Jeff Ronne - Boaphile Plastics - BAD GUY

Jeff has great cages.
Jeff has terrible customer service.

Several times I have tried to get a hold of him in the past via email and phone calls. Never got a response BUT he was posting pictures of his boas on other sites WHILE I WAS WAITING FOR A REPLY FROM HIM.

After seeing him post pics of animals and go into a long drawn out discussion about how he can tell a het albino boa by the eyes and not respond to me, I went with AP.

There was no excuse as far as I was concerend for him to be online posting but couldn't respond to customer with cash in hand.

You can have the best product in the world but you also need to have customer service or in the long run, it means nothing.

I got both a great product AND great customer service from Jeffs competition. Maybe he should about that.

paid a higher price I am sure. You get what you pay for in every arena. Jeff is slow to respond at times, but his cages are better than anyones IMHO, so I deal with the slower responses. I am not a McDonalds mentality guy. I don't need attention right now when I call or email someone. Besides, it saves me money to be more patient. Regardless, I am sure Jeff will make good.

Shawn

Originally Posted by Griz

Michael, you and I don't disagree here for the most part. Whereas you lend more credence, with regards to where you will spend your hard earned dollars, on the backs of those who had poor experiences (yourself included), I choose to use the positives as my basis for where I spend my money.

I had a very highly rated Fauna guy sell me some much needed equipment. Everyone spoke the praises of this individual. Well, long story short, the 1 week turnaround time turned into 2 months!!! Phone calls were not returned nor were emails. I was hot to say the least and even inquired with several other Fauna members to help me out. So, when 6 months later rolled around and I need more equipment, I had to debate on where to spend my money. This individuals reputation, despite my own experience, was still almost perfect. Guess who I gave a second chance to? Only this time, that person did not let me down nor have they on any other order I have placed through them.

We all have bad days. The law of large numbers, as well as the ole saying "you only hear the bad things", will tell you that in a case like Jeff's (with the volume he has) you are bound to see a few more problems. That's because of the sheer volume he has. But, I have been part of that 99.5% of customers who were satisfied and even if I hadn't, I would still give him a second chance. He's not a scammer. He's not dishonest. He's simply a very busy man doing the very best he can. And his "best" has always far exceeded my expectations. And that, my friend, is the norm.

Griz

I do agree with your post and you are a good person to give people a second chance.

For reference, I never called Jeff dishonest or a scammer. It would have been nice to be on the best side during the transaction I had with him, unfortunately that was not the case. I do give some a chance and sometimes more when they mess up, I am a forgiving person. I learned my lesson and have since done business with others differently, I also know how I would want to be when I am selling to someone.



Ps. When it comes to great communication during a purchase I have made, Bob, you were one of the best, something that Jeff lacked when I dealt with him. He never once returned a single e-mail of mine, call, or even tell me if he shipped. That was quality and the animal is even better!!

Originally Posted by jrmiah

In a lot of ways that is true but if he doesn’t "right the wrong", even if its just 2%, it is still wrong.

It’s easy to say what you’re saying from an outside view, but if you were in the 2%, would you just simply write it off as a nay sayer's view not to be considered?

Hopefully he will send a replacement cage for the damaged one.

110% and I am confident that he will replace the damaged cages.

I totally agree with Steve on this one!! As a consumer, I ALWAYS rate somebody as "THE BEST" when he can deliver good quality product AND great customer service. They go hand in hand when you refer to "THE BEST". If one is lacking, you're just the same level as others. If ever he "was" out of town, he should have set-up an automatic response on his email stating that he wont be back unto so and so just to assure customers that he would not respond until a certain time. His cages takes 6-8 weeks to ship. If he gets backed up with orders, isn't it time to hire more people to fill in orders?? or is greediness playing a part here?? either way, I think it's about time he does something about this if he wants to be "THE BEST"... hey I even think the original poster get a discount for "ALL" the hassle this has brought him. He was expecting a quality product and quality service from a well known herp guy(not the best unfortunately). Just my 2 cents// JC

Jeremiah, I'm sorry to hear about your experience, and it sounds very similar to my experience with Jeff.

The good news is that Jeff is a good guy and I'm confident he'll rectify the situation for you. Please keep us posted.

Long story short ...I ordered several cages on (3) different occassions. First two times went well, but the 3rd time was frustrating to say the least. 4- weeks turned into 6 weeks which turned into 8-weeks, which turned into lost cages. Finally got them, (slightly damaged, but I'd decided to live with it only because it was easier) and I do love the cages.

Great cages, honest guy with great intentions, BUT ..... terrible service.

Sincerely,
Gary Schiavino
New Jersey

FWIW, I ordered several 421D cages and patiently waited a few weeks past the promised ship date. I knew going into it that Jeff was notorious for running behind on orders so it didn't really ruffle my feathers much. When I finally received them, I knew just looking at one of the boxes that there was going to be damage. It was obviously dropped on the corner by the carrier and sure enough, upon opening and inspection, there was damage. The other cages were fine so I reported it to Jeff's assistant at the time. I took a few pics of the damaged area and E-mailed them. About a week or two later my new replacement arrived and I couldn't believe Jeff never even asked me to send the damaged one back even though I'd asked more than once how to go about doing so. The fact that the carrier dropped the ball (cage in this case) was not Boaphile's fault. Jeff made good on it in short order so it seems even part of the 2% with issues are pleased. Not the definition of a bad guy in my book.

Customer service issues aside, I am certain that Jeff will do exactly what he said he would. I have known Jeff for several years and purchased from him on many occasions. Sometimes a cage would arrive damaged, sometimes I may need to wait a little longer for my cages than I wanted to but EVERY SINGLE TIME Jeff came through for me. His products are well built and obviously very popular which can cause some delays in construction.

I routinely call Jeff and occasionally he calls me and it is my personal experience that he is not that difficult to get in touch with. Sometimes I am forced to leave a message on that answering machine (something I really am not fond of doing) but always within a day or two Jeff gets back with me. This is my personal experience with Jeff.

As far as customer service goes, all I can say is I have gotten far worse for items I have paid far more to purchase. Obviously nobody is perfect and everyone has a bad day now and then but Jeff has given me what I expect and I can trust him to do what he says....EVERY TIME!

Denny Rimes

Well seems the common consenses is that he needs to take care of customer service. As we well know here, we more often hear of the bad experiences than the good.

I think Griz said something about why he does not reply here but as has been pointed out he does find time to post elsewhere. For myself a post here with him saying I'm sorry my bad and I'll take care of it right away would be reassuring. Instead we hear how so and so loved dealing with him but whats his name had a horrible experience. A quick reply to this thread and there likely would have been very few post. Randy

Thanks again everyone for your comments and support, like I said before.. If I receive the replacement cage as promised I will amend this thread accordingly. I do hope he can resolve the issue at hand, I promise to keep the BOI informed of any contact and/or addition information.