Backwater Reptiles Reviews (%countItem)
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Backwater Reptiles Rating
Address: 5406 Crossings Dr Unit 102375, Rocklin, California, United States, 95677
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I was cheated and mislead by blackwater reptiles. Ordered a Theraphosa blondi tarantula and received my box labeled Theraphosa blondi and it was not even a Theraphosa blondi! It’s a Theraphosa stirmi and they refuse any assistance or responsibility. Sick business practices
I ordered a tarantula from them and they did have it specifically listed that it was a baby tarantula. I have no clue how to take care of one and that is not what I wanted. The customer service is horrible and I see that they have a huge number of complaints against them. They don’t want to give me a refund or my right order I’m out 85$
The size the customer ordered was clearly listed in the drop down menu (see attached snapshot) and on his invoice (see attached snapshot) for review during the entire checkout process. We have a double-check system in place for our Tarantula orders. Each package is checked by two Team Members per the note in each package with the two check marks on the back guaranteeing that the Spider is correct. We have been communicating with the customer back and forth all day to help reassure him he received the correct order and we are unsure how this is being taken as "poor customer service". We cannot refund an order that has been shipped correctly and as paid for. Being that these are live animals, we do not have a return policy in place. It's very hard on the animals to go right back into the shipping process.
Never again I will Buy from backwater reptile I purchased my Grody sapphire From them and as you can see she’s was missing one Leg and Sadly she died on me not even a week later. I called them multiple times to let them know that she’s was not eating and she was not doing well and they were just buying time so for my guarantee expiredand so they had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to purchase another sling for 200 and something dollars from them I said nope I would never buy from you again you’re selling sick sling to people so be careful out there. My first time experience buying online
Ordered a yellow rat snake and ended up with a giant centipede instead.
MY TOAD CAME SHIPPED WITH TICKS ALL OVER IT, THIS POOR CREATURES LIVING CONDITIONS MUST HAVE BEEN AWFUL. I AM GLAD TO HAVE IT NOW, I HAD TO PLUCK 6 TICKS OFF OF THIS CREATURE. THEY SHOULD HAVE BETTER CARE FOR THEIR ANIMALS AND LOOK OVER THEM BETTER BEFORE SHIPPING.
This customer brought his concern to our attention to which we 1)offered reassurance 2)offered advice and 3) informed him that this is not a common occurrence however can happen with wild caught species as with any company in this industry. When asked for confirmation pictures of this claim, he sent over a video showing arachnids on the outer side of the animal which is uncommon for Ticks in particular. In order to survive, they have to have some form of host and imbed themselves into an animal where their legs are no longer visible. In our professional experience, his video shows that the Ticks could of not been on the animal (if at all), for longer than just a few hours at most. We also informed him we have had no other claims or concerns mentioned in regards to his issue with these animals. We apologized for the oversight and informed him, it’s rare but sometimes can happen when the wild caught Animals get shipped to our facility. They are generally just an unfortunate cosmetic blemishes that once removed cause no further issues, so we cannot justify a refund at this time.
Again, in our professional experience, a few minor Ticks will not harm your animal and are just a cosmetic imperfection. Being that we already offer a Live Arrival Guarantee to each customer (this customer included), we cannot offer a refund at this time. If in the extremely unlikely event the animal were to pass away, we can then go over your Guarantee Terms and discuss a refund as agreed upon by this cutomer during checkout.
I am rejecting this response because:it’s not right that their are ticks or any type of parasite to be on an animal when it’s being shipped. I didn’t buy a tick infested toad I thought I was buying a perfectly healthy CLEAN toad But it seems as you’re not willing to do a thing about so I will just quit wasting my time with your company as I have purchased several frogs from before it just shows you do not appreciate a returning customer a multiple returning customer at that I’ve spend hundreds of dollars on your site and I can’t even get alil appreciation from your company that clearly cares about the MONEY more than the animals they sell.
I bought several reptiles at once. One died and they let me get another tortise that I wanted for free. This was 6 days into their guarantee. I was rather impressed with them all together. I'm a customer for life now!
I tried to order a snake. My card was processed and 2 days later I'm emailed to be told they didn't have the snake. I opted for a refund and got it promptly but they tried to make me feel bad for them not having the snake in stock or updating their website. I kept checking their site for a few months and still showed that snake was in stock. Decided to give them a try again and the lizard shown in stock on their website wasn't. How is it other sites can keep up with their stock and reflect it online where they cannot? After confirming they don't have an animal they don't even bother to list it out of stock...
I received my second tarantula from Backwater Reptiles, Inc. and as expected, she came packaged safe and snug. They are very quick about processing orders and yet very attentive to making sure the critters are properly cared for on their journey to their new homes!
I will never buy my tarantulas anywhere else!
Karl
Streetsboro, OH
I bought 2 bearded dragon hatchlings from backwater reptiles. They were housed in separate enclosures and there homes are set up with the best lighting out there.
When the babies arrived in recieved one chubby very cute red bearded dragon(looks more orange or fancy than an actual red) and a very small malnourished citrus bearded dragon.
The citrus beardy was really struggling I had to syringe feed her to keep her alive.
She ate some roaches and pinhead crickets and started to show some signs of improvement then one morning she stopped eating altogether. I took her to the vet they said there was nothing more that could be done that when they give up eating they will likely die.
She passed away less that a week later even with the frequent attempts to get her to eat or drink.
When contacting Backwater Reptiles they said there is nothing they could do as inhad the pet already for 2 months.
It's not about the refund, this poor baby was very poorly taken care of and was obviously not strong enough to be sent out.
Hi Sierra,
We tried multiple times of offer assistance however it was rejected. We do hope you enjoy your remaining Beardie for years to come.
I ordered an African bullfrog from their website. I chose their website because they had a sale and I found that financially for the price and what they said to be over night shipping for 45$ was going to be the right purchase for me. I set up the tank, had everything ready, only to be told that actually the frog wouldn’t get shipped until Monday. Monday was a holiday but the company still claimed that I would receive my animal by Tuesday. Tuesday rolls around and I still have yet to receive the frog. Email after email trying to get some sort of answer led me to close to nothing. Their customer service is horrible, I am convinced their customer service is literally a bunch of animals. They have been nothing close to nice or respectful to me. It is now WEDNESDAY and I am not getting any sort of response. The tracking said it’s supposed to be here today but the company emailed me stating it won’t be here until Thursday. Mind you I paid for OVERNIGHT SHIPPING! And I ordered last Friday! It’s ridiculous.
This customer provided us two different shipping addresses so his order was on hold until we could confirm the address he wanted to use. We also informed the customer hours ago, that we would be shipping today to which he acknowledged and I again, then confirmed we are shipping today a second time. His order is also still shipping via overnight mail, just as paid for. We are baffled as to the complaint made here or how to resolve his "issue" when his order is already confirmed shipping as he requested? Please advise what we're missing here.
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I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Great business and very friendly and helpful :) I had an unfortunate incident a few days after a pixie frog I ordered arrived. After some talking they offered to ship another one for free, just had to pay shipping and 2 years later he's still alive and healthy!
Shipment never arrived. I couldn’t refund. Don’t buy from them.
Please note the following before reading: Everything you will read below is my personal experience, and while I cannot speak for others I will mention that I can sympathise for those who have very unfortunate experiences with Backwater Reptiles, Inc.. I will be providing any E-Mails and pictures sent as references. I'm also not new to owning reptiles and exotic animals in general, as I've grown up with them since I was a child. That being said I have enough experience to respond to misinformation once it's given.
As you may be aware, there is a lot of controversy regarding Backwater Reptiles, Inc.. Some research may yield you second guessing if you should buy from this company, and any sort of doubts should be an incentive to not purchase from them. If you are new to the pet industry it can be hard to spot bad breeders and promote bad husbandry, and even despite my experience I managed to think it might be okay to buy from this business. It's easy to be swayed by the fact they have a lot of positive reviews, donate to countless charities, and hold themselves in high regard on *their website*. The one recommendation I can give you is to look at unbiased sources and form an opinion for yourself, do not go based off of first appearances.
1.) My first complaint is on how poor the costumer service is, and how there's no other way to reach them outside of E-Mail. When looking between Backwater Reptiles, Inc. and some other websites, I was leaning towards a service that offered a Live Chat option (as they should) and had multiple points of contact. Meanwhile this company only allows you to E-mail, which they tend to be very slow in responding to and hardly take the time to read the issues you're writing about. My first experience was asking them about their albino African Fat Tailed Geckos (I'll provide the emails later on in this post) and what they looked like, as they provide nothing but a stock photo for their regulars. It took them a long time to reply, and I was told eventually that they'll put in a "processing request" for pictures which may take three days.
At first I thought it was odd that they needed three whole days to just show me pictures (and I'll admit it's a little suspicious), only to find that the people who respond to the E-mails are in another state entirely from where they house and ship their reptiles (and I've seen multiple people express this same point as well). I was very polite and patient, but they never got back to me about the pictures. Although they did take the time to go update their albino African Fat Tailed Gecko's prices (was $79 dollars originally, now $119 or so) during the "processing" wait time.
My second experience with their customer service was sending in a complaint about the condition my African Fat Tailed Gecko had come in, and how they either avoid answering my questions / issues at hand, or just lie about the circumstances entirely. Their responces lead me to another point of complaining, so I'll continue this tangent down below.
2.) My second point of concern is the bad animal husbandry at Backwater Reptiles, and I highly suggest you do not believe the claims that they are "reptile enthusiasts" and "care about their critters very much". While I realise this sounds rude, there is a reason I mention this. Not only have I heard horror stories about people receiving sickly or injured animals, some animals have even been shipped dead and in conditions that are dangerous for them. Not to mention they've even broken laws when it comes to selling animals of a certain size or age. Not to mention there have been several cases where they have sexed animals incorrectly, when you have no excuse for this if you've been in the animal industry for such a long time.
I can speak for certain that there is a large concern with how your animal will arrive and while I'm very thankful my boy arrived in good condition (as far as we know, as it's his first week and we'll be taking him to a vet soon), he still arrived having been put on his back and in such a small container. Such a small container where he wouldn't have had room to flip himself over, and the UPS jostling him shouldn't have been a concern at all. While I do not have a photograph to provide of this (and I understand if you're skeptical of this claim), my gecko had arrived very late in the evening and the thought of taking a picture of this hadn't occurred to me. I panicked because he was in this position for over 19 hours (here is the link to the shipping information: *** ). If you are not aware, most animals can be put through a lot of stress when flipped on their backs, and some can even die from it. In the case of AFTs and Leopard Geckos, it stresses them out and makes it harder for them to breathe. The only reason a gecko should be flipped on their back is if it is for medical purposes.
My gecko also arrived with a chunk missing out of his regrown tail, and when I mentioned it to Backwater Reptiles, Inc. I was met with the claims that "Fat Tail Geckos are such a species due to their regenerated tails" and "The majority of all Fat Tail Geckos in this industry, have regenerated tails". With these two comments from one of their employees, there are two points I wish to discuss.
a.) When I initially wrote about the concerns of my gecko's tail, I had stated I wasn't concerned about the fact it was regrown but *howit was regrown. This was ignored, and they proceed to tell me that this is normal, when in all of my experience with geckos I've never seen a regrown tail like this. The fact he has a chunk missing means he underwent a lot of stress where he was kept formerly, or it means he wasn't housed alone and other geckos kept bullying him or possibly injured his tail while it was re-growing.
b.) Regrown tails in this industry is actually a lie, as I've seem many (good) breeders know how to properly care for their geckos and not lose their tails. This isn't just a breed trait, and it shouldn't be easily dismissed. The fact that an AFT dropped it's tail means they were in an unsafe environment, has undergone a lot of stress, or means they were improperly housed with geckos who bullied them or tried to eat their tail. This is common knowledge, but the multiple people I've spoken to about this (one even having gone into exotic veterinary science and having a lot of experience with reptiles himself) find this to be a point in concern.
c.) The advice and reasoning they gave would actually be very harmful and misleading if I was a novice gecko owner. The loss of a gecko's tail is very traumatic, and needs to be treated responcibly as a result. Having determined it was "normal" and leaving the gecko be would shorten their quality of life, or in the worst case scenario kill the AFT.
If these people did genuinely care about their animals and house them in proper conditions, they would also see where this is concerning. However, they only apologise when you doubt their credibility, and not when it comes to the condition of the animal you've received. I even asked them what their feeding schedules of their reptiles (AFT's specifically) were as it would be helpful information (to give a better idea of when he used to eat / try to match it), and they ignored it completely.
Even when I expressed that I do not want a refund of any sort and I want to simply understand the condition my animal is in, they still find a means of avoiding any sort of responcibility. Which while I'm not very shocked, I will say this is very disappointing. Perhaps it was wrong of me to expect more of this company. While I'm kicking myself for supporting a company who doesn't care about their animals, I'm very happy to have gotten my gecko out of this place and to give him a better home.
Without further ado, I'll be providing two documents that has the entirety of the E-Mail conversations about the earlier conversation regarding the AFT albinos, as well as the initial thread where I wrote in my complaints about the condition my animal arrived in.
The E-Mails About Albinos:
***
The E-Mails Regarding the Condition of my AFT:
***
To those of you who are still confused about the issue after seeing the pictures provided in the above document, this is an example of how a healthy regrown tail *shouldlook:
We've already informed the customer his order is under review. If his resolution is for "an explanation", I'm unsure why he didn't even allow us 24 hours to continue with our thorough review? We're confused as to the resolution here.
I am rejecting this response because: This report was submitted after your "processing" was finished and I had received a responce from you. I find it's very appropriate for me to file a complaint, especially considering how unreasonable you all have been (not to mention you've failed to entirely read all of my messages). I do believe the required resolution was an explanation and an *apology*, to which you've never once apologise about the condition my animal is in. You only apologised that I do not "trust your honesty" and that in reference to my animal as if he were a "stationary object", as you like to throw around.
Seeing as you refuse to give an apology along the lines of "I am very sorry your animal arrived in such a condition, and we will speak with the employees who shipped them about this. We will also do our best to make sure our animals are housed properly and are in good health." would have sufficed. Even something along that territory, but you're only concerned about your credibility. Your staff member offered a partial refund, and if you still refuse to apologise then I'll close this case once I have properly been refunded and there's proof of being refunded.
Note that our emails are being updated in real time to those Google Documents. So if you spread misinformation, I will refer back to those to pull up proper quotes.
Thank you.
Backwater Reptiles proved to be one of the best purchase experiences I've had online. The website is easy to navigate and the information is clear and concise. Easy checkout and the guarantee is excellent. Communication is on point - I couldn't have been more pleased. And my little babies - a southern painted turtle and 2 common musk turtles arrived to the minute of the estimated delivery time, alive, healthy and active. I will be more than happy to purchase from them again. Truly an excellent seller and business. Highly professional and customer service was great.
I ordered a Savannah Monitor from backwater reptiles and the next morning I sent them an email on the status of my order. We talked back and fourth they answered my questions with extremely fast responses. Shipped my monitor out that day shortly after conversating. Arrived around 10 am the next day and was live and extremely healthy. Would 100% recommend backwater reptiles and will definitely be ordering again in the future.
Literally, the worst reptile website ever. I never made any order before like never ever, and when I made an order for the FIRST TIME. yeah seriously first time. their system automatically recognized my account as a scammer. So, I e-mailed them to what was going on and if there was any solution for it. the person who answered me said that I was banned and blocked ever ordering with them due to PREVIOUS FRAUD ORDER. never made an order before. So, I had to keep ask for the SOLUTION. but all the answers I got was completely out of my concern. I will love to post what they answered me if possible. NEVER order from them. the time spent with them will definitely less worthy than how much time you spend with them.
We apologize for any disappointment-- As with any business, when we are contacted by someone from the public who claims they never made an order with us before and requested to cancel the fraud order that was just made with their information, we cancel the order and issue a refund immediately per protocol.
I read a couple bad reviews of Backwater Reptiles after I had ordered and got nervous, but I ended up having a great experience! I had an issue with my address/credit card and it got resolved within hours. Very responsive staff who actually listen to your concerns and email promptly. The delivery instructions were very clear and took away a lot of stress around pick up/signatures. The frog arrived right on time from across the country; alive, bright, active and beautiful! I have zero complaints.
Backwater reptiles is fantastic. I've made three invertebrate purchases with them the last couple years, each time received fast shipping, friendly and knowledgeable customer service, and healthy animals with much more convenient packaging and at a much better price than other places I've ordered from before. I appreciate how much care they put into their creatures as well as their customers.
Website is easy to navigate and find a wide variety of "critters".
Easy, secure check out.
Good communication on order status.
Shipping time frames clearly defined.
Prompt shipping and expert packaging of live amphibians.
We ordered a Tortoise from this company on September 13th 2019. On September 16th 2019 they emailed saying our selection was out of stock so we asked them to refund our money. Our refund has still not come through in the amount of $194.98. They keep saying to contact our bank and we have. Our bank is showing no record of a refund. We cannot get anyone to contact us via phone to resolve this issue. We just want our money back.
We already informed the customer that we refunded their payment within minutes of stating we would. Please see attached screenshot showing the refund not only issued, but fully settled. We're very confused as to why a *** complaint was filed against us when we did exactly what was asked. If there is an issue with their bank statement, they need to contact their bank.
I am rejecting this response because: We have spoken to our bank several times regarding this issue. There has not been a refund posted to our account. If they had refunded our money it would be back in our bank account and it is not!
We provided visual proof not only to *** but to the customer as well. Please have a *** associate provide more information as to what we can do here. If we issued the refund, showed proof of the refund and have fully cooperated with the customer and this "claim", you can see why we are a bit confused as to what more we can even do.