I recently purchased some L.bishopi from Todd. You gotta love a dealer who knows his stuff when it comes to Widows!
All went well and everything was shipped and arrived in perfect health.

I personally have ordered several spiders from Todd and have always been satisfied...He's very personal and very friendly and is willing to answer any questions you might have...All around a great experince and I highly recommend him.

I just received a large, healthy & feisty P. Murinus female this afternoon & the order went smoothly, packing & shipping were flawless & the spider was larger then the promised 4 inches & totally beautiful.
More important than that was the advice I got from Todd during the transaction,
although I do have experience with aggressive inverts, he made 100% sure I knew exactly what I was getting & was ready for it.
Todds website @ www.tarantulaspiders.com has a wide selection of gauranteed females & males plus many hard to find species & more importantly he's a dealer you can trust to steer you right.
Highly recommended!

POSITIVE

I just finished up a trade with Todd on 10/28/05. This was the first time I've ever worked with him, and I came away completely satisfied. I think he was very fair on his end of the trade, he was prompt and courteous in all correspondance, the items I received were in great shape and were *very* well packed, and he also provided valuable information as to an upcoming molt on one of the spiders. Bottom line, he's very professional in what he does, and I'd definitely vouch for him.

Tim

Positive!

I received my first order from Todd yesterday and everything was great! He answered all emails quickly and shipped the spiders when he said he would. Based on my experience, I'd definitely recommend him to others and will keep an eye on his pricelist in the future!



-Becca

I just received an Opisthacanthus asper from Todd. Great communication throughout the deal. The animal arrived quickly, was packaged well, and emerged in great condition. 100% positive

Received 3 C.cyaneopubescens from Todd as a result of his 10/31 sale. A little concerned to see them packed and shipped in peat rather than paper towels or moss. The poor buggers were looking pretty beat up, however, all are doing fine now.
I am guessing that he may have been in a hurry with a large number of orders to ship and did not have time to repack.

Positive
I was going to go to the Orlando Reptile Show but I couldn't make it.
Todd Gearhart was to be there and I wanted to meet him and check
out the mdse. Instead, I decided to email him with my order for a
P. Pulcher - Panama Blonde. I guess because I live in Florida I was able to
avoid an expensive shipping charge and it came priority mail in 2 days.
The Pulcher was in great shape and a freebie A. Avic was included as
well. They are both doing great and are eating like pigs. Don't be afraid
to order from Todd, these are super T's and you don't need to drive miles
or spend $$$ in Gas just to find them, just browse his catalog and order.

I'm more of a reptile guy so I was a little nervous when my son started asking for a tarantula. We had seen Todd at a reptile show in Clearwater and I must say his love of these creatures was infectious. My son continued to work on me and our first Avicularia Versicolor arrived from Todd a couple of days ago. It arrived quickly and Todd has been quick to respond to all my e-mails. I now believe we will be getting a few more!! KEVIN

Negative

I contacted Todd about purchasing a spider from him a couple of days ago. We agreed on a price and I PayPal'd him to money for the spider and shipping costs. Todd then sends the money back to me stating that I need to add 3% to cover the fee that PayPal takes out when someone receives money. This really irked me because A-he made no mention of the 3% before we agreed upon the transaction and B-charging your customers the 3% PayPal fee is not only against PayPal's Terms of Service but it is also illegal. In my opinion, the 3% is simply a cost of doing business and should not be passed onto your customers. When you go to a store, do they charge you for using your credit/debit card, even though it costs them money? Of course not....why should it be any different when buying tarantulas? If I had known upfront about the additional 3% PayPal add-on fee, I would not have even contacted Mr. Gearhart to purchase anything.

I made a recent purchase from Todd, and was very pleased.
I would buy from him again.

what is his invert list.and welcome to VL.

www.tarantulaspiders.com

And YOU!!!! Welcome to the VL as well!

I recently purchased from some L. bishopi and tailess whips from Todd. I had one widow DOA and there was a mix up with the whips sex. We agreed on a compensation shipment. Todd was delayed in getting my replacements out, so he tripled the shipment!

Todd was very knowledgeable and helpful on the phone and through email, and went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure I was happy.

Definitely a strong recommendation from me.

Great Experience! Todd was my first invertebrate order off the web and everything went smooth as spider silk. His communication was great, he answered all my questions, and he was extra sure that I understood the shipping arrangements and that it was convenient to my schedule. My two cobalt blue tarantula's were expertly packed and arrived in great condition. I would not hestitate to place another order with Todd.

Bernard

I have been a long time customer of Todd. I appreciate he's advice and knowledge on the species he offers and never disappointed with his stock.

I started ordering from Todd back in 2003 and never had an issue with shipments or health of species on delivery.

Everything looks great!

Shipment received: 5-25-07
Avicularia versicolor (spiderling) - [eating]
Lasiodorides polycuspulatus (Adult Female) - [eating]
Acanthoscurria brocklehursti (Juvenile Female) - [eating]
H. gigas (Adult Female) - [not eating - [getting ready to molt]

We recently recieved a shipment from Todd. I have to say everything was well-packed, healthy and represented accurately. That is not the remarkable part, the circumstances that led to this order is the issue.

Early November we had the opportunity to purchase over $600 in store credit for half price to use at Todd Gearhart/Tarantulaspiders.com. I was surprised that it was still available at the time that I bought it thinking that who could pass up a deal like that? Well, now I know why.

Before purchasing the credit from the other person, we emailed Todd:



Todd wrote back:



What Todd didn’t say was that store credit is only good for animals that are in his possession at that time. In fact, without exageration, at the time we were ordering, less than half of his listed stock was in his possession, and therefore we could not use our credit for it. He told me over the phone that he lists items for sale and “available” but only will acquire them after they are paid for. He had a good selection of pokies on his list and I emailed him about getting a couple, and this is what he wrote back:


In our frustration I emailed him:

And he wrote back:


He told me over the phone again, that he lists many things for sale that he does not have just to “gauge interest” in that item. And he uses the misleading statement that credit can be used “towards deducting off of invoices to me”, not telling you about the actual “in stock and ready to ship” clause.

Here is an example, check out the 20th spider down: http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/view/catalog?page=2 "Purple Huntsman", one of the hottest huntsman right now. His website says its rare, well, it's so rare that he told me that he never had any and had no plans on getting any. They are on his price list to "generate interest". Furthermore, without exaggeration, half of what is on his price list and says "in stock" are not actually in stock. He waits until someone requests something and then takes payment, and then he may get that animal, or not, in which case the lucky buyer ends up with store credit. And mind you, store credit does not apply to anything that he does not actually have in his possession at that time. We found this out the hard way trying to use our $639 credit.

We went back and forth many times trying to figure out what I could get, which turned out to be extremely limited because half of his entire price list is sold out, and of the other half, about 50% aren't actually in stock at that time, making use of my credit almost useless.

Here’s another example of something we were interested in: http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/product/ho...t-grey-huntsman It certainly wasn’t in stock on about 12/27/07, it’s not in stock right now, and he will more than likely not getting any in the near future. I pity the poor fool that pays for one, and when it does not make it into Todds stock, here you go…store credit.

Even after this extremely frustrating experience, he said he had another Chilean shipment coming in, including a certain species that I really wanted. He required a 50% cash deposit to reserve these which was not a problem, BUT I only wanted that particular species. Here is what I emailed:

Todd wrote back:



So that means We send a cash deposit for something in particular, and there is a shortage in the shipment, which had previously happened, and he will only give back my cash deposit in store credit, which is good for about a third of his price list, if you're lucky. So, keep in mind, if you place an order and pay cash for it, and for any reason he can’t get that item, or you get tired of waiting for months, you get store credit only. And good luck using that.

Look at his business terms: http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/page/retai...s-u-s-customers.
“Once your order is submitted via online ordering and/or email or phone call, and I have confirmed availiability and asked for payment and you have paid the full balance or made any amount of deposits, all sales are final. I have reserved the order for you and your are obligated to receive it. If for any reason, I can not ship you the order you paid for and no substitution can be made and/or a credit issued for the future, I will then issue a refund if you desire." It’s a lie, period.

Todd’s methods of doing business are unethical at best, and probably illegal in many states. I can honestly say that I have never experienced anything like this, especially with a nationally known dealer.

This nut has been trying to do a hatchet job on me all day. His posts are being closed on several sites and he is pushing being banned due to his personal attacks. He also has left me threatening messages on my voice mail which will be causing him some legal trouble. He did not get screwed over what-so-ever. Customers and friends that know me for the last 15 yrs. of my business dealings know my character and my hundreds of satisfied customers and hundreds of positive reviews all over the net prove that. Now, I will reply with the same post that I have to reply to on another site:

David Shur of Beverly Hills, CA:

1) My policy on credit was told you to you several times in private emails and phone calls. Basically in a nutshell: "VERY IMPORTANT: Customers with store credit can use their credit ONLY towards purchases from items on this list: www.tarantulaspiders.com/page/price-list-text-version"

2) You are a very confusing person to talk to. Simple concepts and statements you never understood. The same things I've told hundreds of hobbyists for years, you couldn't understand no matter what.

3) When I updated you about what you could use credit for, you refused to disclose that in your smear post on this page/site. You left that out. Ironic, huh?

4) You talked to a kid trying to use credit to get a venomous invertebrate and two dealers that by the competitive nature of things needed to smear me to make sure they get your business. Great references David.

5) If you didn't like out trade credit arrangments you should have bitched and asked for a refund - YOU DID NOT.

6) I got you nice, rare stock that I could sell 10 x over. You got what you wanted. You got nice Ts. You approved of the transaction by receiving them. You can't have it both ways. If you didn't like our business arrangements you should have asked for a refund and/or you should not have received the nice shipment.

7) It is very, very underhanded what you've done here with your post. You have portrayed me wrongly. I'm not in the business of making unhappy customers. If I was, like everybody knows, you don't last in business doing that. I DO NOT DO THAT AND I RESENT THE YOUR POST VERY MUCH FOR IMPLYING THAT I DO.

8) In revealing two dealers that have competitive reasons for doing what they do by badmouthing me, I can see how you got "edged" on. Ironic, the very things they told you, they do themselves.

9) I believe your "medical situation" this past week also explains how irrational your communications were. You were confusing. You could not understand basic concepts like :VERY IMPORTANT: Customers with store credit can use their credit ONLY towards purchases from items on this list: http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/page...t-text-version . You keep asking to use credit for things that I told you could not. I had to tell you over and over and you still didn't get it. Hundreds of my customers with credit through the years have gotten it and happy with the stock that I got them to where I have repeat business from them with multiple transactions. Hmmm....your the exception...wonder why????

10) You try to twist my terms of "“Once your order is submitted via online ordering and/or email or phone call, and I have confirmed availiability and asked for PAYMENT and you have paid the full balance or made any amount of deposits, all sales are final. I have reserved the order for you and your are obligated to receive it. If for any reason, I can not ship you the order you paid for and no substitution can be made and/or a credit issued for the future, I will then issue a refund if you desire." - David, notice that word, since you are a stickler for words, PAYMENT. That implies cash payment, not credit. Again, you are wanting something both ways.

11) I list items in my online store building species profiles to help educate and promote new species that I expect to get in the future. Sometimes I do this for certain suppliers to help them and me to judge demand for how many to acquire. For you to have a conversation with one of them, whom I'm helping promote their stock, and by them (for competitive reasons) to badmouth me in order to get you to buy them directly from them, this is unethical. I'm helping them and they wish to get your money directly. Of course they will tell you to buy from them. You can't see how that works??? No worries. I'll cut their supplier out and they can deal with you. Unethical and irrational both of you. A marriage made in heaven.

12) I think is very, very back-handed of you to post what you did. You left how some important facts. I hope you think on this edit your post on make sure it is known that you accepted our deal. You accepted the box. You got what you wanted. It's nice stock and nobody screwed you over in anyway, shape or form and I've been doing this too long, too successful with hundreds of hobbyists satisified for you to paint me out like you have.

DAVID SHUR, Beverly Hills, CA. 01/11/08. BEWARE of David Shur. This guy is not rational. He selectively hears what he wants in communications. He gets very confused easily. He has demonstrated that he will copy your emails word-for-word for anyway to twist against you. He might even record your phone call with him. He also has shown himself to be a vindictive person that will even make threatening phone calls. A few might have some smooth transactions with this guy here and there, but eventually he can turn on you and do the above things. He did it to me. He had a credit with me. I satisfied that credit with shipping him nice, rare and healthy inverts. Done deal. Next thing I know he announces a smear campaign against me. In the past 15 years, I have hundreds of satisfied customers and hundreds of positive reviews. That speaks for itself. Oh, and David's exact words were "I have to say everything was well-packed, healthy and represented accurately."
__________________

I am extremely tired of dealing with this person who has finally been shown for what he really is. I am not going to go line by line to point out his extensive lies, personal attacks and red herrings .

I've gone through all of this already, and I'm tired of it. Yesterday after posting this review, 30 minutes later I got a call from Todd ranting and raving. He is literally coming apart at the seams trying every which way to attack myself and my daughter. He obviously hasn't been "called out" on his extremely shady business practices.

If anyone wants further information, email me at drs01@roadrunner.com

The review speaks for itself and I stand by it 100%. Period, over.

EDIT - If a moderator wants, I will post a line by line rebuttal. But not right now, I've had enough of this.

In a perfect world all transactions and deals will be ....well perfect and everybody will be happy. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. If I had a magic wand I would make situations like this go away. If anyone knows where I can get a magic wand I wish you would let me know where because I could sure use it in the current situation at hand.

The VL Staff has been discussing the current situation taking place in this thread. We maintain a stance of nuetrality and will not pass judgement on who is at fault in the event of a negative review. We are not judges.

In the event when a transaction goes sour, the buyer and seller should at first try to solve their differences via email, PM, telephone etc. If a solution is not reached after that, the buyer has a right to post a negative review stating the facts only with no personal attacks, name calling etc.

In respect to the person being reviewed, it is only fair that they have a right to defend themself and they may post their side of the story. Again, we will not allow personal attacks and name calling.

We would really like to see both parties involved reach common ground and be able to settle their differences. This thread is now open again.

Remember there will be no name calling or personal attacks. If you have something to say, just state the facts of why you are not satisfied. This goes to both sides not just in this thread but any other thread in the Review Section of this Site.

Carry on.....

I will address each point in Mr. Gearheart's rebuttal:

1. The policy was only known after I bought the store credit from a 3rd party. As per my post, Todd replied: "It's a good deal. It's valid and you can use the credit of $600 towards deducting off your invoices to me.

2. The reason why I was so confused because your website at the time, made it virtually impossible to determine what store credit could be used on. On the phone, Todd literally had me count down a certain number of lines and paragraphs to find the items that I could buy with the credit.

3. That I believe was made clear in my review.

4. My review is based on this transaction that I experienced ONLY, period.

5. By your numerous qualifications and limited ability to even use my credit, the thought of you agreeing to a cash refund is ludicrous.

6. The stock I received I had to SETTLE FOR, because what I really wanted couldn't be bought with my credit.

7. Fact are facts. The review was totally objective and was backed up with examples and quotes.

8. You are the one that brought up two dealers to me to try and attack them. I talked to both, and you refused to have a conference call to clear up your accusations. Besides, what did they have to do with our transaction?

9. You have a habit of when confronted, you launch a personal attack. Here is an example of what you did to Steve Nunn. Especially start reading after about the 18th post: http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.p...ic=7669&hl= Sound familiar???

10. Already answered.

11. You are listing items for sale which you don't have, and may not get. You accept cash for this phantom stock, and when you don't get that item in, you only refund with store credit.

12. It is not backhanded to relate my experience exactly how it happened. You keep bringing up you sent me nice healthy stock. That wasn't the issue. I even said everything was packed well and healthy. You keep straying off of the actual issues. And I will repeat, the nice, rare, healthy animals I received are, with one exception, animals that I had to settle for, and not my first choice. After the transaction got underway, all I wanted to do was use up the credit, and never have to deal with you again.

+Positive+
I got a very good deal on a rare import of tarantulas from Todd. The spiders were packed very well for the weather and arrived in excellent condition. Good Communication about setting up a shipping day around lower temps. I have no worries about dealing with Todd, he makes great contributions to the hobby by bringing in hard to find species.
I hope to order from tarantulaspiders.com again!

i just bought a T. Blondi from todd, and he and the spider are great! It was packed perfectly and in great condition .If you send him emails he replies very fast and gives you any info you ask him or need to know. Todd has won my trust and I will only order from him in the future, I recommend Todd to all!

Positive!

I just completed a trade with Mr. Gearheart and couldn't be happier. He seems like a good guy to deal with and fairly easy to get in contact with as well. He also made sure the spiders he sent me (which had recently come in from europe) were healthy and feeding. And he threw in a cool freebie too. I'd be happy to do it again. Thanks Todd.

i just recieved another item from todd wbich was a juvenile king baboon and it is awsome! Shipping was delayed a little bit so he included a little freebie! Todd is a great and fair guy!

I just got a Pair of spiders from Todd. They look great and were packed great.

I have bought from Todd before and recently I made another order for a mm Sericopelma rubronitens. His detailed list of available Ts is someting to drool over. To me it's like visiting a complete Reptile Show. Getting back to my red rump, he was packaged superbly and was glad when I freed him from his cozy cocoon. He sprang into action and was surprisingly docile, considering he's a W/C. The transaction was hazzle free and quick. He goes out of his way by posting warning stickers on the box to prevent sun exposure, etc. To me, that's special. If you're in search for that "gotta have" tarantula and Todd's got it, you can't go wrong with this gentleman. Todd is realiable, honest, and a caring man. He'll be there for you, and he'll answer all your inquiries within a reasonable time.

Fredster
Encinal, Texas

Does anyone know if Todd is on vacation or something? I sent him a few emails for specimens at their sales email address and a message or two via this website, but have not heard back. Most reviews say he's easy to get ahold of, but not so much for me, so I'm wondering if there are some circumstances I'm not aware of.

He actually just got in touch with me. Good stuff.

I have puchased several times from Todd.Each time I received healthy specimens,and every time they arrived when he said they would.He is knowledgable and polite.Often ,he offers rare specimens that are not readily avalible in the hobby. I will puchase from him again, and I highly recommend puchasing from him.

Recently purchased a Chinese Tiger leg centipede. Todd was very helpful and I would definately do business with him again.