Backwater Reptiles

We have processed a full refund and you were e-mailed a copy of the receipt.

I ordered a hatchling Hermann's Tortoise from Backwater Reptiles, LLC. I had read everything about their shipping policy and contact information so I understood how it all worked. When I contacted them through email, their preferred choice, they got back to me within the hour. This interaction happened several times before I made the purchase. Their customer service was superb! When I ordered the torte, it was very cold where I lived and I was concerned about whether or not my little guy would make it alive. They made the decision to hold my purchase until warmer temps arrived so they could guarantee live arrival. The tortoise came perfectly safe and healthy. Very active little guy. We are very pleased with this company and would order again from them.

I ordered a frog from backwater reptiles for my daughter for Christmas, it arrived dead. When I contacted them, they said they could give me a discount on a new new. I paid 89.99 for the first one. They would not give me my money back either. I have ordered from them in the past with no trouble. I will never order from them again. Very poor customer service.

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 roachesthat 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.

Ordered our new baby turtle on Tuesday, shipped Wednesday and got her by 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Healthy and happy , very active. I am sure I will order again.

I just have to say, that we got my royal ball python, from this site, back at Christmas as a gift. I truthfully don't think there is "one mean bone in her body"! With the exception of mice at feeding time of course!! She is all about that mouse LOL!! When we got her, it was so obvious she had been handled plenty and loved!! Not one strike from her, AT ALL! Not even towards my dog's, believe it or not!!! I have definitely been browsing this site for my next addition to the family. I do not think I will ever buy from another site.. EVER! Thank you so much, again, for my sweet love Delilah!! You are amazing :)

The employees are super friendly, fast shippers, and have very fast and excellent communication! I am very happy with my new black pastel ball python, SnootInBoots! Thank you all so much!

I am rejecting this response because:First, I received a confirmation of the order from the business on Wednesday not Tuesday (please see attached "backwater invoice"). Their shipping policy states "orders on Wednesday will be shipped Thursday and received on Friday. The box was packed with the turtle knotted tightly inside a handkerchief that was then placed it sitting on top of the small plastic cup which was housing the frogs. This allowed the much heavier turtle to bounce up and down like a rock on top of a plastic cup. Please see the attached "jpg" files where you will notice that 1) one of the frogs was squished into the other right into the side of the container and 2) unless I have 10 inch fingers (and or the box label is 15") you can see that the frogs were tiny (one of the frogs is approximately 2" and the other is clearly much smaller).In short, the business is negating to see their responsibility to ship/package properly and follow their own shipping policy (the invoice Wednesday at 12:50pm): As far as the turtle; when you enter their website the turtle they are selling is listed as an Eastern Box Turtle it does NOT say hybrid (see page 3 of the attached file "misleading 1") The picture they show is that of an "Eastern Box Turtle" not what they actual sell. When you then click on that listing to buy it you are brought to another page where an even larger photo dominates the page and the photo is that of an"eastern box turtle" (see attached "misleading 2") again the turtle is identified exactly as  - Terrapene c. carolina - not "hybrid". The wording next to that prominent photo states exactly "We have some absolutely stunning captive born and bred Eastern Box turtles for sale at the best possible pricing".  Neither myself or my children are experts in any of this - they went by the pictures and ordered it. The business is charging top dollar for captive bred eastern box turtles - they should be charging a severely discounted amount for the hybrid they sent (I am not even sure what the hybrid is?)As far as me being difficult I couldn't have been nicer. We went round and round for days with the company ignoring any responsibility they have in this and just repeating their shipping policy.  Why don't they picture the hybrid turtle if that is what they so proudly and successfully sell all the time? Or change the wording to say "hybrid" in big letters right up front?.  To my children a turtle is a turtle and so I was willing to accept the rip off and only asked that they replace the frogs. Anyway, I was neither rude or difficult it was the business that wrote a stinging email to me calling "Unethical and Dishonest"  (please see attached labeled "official response") literally threatening me with collections (when they were paid in full) because I wrote to you, as well as, paypal seeking help. I still seek a full refund on the frogs (I no longer want replacement  from this business). I acknowledge that they will accept the turtle back - and they continue to ignore my request/repsonse  to "please send a prepaid shipping label and instructions on how to properly ship it back" (I certainly shouldn't have to eat $40 to ship back something so misleading - and I don't feel comfortable wrapping it back in that handkerchief (it is filthy) nor leave the turtle to bounce around in the box). I am even willing, since my children like the turtle, to eat the $100 dollar bait and switch if the business would 1) just tell us what the turtle is hybrid with and 2) change the pictures/wording on their website so that nobody else goes through this

This customer purchased two animals on our website, a tortoise and a tarantula. The baby tortoises were delayed and do not arrive until tomorrow (Thu) as they cannot be shipped until their yolk sacs are fully absorbed. This a process we do not rush based upon customer threats, because we care about...

the safety of the tortoises. We have never, in our history, received a formal Revdex.com complaint because a customer had to wait two days for a baby tortoise. We instead receive commendations on our concern for the animals.This customer also complained that they wanted a refund for overnight shipping. The overnight shipping charge is not a guarantee you get an animal the next day, it's the fee we incur when we do ship as we must utilize priority overnight delivery for the safety of the animals. This is all clearly stated on our website.As the owner, I have instructed our team to process a full refund and cancellation of this customer's order as I will not do business with someone who acts in this manner. It's honestly unconscionable.

so I ordered a red foot tortoise for my son's BD. never received a confirmation email. then I called them. they said it would be shipped later today and will arrive tomorrow. then 4 hours later, I received their email saying "I didn't received an update order that they were out of stock. and they would refund me"????!!! how come I didn't received just that emails but all other emails!!!?? and how could they told me that it would be shipped in the same day!!!? very untruthful and unprofessional!!! my son has been waiting for the tortoise. we got its tank all setup. now I have to wait for them to refund me and shop for another one.

so NO, I would not ever recommend this business to anyone else. and if you need a BD gift, don't shop here! period!

I ordered my leo geckos on Thursday not shure about the site with the prices so cheap honestly won't go anywhere else to do business I got mine in on the following Tuesday and they are awesome iwill be buying more thanks very much backwater reptiles!!!

My 2 fire skinks arrived when predicted. They were groggy but in good shape when I removed the packing materials. They were the sub-adults I'd requested, both in very good shape. I had their terrarium ready and they are settling in well. They don't like handling, but don't bite, and calm down shortly. They are eating crickets that I offer to them with tweezers. I am happy with my purchase. Communication with Backwater people was good, and helpful.

Well I went looking to buy a black roughneck monitor. I ended up going to backwater reptiles, and I have to say they are one of the best with communicating with you about you order and with any questions that you may have . Their staff is very knowledgeable about the reptiles that they have in stock . from now on I will be getting all my reptiles from backwaterreptiles.

Review: We ordered a Russian Tortoise for our daughters for Christmas. He arrived very ill. I communicated with them. They gave me suggestions to try and help. He never got better. Our Tortoise passed away 3 weeks (to the day) later. They told me they only "guarantee live animals for 7 days". He showed up in 2 boxes, with no air holes (they say to keep him warm) smelling awful and sick as can be. We tried everything to get this guy back in shape. This company is sending sick animals knowing damn well! This has to be animal cruelty!Desired Settlement: I certainly wouldn't mind my money back. But ultimately I want people to know this is a horrible company and they need to go out of business. These are living things we are talking about and it's not right.

Business

Response:

We've previously e-mailed with this customer and offered to make an exception and work out some type of deal for a partial refund or heavily discounted replacement, but were surprised and dismayed to suddenly see a foul-mouthed, mean-spirited Revdex.com complaint. We've e-mailed the customer to ask why the communication stopped and why the complaint was filed, but have not received a response.

I emailed Backwater Reptiles looking for an adult male Central American Wood Turtle. I had found a female with another company, but once I realized that Backwater had males and females, I became interested in purchasing one of each.

I asked someone named Amanda for a photo of the turtles so I could examine size and characteristics of the turtles. She informed that she could send a photo and then guarantee that they would send me that particular turtle. I asked her to specifically isolate a male and female for me to purchase and snap a photo or two. Again, she refused, stating "ever changing inventory" as her reason.

I will not give them my business now. These are live animals and I am specifically looking to purchase two. There are not feeder fish or crickets. Every turtle has different marking and are different sizes, and at $80.00 each, I did not think my request was unreasonable. There is no way they cycle inventory so quickly that they could not show me the turtles I would be buying. They are lazy and have poor customer service. I would suggest others to take their business elsewhere.

I ordered 1000 live crickets from Backwater Reptiles. They were sent to me next day air and every cricket in the box was dead upon arrival. So I tried to call them but they do not offer a phone number to contact them. The only way to contact them is email. That should have been a red flag right there.They must have done away with their phone number because of all the complaints they get. So I emailed them stating that all the crickets were dead. The responded by shifting the blame and responsibility to their supplier. I didnt order them from their supplier I ordered them from Backwater reptiles . I dont need to hear excuses. So Backwater said they would submit it to their cricket supplier to see that it gets resolved. I responded by saying " please ship me another box of crickets today, thank you" I got no response. I emailed them again 3 hours later asking them if they were going to send me more crickets. Still no response. A few hours later I sent them an email telling them what I thought about their crappy business. Funny how they decided to respond to that email and not my others. Their response was them calling me unintelligent and that they were hereby banning me from ever ordering from them again.. Talk about unintelligent??? It doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize that I would never buy from them again anyway! They sure do have some bright rednecks working at backwater reptiles. I think the guys name was Darelict that sent me the email. Very poor and rude customer service! Do yourself a favor and spend more money to buy from a professional business..

This company shipped me a near dead red eared slider who has just died some five days later. After hundreds of dollars spent at the vet on the last day they determined he had a digestive infection which could not have been spurred by anything I did. Now I have a heartbroken family and a dead turtle and I am wondering why this company is still in business.

Backwater reptiles, llc went above and beyond to help me with my chameleon purchase. I had a strange situation and had to match my giant spiny chameleon as quickly as possible. They worked with me and tried their very best to get me exactly what I needed at lightening speed!!!

He arrived and was better than I could have imagined! He was in perfect condition and happy as a clam in his warm box.

Thank you backwater reptiles for saving the day!!!!!!

Backwater Reptiles are the best. They process orders very quickly, shipping is overnight and they respond to all my emails within an hour! Not to mention, their uromastyx are adorable!

Got my [redacted] overnight, she was very healthy and packaged warm and cozy! Very satisfied with my new pet and very, very pleased with their service!!