I do not recommend this breeder. I've owned plenty of inverts before and after watching some of Kevin's videos on youtube I wanted to place an order with him and get myself into mantids as he seemed pretty knowledgeable. I ordered a starter kit over Memorial Day weekend in May as he had a sale going on. I have checked in multiple times since then, sometimes getting canned responses, or short useless responses that give me no real info on my order. Eventually they stopped responding all together. I have now started trying to move forward with paypal in getting a refund.
Serpentarium Surplus & Moonlight Mantids
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kwright
Well-known member
I came across Moonlight Mantids from youtube as well when I was trying to hatch our first chinese ooth. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and his website is pretty sleek so I was excited when he had a $5 mantis sale. I purchased 4 from him and they never shipped. I contacted the email a week later and Nikki told me it would ship within 2 days. A week later I sent them another email and there was no reply. A week after that I filed a claim with Paypal. Today I had to escalate with Paypal. MMLLC is completely ignoring me and I would 100% no recommend them for purchasing. On their Facebook is several angry people commenting on their posts asking for explanations and refunds.
codex7
Member
I have purchased many mantises from Kevin, to mixed results. Started buying from him in 2015, all transactions were reasonable for quite some time, perhaps until 2017. Suddenly shipping times became very long, emails were not responded to, and, with my final purchase in February 2018, mantises weren't shipped at all. Made the purchase in mid February, a tracking number was provided 10 days later, but the package never shipped. Messaged him multiple times around 2 months after the purchase was made, no responses were ever received. Had to file a Paypal claim for a refund, which I eventually received. After that experience, I cannot recommend purchasing from him anymore. He used to be a great source with an interesting selection of mantises, however his customer service abilities were always lacking. An escalation of this to not sending out peoples' orders coupled with no communication whatsoever is completely unacceptable.
ladyarcana55
Well-known member
I am really sad to have to put this in. I really wish I had better things to say.
The main reason why I wanted to order from Kevin was because his site would tell you the skill level suggested for each type of mantis. Since this would be the second time I would keep a mantis, I loved that. I also thought that since he has people helping him, there should be no problems getting my order. So I I ordered three Hierodula Venosa.
Week 1: I put in my order Saturday and got the confirmation that the order had been placed. After I put in the order, I realized the wrong address was on the Paypal so I tried to correct that. Later I got an email saying the it had been changed on their end. Cool. I thanked them and asked to confirm the address. Come Friday, I received no response and no mantids, so I sent an email asking for an update. It was a Friday so I wasn't expecting an answer until the following week and I was fine with that.
Week 2: I get a very short email saying that my order had been processed. I email back and ask for the tracking number. Later that week I get an email saying my order had been shipped. I email them back and ask for the tracking number. No response. Now, I am really worried because I don't know where those mantids are. I had paid for two-day shipping but I was more worried that they had starved to death. Friday comes and still, no mantids. I email again to ask about the status and I tell them that if I don't get my mantids by Friday, I will have no choice but to ask for a refund.
At this point I am upset and I let my emotions get the better of me. That's why I put that post about how long it takes to receive a mantis you ordered, and I still feel bad about that.
Week 3: I get an email explaining that they are catching up with their orders. I email them to thank them for the status update and to ask for the tracking number. Thursday, I have heard nothing and I received nothing. So I emailed them again telling them that I want either my mantids or a refund and if I don't receive a tracking number by end of day Friday then I am assuming I will get a refund. Late Friday I get an email saying that I had placed my order during a system upgrade and, as a result, my order was paid to a different merchant account so it had never been filled.
They gave me my refund and a coupon for 50% for my next order and they said that now that things have been updated I would get my order within 2 days. I appreciate the gesture but...
So now, I am waiting for Paypal to issue the refund so I can order my mantids at a different place. As frustrating and embarrassing as it all was, it was a learning experience. And once I finally get my mantids, I will be appreciate them a lot more.
EDIT:
Now I'm really upset. After waiting for one week, they cancelled the refund. I have elevated it to a dispute. I told them that I don't care if he did send them, I never got the tracking number, I haven't received the mantids and I don't want anything from him anymore. Instead of the usual 20 days they give the seller to respond to the dispute, Paypal is giving him 10 days. I'll let you know what's going on.
FINAL EDIT (HOPEFULLY):
PayPal finally got back to me and they ruled in my favor, which means I should be getting my money back sometime this week. I really was hoping that this whole debacle woldn't take 30 days but...what can I do? But I am really anxious to get my refund because I am not allowed to use any other funds to get my new pets. So now I have another reason to be irate...
The main reason why I wanted to order from Kevin was because his site would tell you the skill level suggested for each type of mantis. Since this would be the second time I would keep a mantis, I loved that. I also thought that since he has people helping him, there should be no problems getting my order. So I I ordered three Hierodula Venosa.
Week 1: I put in my order Saturday and got the confirmation that the order had been placed. After I put in the order, I realized the wrong address was on the Paypal so I tried to correct that. Later I got an email saying the it had been changed on their end. Cool. I thanked them and asked to confirm the address. Come Friday, I received no response and no mantids, so I sent an email asking for an update. It was a Friday so I wasn't expecting an answer until the following week and I was fine with that.
Week 2: I get a very short email saying that my order had been processed. I email back and ask for the tracking number. Later that week I get an email saying my order had been shipped. I email them back and ask for the tracking number. No response. Now, I am really worried because I don't know where those mantids are. I had paid for two-day shipping but I was more worried that they had starved to death. Friday comes and still, no mantids. I email again to ask about the status and I tell them that if I don't get my mantids by Friday, I will have no choice but to ask for a refund.
At this point I am upset and I let my emotions get the better of me. That's why I put that post about how long it takes to receive a mantis you ordered, and I still feel bad about that.
Week 3: I get an email explaining that they are catching up with their orders. I email them to thank them for the status update and to ask for the tracking number. Thursday, I have heard nothing and I received nothing. So I emailed them again telling them that I want either my mantids or a refund and if I don't receive a tracking number by end of day Friday then I am assuming I will get a refund. Late Friday I get an email saying that I had placed my order during a system upgrade and, as a result, my order was paid to a different merchant account so it had never been filled.
They gave me my refund and a coupon for 50% for my next order and they said that now that things have been updated I would get my order within 2 days. I appreciate the gesture but...
So now, I am waiting for Paypal to issue the refund so I can order my mantids at a different place. As frustrating and embarrassing as it all was, it was a learning experience. And once I finally get my mantids, I will be appreciate them a lot more.
EDIT:
Now I'm really upset. After waiting for one week, they cancelled the refund. I have elevated it to a dispute. I told them that I don't care if he did send them, I never got the tracking number, I haven't received the mantids and I don't want anything from him anymore. Instead of the usual 20 days they give the seller to respond to the dispute, Paypal is giving him 10 days. I'll let you know what's going on.
FINAL EDIT (HOPEFULLY):
PayPal finally got back to me and they ruled in my favor, which means I should be getting my money back sometime this week. I really was hoping that this whole debacle woldn't take 30 days but...what can I do? But I am really anxious to get my refund because I am not allowed to use any other funds to get my new pets. So now I have another reason to be irate...
Last edited by a moderator:
Jaywo
Well-known member
Unfortunately, I had a similar negative experience. I am going on week 3 with four sent emails and zero response. I just escalated this to Paypal claim. His website seem sto keep changing and updating but he doesn't seem to care much about getting shipments out. I wouldn't recommend. So many amazing breeders out there then to have to deal with Kevin.
Itsdelliott
Active member
Really wish I had found this forum first before purchasing. Like others here I got hooked by watching his videos but with no order update and now he is not responding I will most likely have to make a paypal claim as well. I'm pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to getting one of his mantids.
