LAG's - too short?

Now you are correct and we are both in agreement. You are responsible and understand how a contract works now.

 

The funny thing is that here in Europe basically this 'live arrival' etc fear is almost a non existent issue. Yes, obviously you can anyway settle/arrange things with the seller, if something goes wrong, but we have and had less 'DOA' than in the U.S and notably with something like a one week (one week) shippings - like from Poland to Greece etc.

Live arrival is good enough, you folks are over concerned. Besides, if the carrier/s play Basketball with the parcel/s...

 

We bought an unsexed b. albo from a store about 3 months ago. It molted about a month ago and we found out it was a male. Then it made a sperm web. I told my husband yesterday that we have a mature male. His first response, "well can't you take it back?!" Um... that would be a no.

 

What am I missing here? Even if it was in pre-molt when shipped only one of two things can happen:

1. It molts in transit and dies and the LAG covers you.

2. It doesn’t molt in transit and is fine when it arrives and molts later.

On the rare situation that a T molts in transit and makes it alive, then it made it alive and should be fine. I’d contact the seller to let them know what happened and usually they’ll work with you if it dies after a few days. I don’t see the need to tag a bunch of what-ifs onto the LAG though. Any decent seller will work with you in a crazy situation like that.

Then you’re buying from the wrong people. Did you ask for an ice pack?

Have you checked out the facebook tarantula groups lately? LOTS of idiot keepers out there. TONS OF THEM. I wouldn’t expect any seller to open themselves up to guaranteeing keepers are keeping their new tarantula correctly.

I’ve never bought from a seller that wouldn’t be reasonably flexible with shipping day, whether it be hobbyists or big box websites. You can’t expect them to bend over backwards to work themselves into your schedule. Figure out a the easiest day for you and have it held for pickup. If it simply doesn’t fit in your schedule wait to order until it does or communicate to the seller that you want to buy it but have them hold it for a bit. You can’t blame the seller for your schedule.

You’ll notice that the places that have longer live guarantees are regularly more expensive than those that don’t. Even though it isn’t a line item, you’re basically paying for an insurance policy that covers a longer guarantee. If seller A charges $30 for a spider with no extra guarantees and seller B charger $33, seller B uses that extra $3 per spider to pay for the 1 in 10 spiders that doesn’t make it that extra 24 hours.

If you want that insurance then buy from those that offer it. Just know its going to cost a bit more for that service.

 

Oh,you were being sarcastic..
Even I picked up on that.

Live arrival is fine with me.If I receive the animal,and it is alive,then
its my reponsibilty from then on.And @MetalMan2004 made a good point.

And which post was that?.I thought you started a post that was reasonable,and the discussion
was civil.

 

I agree on a 24 hour grace period. I've had one DOA before and if the poor thing was packed acceptably then I'd be fine with the general LAG policy, but they were basically asking to lose profits over dead T's with their shipping methods. I made a quite abrupt (and what could probably have been handled better) reply email and they were willing to replace it, but even the follow up T was packed almost as horrendously, and had been so cramped it literally had cracked and bleeding leg joints. After a ton of drinking she actually settled in and recovered but I was super stressed for a few days during that process. When you've spent the equivalent of over $100 USD on a large adult T, I expect it to not be sent with the absolute minimum standards that'll make sure it just makes it to the buyers house alive so the seller can save a few dollars on care standards.

 

They do offer one week. Personally I think a week is good because I think if the T is in bad shape then it would likely pass away in a week but on the other hand a bad keeper can easily kill a T in a week.
A good relationship goes a long way. By that I mean if you regularly buy from one dealer and have time to get to know them, and them you. Then they will quite possibly help you out. I have had a dealer help me out months after I had a T die that was just outside of the LAG, because I had dealt with him a lot.

 

if you’re still butt hurt, then take your business elsewhere. simple.

 

Tarantula Canada has a week long guarantee and I think that is absolutely reasonable. Short of purposely crushing/stepping on/squashing your tarantula - there is almost no way that you are going to kill them within a week of having them... even with the worst setup. Tarantula's take longer than that to die from starvation/dehydration and even falling injuries are going to take longer than that.
However, short of visiting the dealer and guaranteeing that the conditions that they are being kept in are ideal - guaranteeing that every single one of the thousands of spiderlings that they have never miss a feeding or watering, and that they have been around long enough after importing from overseas to ensure that every single one is in ideal condition from the exporter - you have no way of knowing if something prior to shipping would have contributed to their death. Also, if the dealers take their animals to shows on a regular basis, the traveling back and forth also has to be factored in.
Not being able to verify care applies to both the sender and receiver.
A week is definitely reasonable.

 

I opine LAG is akin to the vast majority of insurance; smoke and mirrors. It makes folks feel warm and fuzzy to know it’s there, but in the end it still bites if your new spood arrives dead. Yeah, maybe it’s replaced, but you’re still forking out another 40ish bucks for shipping. I pay no mind to LAG. If I want a spider, I buy it regardless. It’s like overnight shipping, I actually look for dealers who offer priority. I’ve never had a DOA and one of my purchases was jammed up due to circumstances for a week, and it came running out of that container. It sounds very noble to say, “because we care soooooo much about our animals we only offer overnight shipping for $45.00...”. Well, you just lost me as a customer, but because folks love the warm and fuzzies, they will still pay. Slings seem to be happy as little eight-legged clams all cozied up in their little shipping vials, and most don’t even want to come out. What I save by choosing sellers who offer $10-20 priority shipping, I’ll throw them another $30-50 for a few more slings.

 

And this is why you look at reviews for the seller.If I order a $100 sling from Joe Blows big spiders,
I cant expect customer service.He/She will tell me,did the animal come in alive?.I say yes,but it died
a week later.
Joe Blows big spiders will say,so send me evidence that you rehoused that animal in an appropriate enclosure,
and send me evidence that you did not stop[ at the grocery store,for 50 minutes with the temps in the 90,s,
and that you provided water upon arrival,and after rehousing.And send me proof that you did not throw a
cricket in as the T was molting.
A $100 sling,im making sure I know who im dealing with!.
Heck,lets do two weeks,three weeks.
If,IMO,i get a T,that comes out of the shipping vial/container with attitude,and I house it correctly
then I cannot in good faith come back to the seller,and complain.
We are dealing with live animals,not toasters or auto parts.So, know who you are dealing with.

 

I actually think your lottery remark is quite apropos. As @mack1855 posted, we’re discussing the purchase and transit of live animals, and that’s a crap shoot. You pays your money and you takes your chances, sometimes you win, and some times you lose. Fortunately in this game you usually win.

 

LAG as a subject is way too broad for me. Anything can happen between the process of the seller owning, selling, or packing a T. and the buyer receiving the T. Everyone's case of "something going wrong" ranges and changes from situations, times, and places. Which can happen after the void 24 (or whatever time) LAG time frame.

A seller can sell a healthy specimen or a sick one, a buyer can accidentally screw up care or accidents can happen during un-boxing. Who knows? Maybe a seller has poor care of inverts because of number of inventory he/she has to deal with. Or maybe a buyer is over-protective on care for a spider leading to a death in the long run. Or maybe the shipping company had a bad day or a terrible worker causing internal damage on the T. during shipment in the long-run. Look, all I'm just saying is that this thread seems like it wants to point finger at something if a T. goes down south, but there is too much that can factor or happen that can cause things to go south later voiding LAG time frame. Everyone views LAG as similar, but different things sometimes. Some people call it warranty others call it insurance. But LAG time frame of a T. is something that is too broad as a subject alone. Honestly, anything could've happen to point fingers on a dead T. am I right?

 

Yep.Warranty,s are for washers/dryers.Insurance is for your car//home.
Live animals,no.
Again,its live arrival,not live arrival,and then for three more weeks it stays alive.
@SonsofArachne ,I think we got your frustration,but unlikely to change.
Good thread.Something to thnk about,for sure.