Wormmans customer service is horrible!

Thanks everyone for there input here,, and i really do think i may have to look elsewhere as i am glad to see i am not the only one who is having these kind of problems,,,
As asuncion7 said great prices but if you have to jump through hoops and be treated like a second rate citizen when you have a problem from them it is just to much crap to mess with....
You know Sybella said that ken said his business has grown faster than he could keep up with,,, well if he keeps treating people like he has been treating me and i see quite a few others,,, he will have lots of time on his hands,,, I sell thousands of dragons every year,, and the first question i am always asked is where can i get crixs and mealies from.. and up til now my answer has been "use wormman.com" i have sent them countless customers because my past experiences with them have been ok,,, but i think i am gonna find someone new and start directing all my customers to someone else,,, I even told the local petstore here that wormman.com was ok to use,,

I am sure everyone here know the feeling in your stomach when you are running low on feeders,, and you have lots of hungry eyes looking at you for food,,, and you know you have done the best you can to get the feeders in, only to be treated like a second rate citizen by the company that you chose to spend your hard earned money with,,,, That is what really bothers me is i did not send them part of the money,,, i did not send them part now and part later,, i paid in full up front for my order,, and all i want is what i should expect as a consumer,,, to get my order in a timely manner, in good condition,, and everything i ordered,,, and if there is a problem,,, that it is handled like they do appreciate my business,,, i have looked back at receipts from last year,, and i spent over 5500.00 last year on feeders with me even raising some,,, problem is the guy i was getting most of them from went over seas so he is no longer producing any,, so i thought i would give wormman a try again,,, what a joke this has turned out to be! How long would any of us that captive raise reptiles be in business if we treated people like i ( and others i see) have been treated here...?
This is how it would go,,,:
"ok Mr Johnson,, i am sending you 3 of the 7 snakes you paid for, i will send you the other portion when i get ready,,, and if there is a problem i will guarantee live delivery,, but talk to my answering machine ,,,and leave lots of emails for me,,, but i will get back to you if i feel like it,,,,, and then they finally do get a person on the phone and they say,,, "no i cannot help you with your problems,,, but i can take a new order for you,,,,,"
Now how long would that work in the reptile business,,,,?
I am betting not to long,,, so why is it acceptable for wormman.com and Ken..?

Here is what i found when i opened the box,,,,,
these are suppose to be the replacements for 2000 3/4 crixs,,,
100% DOA! I wrote them and also enclosed these 2 pics,,,

Also i was due 4 more bags of cricket crystals,, ( ordered 5 originally and only recieved 1 bag,,) and those 4 bags of cricket crystals were not in the box either,,,!
Here i am with hungry herps,, and all the replacement crickets are 100% DOA! what a great feeling in my stomach now,,,,

Wow.
Ditto to what Steph said... I switched to reptilefood.com in 2001 (from Southern--who was fine--I just never knew when I was going to get my order). William at reptilefood.com is the best! If there is ever a problem, it gets fixed the very same day--again, even if it is the shippers fault. I recommend them to everyone.
Dana

From: JOE @ SUNSET DRAGON RANCH
Date: Friday, January 09, 2004 11:10:17 AM
To: ken_chiarella@yahoo.com
Subject: ATTN: KEN, MAKE SURE KEN GETS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pat or Donna or Ken,,,,
I am requesting a refund back to my paypal account for the following that have been 100%DOA on 2 occasions,,,, I received the package that was shipped earlier this week for the reship of the DOAs in the december 13th order i placed with you,,,,,i am enclosing pictures of the DOAs this time around,, and i have been very very unhappy with your customer service,,,i have left a total of 8 messages with you and only got call back yesterday,, and they did not even leave a message on my answering machine,,( i saw the call on my caller id) and basically my whole experience with you and your company has been aweful!,,, i started a thread on the Board of Inquiry about your company,,( i also told you this in a previous email!) and I will deal with you no more!
I want my refund for the following back to my paypal account : sales@sunsetdragonranch.com
2000 adult crickets
2000 3/4 crickets
1/3 of 1000 superworms,, as 1/3 were Doa in the order i originally received,,,
also i ordered 5 bags of your cricket crystals and only recieved 1 bag,, i was assured they would be in this order and they were not and i have not received them either,, i am requesting the refund for 4 bags of cricket crystals!
I sell thousand of bearded dragons a year,, and i always tell them to order from you,, i will do that no longer,, i ordered from you in the past a few times and had few problems,, but this time takes the cake,,,, totally aweful customer service!

I am expecting this refund by the 12th or i will be forced to file this claim with paypal before the 13th,,,,
thanks,
Joe Regan
If you would like to discuss this further i can be reached at: 662-746-xxxx ( i have left that number on your answering machine 8 times i don't know why you would use it now,,, ) But i am leaving it anyway,,!
__________________________________________________ __


I also enclosed the exact pictures i left above,,,,
__________________________________________________ _

Thanks all for your input and support, and i just ordered 6000 more crickets a few minutes ago from another source that has been offered here,,, I just hate to spend my money with someone and be treated like crap! I hope others can learn from what has happened to me, DO NOT Waste your time or money with Wormman.com
I have got to make another 100 mile roundtrip drive in a few minutes to get enough feeders for the next three days,,, ( until the order from the new source comes in,,,,
Again thanks all for your input and support,,, I think quite a few of us have had problems getting quality feeders,,, and it is quite frustrating to see hungry eyes,, in animals, that depend on you for there very existance,,,,,, I give my animals the best care possible,,, and to see them hungry is not gonna happen!

I agree with Ken... there is that horrible sinking feeling that comes over you when you are expecting your feeders and they don't arrive or are dead when they do, and there are over one hundred little gecko faces with their noses up to the glass. I go through 3,000-6,000 feeders a week, and when they don't come it's not like I can afford to go and buy them in that quantity for retail prices! Heck, that would cost $100.00 per thousand!

It seems like I just keep having problems with cricket suppliers... some with quality and some with service. I have used Wormman, Groom's, Cricket Factory, Bassett's, American Cricket Ranch, and Reptile Food. I have had the BEST service with Dan at the Cricket Factory, with Steve at Reptile Food a close runner up. The absolute WORST service was with Wormman!

As far as quality goes, I have had serious issues with Groom's and Cricket Factory... some of you on this very forum may remember that a few years ago I lost 17 out of 23 sick Leopard Gecko breeders over a period of 8 months, and Dr. Frederic L. Frye himself performed the last of 5 necropsies to get to the root of the problem. It turned out my Leos were dying slow, agonizing deaths from mycotoxic poisoning (Aflatoxins) as a result of chronically ingesting crickets that were being cultured on moldy corn-based food. The owner of the cricket farm handled the problem by threatening to sue me for inquiring about them on the BOI! (I know Rich remembers this very well..)

The other problem I have had more recently was with crickets that were loaded with bacteria which again made about 20% of my geckos sick, this time with GI system infections. I actually had some crickets tested straight out of the box at IDEX Labs, and they gave me a full report listing the strains of pathogens that the crickets were loaded with. The owner of that cricket facility was more concerned with losing me as a customer than looking in to the problem, which was most likely a result from the crix being raised in filth.

So, the problem with cricket suppliers is two-fold; the quality of the feeders when they do arrive, and the customer service that comes along with any business. It does absolutely no good to have great service when your feeders are tainted, or the best quality feeders if they don't arrive or are dead when they do get there.

For me, buying crickets is worth paying a few bucks more per thousand than a thousand dollars in veterinary expenses!

I am Sorry,, i must have missed something Marcia you said " you agree with Ken..?" Has Ken chimed in here and i missed it somehow,,?

So my Question to you then Marcia is who are you using right now,,, and is there a reason,,? ( ie customer service is good, quality of feeders,, price,,, etc)
You said you had problems with the quality of the crickets who did you get the bad feeders from..?

Does anyone have any good recipes for 4000 dead crickets..? i was thinking Stew,,, but maybe a nice casserole..?
( don't know what else to do with them..)

LOL! Marcia is such a doll...I'm sure she meant you, Joe...She probably had "Ken" on the brain after all the talk of Wormman.com. LOL!!

I'm really interested in hearing who you buy from now too, Marcia. (PS. That leo of mine never did deliver any eggs last fall!)

They only service Florida. or how about Armstrongs? they ship world-wide.

I'm sorry, Joe... I did mean you!!! I've been calling everyone a different name lately... old age? Mush for brains? (My husband is getting suspicious, lol!)

Right now, I am using Reptile Food and have been happy with their feeders and service. The only thing that concerns me is that they get their crix from various growers, and Steve would not tell me who.. other than that they do NOT get them from Cricket Factory or Groom's. My crickets from Reptile Food arrive on time, and the only problem I ever had was taken care of immediately via email, with no questions asked.

Groom's was the supplier that *allegedly* (gulp..) was feeding their crickets on moldy chicken mash. They are located in Georgia where it is hot and humid, which fosters the growth of mold. Cricket Factory (California based) had the bacteria-laden feeders that played havoc on my geckos. One of my customers lives near there, and has been to their facility and remarked, "It was scary..."