Backwater Reptiles

Excellent customer service! Willing to answer all questions and great attitude! My daughter's Kenyan Sand boa snake arrived healthy, safe, happy and beautiful!

Backwater Reptiles is incredible . From personal experiance. If some how you are not pleased with what you recieved,they make it extremely simple to contact them and resolve any and all displeasure. Anything in the reptile arena I need will be coming from Backwater Reptiles !!! The 10 Star Herp Retail [redacted]!!!!!!!!!!

I ordered two reptiles to be shipped overnight. They shipped at about noon on Monday and arrived at 11-1130 Tuesday. Such a great experience, will defiantly order from this business again! Only issue is that the lizards were cold when they arrived but warmed up right away and very very active with in minutes.

I ordered a ball python hatchling and 50 pinkie mice. They sent me shipping information for one package which was only the snake. I messaged them and they have not responded about the missing package. Also when I opened my snake I noticed something on his nose and it was a tick that had been on for awhile because itshe gut was exploded causing it to be an enlarged blue color. Upon further inspection I found 5 other ticks not native to my state. I have no idea what diseases these parasites carry and also I found many spots on the snake is which it looks like ticks are inside of it. I messaged them about that as well and they have not responded. I'm not exactly sure what to do at this point. I'm just really hoping the best for my python. It's amazing how it's lived with so many parasites on it. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM! I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this but I'm not happy that this baby snake is going through this.

The customer ordered a bullfrog, which we thought was out of stock, but I found a beauty and was able to ship. It had air and heat inside the box, the same way I ship hundreds of packages each year. The frog supposedly arrived DOA, so we shipped a Pacman frog which was her second choice since we were now definitely out of bullfrogs. We shipped it free of charge, when she'd ordinarily need to cover shipping ($39.99).
This customer is attempting to abuse the system and while we don't appreciate Revdex.com complaints, we cannot capitulate to this behavior on ethical grounds. She literally didn't even mention receiving the second frog, nor did she acknowledge the huge exception we made for her by shipping her another frog totally free of charge, including free shipping.

Hi [redacted],We did allow a return of the first turtle, which we received back from you in May and it was purchased by another customer who loves it earlier this week. It simply needed UVB lighting as most turtles do--they will fail without it. We have processed a refund of $35 to...

account for the return shipping cost of the dead turtle you sent us.Backwater Reptiles team

Excellent customer service. Responded to all my questions promptly. Turtle was shipped overnight with heat pack and arrived safely. Highly recommend this seller!

Hi [redacted],We did allow a return of the first turtle, which we received back from you in May and it was purchased by another customer who loves it earlier this week. It simply needed UVB lighting as most turtles do--they will fail without it. We have processed a refund of $35 to account for the return...

shipping cost of the dead turtle you sent us.Backwater Reptiles team

Backwater was great.They answered questions I had quickly.I purchased a juvenile super giant tangerine leopard gecko.Packed very well with a damp paper towel to keep it cool in a plastic container

I am rejecting this response because: I will need to wait to see when my refund permanently posts.
also, Back Water did not politely ask me to close the claim, they threatened me if they shipped me a new order and I wasn't happy and made a complaint, that they would put me in collections for the INCORRECT roaches
that they gave me for free.  kind of weird, to offer someone something for free, but then tell them YOU BETTER BE HAPPY OR I WILL PUT YOU IN COLLECTIONS. really?
I cant control whether or not they send me a correct order. they should know what they send is correct.
if they don't, perhaps they should get a reliable supplier.
if I got what I paid for in the first place, this would have never happened.
 
this company is so shady and I don't trust them at all.
so I am not comfortable closing out claim until I am fully refunded.
 
when permanent credit has been posted, I will close the claim.

We did want to hold the cricket order as a courtesy due to their temperatures being slightly colder than normal, but we ended up shipping according to the shipping schedule on the website, which is what the customer had expected prior to our e-mail. We never...

received pictures of the DOA crickets, which is the policy very clearly spelled out on our website--this applies to all customers. We are extraordinarily clear that we do not guarantee live arrival of crickets when temperatures dip below 40F (this customer's low temperatures were below 40F every single day in Jan/Feb, so the crickets would not have been guaranteed regardless of the day shipped).
 
In an effort to compromise, we offered to add 500 free crickets to their next two cricket orders, thus getting them a free replacement of 1,000 crickets. The customer chose to word our aforementioned offer as "they wanted me to pay twice as much for two more shipments before they would replace the dead crickets" which I believe is a deceptive way to explain the exception we were making. This really boils down to:
 
1.) We shipped the crickets according to the shipping schedule that the customer was expecting upon order placement. We attempted to hold them a day as a courtesy, but our supplier shipped.
2.) The customer's low temperatures voided the live arrival guarantee every day in January and February, so the crickets would not have been guaranteed regardless of the day we shipped.
3.) We made an exception to fully replace the crickets over their next two cricket orders (they had placed six prior cricket orders, so there was no reason to think they would not continue).
 
Thanks,
 
[redacted]
Backwater Reptiles
Fax: ###-###-####
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I am rejecting this response because:This is not an acceptable reply. It is STILL not a reassurance that they are bettering their treatment of animals, or that they have taken any steps to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future. I do not appreciate condescending implications that I have not read their policy on this matter. I have read it, and it is unacceptable when I have been bombarded with information to the contrary from many different sources. A simple cursory search pretty much anywhere reveals that my story is by far not a unique one, and yet this company has done absolutely nothing to reassure the minds and hearts of its customers that they are doing anything at all to prevent this frequent (FAR MORE than they're reported 1.4%) problem of DOA animals, incorrect animals, or animals received sick and dying.

This customer ordered a baby Nile monitor lizard on Sunday, 03/29, which we shipped on Monday, 03/30, and was delivered on Tuesday, 03/31, per the shipping schedule on each animal page of our website. The lizard arrived DOA, which is unfortunate, however the recipient's local temperatures hit 33F...

(verification attached) on the day of delivery, which voids our Live Arrival Guarantee. Each customer must click, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms" before an order can be placed. This gives us their digital signature acknowledging and accepting the guarantee. An entire page on our website (and on the main menu) explain the guarantee in simple terms: [redacted]Regardless, we made an exception for this customer, and allowed the Live Arrival Guarantee to remain in effect. This means we could either refund the price of the lizard less shipping, or we could ship a replacement for $39.99 (the shipping cost). The customer did not believe this was fair, despite clicking and agreeing to the program prior to ordering. We then made another exception and reduced the replacement shipping to $29.99 (instead of $39.99), but this only resulting in verbal abuse from the customer. We have tried making exceptions, and remaining courteous, but nothing is working. Respectfully,Backwater Reptiles team

I am rejecting this response because:As I have stated before, and this company admitted in their own reply; they are basing their argument on an average.  They clearly said they got temps for my zip code, which is an average.  I can go to the local news websites and pull temperatures for that day and they are different than whatever website they are using.If someone at the Revdex.com were to go look, there is a pattern of this behavior with this company.  They rip off hundreds of people each year and it can be seen on their social media sites, the Revdex.com complaints, and several other websites out there.  They will do everything they can to avoid refunds, or replacing dead animals.

Hi [redacted],Your replacement supplies shipped already, per our notification e-mail, and they should arrive to you by Thursday. [redacted], one of our customer service reps, e-mailed you on Monday (yesterday) to let you know this. We test all heat pads prior to shipment, so how your's arrived in non-working condition is puzzling. We cannot refund you as your order already shipped. If you want to return it to us once you receive it, we can process a partial refund for the products you kept, or you can put all the supplies and roaches into the box for a full refund. We're disappointed to hear you're not pleased with our service. I'll e-mail you the USPS tracking number via e-mail by the morning.

I just bough a baby red iguana, she came sick, died within two days, their policy is to pay for shipping or a refund on the pet, sure I got another one, paid the shipping and guess what she died within three days. come to find out they are scam artists, the customer pays for shipping every time the pet dies and they make money. they drop ship their reptiles, don't even know if they are going to be sick or not. I would recommend that they refund all monies since we paid twice for shipping @ 39.99 a pop and 49.99 for the iguana. we lost big time here. I hope you find somehow to do justice to the people that they harmed.

This customer ordered 200 1.25"- 2" feeder roaches (transaction was $76.99) from us, and based upon the pictures received, they were on the smaller side of that range. We have tried to work with her, even offering to re-ship her order again, and she could keep the roaches she received. But, in...

the end, we chose to simply refund her order in full (refund ID: [redacted]). We are attaching proof of the refund which was processed today. We have politely requested the customer contact the Revdex.com to attest that her issue was fully resolved (free roaches plus a full refund).

This was sent to me by our [redacted] representative, reaffirming [redacted] adjusts guarantees during the holidays, which is understandable given the volume. This is an annual policy:[redacted]The [redacted] Money-Back Guarantee will be suspended on the following dates: • Tuesday, Feb.14, 2017, and Friday, May 12, 2017, if the delivery was made within 90 minutes of the delivery commitment for the selected service and destination. • Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, for shipments that reach their destinations within 90 minutes of the scheduled commitment time. • Monday, Dec. 18, through Saturday, Dec. 29, 2017, for shipments delivered by the end of the day on the published delivery commitment date for the selected service and destination.1 This applies to the following [redacted]® services: • [redacted] First Overnight® • [redacted] Priority Overnight® • [redacted] Standard Overnight® • [redacted] 2Day® • [redacted] 2Day® A.M. • [redacted] Express Saver®

Here is what is stated on the exact page you ordered on: -------------Please peruse our shipping information page before ordering. Feeder orders placed after 1:00pm PST on Wednesday will likely be shipped the following Monday for the safety of the insects. Please read the details of our guarantee before ordering.-------------There is also a link on the page to our guarantee terms.  Was this complaint filed simply because you did not receive the tracking number initially? As I mentioned, we've truly never had a customer complain that they didn't receive their tracking number on a feeder order.  We made an exception for you and offered to ship replacements at a loss for $19.99, but you refused. We even offered to refund part of the shipment, but you refused.

I bought a Russian Box Turtle from backwater reptiles. I've had him for a year now and have had no problems. The process to get him was very simple and he arrived very timely. I've enjoyed him everyday that I've had him and he's become part of the family. I highly recommend backwater reptiles if your wanting a new friend!