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DOA Tarantula Due to Company's Improper Packing
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FLORIDA -- On Saturday, February 15th, I contacted Backwater Reptiles via email to inquire about purchasing a Salmon Birdeater. I was unable to add the item to my cart, despite saying they were in stock. Knowing they were likely out of the office for the weekend, and the tarantula was likely OUT of stock, I opted for ordering a different species. So that evening of the 15th, I ordered a Skeleton tarantula. My order went through for the cost of the tarantula (32.99) and shipping (44.99) for a total of 77.98. Monday afternoon rolls around and I get an email stating that the Skeleton leg is actually out of stock (despite their horrible website not being updated), but they could send me a Stripe Knee tarantula instead as they are quite similar. I said sure, why not.

On their website, the Stripe Knee is listed as 24.99 on the general tarantulas page. I had no reason to click on it as I did not have to place another order to get her. I let them know on Tuesday the 18th around 9am that I would take the Stripe Knee, and that I'd like if she was shipped out that day. They stated technical difficulties on their website, despite my order already being processed, and informed me it would be another day until the tarantula was shipped. She then was shipped Wednesday the 19th from Florida in the evening. In the meantime, I asked for a refund on the gap in price between the original tarantula I purchased and was charged for and the less expensive one arriving (keep in mind, their page listed the Stripe Knee as 24.99). That would be a small refund of 8 dollars.

Later on, one of their staff was seemingly confused (I've seen her say that word a lot in reviews and photos from other people) that I was asking for a refund. Turns out they have two different prices for the Stripe Knee. 24.99, and 34.99 once you actually click on the tarantula's profile-- once again, I had no reason to do so as I wasn't placing another order on their website. It was through email. I had to actually send her a screenshot of the 24.99 price because clearly the staff are incompetent when it comes to their website.

Thursday comes, my tarantula arrives at my doorstep, signature required, at 10am. I promptly opened her box and found her dead on arrival. I understand this happens at time, even for a company that guarantees "ironclad live arrivals." However, this tarantula was not packaged properly. When you are shipping a delicate creature such as a tarantula, you always pack the container full of paper towels to ensure the animal cannot move significantly. Otherwise they will roll around in that plastic container causing damage and even death. This is well known in the trade/hobby.

My tarantula from Backwater was packaged with the smallest ball of paper-towel that was quite obviously ripped from a larger sheet. It was the size of my palm, rolled into a ball, and she was next to it, dead. It was obvious that she had died during shipping from being rattled around and not protected like she should have been. This was absolutely cruel.

Like I said, I understand you can't 100% guarantee live arrival (they do), however her death was solely the product of Backwater's negligence when packing her. It's cruelty and absolutely disgusting. I promptly emailed Backwater, they refused to take responsibility for a massive error on their end, and decided to tell me not to lay blame or point fingers when upset. This was after telling them how absolutely ashamed they should be for letting this slip. This tarantula spent the last hours of its life in complete distress because she had no protection during her commute.

Backwater refused a full refund based on their terms and conditions you sign, however I will be disputing it. They did not hold up their end of the contract by safely shipping an innocent creature. Instead, they threw the smallest bit of tissue in there and sent her off to die. This was neither my fault, nor UPS. I have contacted and sent proof including photos, emails, proper packing tutorials, etc. to many tarantula communities, YouTubers, and other people famous in the hobby.

I'm glad I'm not the only one livid about what happened. One of the most famous in the hobby will be making a review on his Youtube about my experience, and I cannot wait for others to see it and think twice about purchasing from Backwater Reptiles. It seems most in the community already know about their horrible reputation, but this is for the others who start with doing their research. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM! And a message to Backwater when they see this, you can argue this all you want as it's clear on all the other reviews, however YOU are the ones that messed up and I'm not the only one angry about it.

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Terrible
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACRAMENTO, GEORGIA -- I have bought 5 T's from this company for about 6 or so months now. My first time I got lucky on which T I wanted because they had that in stock. Well recently they really showed how poor their business is with my recent order this week. 1. Website: The website never gets updated on their stock. They have some T's that are not on sale but on normal price. The sold out ones could be available but you'll never know it without sending them an email about it.

Sometimes the ones they do have stock is out of stock (when they are, forget about getting that one from them). When they do get new types of T's, again it doesn't update their list on their site. Now this site has no phone number due to them wanting to be a website store only. With all the lack of updating on their main sell point, it really looks bad.

  1. Service: The customer service isn't very grand either. With the only way to make contact them is by e-mail, it makes it hard to get the error corrected in a timely matter. Due to the sites lack of updating, I had to revise my order by email. First they wanted to get me a 50 dollar T to replace the 100 dollar rare T I wanted. They would have kept the extra 50 dollars so I had to decline it. After a week of emails they finally gave me a list of T's they have ready to ship. However the ones I picked were again, out of stock. I had to revise again and this time they promise to give me the 20 dollar refund with my new order. Never got that refund.

  2. Shipping: The shipping is indeed fast, but there are some hidden problems with it. First, I live in GA and they ship in FL. They still want the 44.99 dollars for the shipment. My recent box has a price of 15.45 cents. Makes me wonder where the extra costs go. Sometimes they ship the T's correctly, however with my recent shipment they packaged them very wrong that could have killed the animal in travel. Instead of putting moist cloth with them, they kept the dirt in there.

My Arizona ** was trying to fang her way out while being covered in the dirt. The other one, a sling, I thought died but was just in ball of dirt. This tells me that they had them in those containers til they are bought and just threw them in a box and put some newspapers in there. If you have a longer distance than I do, please don't buy them or your pet will have a good chance of dying.

  1. Selection: Now I only have experience with the tarantulas they sell. I bought an emerald skeleton from them and I swear, it isn't an emerald skeleton. They gave me some unknown T which sucks since I had an enclosure for that kind of T. Also don't bother selecting which gender you want, they don't sex the animals and just ship whatever. They also do not breed or handle the animals. They get their stock from other breeders (which explains why their stock is crazy at times). This is my last time ordering from these guys. I love the T's I have from them, but I don't like the way they have been doing their business. If you do consider buying from them, do research if this review isn't enough.
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Never Again!!!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ONLINE, ILLINOIS -- I had the worst experience with Backwater. I ordered an adult garter snake on a Thursday which meant it would ship out Monday and arrive Tuesday. So the weekend passes and it's Monday night around 7 or 8 pm. I email their customer support line because I hadn't received tracking information. At this point I'm pretty optimistic still, I was just excited and I wanted to make sure everything was ok with my order. Next morning, nothing. I get a response around 2-3 in the afternoon telling me they are out of adult garter snakes and asking if I'd accept a baby instead.

At this point, I'm pretty annoyed that no one thought to mention this to me between when I placed my order on Thursday until they received my email wondering where my package was on Tuesday but whatever. I accept and ask when I should expect it. I receive an email back saying I should expect tracking information later that day and the snake would arrive the next day. Great! Wonderful! Except 8 pm rolls around and guess who still hasn't gotten tracking information. I email them again saying I'm starting to get frustrated as I'm still not receiving any tracking information.

Next day I get a response around 4-5 pm. “I don't understand what the problem is, my last email confirmed your order was shipped out. I don't know why you didn't receive tracking information but here it is” with a link to tracking information. I click the link. It detailed that the package had arrived that morning at a time when I was home, received by a person with a last name different from mine at an address in a different state. They sent me someone else's tracking information.

I email them back just saying it was someone else's tracking information. Several hours later I receive an email with tracking information saying my package is shipped. I never received an apology. But the story doesn't even end there. When I did receive the snake. I expected a snake that had been eating for several days, well taken care of etc. instead I got a baby garter snake who looked to be about a day old. He was tiny and skinny and possibly underweight.

For some reference, garter snakes are so little when they are born, they do much better in groups of their littermates. Garter snakes also give live birth. I expected a decently sized baby who was past the littermate grouping size and was a healthy weight so close to 8 or 10 inches long. I received a snake 4-5 inches long. For a happy ending he's doing okay however I had to make an entirely new setup when he arrived as well as needing to research what to feed this tiny thing. I've attached a photo of him but it makes him look bigger than he is, believe it or not.

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Total Lack of Accountability--DO NOT BUY FROM
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACREMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- I placed my order for a Yellow Footed tortoise on a Thursday, and it was to be shipped the following Monday, and delivered on Tuesday. Alright, simple enough, right? WRONG! Anyone who is remotely considering buying from Backwaterreptiles.com DO NOT BE FOOLED. The reviews on their website are most likely fabricated.

I was contacted by customer on Monday (the expected day of shipment) support telling me that my yellow footed tortoise was out of stock, and asking me if I wanted a Red Footed instead. I was rather annoyed, but stated that I would take the Red Footed instead. I then received an email saying that it would have to be shipped on Tuesday instead due to the time frame changing. I responded and stated that the only reason the time frame had changed is because of a mistake that they made with their inventory management and buyer notifications and requested that they ship the tortoise the Monday (it was around 1 p.m.) or else I'd like a refund.

They then responded (screenshot can be viewed below) and blatantly denied any wrongdoing on their part, and then asked if I wished to continue "revising" my order. Horrible service. Will not buy from ever again. Backwaterreptiles.com is shady and neglect their customers. The extreme arrogance that was demonstrated is enough for me to take my business elsewhere.

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Support Was Worthless
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACRAMENTO, NORTH CAROLINA -- The snake that was delivered was pretty, but way too small (about 3") to be sold and shipped. It could not eat the pinkies, which Backwater Reptile suggested feeding it. We contacted Backwater Reptiles, informed them of everything that we were trying and the only response we received was to do the things that we had already documented trying. They did not even bother to listen to anything we informed them of and were absolutely worthless.

Backwater Reptiles insisted that the snake had eaten pinkies before being shipped to us, but we could not find any pinkies small enough for it to eat. Eventually we took the snake to our veterinarian and we were told it was too small to be force fed. We kept it alive for over a month by feeding it chicken broth. I've kept many snakes over the last 30 years, but allowed myself to be rushed to get a Western Hognose Snake for my son's 18th Birthday. Never again! Found a new pet shop and will never order one online again!

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Great Communication, Healthy Turtle!
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

ROCKLIN, CALIFORNIA -- I received my southern painted turtle today this morning. He was shipped when he was supposed to be and I received him 12 hours after shipping with very accurate tracking the entire way! My little guy is very active, healthy and very strong for such a little guy (he's a little larger than a quarter!). I'm very impressed! I also contacted the company with some questions and got very prompt and caring responses.

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Bad Service! Please DON'T waste your valuable time!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- My baby kingsnake died about 9 days or so after I received her. I've had snakes before and I know how to care for them. She died in the night after showing some obvious signs of illness the night before. She couldn't keep her balance while her head was in the air, like she kept bobbing back and forth, it was not right and kept opening and closing her little mouth, and emitting a "popping" sound. Also not normal.

Do NOT waste your time and money here! The owner, Sam, is very gruff with his customers, VERY unprofessional.
You can find MUCH better than Backwater Reptiles, and without a headache. I had a bad experience, my baby snake died a week later, and am out $140. I hope this company goes out of business, and I REALLY feel like wherever the animals DO come from, do NOT get the care they REQUIRE. It's so sad! :(

Reptile EXPOS however are a great place to purchase many different kinds of reptiles. An EXPO can come to different states once a year or so, just research one. And you can ask the breeder questions right there! :) much better option. Also, shipping an animal in a box long distances where they could get knocked around (and probably do get knocked around because it doesn't say "LIVE ANIMAL", like it should. You just really never know how a business operates when they are far away.

Also if a reptile company catches wild animals, there is a very good chance they will die shortly after being in captivity, as it is NOT natural for that particular animal. Wild animals do not like to be in the same spot all the time, so what will happen when they are put in a cage? I must help to add my voice to help others avoid a possible dead pet! Good luck!

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SCAM BUSINESS
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FLORIDA -- I ordered from them, and they did ship out everything as soon as possible like they said. They say everything comes with a live guarantee. My reptiles arrived dead. Needless to say I contacted them immediately. They said I must have done something to them, that this doesn't happen to them. I explained, I received them this way, and was called a liar. I was told if I tried filing a complaint anywhere I would be sued, and if I filed a charge back, I would be placed in a collections agency, and have to pay anyways. They are very rude, and very unhelpful.

Plenty of other reviewers have stated same experiences with them. Many of their animals are sick or emaciated on arrival, if they are not dead all together. I wish I would have looked them up before ordering and saved myself a big mess. To all future customers of backwaterreptiles.com who do read this, please look at all the other negative reviews from people scammed out of their money just like me. Buy your animals locally, or do your research before trusting innocent animal lives at the mercy of idiots.

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Horrible
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CALIFORNIA -- I purchased a tarantula and a cage for a birthday gift on 4/20. They emailed the next day saying it was not in stock despite being available to order. I chose another one. It was shipped within 2 days, but when it arrived it was dead. I was instructed to wait in case it was molting, I waited and waited. Sent my required pictures and was told to keep waiting. I still had no cage at that point delivered. I waited some more and it started to shrivel up. They accused me of not contacting them soon enough even though I have days of emails to prove otherwise.

I asked for a refund and to know where my cage set up was. It has now been 14 days, I have a dead spider and still no cage. They refuse to take phone calls and have stopped responding to emails. They own me $187 and so much time I will never get back. The fact that they are running a business like this is absurd! DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THEM! Liars and frauds!

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We'll See
StarStarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 3/51

FLORIDA -- I didn't realize that this company had this much bad reviews until I already bought my lizard. I will say my order was shipped like it said on the website. I did get my lizard on Tuesday. The only issued I had was delivery, because of the carrier the company did state to pick up instead of delivery, but somehow there was miscommunication on the carrier side, but I did finally get my lizard and was very alive. Now the only thing I'm am concerned is the lizard does has wound where the lip/nose area. I did researched that could be from nose rubbing against the glass or mouth rot - hopefully not that, but I'm going to get the lizard looked at in a week to make it's not much serious.

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Backwaterreptiles Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.7 out of 5, based on 32 ratings and
33 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Backwaterreptiles
4235 Pacific St.
Sacramento, CA 95677
www.backwaterreptiles.com
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