Backwater Reptiles

Ordered a baby red tail boa from Backwater Reptiles. After reading all of the bad reviews online I was majorly worried. Once he got here I was so glad I chose them. He has the most beautiful colors and markings I've seen on a red tail. He is very tame, loves attention. Their service was the best I've received, by far a 10/10. Replies were very fast and helpful. Once again I am so glad I have ordered from them and will be doing so again. :)

I received my Mangrove Monitor in excellent condition, it was packaged perfectly with a coldpak to ensure it wouldn't overheat in these summer conditions. The beautiful animal is plump as it should be, and settling in to his/her new environment. I will definitely be doing business with Backwater Reptiles again.

My second purchase from Backwater. Animal arrived in 100% condition, not stressed, and began eating the next day. Very good communication and follow up. I would highly recommend Backwater as it was highly recommened to me, and they backed it up with great service and product.

My snakes came on time they were alive and I would do business again in the near future

I received a Hatching black roughneck monitor from Backwater Reptiles on Oct. 7 2014 and could not be more happy with little guy or the service. He came on time as directed and was also just what I was looking for in a new monitor, after being at my house for less than an hour he was already devouring crickets and crawling all over his enclosure like he has been here for weeks!

Thank you so much Backwater Reptile

David G.

Review: I paid $16.99 + $39.99 shipping through Paypal for a Garter snake with a "Live Arrival Guarantee" on 2-5-2014. It arrived dead this morning, 2-6-2014, and I notified the company. They offered to refund the price of the snake only- $16.99- or send another for AN ADDITIONAL $39.99. This means I have paid $39.99 to receive a dead snake from this company, and I do not feel this is fair. "Live Arrival Guarantee" implies the customer will receive a live animal for the price- and I did not. I feel cheated, and would like a full refund.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund including shipping please. I paid through Paypal.

Business

Response:

Our live arrival guarantee program is very clearly stated on our website (here is the page), and each customer must click, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms" before they can submit an order. We also instruct customers to read the live arrival guarantee on every single animal page on our website. We also send a message via e-mail stating the live arrival guarantee (a copy of what was sent to [redacted] can be provided upon request).

Review: I purchased a yellow niger uromastyx from this company. We received her on July 23 via FedEx. We have other reptiles in our home and upon delivery we could see the uromastyx looked ill and very thin. We contacted the Backwater reptiles and told them of the situation they replied to bath her and not handle her for a little while. It was obvious she was going to die, she would not eat at all. We stayed in touch with [redacted] the owner and he told us it would be silly to take legal action for such a small amount of money. My daughter saved for 3 months to purchase this reptile and tried everything to keep her alive but unfortunately she died before her warranty was even up, she lived only 6 days. We did a bit of research and found that this man has done this before. We contacted him via email and now he is not returning our emails. I feel this is a case of animal abuse as well as fraud. I purchased this reptile with my mastercard for $89.98. He has yet to respond with details concerning my refund. Please look into this man and stop him from doing this to other children. Thank you Ms.[redacted]

Product_Or_Service: uromastyx lizard

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

I would like a full refund so that my daughter can purchase another uromastyx. She absolutely loves animals and is very upset that anyone could do this to an animal.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

This customer purchased a lizard and it perished six days later--that we agree on. It's unfortunate whenever a captive animal passes, but it does happen, albeit rarely. Our website is extraordinarily clear on what our guarantee policy is: live arrival and seven days post-arrival. If something happens within that time frame, we offer one of the following, either of which the customer can choose:

1.) A free replacement animal, and the customer only pays the shipping of $39.99 (this is the standard for the reptile industry).

or

2.) We can refund the price of the animal, less shipping.

We tell the customer on every single animal page of our website to read the guarantee prior to ordering. We then require that each customer clicks, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee" prior to placing an order. An order cannot be submitted without acknowledging and agreeing to the guarantee. There is no fine print, it is very clear.

Some customers, however, believe the rules do not apply to them. [redacted] is one of those customers. We refunded the price of the lizard, less shipping, and the funds are back on her credit card as of 2+ weeks ago. She now wants the remaining $39.99 she paid for shipping refunded, but that will not happen and we (and our website) are very upfront and clear about the guarantee.

This company has awful awful customer service , They have no good phone number and when you email you may or may not get a return email . They only want you to buy online and no questions asked if you ask for pictures they will not provide them and they are mostly a middle man that never sees the animal . DO not BUY from this company !!!!!

A family member ordered a chameleon from Backwater Reptiles for my birthday. I spent a ton of money setting up the cage to chameleon standards: screen vertical cage, dripper, tons of vines and plants to climb on, the works. The chameleon arrived extremely lethargic. I spent three days trying to get it to eat and drink with no luck. Finally, I took it to the vet. The vet said it needed to be hospitalized or euthanized. She also said that chameleons don't get that sick after one day of shipping. She believed it had been sick long before it was sent to me. After contacting Backwater Reptiles, they told me the breed that had be purchased for me (Graceful) was imported and may have parasites or other issues that they don't know about. I honestly don't understand why you would even sell them in that case. Or they should atleast mention that when you are purchasing the animal. The chameleon has had to be given food and water through a syringe for the last few weeks until it built up the strength to hunt on its own again. BR sent my family member a refund of the money for just the chameleon, not the shipping. It's barely a chip in the grand scheme of the huge vet bills I've shelled out so far. I would absolutely not recommend purchasing from BR. Find a breeder near you so you can be well informed about the animal you are taking in and so it won't be thrown around in shipping.

Rude and unprofessional. Rather than deal with their customers professional they tell you to take your business elsewhere even though they already CHARGED your Paypal account!

Very satisfied with the customer service provided by Backwater reptiles. Very professional service, promt reaction time in answering emails I've spent more money with this company a second time and plan to do more business with them.

My retic is so beautiful l will definitely be ordering from backwater in the near future service and shipping were very prompt couldnt have asked for anything more

Brilliant Service very very happy with the service

I would just like to say that I have done business with Backwater on three different occasions and every time I have had a great experience. I just got my beautiful Jungle x Coastal Carpet Python in today and she looks absolutely amazing! I would like to express my thanks to all of the Backwater staff, especially [redacted]. She kept me up to speed on the entire process and made the overall experience very pleasant. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL SNAKE!
Very Respectfully,

I ordered 225 Dubia Feeder Roaches from Backwater Reptiles for my Bearded Dragons and not only were the prices competitive and fair, but the Roaches arrived on time and there was no hassle in having the package held at my local Post Office because of the high temperatures in my area. Included with the Roaches was Roach Food and Water Crystals which is a huge help! My Beardies chowed down immediately and they both approve. :) We all send our thanks to BWR for the speedy delivery and quality product!

Review: I communicated with Backwater Reptiles about Russian Tortoises. I specifically asked whether the tortoises had parasites or other health issues that many wild-caught tortoises experience, and was assured the answer was no.I purchased two Russian Tortoises from Backwater Reptiles. Roughly two weeks after they arrived, one died.I wrote to Backwater Reptiles asking what went wrong, and I described the housing, the food, and all other details, and was assured we are doing everything correctly and following best practices.I wanted to get a new tortoise to replace the dead one, but told Backwater Reptiles that first I wanted to take the living tortoise to the veterinarian to confirm that one was healthy.The veterinarian told me I have a very sick tortoise. The estimated cost to test and then treat was roughly $550. I told the veterinarian that was too much, so he opted to simply treat, since in his experience, a lethargic, dehydrated tortoise that wasn't eating was likely suffering from parasites and metabolic consequences. Additionally, the veterinarian assured me the tortoise had to have been sick for a long time to be manifesting the metabolic issues as it was.The cost to treat was approximately $190, which I paid.I wrote to Backwater Reptiles, and I informed them I expected them to reimburse me for that treatment. I didn't ask to be reimbursed for my dead tortoise, just for the treatment of the living one.They told me I could just send the tortoise back, and they'd send a new one.I have two small children who have become attached to the tortoise. I also find it remarkably inhumane to take a sick animal, put it into a bag and then into a box to be shipped away.My arguments against Backwater Reptiles are a) They specifically assured me the tortoises were healthy when they sent them, which clearly was not the case; b) They are refusing to reimburse me for the cost of treatment.I would like to protect other families from becoming victims of this deplorable outfit.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded the cost of the veterinarian and the treatment.

Business

Response:

Firstly, the customer is unfortunately being quite dishonest--we certainly would never assure a customer purchasing a wild-caught tortoise that it wouldn't have any internal parasites (all wild animals have them, and generally it's not an issue). I went through each e-mail we sent to the customer (and she's been e-mailing us from three different addresses), and absolutely none of them said anything about no parasites--this is a blatant falsehood by the customer. In reiteration, we would never say a wild caught animal wouldn't have any parasites. I invite the customer to produce the e-mail they are referencing.

I ordered my female Biak hatchling and I really fell in love. It came right on time very healthy and full of energy. Thanks a lot Backwater Reptiles I was defiantly buy more from you as well refer people!

The following is the email I sent Backwater Reptiles after I received my beautiful Emerald Tree Boa from them. I think it sufficiently sums up my feelings about the whole experience, which was overwhelmingly positive:
-Just letting you know I received the Emerald Tree Boa this morning safe, sound, alert and feisty. She is truly stunning, and, amazingly, all my admittedly fastidious preferences/requests seem to have been met.
This has truly been a remarkable experience. In my nearly 20 years of keeping snakes, never have I received such prompt, thorough and downright warm/kind service from a reptile dealer (many of whom, I've found, fare poorly when it comes to customer service or interacting with people in general, no matter the quality of the animals they keep). This is all-the-more extraordinary and pleasantly surprising, given how large and brisk your business is. To Amanda, Meg and Abbey (the agents with whom I exchanged emails and who provided such great service every step of the way); the shipping department (who picked an animal that met all my specific tastes); and all the Backwater Reptiles staff who made this whole experience possible, thank you.
Kind Regards,
-Brian A. D[redacted]
Thomasville, Georgia
Sent from my iPhone

I received a very healthy, alert, and nicely marked Red Tail Boa. Shipment was fast and as promised, company reps contacted me and engaged in pleasant email communication, and the shipment arrived well packaged, temperature controlled, humane and more than adequate to insure healthy, live, arrival. The Boa is an excellent reprsentative specimen of the spieces, well marked, healthy and alert. It immediately socialized, and with typical curiosity began expolring it's new home for the inevitable escape opportunities. You gotta love it! I would not hesitate to recommend Backwater as a vendor. This is a tricky business, shipping live tropical reptiles. Things happen. You want an experienced, professional vendor to handle the packing and shipment, and Backwater has this expertise and healthy product at a fair price in my opinion.

100% positive experiance, could not have been better, and there is no easier way to keep your wife out of your man cave area than to put a snake on guard duty...Works like a charm every time. Just tell her you let it roam freely 3 days a week, guess what day today is... ;-)

Rainman,

Montgomery, Texas

First I purchased 3 African Trap Door Spiders and they arrived alive and healthy. Put them in their tanks and they burrowed over night and are doing great! Then I went ahead and ordered 2 Emperor Scorpions, a Vietnamese Centipede, and a Jumbo Goliath Bird Eater tarantula. They all arrived on time and alive in great condition! Packaging was excellent, all went in their tanks and are exploring their new homes! I'm very happy with my new pets and Backwater Reptiles has the friendliest customer service! They answered all of my questions same or next day. 10/10 will be buying from them again.