Backwater Reptiles

This company was wonderful to work with!!! MY tortoi ous avvived in excellent health, warm and well packed for her trip tp NH. They took the time to tell me everything extra I should do for "Jojo", as she was a hatchling!! I have sence called with additional question and the gracelessly answered them and provided me with what I needed. I would differently do business with this company in the further....[redacted]

I have purchased multiple times through Blackwater reptiles and not only are the products high quality, but they have always provided me with excellent customer service. I'd recommend them to anyone as a professional and high quality provider.

I bought a savannah monitor this week from Backwater Reptiles. I got a good sized one as requested which made me happy! It has been active every night in its new enclosure and even are of the first food offering. I'm pleased with my order. Also I did not get payed nor do I work for the company in case you're wondering. I would recommend it and will buy from them again!

WOW, what a grate looking Scorpion!!! allready eat a huge meal worm and otw to getting BIG!!! Thank you for a grate deal!!

Review: I ordered a box of 1000 crickets to be delivered. I was contacted by Backwater Reptiles via email stating that it was too cold in our area to ship crickets to. If I still wanted them to ship them they would, but it would void thier guarantee of live delivery or I could have a refund. I emailed back asking not to ship and no refund. That they could ship when it was safe. We received the shipment anyway...a box of 976 dead crickets. Somehow about 2 dozen survived the single digit temps. I tried to resolve this by emailing them and they wanted me to pay twice as much for two more shipments before they would replace the dead crickets that were shipped to me for $36.99. After I stated that I would not pay for more crickets to be shipped to me before they would replace my dead shipment, they have ignored all emails sent to them.Desired Settlement: I would like my shipment replaced. I have all emails supporting my claim above.

Business

Response:

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,

Backwater Reptiles

Fax: ###-###-####

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Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: this is not a truthful statement from this business. I have kept all emails and correspondence we have received from them. We also do have pictures of the dead crickets. Which I can certainly provide and would have provided had they kept in contact with me. After rejecting theer offer of their idea of a "fair" offer to replace the crickets only if I bought 2 more batches of 500 (which I will show you would cost me more than me just buying a single order or 1000 crickets like I always had) I never heard from them again and they would not answer any of my emails I am posting our correspondence with them below.

We ordered 1000 crickets on Tuesday, Feb 5th. I found the following email from them and I responded as you will see in the attachment. I cannot get the attachment to work so will have to post here.

I recently ordered an Iguana, an Emerald Swift and a Spiny soft shell turtle from Backwater Reptiles and I am extremely happy with what arrived! The Iguana is so lively and friendly and the Swift is gorgeous! I am so happy with the business. I will absolutley use Backwater again.

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.

These guys were fast and professional, and the beautiful creatures they shipped arrived happy and well!

Review: I had an issue ordering from BackwaterReptiles.com today I order a Red Iguana and a Blue Tongue Skink Sub-species Irian Jaya on Sunday and got the sub-species Merauke insted. Prior to me ordering I decide to email them in regards to the Blue tongue skinks they have for sale listed under the Scientific Name Tiliquia Sp which is what Irian Jayas are labeled as. They said they had Irian Jaya on hand so I ordered. When placing my order in the comments section I clearly stated IRIAN JAYA BTS only no hybrids or other sub-species and they still send they wrong thing. No phone number just e-mail and fax so I emailed them as soon as I opened the package and seen that it wasnt what I was expecting I headed to the Blue Tongue Skink Enthusiast page and posted pics asking to verify my concerns and thats where I was reassured they sent me the wrong thing. Long story short after multiple emails some stating that the "Team" said it is indeed an Irian Jaya led me to believe they are uneducated in their profession, and proceeded to ask me what makes it a merauke smh told the about the 4 stripes on the neck of IJ's and the orange belly isnt a IJ trait and a few more things, they then changed their argument to "they dont guarantee any subspecies" which is what they did when I emailed them prior to ordering, They say the only way I can get the correct item would be to pay shipping costs for overnight to return what I didnt purchase and pay another $40 for them to ship the correct animal. So its going to cost me $90 to get the item I already paid for if not ill be stuck with an animal I didnt want or need. Or just spend $50 and my time to ship out their mistake to get my refund. I just want what I paid for.Desired Settlement: I would like the business to pay for shipping to return the wrong animal that was delivered and cover shipping costs on the correct item. If correct item is unavailble I would like a refund plus a prepaid shipping label to return the incorrect animal that was shipped

Business

Response:

This customer ordered a generic "Blue tongue skink" and was advised prior to his order that we get different varieties/locales in stock which is why we do not specify the exact locale. He then placed an order, and in the comments field stated that he wanted a specific locale. He received a Mereuke blue tongue skink, but he wanted an Irian Jaya. We explained once again that we do not specify specific locales as they often come in mixed groups and look extremely similar. I do not recall ever having a complaint on them in our history as a business.Despite our policy, we e-mailed him a prepaid overnight shipping label to ship it back for a full refund, as he has been verbally abusing the young women who handle our customer service e-mails. We're not exactly sure what else he would like us to do--he seems to simply want to argue and berate.

Consumer

Response:

I will send the complete order back for full refund. I dont want to do business with this company. Tracking FedEx [redacted]

Business

Response:

This order was returned via a prepaid label, and the customer was refunded in full. Photographic proof is available if the customer will not confirm this.

Very satisfied with my order.

Great business

When I read the reviews on backwater reptiles I was skeptical to do business with them but I thought "hey everyone deserves second chances". I have to tell you that they were absolutely amazing! Their customer service is top notch. They answered all of my questions and sent pictures of the animal I was getting. The overnight shipping was fast and efficient and my package arrived on time. My snake is in excellent health and I'm so pleased that I decided to do business with them!

Awesome reptiles and amazing customer service!!

Thank you Backwater for my very healthy Theraphosa Blondi! She is a very good eater, she has very beautiful colors, and is suprisingly handleable! Thank you guys so much, you guys got my business for life!

The best, fastest, and most caring customer service ever. Everything I ordered arrived safe, well packaged, and beautiful! Backwater Reptiles will from now on be my only reptile source. I very highly. Recommend them!

Never in my life have I ever experienced such amazing customer service! Abbey was so wonderful and sweet, and always replied very quickly. She was very helpful and understanding when I said I needed a Tegu the next morning. She didn't complain or get upset, she just found a way to get it to me. I was emailed when they received my payment, while they were packing him up, and then I recieved all the tracking information. This has to be one of the most professional businesses I have ever had the pleasure to do business with. I will absolutely do business with them again if I ever need another reptile!

Just recieved my western hog nose snake this morning. She appears alert, healthy and active. Order was shipped promptly and arrived on time before 10 AM. I am concerned this snake is not a female like I requested and I got no response from them after emailing but they could just be busy or short staffed right now. All in all they did fine and a trouble free experience. If this snake turns out to be a female like I requested I will order my male from them soon without worries.

I ordered a juvinile bluebar panther from them. When I recieved a tiny baby. I complained and they responded that I ordered a 4 to 6 inch bluebar panther wich are a large breed and she said thats what I got. I said but it said juvenile. She said well its not quite a juvi yet. I said well according to u then if it has to grow then there is no such thing as a 4 to 6 inch juvi because it will grow before its a juvenile. Babys r very fragile and was rather sickly when I got him with nasal discharge and ive been tending him best I can but he seems to b geting worse.basically they just wanted my money cause they didnt have any and I had to wait days before they got more. What they did is recieved babys n shipped em out as juvis. The older they are the more you pay.they didnt seem to care and offered no solution except theyre pretty when they grow up and enjoy.its a sad world when people dont get what they pay for and theres nothing I can do about it.

I've ordered from Backwater reptiles numerous times, and almost always have had nothing but good experiences, but unfortunately my last order of 2 water monitors and 1 Nile monitor didn't go so well. The Nile is great and very healthy. Here is where the problem has came in though both of my water monitors had severe calcium deficiency, I sent 1 back for a replacement/ got the replacement in a few days and is in great condition, plus totally free cant beat that! But the other monitor with the calcium deficiency has died.. Nothing I could do to stop it just to far gone. I understand what the company is about and really appreciate how helpful they have always been to me. My only issue is I dont feel like I should be charged another $49 for shipping for the replacement animal, I ordered a live and healthy animal not a project. I even saved the body after contacting to see if they wanted it back for examination to try and get some preventive measures put into place. Like I said all in all I love doing business with these guys but that replacement charge is ridiculous, overnight shipping goes by the size and weight of the box. I'm not asking for a sub adult here. (BackWater Reptiles- please try and figure something out with this, my email is [redacted]) thanks, [redacted]

Backwater is the only place for your Reptile purchase.

They are the best.

I will keep buying from them for sure.

There Reptiles are show quality.