Exo

[jseng]

Did a couple more deals with Exo and things went less well this time, though it was not his fault. More specifically, one of my packages got held at customs for two weeks longer than expected (on top of what would've already been a long transit time had there been no issues), so by the time it finally arrived everything in it had died. However, Exo did ship it quickly, packaged it well, and as always, he had a mind bogglingly amazing selection of inverts with prices to match. Thankfully, my second package made it through customs relatively quickly (in fact, it arrived the before the first package I mentioned, even though the second package was ordered a week after the first) and unscathed (only one ordered mantis died in transit). Although the disaster involving my first package was beyond Exo's control (and I want to be clear that everything he did was done quite well so I'm giving him positive breeder feedback), it was a painful reminder that such an ordeal is the risk you take if you do a deal with someone on the other side of the world! That being the case, if you do not have sufficient financial and emotional resources to easily offset a potential loss of funds/animals, you should probably think twice about placing an international order.

 

[Tman86]

Did a transaction with Exo to get some ghost mantids. Took 17 days having them sent from Poland to the US. Not sure why it took so long but they eventually showed up. All alive and seem to be alright. Just thirsty and hungry. But thats taken care of Overall im happy, thanks alot Exo!

 

[jseng]

I bit the bullet and did another deal with Exo and things turned out great this time. Almost all my critters arrived alive and healthy, he had some amazing species as always, my package arrived much faster than usual, and he even threw in a free ooth to help me get over the loss of my last order. Very pleased with our transaction!

 

[Kermit]

Long haul for Praying Mantis... but Exo is an expert.

Thanks for everything! Great selection and glad to know you are a resource!

Kermit

 

[jseng]

Just did another successful deal with Exo. As always, he had some really cool species at incredibly reasonable prices. They also arrived much faster than usual. Very pleased with our transaction overall!

 

[Ckowsky]

I've had a great experience with Exo. I purchased two ghost ooths for a great price, and he shipped soon after payment was confirmed. They were packaged carefully and received in the time expected. Looking forward to doing another order soon!

 

[Ckowsky]

I've had another great experiences with Exo, with problems only stemming from my local postal office and a surprise bout of cold weather. He even included a extra ooths with my order!

On the issue of shipping:
Once your package arrives in the U.S., you can no longer track it in your usual method as USPS no longer offers the ability to track this type of international package. To track your mantises, you must call USPS and ask for assistance or send a message to @USPSHelp on Twitter (they have a great response time).


I'm looking forward to another order in the future!

 

[Brunneria]

Did my first transaction with Exo and I'm happy with it. Unfortunately the ootheca hatched during shipping due to the unusually long travel time so the nymphs died on the way, but Exo replaced the ootheca with a new one, which arrived today! I'm really satisfied with my order and will likely order from him again in the future

 

[Chungy]

I have done a few transactions with Exo over the past couple of months, excellent communication and he answered any questions I had. I am amazed by the wide variety of species he keeps! He included a bunch of free/extra nymphs and ooths for my orders.

All nymphs arrived alive and well, and he packaged everything really well.

My first order was sent standard registered mail which took about 2 weeks to arrive (actual time the post office took to deliver), and the ooths I got were still fine, matter of fact one of them already hatched today.

After my first order, I asked to have them shipped express mail (EMS) and Exo was very accommodating on my request, he kept in touch with me until the packages arrive to ensure everything was alive and well in the package. Everything arrived within a week, so that is the way I will go from now on, a little more expensive but well worth it, it evens out when you put in a large order.

Will definitely buy from again.

 

[Falconerguy]

I ordered four nymphs from Exo, which ultimately ended up having to sit in their box for an extra night due to a shipping error. Upon opening the package, I discovered two dead nymphs, and two live nymphs. The two that were alive died within a few days, as they wouldn't eat or accept forced food. 

I contacted Exo about this several weeks ago, and still haven't heard anything back from him. I don't want to chalk it up to malice yet, but I hope he can contact me soon.

 

[Starving Always]

exo kindly contacted me stating the species of ooths/nymphs he had for sale since i posted an ad saying that i was looking for them. he answered all my questions and even sent me pics that i requested. i just received today. im in the US and i believe he's from Poland; it took 9 days!! surprisingly fast!! PLUS HE GAVE ME AN EXTRA OOTH! cant find out what species it is yet, ill edit this when i find out THANK YOU!!!

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[cuervo]

Got some insects from EXO great A+++

 

[CutieCrawlersArt]

So sorry to hear that.

Just got my own shipment in, and while my first one failed (I ended up with a dead pair of megaera and a Rhom nymph, of which the first two molted during transit), Exo was quick to respond back and inform me that he would see to possibly sending me another shipment. After his collection trip, I contacted him again and he sent me a Hierodula that I was interested in and 4 extra nymphs for free, which all came in alive and well (though the Hierodula has a bit of eye rubbing from her container). All in all, glad they're alive and that I could still get something for my transaction, definitely glad for the ease of communication.

Just be wary, shipping from out of country is definitely risky. 

 

[kitkat39]

This one legitimately bummed me out.

When I found out that Exo-Factory was Bartek, I could not sleep all night that night.  I knew I had screwed up buying from this guy.  It was too late.  I had already paid in full "as a friend" and paid extra fees for that alone.  I heard Bartek has changed and treats people better now and I was hopeful.. but....

For one, he wrote down my address wrong.  It went to the wrong address, but luckily they fixed that and it went to my house almost immediately.

I found it strange when I asked for EMS to get them to me faster and was more than willing to pay for it, that he'd ask me repeatedly if I was sure.. and that it would cost sooo much more if I did that.

I opened the box hoping to at least have something to work with.  I ordered the Truncata, which I had to buy two pairs for $180, and a pair of Rhombodera megaera for $50.

From previous deals, I know Bartek sometimes purposely sends messed up mantis so you have little success and I caught him red handed (it supposedly mismolted in the mail, with a cute shed on the bottom of the container, 3 days after I nurse it back to health it molted again).  He is very good at arguing and acting like there was no fault, but a mismolted mantis that molts 3 days later at a high instar.. that's impossible.. he admitted to it.  I vowed to never buy from him again.. lucky for him, he changed his name and I was careless.

This time, he didn't even TRY to hide anything.  You could tell that a pair of Truncata were already probably dead by the time he put them into the containers.  One of them was not JUST dead.. it was CRUNCHY dead.  One was missing legs on the same side.. even if it was alive when it went into the box.. it was never meant to live.  Also, these things were STARVED to death.  Like no food had been given them at all since they day they were pulled from the forest.

It was a nice set up and you could tell the ones he actually wanted to try to ship to me alive.  Those ones had a little bit of food inside of them.  Sadly, they did not make the trip either.

Out of the 3 pairs I bought, 2 truncata pair were forced to buy, and a megaera pair, I ended up with one live truncata male, a truncata female that just fell to the floor and is breathing her last breath as I type, and one female Megaera.. basically useless to me now.

I spent about $298 total.  I even spent an extra $65 to get this package sent to me EMS.  It got to me FAST.  Roughly 4 days since Poland is ahead of us in time.. yet I opened up to a box of things I could not even work with.

I took somewhat of a break from mantis and I feel like I barely came back for a few weeks only to want to take a break again.  Getting scammed like that legitimately hurts a little.  He did not even TRY this time.. sending me mantis with missing legs on the same side and CRUNCHY dead mantis.  4 days shipping in mild weather does not produce a CRUNCHY dead mantis.

Some people have told me to try to get my money back, but, I don't believe that will happen.  Based on my past experience, there will be a lot of run around that will lead to nothing.  I don't want to fight.  I give up this time.

Bartek, you win.

I'm not sure why Bartek must send ME bad stuff all the time.  I hear he is actually great to some other people.  I don't believe I have ever done anything bad to you, Bartek.

Everyone who plans on buying from Bartek or Exo-Factory in the future.  GOOD LUCK.

I was extremely emotional at one point yesterday.  First with anger then just sadness.  I was contacted by Bartek to try and make things right.  He's asked me to provide pictures.  I will post them here.  I understand that things could be risky, but certain folks generally get everything while each time I have dealt with him I've gotten a way shorter end of the stick each time I have dealt with him.  This was the fastest I've ever had anything get to me and the weather here has been relatively mild.  i've had things get stuck for 2 weeks get to me in better shape before.

Anyways, here goes..

All of those pictures were taken during my unboxing and moments after.. the last picture is this morning after I got a message from Bartek asking me to provide pictures

You can check photos to see date and time they were taken if you'd like to know that I'm not full of BS.





















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[Exo]

Kiet, 
As it seems you prefer to talk public, keep attention on you, let me reply you here either. 
First of all - You did not even contact us. You had enough time to write such a long post about how sad you are but couldnt manage to simply let us to know what happent ? Ridicilous. We offering a reliable customer service and i m ready to make things right by offer you replacement. Despite ANY shippments are not ON OURS RESPONSIBILTY. 
Reason is obvious - its abroad shippment and any thing can happent. Even sending stuff across states shits can happent.

Of course Kiet, as you are that smart and that so knowledged you has no problem with understanding that stuff you bought was WILD COLLECTED and it can have some dissases. Any story could happent with those truncatas as they might be simply parasited or whatever. Saying weather in your town was mild is simply stupid explanation. You think your package showed up in your town just like that ? Sadly Kiet, i must to put some light on it - package been on a transit for a while and went through 3 airports at minimum, then a customs-post warehouse. Of course you are pretty sure YOUR ALIVE INSECTS package was treaten by special way and keep in warm whole the time. Of course Kiet... 

Anyway, you should simply contact via private message , tell me what happent and that's it.
Saying this shippment was obvious a kind of playing with you and trying to ripp you off is just a simple lie. 
You got pictures of ALIVE MANTIS which were sent to you so at least please stop trying to lie and trying to accuse me as we had no any intention bad intention at whole.

Even your bloody pictures showing you got "just" dead or NEARLY dead mantis. Not the rotten pieces you accuse us !  

Backing to the point,- 
I m very sorry it happent, You got Kiet few messages from me since that time but despite of that you prefer to keep make it drama. 

Dont even want to mention you should simply think twice before posting these all stuff as you simply point on YOURSELF you doing illegal things by making import alive insects to US without license. 
Once again, you got the apologize Kiet you got also the offer with replacement proposal from us and that's it. Definetely not going to discuss about this anymore on a public as this kind of drama is simply not necessary. 

 

[jseng]

Can't speak for other folks' experiences with Exo, but I've done about 5 deals with him now, and 4 of 5 have gone extremely well (and the 1 that didn't was not his fault), including our most recent one, in which I received some very special specimens, along with some nice freebies  As always, he had some really cool, hard-to-find species for a great price. Although I had always used the regular $15 shipping method he offers prior to this, given the cost of my most recent order, I decided to shell out the $65 it costs for EMS delivery and I must say that it was worth every penny--not only can you track your package from the time it leaves Poland until it gets to your door, it also takes about the half the time (6 days) that the cheaper shipping option normally takes (anywhere from 8-14 days). This is especially worth it if you are ordering younger specimens, as I've found that anything below L4 only has about a 50% survival rate if they spend longer than 7 days in transit, and that rate decreases exponentially with each additional shipping day. Regardless, I should reiterate that anytime you order something from overseas, you are taking a gamble, as your critters are definitely going to go a decent amount of time without food or water; there is a chance they will be confiscated or destroyed by customs; and they are going to be passing through a lot of different hands and places, so there is simply more opportunities for things to go horribly wrong. That being the case, you should only go through with an international order if you have the psychological, emotional, and financial resources to cope with the possible worst case scenario of losing your entire order. So far, I've been fortunate to have most of my deals work out, and Exo has done everything in his power to make sure that has been the case--thanks so much + I look forward to doing more business with him in the future!

 

[uehara91sox]

I had a very good transaction with Exo. Or at least until he shipped the oothe. It's been about 2 months and I still haven't received any news from him. I do understand that it is a risk going from Poland to the US but it's still quite annoying that I am not even sure he has shipped. This oothe was very important to me but I guess it was neither of our faults. Overall I'd rate friendliness and the ability to easily talk to would be a 9. The one annoying thing that he has no way to fix are the time zones. He also provided me a shipping number. The problem is that I cannot track outside of Poland or it has not left Poland. Overall I'm pleased with the transaction part but not the receiving. I'm hoping its customs and their worry about the Zico virus but I am not happy. Sorry Exo but thanks for the help.

 

[Starving Always]

exo kindly contacted me stating the species of ooths/nymphs he had for sale since i posted an ad saying that i was looking for them. he answered all my questions and even sent me pics that i requested. i just received today. it took 9 days!! surprisingly fast!! PLUS HE GAVE ME AN EXTRA OOTH! cant find out what species it is yet, ill edit this when i find out THANK YOU!!!

update (its been more than 3 months): the ooths i received from Exo turned out to be infertile EXCEPT the extra ooth (griffin). he noticed my situation and kindly sent 7 ghost nymphs. ive learned my lesson not to buy ooths anymore and am hoping to buy more nymphs from him.

 

[Bah]

I can't say much since nothing happened... In other words-

I have made arrangements, (gave my address, received the receipt, and so on) so it was made clear between us, communication was decent, and pretty much all set.

When I DID make the payment, (it wasn't cheap either) understand my concerns when I DON'T get a reply when I message 3 times, and still no answer after 2 weeks. I ca't tell you the anxiety I have waiting by the door, expecting a package, nothing... 

I'm sorry, I tried to give you the benefit of a doubt, but your business is unprofessional, even if you were insanely busy, a message back would be responsible and reassuring..

I can honestly wait, but not like this.. If my money gets taken, and I can't even get one message in return, let alone my mantids I purchased, I really can't do business with you.

I will not come back to this breeder, unless they contact me, even an update.. I'm giving 1/10 (the 1 is for communication, and that's being generous...)

If you plan to make a purchase with this individual, please think it over.   

UPDATE:

I received the package this morning, according to the label it was sent on the 25th.. 2 are DOA while the other is alive, but might not last.

I did not get my full package, I cannot say it was the breeder's fault, but in the end I got my closure.. only thing that could be improved is informing the customer that the package has sent, 

They have asked me if I receive the package yet as of this morning but other than that I'll give 5/10

Last Update: the one that was alive sadly it passed, it was either the trip, the way it was shaped (I assume the molt was not successful, and no it didn't molt during the trip this most likely happened BEFORE I received it)

Sorry I have a lot on here, but I am still dumbfounded of the whole experience. I'm just glad it didn't have to die in a container.

 

[Serle]

I have had some correspondence with EXO and he has always answered my quires . I also purchased an ooth from him and was pleased with good service . Actually he sent 2 two extra ooth for good relations .  No complaints ....  Serle