Backwater Reptiles

I ordered a Savannah Monitor from Backwater Reptiles and received it the next business day. It was packaged very carefully. The shipping company also contacted me to give me ETA on delivery time to ensure I was there to accept the package. The monitor is very calm. You can tell it was hand tamed before it was shipped. I will give this company an A+.

Review: Backwater Reptiles is using an old photograph I took of my Mali Uromastyx in his tank in 2009 to advertise their sales on their website, without my permission. This is the link where my photo appears.http://www.backwaterreptiles.com/uromastyx/mali-uromastyx-for-sale.htmlT...⇄ most likely stole my photo from my Flickr album or Yahoogroups. I did not purchase my Mali from them and we do not have a relationship at all with Backwater Reptiles.My Mali also appears here with other photos of uromastyx lizards.http://www.backwaterreptiles.com/uromastyx-for-sale.htmlI do not know how many photos on their website have been stolen and used for advertising without permission. I suspect I am not the only pet owner who did not give their permission. This is false advertising.I have taken a screenshot of their webpages, and I am willing to forward more information regarding my Mali, my photograph and their origins. Thanking you in advance for your help in this matter.Desired Settlement: In making this complaint, I would like very much for them to remove my photograph from their website(s) and from all past, present and future marketing, advertising and publicity materials, including but not limited to web banners on other websites, brochures, business cards and newsletters. I sincerely hope they will stop using anyone's nice pet photo to advertise their business. The right thing to do is to take photos of the actual reptiles they have for sale.

Business

Response:

Our Mali uromastyx picture is copyrighted by our business, and was taken by our business photographer.

Business

Response:

We take most of the pictures on our website ourselves, and everything on our website is copyrighted per the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Please have the customer send us a snapshot of the picture he is referencing, and then we can cross reference it on our website, because they are not even close to the same image.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:The photo is 100% identical. It is My photo that Backwater Reptiles LLC has used WITHOUT MY permission.I am the true owner of the photograph and I have legitimate copyright per the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. You do not.I have provided the Revdex.com with documentation.I request that you REMOVE my photo from your website and all other marketing, advertising and promotional materials.Thank you.

Business

Response:

Please review the attached screenshot. This is not what the complaintant is producing. We 100% own the copyright to this photograph--we took it ourselves.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

Me an a few friends ordered a reptile for each of us. 2 red iguanas, a frilled dragon, and a bearded dragon and we love em all. The customer service was perfect. If you have any questions they'll gladly help

It can't be easy shipping live animals; it would seem so much can go wrong. I have done several orders through Backwater Reptiles, and they do an outstanding job of communicating with their customer through the entire process. Sam and Abbey go out of their way to ensure my satisfaction. The educational presentations that I do with these animals sometimes necessitate acquiring a certain animal on short notice. Backwater Reptiles is my "go-to guy" when that happens. I continue to recommend them to others in my field.

I wanted to buy a axolotl, but they required that I give them $40 for overnight shipping and they didn't give me any other options. I feel like they are just trying to suck money from their customers, and buying from them is just a waste of time for any one. If you want a cheap animal go to a pet shop and get one, instead of getting ripped off by these guys. :(

The folks at Backwater Reptiles are friendly, knowledgeable and very easy to to business with. My experience with this business was first rate.

Excellent Costumer Service , fast communication , will recommend to anyone !!

Love this website. Very good. My two missippi map turtles arrived my state healthy and safe. They are so happy in their home.

I'd suggest to buy the healthy turtles from this website.

People who running this store is so friendly.

I ordered a female Crested Newt from Backwater Reptiles. The communication I received from Meg and Abbey from before I ordered through my delivery was outstanding! My little girl arrived in Wisconsin safe and sound. They are definitely experts at packing live animals for shipment. She is a very healthy newt and I am extremely happy with my purchase! Thank you Backwater Reptiles!!!

I ordered two leopard geckos and they arrived completely healthy and they look awesome! These guys know what they are doing. Shipment came exactly when it said they would. Prices were very reasonable and I'm very happy with the business.

Review: I ordered a pet turtle from them. The original one they shipped had a large cyst on its neck and was sick. They did take the turtle back. The replacement was even worse. It was sick and lethargic. After asking me for pictures which I sent, they started challenging me saying "they ship these turtles every week, and no one ever complained. Then they stopped communicating with me. I shipped the sick turtle back to them at my own expense.Desired Settlement: I request a refund of the price paid for the turtle, plus my shipping costs of $35. They said they would not work with me on this since I contacted the Revdex.com

Business

Response:

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

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:They refunded my cost to ship the turtle back, but not the cost of the turtle itself! The turtle died while in my possession within the "7 day live guarantee" they provide. They should provide a full refund.

Business

Response:

We have processed yet another refund, this time in the amount of $49.99, a copy of which was e-mailed to the customer. We consider this matter closed and will not process any more refunds. This is absolute extortion.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Finally they have refunded what they should of at the outset.

I live in Spokane WA and it is still cool here my live arrived on time healthy and only one was a little. Cool I had there cages set for 2nd as before they arrived everyone was walking around and exploring the we homes I placed them in there new homes gave them about 2 hours to warm up and the were misted, fed crickets and fruit Flys all at perfectly. Misted 2 hours. Before lights. All arrived in perfect condition and on day 2 and all AR eating good an loving. The new houses. I will continue to use this company. And I am looking at passing this snow info onto my reptile friends ALL AND ALL A VERY NICE ANDROID HELPFUL CO PA NY ANDROID. AWESOME EXPERIENCE WITH LIVE ANaimals

I am extremely happy with backwater reptiles company. All of my critters have arrived healthy and happy. Anytime I've ever had a question backwater has been happy to help. Shipping is always been prompt and on time they always package the animals with care & and heating pads. Which is important I live in Alaska.

Thanks again to everybody at backwater reptile from my family deeply..!!!!!!!

Great customer service! My Tarantula package was so safe, and she is gorgeous. Thank you so much, see you soon with my next inquiry

I ordered a gargoyle gecko. He showed up in great shape. In spite of the cold weather he was active as I opened the box. Seems to be doing fine. The staff was really nice, and kept in contact with me through the hole process. I'm going to order through backwater reptiles again soon.

As of today I have ordered three tarantula spiderlings from Backwater Reptiles and have praised them in my recommendation to others. All have been received alive and active as guaranteed by overnight delivery. I am extremely impressed with the care that is given when securing them for transport as they are so small and fragile. I am looking forward to doing business with them in the future.

Tarantula arrived overnight as promised, was in great condition, well packaged with heat pack, GF LOVES IT, will buy from them again, more than happy to recommend :D

I did my research before ordering from Backwater Reptiles. Originally my husband had ordered from Reptile City which has terrible reviews and just a quick google image search shows dead snakes in the box. There was a "snafoo" with ordering from BW Reptiles, they flagged my credit card twice because I guess the billing address had never been updated from my old address so I had to re-order, and then send a picture of a utility bill before they shipped it out 2 days later. Not a huge deal, I'm glad they're on top of security like that but it did set my plans back 2 days. However the frilled dragon arrived perfectly healthy and very tame for a hatchling! It's obvious that they take good care of the babies before sending them out, it's crazy how chill my frilly is. I've had bearded dragon hatchlings hiss and bite more than this little guy and beardies are some of the chillest lizards around!

All in all, BW Reptiles is the site to go to for ordering reptiles. They have a 7 day guarantee where if your animal suddenly dies, you can get a replacement or a refund. They're also the only site to offer a live arrival guarantee on amphibians.

Customer service has always responded within at least 24 hours and Abbey has been very good about answering any questions I had regarding my frilly. :)

I received my Jackson chameleon and he is wonderful. So friendly and beautiful

Thanks

Review: Backwater Reptiles sent me two terminally ill snakes, got extremely rude with me when I wanted a refund, and finally gave me a refund (less the $40 shipping) so we could "part ways" (their words). When I asked about getting a refund for the shipping they continually pointed to the temperature in my area which did NOT factor into the death of the snakes. I said I would be disputing the shipping charge and they proceeded to threaten me, saying that if I dispute the charge they will file a collection for the FULL price of the order ($300 of which they had refunded!). Unbelievable customer service and I'm worried about the state of their reptiles; they are not healthy or well taken care of.Desired Settlement: Someone looking into their animals and making sure they are being properly cared for!!

Business

Response:

This customer did purchase two Reticulated pythons (Python reticulatus) from us, one of our best selling reptiles. The customer contacted us after arrival and said the snakes were not doing well--we attempted to give them advice on how to set up snakes that are perhaps stressed from shipment to such a freezing climate. The customer contacted us again later on and said the snakes had passed. We mentioned that it was very likely due to their sub-freezing temperatures at the time of delivery.Our Live Arrival Guarantee program is explained in simple terms on our website, at this link: [redacted]Each customer must click, "Yes, I accept the Live Arrival Guarantee terms" before an order can be submitted. Per the link above, our guarantee is voided when temperatures at the delivery zip code dip below 40F, which this customer's did by a wide margin. The reason for this is that it can be stressful and potentially damaging to the snake's immune system to experience such temperatures--although we do use insulated boxes and heat packs to help mitigate the risk. Upon shipping, we recommended that the customer have the package held for pick-up at their local [redacted] (to avoid a freezing delivery truck), something the customer did not do for some reason.All that said, we made an exception and allowed their snakes to be covered under our guarantee, meaning we refunded them $260 of their $300 order (no reptile company in the country refunds shipping--this is a shared risk and is made very clear on our website). Rather than being appreciative of the exception we made for them, they demanded the remaining $39.99 be refunded as well, often using curse words and all caps in their abusive e-mails. The customer also spammed our [redacted] page with F-bomb laden posts, which we believe was unnecessary and inappropriate. We feel that we have gone above and beyond for this customer, to no avail.the Backwater Reptiles team

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:The snakes had Full Body Inclusion Disease, something that originated from their source and didn't have anything to do with the temperature. I can provide our veterinarians guarantee. I still have all of the e-mails that will show that I most certainly did not send e-mails like you are describing, nor did I ever post to your facebook page. I was very concerned with the state the snakes arrived in (besides FBID, they were malnourished and severely dehydrated) and requested to talk to someone or get a call just to have my concerns put at ease. My request was ignored and then after I asked again denied. I also explicitly stated that I did not want to yell at anyone, I just wanted to express my concerns for the health of the animals. Again, they would not cooperate. At this point I did become frustrated. I am an animal lover and the thought of unknown numbers of reptiles possibly being held in awful condition breaks my heart. I find it entirely wrong to suggest that you did me a favor by refunding the money; I agreed to your live arrival guarentee under the impression that the animals would at least have a chance at life before being shipped. The poor condition of the snimals and their illness was the cause of death, not the temperatures here. I asked for shipping back because I essentially spent $40 to have two half dead snakes shipped to me only to die within 24 hours. That's a waste of money and if I had any reason to believe that the fault is on my end I would never have asked for a refund. I am not a bad person trying to bully someone into giving me free money; I am under the impression that you are fully aware that they were in this condition. I also received several threats from '[redacted]' in extremely rude e-mails. My intention with this complaint is to hopefully have someone investigate the well being of the animals you are selling. I am concerned that they are not being taken proper care of and could be suffering. I also don't find it okay that you are now lying. I have proof, I never sent any all caps e-mails nor did I once curse at you. I'm not a child, I have manners. There are countless complaints of your animals arriving dead or nearly dead. You've also been caught falsifying positive reviews for your own business. Someone needs to check on the safety and health of the poor animals in your care.