feel you need to do so.

 

[gko reptiles]

Thanks Michael, I wish that it were that easy! I wish that this never would have made it onto the forums!!

 

[LeosForLess]

I think if you live 2 and a half hours away there is really no point in shipping, that both people should meet somewhere. Because either way you cut it, shipping is a risk and if it can be avoidded it should.

 

[gko reptiles]

This is true... it's a risk that we didn't need to take, but what's done is done and Phil and I are trying to put this all behind us... till earlier today. We've had many people come to our house and look at everything that we had for sale and then some; I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure that that wasn't an option here...

 

[leopardgecko95]

Well now that I have finished reading the story and instead of keeping half the money I would keep it all. Then instead of him sueing you, you should sue him!

 

[gko reptiles]

lol Thanks Michael

 

[wilomn]

You may want to post this over on Fauna as well.

You owe him nothing. You went out of your way to accomodate him. He violated your TOS to begin with voiding any warranty from the very first.

He screwed it up, not you.

 

[Jedi Master Bruce]

These kids are lying and are good scammers. I had expected the geckos to be left on my doorstep without a signature like the last gecko they sent me. The boy woke me up and admitted to making a mistake in sending them to be signed for and accepted responsibility for not knowing that if he insured the geckos that a signature would be required. Now they are lying as best they can to cover themselves after they decided that they could not part with the small fortune that I sent them.

Please publish any e-mails where you told me, or I agreed to having them sent to be signed for. You sent me the first gecko without requiring signature. You are liars just like Wes Pollock and people should not do business with any of you. And I am pursuing you in legal ways.

For any of you who are sympathetic to GKO Reptiles or Wes Pollock, do not contact me and ask me for geckos. I would also recommend that nobody do business with you either.

 

[gko reptiles]

First of all, as we have stated this before to you... YOU are lying. Phillip called you and said he was sorry for having a signature required; he did not admit fault.
Second of all, "The boy" is my husband and he has a name: Phillip.
Third of all, we are not children. We are college students who have a passion for leopard geckos, just like hte majority of the users on this site.
Fourth - We sent a seperate package to NY that very same day and they made it there fine... someone was there to answer the door.
Fifth - We have a live arrival garuntee, just like every other breeder out there. How do we know that you are there to recieve the geckos if you do not sign for them? it was $950 worth of geckos! There's no way that I wouldn't insure the package!! Also, take a look at our Garuntee... it specifically states that all orders over $500, which yours definately was, will be insured and require a signature. The first order you got from us was only $150, which is under $500, therefore the package was not insured and did not require a signature.
Sixth and most important - We are not lying. At all. Every word of this post is true, and yes, I would admit that before a judge. Please correct me by telling your story.

 

[gko reptiles]

Bruce, this post has nothing to do with Wes Pollack, so please don't talk smack about him, it's just not necessary. Thanks

 

[Montezuma]

Here's the way I see this...
1. Geckos should have never been shipped for this distance.
2. Packaging must not have been weather inappropriate.
3. Details should ALWAYS be hashed out prior to shipping and the shipper needs to STRICT in ensuring that problems are not going to pop up.
4. Both parties sound at fault whether one is lying or not.
5. These are animals and should never be put in situations such as this... problems with getting to work on time need to be set aside till the geckos are out of harms way. NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS.

The way I see it, you both screwed the pooch and the best thing would be to go 50/50... but thats something you both have to hash out.

 

[gko reptiles]

Montezuma - We did offer Bruce half of his money back, AND the remaining gecko, yet he still refused!!

Oh and also, the package was packaged correctly, we also sent a package to Galactic Geckos the same day and it arrived with no problems.