• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Bad Guy Bad experience with Backwater Reptiles

S

SophieD

New member
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
18
Reaction score
2
Points
0
Location
Kissimmee, Florida
I will never, ever, buy from them again.
I bought a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from them on March 6th, paid in full via PayPal. They invoiced me immediately, but two days later still no tracking info for what was supposed to be an overnight delivery. Instead, an email claiming that they'd run out of that particular type of snake. They agreed to refund on my request, but the refund didn't go through for another two days, and when it did, about $8.50 was missing, lost in processing fees that were charged to me, not to them.
I wrote on their Facebook page, they deleted the comment within an hour and blocked me.
No respectable dealer will advertise on their website a product that is not in stock. Even though I notified them of the issue, they continued to display the baby Brazilian Rainbow Boas as being available for sale. I have just checked before posting this thread.
also found out that they are just a middle man. They are actually selling animals that they buy from wholesalers, instead of breeding them like other reputable reptile sellers. Therefore, you cannot be sure of the quality of the animals, or their origin, whether or not they are from parents bred in captivity or wild animals (which makes a huge difference at many levels).
Sophie Dufort
 
Magic said:
To my knowledge, a vendor issued refund should not incur PayPal fees. Email PayPal.
Click to expand...

This is true to my knowledge as well. I've issued quite a few refunds thru Paypal, all partial ones for adjusted shipping usually but they always return the percent of the fees that they took from that portion of the payment back to the person being refunded. It's not something one has to do, the site does it automatically. So if they didn't send back all of the payment, it was deliberate and wasn't to cover PayPal's fees.
 
To clarify the PayPal issue, I paid using my Australian credit card (I have recently moved to the States and still have money into an Australian account). When Backwater Reptiles refunded the money, about $8.50 were lost due to conversion. I know it wasn't the dealer's fault, but I do hold them responsible for charging for an item that is not available (and to make it worse, they took a couple of days to notify me that they couldn't honor the order). The fact that they still display that particular type of snakes as being available is deceiving and unprofessional, particularly when they are aware that that particular item is sold out. All the more frustrating was the fact that I had no means of contacting them over the phone. What reputable company operates without providing the customers with a phone number?

I have now purchased a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from a different company (Rainbows R Us) and I am very happy. I paid yesterday and the snake arrived today all the way from California (destination Florida), in excellent condition. The manager of this company not only has a contact number, but he contacted us himself, kept in touch via email, pursued a FedEx delay without me prompting him to do so. Basically he bent over backwards to help and to make sure that the shipment arrived safely and soundly.
 
Tim Cole said:
A search on the BOI would have shown you they are a flipper and not reputable.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451259&highlight=Backwater+reptiles

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=425873&highlight=Backwater+reptiles

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410452&highlight=Backwater+reptiles

And there are more threads about them.
Click to expand...

I only found faunaclassifieds.com website today, after browsing through reviews on other websites. I have now learned my lesson. I should have thoroughly researched them before paying for the snake. The reviews on their page were great, and so were those of customers on their Facebook page, so I dropped my guard. I now know that they filter and delete all unfavourable reviews, since they deleted mine and blocked me.
 
Holy cow. All this hubbub over them being out of stock on something and refunding you within about 72 hours. If this is a major issue to you then I wish I had your problems, because this is extremely minor.
First off checking the calendar on there site you ordered on a Thursday. Meaning your order wouldn't ship until Monday anyway. So that they didn't get back to you for 2 days doesn't really make a difference and, they would not be able to provide tracking until the day of shipping anyway. I am not sure why you would expect it sooner.
If you check most larger breeders, wholesalers, importers, or large retailers pricelists everyone of them is out of stock on something . Its just the nature of dealing in live animals. Its impossible to keep up with every single thing and how many of each... Shoot even Walmart, Amazon.com or best buy does it sometime. I make an order pay with my CC and a couple days later I get an email saying the item is on backorder. They ask if I want to wait and, if I don't they refund the money. That is exactly what happened here.
As far as the $8.50 goes, I am sure paypal will refund that too. You might have to email them. Or call your bank in Australia. A bit of a hassle yes but, sometimes things are hassle when doing business.
With that being said, I do understand you are frustrated and I am not trying to beat you up for it but, in the grand scheme of things this is a very minor issue, especially in the live animal business.
I am glad you were able to find a private breeder or smaller breeder to get the snake from and I am glad it arrived healthy..
 
Dan,

I think her biggest issue was that they have an animal STILL up for sale on their website (no out of stock memo or anything) for another unsuspecting buyer to potentially purchase, and she's advising others of the drama she went through.

Yes, Walmart also has things on their website that could potentially be back ordered, I'm sure. One would think that if a customer ordered merchandise, and that order could not be fulfilled, the retailer would slap a sign up indicating that after the problem was discovered.

Let's just chalk this up to another (one of many) unhappy customers with Backwater.
 
....and I forgot to add the highly classy part of them blocking her neutral/unsatisfied comment/review.

Not even Walmart does THAT.
 
Magic said:
Dan,

I think her biggest issue was that they have an animal STILL up for sale on their website (no out of stock memo or anything) for another unsuspecting buyer to potentially purchase, and she's advising others of the drama she went through.

Yes, Walmart also has things on their website that could potentially be back ordered, I'm sure. One would think that if a customer ordered merchandise, and that order could not be fulfilled, the retailer would slap a sign up indicating that after the problem was discovered.

Let's just chalk this up to another (one of many) unhappy customers with Backwater.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Dan. This is correct. My main issue is about the animal still up for sale. It is unfair to customers, as it creates hassles. It is not pleasant to have the funds blocked for a number of days. I was lucky to be able to pay the second company before the refund from Backwater Reptiles was processed. With Brazilian Rainbow boas in particular, they are not easy to find. These are very sought after reptiles, and if one can't pay for them at the right moment, they will be sold to someone else. I was lucky to find a great snake at Rainbows R Us, but most other companies were out of stock.
 
Magic said:
Dan,

I think her biggest issue was that they have an animal STILL up for sale on their website (no out of stock memo or anything) for another unsuspecting buyer to potentially purchase, and she's advising others of the drama she went through.

Yes, Walmart also has things on their website that could potentially be back ordered, I'm sure. One would think that if a customer ordered merchandise, and that order could not be fulfilled, the retailer would slap a sign up indicating that after the problem was discovered.

Let's just chalk this up to another (one of many) unhappy customers with Backwater.
Click to expand...

Sorry ,the previous reply to this quote was meant for Magic. I don't agree with Dan on his comments.
 
SophieD said:
I have now purchased a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from a different company (Rainbows R Us)
Click to expand...

Please post your review about Dave (Rainbows R Us) in one of his threads in order to keep this on topic:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294182

SophieD said:
I only found faunaclassifieds.com website today, after browsing through reviews on other websites.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
glad you found us. It's always a good idea to research buyers/sellers here on the BOI before doing business.

Paypal refund should be the entire amount, no fee, as others have stated. I hope they get it resolved for you quickly.
 
Animals come in and out constantly. Its very possible they got more in or they are getting more in soon. If they are expecting them to come in then, maybe (like a lot of other companies do) try to generate some pre sale business...
Someone mentioned something about this being "just another bad review for Backwater" one of many. I must ask. Tell me one Larger company (not a private breeder) who doesnt have some bad reviews on there resume. Everyone in this industry does and theres are no more or less than others.
 
predators said:
Someone mentioned something about this being "just another bad review for Backwater" one of many. I must ask. Tell me one Larger company (not a private breeder) who doesnt have some bad reviews on there resume. Everyone in this industry does and theres are no more or less than others.
Click to expand...

If you are saying everyone has a bad transaction sometimes I think you are probably right.
Do some companies have more bad transactions than others? I think they do, and feedback here helps people decide which company to go with.

If people are saying this is 'just another bad review for Backwater' and maybe they don't say that about other companies, maybe this is an opportunity for Backwater to figure out why that might be and change.


BOI reviews can and do affect reptile companies. A good company will see a string of bad reviews as an opportunity to change, a company with less vision may simply lose business. Customers pay their money and want and have a right to a good experience, well thought out shipping, healthy critters.

Competition is a fact of life, and if customers see some companies with a lot of issues, and others where they can pay their money and get their healthy critter with no problems, it is their choice, and which way would you go?
 
SophieD said:
My main issue is about the animal still up for sale. It is unfair to customers, as it creates hassles.
Click to expand...

Technically, the problem isn't updating the website...it's how they manage their paypal. They shouldn't accept transactions before verifying stock.

Half of the people that use static websites don't have updated information, or only update it weekly. A dealer is very likely not to have an inventory system tied into their purchasing because their stock is rotating too much. Inventory systems can be clunky and expensive.
 
Back
Top