Backwater Reptiles

I am rejecting this response because: This is not even close to what happenedTheir customer service rep chose to converse with my son, who DID email a photo of the dead animal, despite the fact that *I [redacted] purchased the animal and was the responsible adultWhen I expressed that I believed they should have been dealing w me and not a child, their csr got defensive and rude and said "how do I know who I was dealing with?" When I advised the business that I would be disputing the charge, they became aggressive, offensive and threatening, telling me they would report the charge back to credit agencies, etcTheir business practices are disreputable and their service is far below acceptable Since the shipping exceeded the cost of the animal, and I was treated poorly, threatened, and my son was traumatized by opening a package expecting a new pet, only to find a dead animal, the company's response is both inaccurate and unacceptable [redacted]

The customer ordered a scorpion during the month of February, and it unfortunately arrived DOAHis local temperatures hit a low of 18F the day of delivery, which voids our live arrival guaranteeEach customer must click, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms" before an order can be placedOur website is very clear on the terms of the guarantee, and we accept each customer's digital signature as having read and accepted the terms Here are the straightforward terms of the live arrival guarantee:http://www.backwaterreptiles.com/guarantee/live-arrival-guarantee.html The live arrival guarantee is null and void if local delivery zip code temperatures dip below 40FThis is the standard guarantee within the reptile industryWe attempted to make an exception for the customer on two fronts: we reinstated the live arrival guarantee for him despite his 18F temperatures, AND we lowered the replacement shipping to $from the standard $The customer did not find this satisfactory, and maintained that he should not have to pay anything, despite agreeing to our termsWe also made an exception and offered the customer a refund of the scorpion, less shipping, in accordance with our terms, but this was also unsatisfactory to himWe will leave this offer open to the customer, with no expiration------------ Cordially, [redacted] , owner Backwater Reptiles, LLC (916) 847-

Well, I ordered a snake from Backwater The night before shipping they contacted me with tracking info The snake arrived healthy and calm, with no sign of stress or skiddishness I contacted Backwater and informed them the animal made it safely, and they were pleased Their email response time is fairly quick I got a great snake with great and friendly service

I ordered a frog from backwater reptiles for my daughter for Christmas, it arrived deadWhen I contacted them, they said they could give me a discount on a new newI paid for the first oneThey would not give me my money back either I have ordered from them in the past with no troubleI will never order from them againVery poor customer service

I had a really good experience with this companyI've never wrote a review or rated any other company for any service in the past, this is my first timeBut I am so pleased with the services I received, that I decided to express it! Hats off to these guys!

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

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

I am rejecting this response because: The business, by their own admission, states they have been engaged in this bait and switch for years: marketing both picture and label that clearly state/show "eastern box turtle" They don't show a "hybrid" photothey don't list "hybrid" in their advertisement/photos, etc If they have truly been selling "hybrids" for years - why don't they show a picture of a hybrid, or market hybrid? If they are selling a partial eastern box turtle why do they market it as a full one? Shouldn't they say 1/Eastern or "NOT eastern box turtle" or possibly just "hybrid box turtle" Instead they show multiple pictures of pure "eastern box turtles"Even read the customer testimonial attached which does not say "hybrid" - did M Morton not realize that the turtles they bought look nothing like the photo or that they are not eastern box turtles (or is the testimonial a fraud too?)The business then continues to ignore their own shipping schedule and the email/invoice they sent on Wednesday which would mean Friday deliveryThey also continue to ignore that they packed the turtle on top of the frogs, ignore the photos showing the frogs were pushed into the side, as well as, ignore that one of the frogs was not inchesThey then hide behind a policy that they are obviously well accustomed to hiding behind claiming it was the heat that killed the frogs (but not the turtle?)They then say they would have refunded the money but I was impolite - ask them to show any impoliteness on my partthere wasn't anyThey literally called me unethical and dishonest and threatened me with some ridiculous collections (IC collections) when I in good faith paid them in full Buyer beware of this place!

I ordered a juvinile bluebar panther from themWhen I recieved a tiny babyI complained and they responded that I ordered a to inch bluebar panther wich are a large breed and she said thats what I gotI said but it said juvenileShe said well its not quite a juvi yetI said well according to u then if it has to grow then there is no such thing as a to inch juvi because it will grow before its a juvenileBabys 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 moreWhat they did is recieved babys n shipped em out as juvisThe 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

Regarding the customers rebuttal, I really don't know what to say at this juncture--our customer service team (we are two employees, and we both respond to the e-mails) would never get "mean" or "aggressive" with a customerThat would be grounds for dismissalWe always uphold our terms to the letter, and we continue to do so with this customerThe customer is not pleased with how things turned out, and that's certainly disappointing, but they clicked, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms" before they placed their order--all customers must do so to do business with usWe remind customers at every turn of the terms of our sales, not only on the website in many places, but also in tracking e-mails, at checkout, etc If a customer threatens us with an unethical chargeback as in this case (iewhen we are upholding our terms and the customer simply does not like our terms and says, "Do this or else"), we do say that because the customer threatened a chargeback despite our terms, in the interest of full disclosure we inform them that should we lose the chargeback, we send the full amount to a collection agency (IC Systems)We follow all laws and regulations to the letter There are certain customers that just cannot be satisfied, and this certainly is one of themWe even offered reduced shipping of $instead of the $under the guarantee program, but that was unacceptable in the words of the customer

It's unfortunate that this customer has chosen to be blatantly dishonest in their complaintThey said, verbatim, "I have tried contacting backwater reptiles, but to no avail as they have not been responding." We are attaching a screenshot (below) showing no fewer than responses from us to the customer over the past weekWe have offered to send a pre-paid shipping label to have him send the cage back, and we would then send a new, larger oneHe declinedSo, we said we'd offer a partial refund instead, which we are glad to doSometimes products such as cages get damaged in transit--it isn't common, but it happens occasionallyIn this case, the screen cage had a tear, and one of the two locks was disabled Regarding the captive bred Veiled chameleon, which I personally bred here at the facility, they were concerned it was rubbing itself against the screen/vineI said this is common as babies shed every couple weeks due to extreme growth, and this is how they "slough" the old skinThey said it slept often during the dayI extended our guarantee another week for them, and said if anything happened to the chameleon, we would cover it under our guarantee We feel very slighted by this customerWe are perplexed why they would make such unfounded accusations Backwater Team

I ordered a hard to find treefrog through backwater reptilesThey were able to find, and deliver us our frog before a very important deadline (daughters birthday)They kept in touch with me everyday to keep me informedThey were very diligent on finding the frogI will continue to use backwater reptiles for all our new pets

I did my research before ordering from Backwater ReptilesOriginally my husband had ordered from Reptile City which has terrible reviews and just a quick google image search shows dead snakes in the boxThere 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 days laterNot a huge deal, I'm glad they're on top of security like that but it did set my plans back daysHowever 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 isI'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 reptilesThey have a day guarantee where if your animal suddenly dies, you can get a replacement or a refundThey're also the only site to offer a live arrival guarantee on amphibians Customer service has always responded within at least hours and Abbey has been very good about answering any questions I had regarding my frilly:)

Awesome service Great experience

I ordered a bearded dragon for my daughters b.day and ended up getting a snake for myself both are eating and healthy arrived next day in good shape.some say they are not happy but thier gripes seem petty one guy said he was charged for s and h the box said but thats just shipping not handling they have to pay someone to pack and send the package right? grow up I will be a repeat customer I love my snake and my daughter loves her dragon thanks

Ordered our new baby turtle on Tuesday, shipped Wednesday and got her by 9:a.mThursdayHealthy and happy , very activeI am sure I will order again

Ordered two baby turtles from them they look great and are very active

Great expirence very healthy baby boa arrived, and is feeding very wellI highly recommend backwater reptiles

HELLO, I AM A CRITICAL CONSERVATIVE CUSTOMER WHOMEXPECTSQUALATY SERVICE AND HEALTHYHANDSOME ANIMALS FOR MY MONEY HAVING STATED THAT, LET ME SAY THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE RECIEVED FROM BACKWATER REPTILES I HAVE ALSO BONDED,(YOU MIGHT SAY) WITH ONE OF THE MAINPERSONALITIES OF BACKWATER CO ITS GREAT TO BE ABLE TO TEXT BACKWATER AND RECIEVE AN ANSWER ON ANY RELATED TOPIC BACKWATER IS VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THIER CUSTOMERS AND THIER EXCELLENT REPTILES MY REPTILES HAVE ALL ARRIVED HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND ON TIME WHAT MORE CAN O SAY? EXCEPT THEY HAVE WON MY FUTUREBUISINESS THIER REPTILES, I WILL BE PROUD TO DISPLAY AT OUR REPTILE CLUB MEETINGS THUMBS UPFOR [redacted] AND BLACKWATER REPTILESFOLKS AHUAGH!! [redacted] BAKERSFIELD CA P.SALSO, ANY COMPANY WHO CAN EXCEPT MYHUMOROUSAT TIMES COMMENTS, GETS MY VOTE

We are of course disappointed any time a reptile arrives DOA, albeit a fairly rare event, and we are always steadfast in standing by our terms and offering customers the guarantee program they agree to upon checkout by clicking, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms." We regularly make exceptions for customers, including this one, but even that was unacceptable to themThis customer believed the terms did not apply to them, which made working with them towards an amiable solution much more difficultIn the end, the customer did not accept any of the exceptions we made for them