Ok, I Messed Up

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If you haven't read my company review regarding my experience with Pocket Pets, then you might want to do that before reading this post.

Behind the Scenes:

But anyway, here's what's happened between then and now.  Because of that review I received a call from Adam, my local Pocket Pets representative.  Sadly I was in a bad reception zone (dang cell phones!) and the call was dropped before we could actually start the discussion.  He at the time thought I hung up on him and passed it to his boss, Virgil the owner of Pocket Pets.

Virgil sent me a VERY long letter (as an email attachment) that while intelligently and civilly written, basically accused me of slandering his company and warning me off before I get caught up in a huge lawsuit.  (If anyone would like to see the copy of this letter, let me know.)

Wait, what?  He's accusing me of slander?  No way!  Since when is a customer review slanderous?  This is basically what went through my head as I read it to the end.  Almost immediately, I typed up a reply email to Virgil (again, if you'd like to see a copy, let me know).

The gist of the email was along these lines...

• A review based of personal experience isn't considered slander and is a common place practice among customers of numerous companies
• I described some concerns that I had regarding my personal experience
• I mentioned that I was insulted that both he and Adam thought I hung up on Adam earlier
• I requested that we continue this discussion and can come to a solution peacefully and maturely
• I promised that if my concerns were taken care of satisfactorily that I would post a public apology with a full explanation (hence this post)

My Apology:

Yes, there was a BIG misunderstanding.  And I did get caught up in the passion too fast.  No I never saw any proof of the accusations (and I never actually posted those accusations as my own).  But, for my part in the drama, I definitely apologize.  I was wrong.


My Reasoning Behind the Apology:

Now that you have the back story, here's what happened next.  Virgil himself never emailed me back (according to Adam he's too tired of the accusations to believe in diplomacy, lol).  However, Adam did call me back (during the lunch hour of 1/14/11).

And during a phone conversation that lasted just over an hour, Adam explained the history and the reason behind Virgil founding Pocket Pets.  He also discussed at length with me regarding various concerns that I had regarding my experience and some of the accusations that I had heard during my lengthy research.  (Sadly there's not many sources out there that I can utilize!)

No, I didn't take notes.  But, he was very respectful and obviously passionate about his work, his side of the story, and his love for his own Sugar Gliders.  And, as far as I'm concerned, they alleviated my worries and suspicions about their ethical standings, concern about the sugar bears, and business practices.

Would I run the business different?  Maybe.  But I truly cannot know since I don't know nearly enough about Sugar Gliders and that type of industry.  And, as of now, I respect where both Virgil and Adam are coming from.

A Note to Those Who Might Be Upset Regarding My Change of Mind:

I have a feeling that I'm going to disappoint many people with this post.  So here are a few things that I want to say to them.

• I was in no way frightened or bribed or tricked into this
• I'm not the type to 'change sides' without VERY good cause
• I still greatly respect your opinions especially regarding the care and quality of life of Sugar Gliders
• Fritz and any other gliders that I get will be kept in a LARGE cage, be fed the HPW diet, receive plenty of interaction and enrichment
• I will still assist with the education regarding the care options regarding sugar gliders
• I will assist with the challenge of breeding mills (as long as there's concrete proof)
• I will assist regarding the collection of valid data to help reduce any confusion regarding the best care for our favorite little snuggies
• If you can provide me with CONCRETE (aka can hold up in court) proof that the accusations made against Pocket Pets and affiliates (real or not) are true, then you'll have my full support

Also, unless you have that concrete proof regarding what you're saying about Pocket Pets, I'm suggesting that you quiet down because Virgil is going to court about this.  And he has every right to as a businessman and a human being.  I'm not trying to threaten anyone, this is just a piece of friendly advice.

If anyone would like to question me further regarding this change of mind, please feel free to message me here or on sugarglider.com or glidercentral.net (I'm KatFarrell).

Ok, now for a lighter topic, I want to hear your favorite sugar glider stories!  :D

P.S. - Adam, now you can show this to Virgil and hopefully increase his faith in the sugar glider caregiver community!  :D

[Company Reivew] Pocket Pets at Sugar-Bear.com

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This review is from the point of view of a consumer, or to put more accurately a new 'mother' to a Sugar Glider that was breed by Pocket Pets.  (Yes, that is me.)

My mother bought Fritz for me in June of 2010 and I was thrilled to have a pet of my own to share my new apartment with.  Sadly, Fritz wasn't old enough for me to take him home yet, so I had to wait over a month to pick him up. 

During that time I researched, I read, I watched videos...I basically memorized every bit of information that Pocket Pets and their associated veterinarian website had available.

Then I started to ask clarifying questions to fill in holes that their information left.

But all I got in return were 'cookie cutter' answers where they basically copied and pasted the information that I already had into the email.  Definitely not what I was looking for.  With every other company I asked a question, I was able to have an actual conversation with the person on the other side of the line (either by phone, email, or chat).

The first couple times, I dismissed this.  Then I started digging around in the web-world outside of Pocket Pets and their associates.  And I started reading some very disturbing things, things I couldn't quite believe.

Pocket Pets, the very professional looking company who seems to be so helpful, was called a mill breeder countless times.  Yes, that's on the same level as those horrible puppy mills.  Others even went so far to call them liars and fraudulent because of their 'fake' vet association: the ASGV.

Plus, they kept on pushing off the date when I could pick Fritz up and take him home.

Needless to say, I became worried and suspicious.

So I sent them an email mentioning these concerns and asking for pictures of the breeding facilities as well as an update on Fritz.

They again gave me a cookie cutter answer, avoided the pictures all together using their USDA certification (which seems to be as useful as an FDA certification) and Better Business Bureau grade A standing. (Though we were able to set up a time for me to pick up Fritz, finally!)

-Quick Side Note: As a marketer for my family's business, I've had the Better Business Bureau (BBB) call us up and asking us to pay multiple of hundreds of dollars for a Grade A standing.  Excuse me?  You want me to PAY for a good reputation?  Sorry, that screams a scam to me.  But anyway, back to the review at hand.

I picked up Fritz and everything went so well that I let it slide.  I followed their directions to the letter and my research slowed basically a halt.  I was busy bonding with Fritz and making sure I had good toys, treats, and other accessories.  Plus, Pocket Pets couldn't be a scam, they looked to professional and official and Fritz seemed fine.

Then I met someone with a female he had bought from Pocket Pets and a male he had rescued.  They started to breed and their fur began to have a brown tint.  This didn't mesh with me.  The gliders were of different ages, so it couldn't have been them getting older.  Plus, I was worried about the state of their habitat (to the point I was thinking negligence) but not sure enough to step in or report him.

So I started researching again.  The first thing I did was email a question to Pocket Pets.  Their history was to email me back within 24 hours (a good habit to keep).  But they didn't follow that habit this time. (Note: It's been about 4 days since I sent that email with no response.)

So I branched out looking for advice from others in the Sugar Glider Care Giver Community (no, that's not an official name, lol).  This is when I decided to join the community at SugarGlider.com and get feedback from them.

I have yet to see proof of the claims about Pocket Pets being fraudulent and a mill breeder, but I'm definitely suspicious and not happy with their customer service post-purchase.

Have you (or someone you know) bought a Sugar Glider from Pocket Pets or used the ASGV?  I'd like to know your experience.

[Website Review] SugarGlider.com - a Forum

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I had gotten too anoyed with Pocket Pets and their cookie cutter answers to literally all of my questions (it was as if they were copying and pasting their articles into their reply emails), so I went looking for another source of expert opinion on Sugar Gliders.

And I found SugarGliders.com.  This was a forum that I had sumbled upon earlier but had ignored it because it was a forum (you never know who you're talking to).  But with my annoyance, I decided to give it a shot and dove right in by joining the chat room immediately after I signed up.

While the community as a whole has a tendancy to get a little heated on certain topics (only because they're trying to help the li'l furbats and they bump into the same questions/missconceptions frequently), they are a very helpful and informative group. 

And I'm thrilled to be able to have an actual conversation with someone when I have a question, idea, or concern that I need to bounce off someone. 

Here are some things I like about this website that I've discovered in my aprox. 2 days of being a member:

• the community is filled with helpful people with passion about their (and all) Sugar Gliders
• you can get multiple opinions and ideas with multiple people joining the conversation (very active community)
• they've compiled the 'Gliderpedia' as a place to put a large amount of basic and intermediate level (from what I can tell so far) knowledge about Sugar Gliders and their needs (advanced level needs to be found in the forum and is continued to be discovered because Sugar Gliders are so new to the world of pets)
• very well formated (despite being a little behind the times when compared to more modern social sites like Facebook) and easy to learn to navagate
• a well formated and comprehensive profile that you can customize (or not) as you wish
• lots of pictures, videos, and ideas spread throughout the forum for newbies to look at and glean from

Conclusion, this is definitly a good place to start any research regarding Sugar Gliders. Just don't let yourself get overwelmed when you get 10+ answers to one question (some of them slightly off topic because they want to provide the fullest picture possible).

What's your favorite pet-themed website(s) and why?