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Top Shelf Exotics (Inquiry)

T

tejasranger

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Does anyone have any current feedback on TSE? I purchased 1.1 100% het for pied in the first part of January. I honored the payment plan that Chris was kind enough to offer me. I knew that the weather would be a factor in the timing of shipping, and I read his terms on the website. Having said that, I still haven't gotten the snakes. The weather has been optimal for shipping, for at least a couple of weeks. Someone named Glen replied to an email I sent around 4/7, and while he said the right things and assured me the only hold up was their concern for the snakes, and the number of orders they had to fill, my BS meter has started to raise an early warning signal. This posting is in no way meant to demean them, or to accuse them of any misdeed. I am just getting concerned, and would like some input from others who might have dealt with them recently.

Sincerely, Bob England
 
Chris used to post regularly on this site but hasn't now for several months.

I have several stories like yours recently where snakes were paid for awaiting shipment and even though the weather is OK now to ship, they still have not received anything.

I know he was injured at one point and that may have caused a backlog but his employees should be filling the orders in his absence.

I would be demanding a refund unless at this point. Waiting all this time and still not getting a firm ship date would concern me as well.

Have you given them a choice of either ship in the next week or issue a full refund?
 
chris johnson-TSE

I did a deal with chris last winter,he would not ship the ball pythons because of the cool weather.which was OK with me.you have to remember he is all the way up at the canada border,it gets warmer in texas alot sooner than it does where chris is.dont worry chris is a guy you can trust. ED CLARK :cool:
 
I've also dealt with top shelf exotics and Chris Johnson. From what i understand, Chris has been out for months, very ill. Pat and Glenn have been running the place, and with all the orders they usually receive, it's expected that there will be a bit of a delay in shipping. I understand your point of veiw that you really dont know them, and feel like your getting a run around. But i can ASSURE you 100% that you will receive your animals and in GREAT condition. They ship 100% professionally, and try to make sure everythings optimal for shipping. Again, because they receive so many orders, optimal time frames for them may be alot shorter than they seem for us.

Dont worry, your money's safe and sound and so are your animals. Just give them some time.

My question, whats the time frame from purchase till now?
 
I can understand Chris being sick and not there but why the lack of communication from the employees who are running the place in his absence?

I don't doubt that the snakes will arrive fine but the ones in charge need to realize that any lack of communication or upset customer reflects badly on Chris even if he has no control over the situation.
 
SPJ said:
I can understand Chris being sick and not there but why the lack of communication from the employees who are running the place in his absence?

I don't doubt that the snakes will arrive fine but the ones in charge need to realize that any lack of communication or upset customer reflects badly on Chris even if he has no control over the situation.
Click to expand...
I agree.

HerpLuver said:
and with all the orders they usually receive, it's expected that there will be a bit of a delay in shipping..
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I disagree with that one. Delays due to weather, unavoidable (thought I think temps have been okay to ship, even from where they are, for a while now), but delays because of all the orders they usually receive? Not right. Don't take any more orders if you can't fulfill current ones. There are a number of threads on the BOI, where business's have a very good product, and reputation, but they take a "hit" (rightfully so) to their reputation, because they fail to communicate with the customers, and/or let themselves "fall" behind.
 
They have the stock to fill these orders i can assure you of that. But here's the thing, if you have hundreds of orders, and hundreds and hundreds of animals, and phone calls to take, and emails to answer, and cages to clean, and crap the supply order didnt come in, rodents to order, animals to check in on, incubators to check in on with hundreds if not thousands of eggs, banking to do, etc... It can be a bit tight on a small staff. It's not out of there scope to be able to handle the amount of animals they move, it just takes patience and TIME, lots and LOTS of TIME!!!!!!!

A little consideration of all those facts might be helpful.

Again, when was your purchase date in comparison to today? I waited months for my 1.1 100% het albino's to ship and was quite happy when they arrived here. Cause i know there being fed, and properly cared for. Heck, if you ask me, its FREE feeding till they get to my house.
 
Chris,
My purchase date was 12 Jan 2006. I understand what you are saying about all they have to do, but that still doesn't excuse them for poor customer service. They should stop taking orders if they are overwhelmed. If their customer service doesn't improve, they may not have to worry about shipping orders in inclement weather, because there won't be any orders.

Bob E.
 
HerpLuver said:
They have the stock to fill these orders i can assure you of that. But here's the thing, if you have hundreds of orders, and hundreds and hundreds of animals, and phone calls to take, and emails to answer, and cages to clean, and crap the supply order didnt come in, rodents to order, animals to check in on, incubators to check in on with hundreds if not thousands of eggs, banking to do, etc... It can be a bit tight on a small staff. It's not out of there scope to be able to handle the amount of animals they move, it just takes patience and TIME, lots and LOTS of TIME!!!!!!!

A little consideration of all those facts might be helpful.

Again, when was your purchase date in comparison to today? I waited months for my 1.1 100% het albino's to ship and was quite happy when they arrived here. Cause i know there being fed, and properly cared for. Heck, if you ask me, its FREE feeding till they get to my house.
Click to expand...
Walmart has a lot more stock, and a lot more orders to fill, and I can still get something delivered right when I order it. If not I'll usually go somewhere else. People want what they paid for, they should not have to wait an indefinite amount of time to receive it. It may not be an indefinite amount of time, but how do you know if there is poor communication? Chris is a good guy and Top Shelf has a good reputation, but my point is, if you continue to have poor communication and shipping delays your business will suffer. Do you "catch up" by making your current and paying customers happy, by communicating frequently, and getting animals shipped, or do you wait till some customers start to wonder about the situation, and orders drop on there own? Sure they would now be able to handle the load, but that is the wrong way to do it. Hire temporary help, do whatever it takes. It could be something as simple as having someone spend the day on the computer (or phone) and contacting everyone and letting them know you haven't forgotten about them, and "we will get your order out". Myself, if I'm expecting something, I want it within reason, I could care less about a couple free mice being given to the animals I paid for. I'm not neccessarily an impatient person. I've paid for animals before there were eggs laid, and waited months, I've also waited for shipments delayed due to weather, but There needs to be a "legitimate" reason, AND constant communication. We're busy is not that "legitimate" for some people.
 
"I waited months for my 1.1 100% het albino's to ship and was quite happy when they arrived here."

I was unaware that this was some kind of contest to see who can wait the longest. I have no desire to become some martyr for having the patience to out wait a stone. All I wanted was to purchase some snakes and have them shipped in a timely manner.
 
you said."Someone named Glen replied to an email I sent around 4/7, and while he said the right things and assured me the only hold up was their concern for the snakes, and the number of orders they had to fill"

So then you admit that you ordered these snakes on a pymnt plan back in january and agreed to wait for warmer weather to accept shipment.

you also said," They should stop taking orders if they are overwhelmed. "
Imo you are out of line by saying that they should stop taking orders, when you clearly placed the order BEFORE he had his misfortune. What I mean is that it is not like there are tons of people that they have not served. Nobody else has come forward with your same complaint......
 
brianklein said:
you said."Someone named Glen replied to an email I sent around 4/7, and while he said the right things and assured me the only hold up was their concern for the snakes, and the number of orders they had to fill"

Yes

"So then you admit that you ordered these snakes on a pymnt plan back in january and agreed to wait for warmer weather to accept shipment."

No, there was no mention of taking 3 months to ship the snakes.

"you also said," They should stop taking orders if they are overwhelmed. "

Yes

Imo you are out of line by saying that they should stop taking orders, when you clearly placed the order BEFORE he had his misfortune. What I mean is that it is not like there are tons of people that they have not served. Nobody else has come forward with your same complaint......
Click to expand...

You would be wrong, there are a ton of people waiting, check out the BP forum on Kingsnake. Multiple treads of the same complaint, as well as one that heard the same Chris is sick story last year. So I guess this puts me "Back in line"
 
:) My bad.
Seems like you started this thread almost ummm... carefully and now you are getting sorta SMART alecky. That is what I meant about being out of line. Your tone has shifted. I can guarantee you that as soon as Chris hears about this thread he will be all over it. And with that I will conclude my input to your situation. I was simply trying to help you understand how we see Chris.
The bottom line is that this is none of my business! I was just trying to help. Good luck.
 
brianklein said:
:) My bad.
Seems like you started this thread almost ummm... carefully and now you are getting sorta SMART alecky. That is what I meant about being out of line. Your tone has shifted. I can guarantee you that as soon as Chris hears about this thread he will be all over it. And with that I will conclude my input to your situation. I was simply trying to help you understand how we see Chris.
The bottom line is that this is none of my business! I was just trying to help. Good luck.
Click to expand...

i'm sorry you got the impression that I had "changed my tone". I don't see anything "Smart alecky" about wanting to conclude a business transaction 3 months old. I hope you are right and that Chris will be "all over this", it will be more attention than he has paid to this situation so far.
 
You said you bought the snakes in January on a payment plan.... When was the LAST payment sent??.... Was it a month ago, or yesterday??....

Also, I've done TONS of business with Chris and I have never had a problem.... granted, his customer service is kind of lacking in this situation, but if he is still sick, he could be in self-preservation mode and doesn't really care about anything else right now (of course, that still wouldn't be right, but I'd understand)....

Neil
 
Neil Gubitz said:
You said you bought the snakes in January on a payment plan.... When was the LAST payment sent??.... Was it a month ago, or yesterday??....

Also, I've done TONS of business with Chris and I have never had a problem.... granted, his customer service is kind of lacking in this situation, but if he is still sick, he could be in self-preservation mode and doesn't really care about anything else right now (of course, that still wouldn't be right, but I'd understand)....

Neil
Click to expand...

Neil,
Last payment was 2/8 as agreed to. I am not heartless concerning his illness, and if you re-read my original post I gave credit where credit was due. If he is recovering, he still has a responsibility to delegate someone to insure that his customers are taken care of. No one should try to make me the bad guy here, just because I feel people need to meet their commitments.
 
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