Snake Problems

Himmerick and 17-year-old son were at home in Jefferson City, Missouri, and couldn't get their get their new DVD player to work. They called the maker, Samsung, and shipped the player to the company's return center in Secaucus, New Jersey late last month. Paco, a three-foot, four-pound ball python with brown and yellow markings, apparently slithered into the box, and hid beneath the foam peanuts the DVD player was packed in. Himmerick got a call from Samsung's New Jersey repair shop, CVE Incorporated. She said someone there asked whether that was her snake in the DVD box, and was that her way of expressing her customer dissatisfaction.