Why I quit as moderator of the Turtlesale Forum

My letter of resignation:

Hello All.

As you all may have noticed, I spend very little time here anymore. There is a reason for it.

Several months ago my wife bought a couple RES hatchlings from Turtlesale, unbeknownst to me. I had previously shared with her the concerns and troubles people have had when ordering from turtlesale, but she did the "buy one get one free" thing anyway with second day shipping.

These were being shipped to her friend as a gift. Her friend had a Red Eared Slider hatchling for over a year and the turtle, imaginatively named Franklin, was doing very well. The girl was looking for a friend or two for her lone turtle. That was why my wife placed the order.

It was past the cold season, so my wife felt the shipping time should be okay.

However, when the parcel arrived one of the RES was dead and the other was lethargic. My wife tried contacting turtlesale at that time. Emails. Calls. Etc. No answer.

I should note there that my wife's friend unwisely put the surviving turtle in with her own. She figured that the tank was warm and had proper lighting and it should perk up. Quickly.

In the meantime the second RES died. My wife continued her efforts to contact turtlesale to no avail.

You see, turtlesale clearly states that they give you a certain time span to report "deaths" so they may provide replacement. Their policy is FIRST contact them, THEN return the dead animals. At which time they will make the situation whole.

During my wife's quest "Franklin" became lethargic and died as well. Evidently, turtlesale shipped ill turtles.

But after WEEKS of trying to get through with NO ANSWER my wife gave up. She went through her credit card company and cancelled the payment and turtlesale had the nerve to fight it!

Nonetheless, this left a foul taste in my mouth. I can not work for a company that:

1. Continues to ship live animals in any other method than NEXT DAY.
2. Avoids complaint calls.
3. Ships sick animals.
4. Won't own up to their mistakes.
5. Apparently UNWILLING to take the necessary steps to "do the right thing" for the prospective owners and the animals they deal in.

When I first came to this forum is was a delightful place where people shared their experiences and were constructive. Nowadays I see that it's more of a moron magnet being brow-beaten by negative people. There are still some very wonderful people here, but I cannot in good conscience remain.

I am disappointed on SO MANY levels.

And don't worry, I won't start some stupid opposing forum or any other childish actions along those lines. I was happy while I worked here and wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

Should anyone want or need to contact me, feel free to drop an email.