Backwater Reptiles

They're unpleasant. They advertised their BTS babies as $110 on kingsnake. I check on the website: they're $130. Not too big of a deal, so I emailed them and said their prices didn't match and they should probably fix them. No response. I looked through their other ads and it's a common issue with Backwater-- kingsnake prices don't match site prices. They said they were charging $35 for a horned lizard and on their website it was $135!

I know they're a wholesaler and prices change frequently, but come on. When I emailed them again they sent me a snide response asking how they could be as perfect as me. I reported their incorrect ads to kingsnake and I will never do business with them.

Did anyone notice the fax number listed for this company is from the Austin TX area?

Where were the snakes shipped from?

They aren't a wholesaler they are a drop shipper. A wholesaler has stock, a drop shipper has none.

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I'm pretty frustrated with Backwater Reptiles and I'm doing everything I can to get my experience out there.

I ordered 3 tarantulas from Backwater Reptiles. I wasn't told anywhere during the ordering process that a signature would be required. Not until the the night before delivery did I get an email saying the package would require a signature. If I didn't sign the package would not be delivered and they would not be responsible for dead animals!!! I went through the entire order process again and found no mention of a signature being required! When I finally got in touch with customer service they pointed out that it is noted in their shipping policy, which I did find after digging around some. So I had to make a 2 hour round trip to the FedEx center to pick up my package before work. Luckily I was able to go in late that day since they don't open until 8:30!! Upon opening my package one of my tarantulas was missing, yay. They promptly sent another one which I was able to have shipped to a different address. But this time the tarantula was supposed to be 3/4-1" in size. I sent them multiple pictures of it sitting on a dime clearly showing it was under 0.70". I wouldn't have complained much about this but after all the other problems I expected this to be taken care of. I talked to Meg by email several times, who was very nice, then she said she would discuss it with a manager and never replied again.

I have no skin in the game but, its pretty standard practice that live animal shipments require a signature. If not it might be left on your door step when you were at work and could have been stolen or subject to weather conditions being left outside. A signature protects both sides. Also, I have ordered a lot of spiders over the years and its pretty tough to get an exact measurement. IMO complaining over 1/20th of an inch seems a little petty. Feed it once and it will grow the 1/20th of an inch in a week. I can understand your frustration over customer service tho.