The Definitive Turtlestuff.com Stories Thread (hopefully)

[Methuselah]

Hello Tortoise Forum Members,

This is my first post to TFO, and it is likely to be somewhat controversial, so let me begin with a brief introduction before getting to the big stuff.

My name is Chuck, and in July I and my family acquired a ~50 year old desert tortoise from a family who, after 40 years, could no longer keep him. We never had a tortoise before (closest was a red-ear slider), but we have several other pets and we provide them all with excellent care and lots of love. Sherman seemed to enjoy the first few months in his new habitat in our yard, and now he is hibernating peacefully. Hopefully, TFO will be a valuable resource as we learn more about our new family member.

Now, on to the matter at hand…

From reviewing past posts, it seems that turtlestuff.com (henceforth "TS") has earned a rather dubious reputation among the members of this forum, due to poor customer service over the years. I propose using this thread to serve as a clearing house of information about members' experiences with TS. The goals are 1) to provide potential TS customers with information that may help them make informed purchasing decisions, and 2) to provide TS with a clear picture of their reputation within their core market, so they might be incentivized to adjust their business practices.

The rules:

1) Be truthful. Avoid hyperbole. Give just the facts.
2) Be civil. Don't be rude or insulting (see the TFO guidelines).
3) Be concise.
4) Be fair. If you received good service from TS, feel free to share that.

I know many may see this as being unnecessarily negative, but I think it's needed to prevent others from going through the kind of frustration that many of us have had to endure. As long as it is kept civil, this thread should comply with the TFO guidelines. However, if the TFO administrators feel that it is out of line, they are free to shut it down or remove it and I would fully understand that decision.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have an ongoing issue with TS and I hope this will help to resolve it (and maybe provide satisfaction to others with pending issues). Again, I am seeking positive results for myself, for others in my situation, for future potential customers of TS, and possibly even for TS (but that's up to Ms. L. from TS).

If anyone wishes to inform Ms. L. about this thread, there is no need; I will be directing her here upon completion of this posting.

So, let's hear your stories. I'll share mine in the first reply to this post.

Best regards,

Chuck

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chuck:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know where you are?

As I understand it, Ms. L is in the business all by herself. I imagine she probably has volunteers, but she collects the seeds, etc. all on her own. Because that was my perception, I've always cut her a bit of slack. But I've not had good business dealings with them either, and have not shopped there for quite a long while.

 

[Methuselah]

I ordered the forage seed mix from TS in September and immediately received an email confirmation. More than a month later, I received a notification that my order had shipped, and TS received my money (through PayPal). PayPal also sent a shipment notification, which included a USPS tracking number. To this day, USPS tracking shows only that the electronic shipping info was received (by USPS).

A couple of weeks later, I sent an email requesting the status of my order. No reply. I used the contact for on the company's web site to try to reach them, again without results. I tried to cancel the order through PayPal, but by then the 45-day window that PayPal enforces for filing claims had closed, so I was still out of luck.

Last week (on Wed.) I posted a review on Trustlink and filed a complaint with the BBB. Finally, three days after I went public and more than three weeks after my last email to her, Ms. L. responded. She blamed seed collection issues and a Chinese phishing attack for her inability to fulfill my order or communicate with me. She blamed me for not knowing she was having these problems (i.e., if only I had signed up for the TS mailing list I would have been informed). Subsequent emails followed the same pattern, and she has failed to take responsibility for her poor customer service. I finally demanded a refund and told her to stop emailing me. That was on Saturday, and I still haven't received my refund.

The main problem here is that TS took my money and told me the order shipped, when it hadn't. "Shipped" means the item has left the possession of the seller, and is in the possession of the shipping agent. If I walked onto Ms. L's property, helped myself to some of her merchandise, and told her I would get around to paying her, sometime in the future, that would be theft. How is what she did any different?

That's it. There are more details, but I was supposed to be concise. (Really, I tried!) I will send the emails between myself and Ms. L. to anyone who is interested.

-Chuck

 

[Yvonne G]

It seems like that is a recurring issue with her. Other members have said that Ms L told them she had computer problems...virus, etc. Personally, because of the complaints I've heard about TS I don't understand how she can stay in business.

 

[Methuselah]

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks for the warm welcome, it's really appreciated. I'm in the S.F. Bay Area.

I'm in business myself, too... at it's simplest, I create reports for people. My usual turnaround is two days. If I can't deliver my report by 9:00 AM on the second day, I send an email apologizing for the delay and giving an updated delivery time. Takes all of 10 seconds. If I get a negative email from a client, they get a response ASAP. It's not that difficult. I have a wife, two kids, two dogs, two rabbits, and now a tortoise. I do pretty much all my own work on my house, try to help with the cleanup, take the kids to school and their various extracurricular activities, take care of the pets, and cook at least half the meals*. Yet somehow I'm still able to do what I'm paid for.

Aside from the lack of communication, taking one's money and lying about shipping the merchandise is not acceptable by any business, any time, under any circumstance.

-Chuck

* Since I know she'll be reading this, my wife does all that stuff too, and more

 

[Methuselah]

UPDATE: Refund Received

78 days after I placed my order, 46 days after she took my money, I finally got a refund. Of course, Ms. L. stiffed me for the PayPal fees. Hope she enjoys a candy bar on me.

I've donated the amount of the full refund, including the PayPal fees, to TortoiseForum... Thanks TFO!

I still encourage others to post their TS experiences... I'm fairly certain there's at least one other person out there with an unresolved issue (see http://www.trustlink.org/Reviews/TurtleStuffcom-205962566).

-Chuck

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I also had a negative experience with her. 1. I find it doubtful that one woman can roam the desert collecting seeds for I don't know how many people. 2. I sent my order and my money using Paypal. Weeks later I started emailing her getting no response. After a month of emailing her she finally responded, telling me that I needed to be more understanding because she had broken a rib and couldn't carry my package to the mailbox...whoa, wait and shut the door...she couldn't carry a small package of seeds to the mailbox because of a broken rib??? I don't think seeds are that heavy. I got a refund after another month, the whole thing taking 4 months for a small package of seeds...I use carolinapetsupply now...