Backwater Reptiles

Hello ***,
We're disappointed that you find our guarantee misleading--we ship to thousands of customers each year, and we are never accused of being misleadingWe realize you are disappointed with the outcome, but our guarantee is nothing if not straightforward and clear, and each customer is reminded of the guarantee at each stage of the browsing, ordering, and tracking process, and each customer must specifically agree to the guarantee terms before an order can be placed
Below you will find the text from the guarantee page on our website--very clear, simple, and straightforward:
If temperatures at the delivery zip code dip below 40F or above 90F, the live arrival guarantee and extended guarantee are both completely voided for all reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and feeders.
Cordially,
Backwater Reptiles, LLC

We're a bit baffled by this complaint. Firstly, it's been submitted by the customer's girlfriend, not the customer.Secondly, the customers low temperatures dipped below the 40F threshold, which fully voids our guaranteeThe customer clicked, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms"
when he placed his orderAll customers must do this.Thirdly, we even made an exception and said we'd allow full coverage of the guarantee, PLUS we discounted the replacement shipping to $instead of the usual $39.99. Fourth, the last e-mail we have from the customer was: Thanks so much I really appreciate it was a gift and I really didn't have it I really appreciate it.Now we get a complaint? We're puzzled

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear that you feel this wayWe offered to send you a free prepaid label to ship the turtle back for a refund, but you sad you gave it away to someone in another stateThere are thousands of zip codes in the United States and regulations are not based upon zip codesIf a particular species is disallowed in your city or county, while we do our due diligence and are highly knowledgeable of wildlife regulations, we also instruct all customers (noted on our website) to be cognizant of their local regulations as well

I am rejecting this response because: ON the days shipped January 17-18, it was degrees four days in a row that is why I ordered when I did here All they have been saying all along that all they needed was a picture of the dead animal on the shipping box and that I supplied I want a full refund

This customer ordered a baby Green iguana, which we shipped to her and she receivedUnfortunately it was apparently DOA, although the customer never e-mailed us proof per the website instructions (we require a picture of any dead animal, for our records)Despite the fact that the customer's
local temperatures completely voided our live arrival guarantee (anything below 40F), we still offered our guarantee program which means the customer could either:
1.) Receive a refund of the price of the animal, less shipping
or
2.) Receive a replacement animal, and the customer would only pay shipping ($39.99)
The customer refused both options, and demanded a full refundWe explained that we were already making an exception for them by offering our guarantee coverageWe have an entire page on our website, at the top of every single page, dedicated entirely to explaining the very simple guarantee programWe mention on each page of the site for customers to read the shipping and guarantee termsEach customer must click, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival terms" before they can submit their orderWe also reiterate the guarantee on the tracking e-mail we send on the day of shipping
We are still willing to refund the lizard, less shipping, or send a replacement for $

Was very happy with my purchase of emperor scorpions they arrived in great health and are doing extremely well will be doing my business here from now on!!!!

My 4th transaction with *** (Backwater) He is a very personable vendor, honest and easy to contactMy Corn Snake was as tame as if I had raised it all along, and was acclimated and eating in daysI just placed another order today, and expect the same excellent service, fast shipping, and quality live animal to be deliveredThanks Sam, and the Backwater team!
*** *** * in Montgomery, Texas

Firstly my experience with the sale and delivery went very wellIf you read the site's FAQ and policies closely, you know exactly what to expect, and they delivered wellAll promises were fulfilled: tracking number was given to me at 7:30pm (it was promised by 8pm), and the spider received on time at around 9am (was due by 10:30am)No complications whatsoeverI received three notification emails about my order so I never felt left in the dark
My primary complaint was that my order, a Honduran curly hair tarantula, was very youngIt was a spiderling, no larger than a dimeIt appears to be VERY healthy, so no complaints there, but the website did not indicate that it would be sending juvenile spiderlingsWith some reptiles, you can order babies or adults, so I expected what pet stores usually sellMany pet stores that DO carry spiderlings refuse to sell them to customers, so I didn't expect a baby spider here
I would have at least liked a little notification or a discounted price for a baby spider, rather than the same price I'd pay for an adult
I will raise the spider and I'm sure she'll be fine, but I thought it was reasonable to expect an adult, or at least a spider more than a few weeks old

This customer's dispute refund included the crickets he ordered as well--he has made no attempt to return the funds that were taken from us for the crickets he received, or the non-refundable shipping (shipping fees are not refundable, which is very clearly stated on our website)No reptile company refunds the shipping fee on a DOA orderWe will adjust the collection total to $(instead of $114.97), which is comprised of $for the live crickets, and $for the non-refundable shippingHe is entitled to a refund of $for the Flapneck chameleon he ordered, and that has already been processed and settled.
This customer believes that the simple terms he agreed to when he placed his order, do not apply to himHe explicitly clicked, "Yes, I agree to the live arrival guarantee terms" when he placed his orderBut now, he does not want to adhere to the aforementioned terms.
We are fully standing by, and upholding, our terms.
The Backwater Team

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear that you feel this wayWe offered to send you a free prepaid label to ship the turtle back for a refund, but you sad you gave it away to someone in another stateThere are thousands of zip codes in the United States and regulations are not based upon zip codesIf a particular species is disallowed in your city or county, while we do our due diligence and are highly knowledgeable of wildlife regulations, we also instruct all customers (noted on our website) to be cognizant of their local regulations as well

I was so pleased with our Slider (Oliver)Not only is he perfect and healthy, but he arrived on timeThe company Blackwater Reptiles was on top of all my emailsAmanda answered all of my questions even after Oliver arrivedI was very pleased and would recommend them very highlyFive Star service for sureThank you Amanda!

I have never ordered live animals online Backwater Reptiles is a most reputable business Delivered to the exact time! Both animals are healthy and in superb condition
It is rare to find such an excellent business, both in product and service

I am rejecting this response because:
I contacted Backwater Reptiles about this issue immediately, and am pursuing further action now because I was not satisfied with the response I previously receivedI have attached my full correspondence with the customer service representative I spoke with the day I got the dead animalI promptly complied with all requests made by them, included all pictures asked, and responded within hours of the lizard arriving at my houseI have re-attached my full email correspondence to this message as well to prove this factThe replies sent to me by the customer service representative were unprofessionally written and the requests for my personal credit card information of an unsecured email came off as a scam, at bestEmojis when I was distraught about a senseless animal death are uncalled for and unnecessary, and are all present within the attached fileThank you

I am rejecting this response because: once again backwater reptiles has fallen shortthey state that they have resent the order but failed to send me a tracking numberback water reptiles has taken times as long to fulfill my order than they were supposed to and believes that this is appropriatebecause I have no tracking number, I have no way of knowing when to expect my feeders to arrive.The weather when I ordered my feeders was well with backwaters alive arival standards but they decided to wait over a week to send the orderwhen they arrive they have a high probability of arriving outside of the live arrival guarantee temperature zonethis should not be the customers consern but the businesses because they sent the order oyt over times longer than it should have takenbackwater Reptiles has done nothing to compensate me for the extra time taken in shipment nor of the fact that they have messed up my orderlong story short, Backwater reptiles has fallen short on multiple aspects and expects for me the customer to be alright with their shortcomingsAlthough they do have some great employees, the owner is rude and purposely insulted me and called me an angry manthey refuse to directly answer my questions but expect me to be content with the little customer "nonserice that they offer

Dont use Backwater Reptiles for your reptile purchaseI bought supposedly super giant hatchling leopard geckos on a Wednesday with overnight delivery for Thursday at 10:am and didn't receive my geckos until Saturday at 8:47, after a horrible experience dealing with Fedex! One gecko was Dead the other seems like it may die tooNeither are hatchlings, both juveniles and no proof that they will or won't be super GiantsI emailed the company with no response yetI will seek a full refund minus shipping feeLive arrival guarantee is not a guarantee of live arrival, it is a guarantee of compensation for DOASadly not worthy of the life of these creatures, replacement or refund does not make the dead reptile alive again and I don't feel it is equal to the loss of life and stress of the situationI would NEVER use BackWaterReptiles again!

I am rejecting this response because: I appreciate that you complied with my request to remove my photo from two of your webpagesYour current photo in use is of course, different from mine.However, your claim that the photo has always been different since the beginning of my complaint is false. Evidence is easily found by a simple google search There are other internet archives, such as ***, I can look into to show that my photo had indeed appeared on your website. I would appreciate that in resolving my complaint satisfactorily, you confirm that you have ceased using my photo, and will desist from using my photo for all marketing, advertising and promotions now and in future.Thank you

I recived my little lizard in great shape I named him jade because of his cute green color he is healthy and doingVery wellI would recommend this business to anyone because they got my lizard here ok where I liveI am very pleased for what I gotThanks a million nancy

My 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 shapeI had their terrarium ready and they are settling in well They don't like handling, but don't bite, and calm down shortlyThey are eating crickets that I offer to them with tweezers I am happy with my purchase Communication with Backwater people was good, and helpful

The customer is responding differently in this complaint than via e-mail, and it's fairly difficult to determine where we standWe attached a screenshot showing an e-mail from this customer saying they accepted our replacement offer, but in this complaint they are saying they reject itThe tortoise was captive bred and was definitely not sick--our animals are checked by a veterinarian before being shippedHowever, we are attempting to work with the customer to compromise and make an exceptionWe can go down to a replacement for $shippedIs this acceptable?

My baby girl is so cuteShe's a loveI'm proud to say I have two new babies nowA little gecko named Daryl and now my little OnyxI'm in love with both!!