Did you water it to see if it perks up? Pretty plant. Hope it survives for you.

Yes, I gave it some water and maybe that was a mistake..

I just checked the roots and it doesn't look good - some are very dead looking, some green, and there's fewer of them than I would expect:

to me it looks like the roots were not established enough before shipping. If it was my plant...I'd cut it up into several pieces and once they were nicely rooted, replant into soil.

This poor thing was hanging by a thread.. quite literally :( The roots are rotten.

Could this much root damage happen in 5 days or was it shipped in this state? (2 days shipping + 3 days waiting for recovery).

I think I'll try to root them in wet coco coir mixed with some potting soil. The petioles are too short plus the leaves are all twisted and rolled up - I cannot keep them in water without them either falling in or out of a jar.

You could ask for a replacement. At least convey to the seller what you found. But pathos roots pretty easily, you have enough to work with to cut it into pieces and root it.

It actually looks ok to me, mine behaves like that when it gets too dry.... it might not have been packed very well and the plant broke off at the soil line. You might want to cut it up anyway so you'll have a fuller plant eventually. Definitely use some faster draining soil, but it looks like a healthy cutting...

Andrea, have you looked at the additional pics of the roots? It was rotting and the roots were falling apart... So it was getting dry indeed... but only because the roots were barely functioning.

I've chopped it up into single leaf segments and put in wet coco/soil mix. Some leaves are starting to look very happy! :) Just one remains tightly curled - I think it's the youngest one.

Yes, I agree, the soil was too dense and wet in the first place and perhaps the roots were rotting away anyway but I kind of doubt that since the plant itself is not showing any signs of root rot. It might be a blessing in disguise tho, since the overall plant will likely be much healthier in the long run they way you've propagated it. I would still try for a replacement or credit since you paid for a potted plant not an unrooted cutting..

I wonder if it's possible it rotted in the 4 days since packaging it up? It was packed generously damp (with wet tissue on top of the soil), and spent 2 days in a box with no light and little air... and then two more days in daylight but with more water (because I thought it was thirsty). Just curious if it's technically possible to kill roots so fast given the circumstances.. or was it just the last straw.

First root picture shows a wide brown spot on the stem surrounding an area of the previously thick root. When I started digging, the main root was barely a hair in a shriveled brown "case" (2nd picture shows "unsheathing" of the main root).

It came from a random hobby seller from local ads, so it was a lottery from the start. I don't blame her, I'm just genuinely puzzled..

(and yes, I do hope it will propagate nicely)