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Info Big apple im dissapointed unfortunatly

jknaup

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I inquired about there savannah monitors they have posted on kingsnake.
I'm not one to complain or try to make a stink. However, when a company treats you like your stupid you will lose customers. To me the final reply was just damage control I called them out and they answered it like any politician would. I've purchased supplies and feeders from this company in the past with no problems and would politician them for those to categories, but as far as there live animals I sent a simply inquiry and i felt they tried to blow smoke up my rear. take it for what its worth. if you cant shoot strait with me. That means you dont want my business!
j

here is the email and there reply:
Inquiry:
Big Apple Herpetological:
I saw your add for savanna monitor on savanna.com. It has them priced at a very competitive 44.99. When i go to your site and start the ordering process. The price is 59.99. Please let me know how to make this order happen.
Thanks
Justine Knaup



Reply:
Hello,

I am sorry we are currently out of stock on savannah monitors. May we add you to the waiting list?

Thank you

Gina




I found this odd it seems in my opinion there advertising animals they dont have In stock then doing the classic bait and switch. If you noticed they completely avoided answering my question so i reinquired

Inquiry:
Gina:
If You are out of stock why are you advertising these animals as in stock???
THis is very inconvenient I planned on purchasing 3 animals today from you. However, you did not answer my initial question?
HOW MUCH WILL THEY BE 44.99 or 59.99

So do i want to be added that all depends on the pricing!



reply:

Hello,

We apologize we have over 11,000 reptiles in out breeding facilities and currently we are not able to ship due to being short staffed as a result of the blizzard.. The ones that were advertised on Kingsnake have now all been sold out and the remaining stock that we had available at the higher costs have also been sold.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Gina

Customer Support


Lets see if they post an add on 2-12-2013 for savannah monitors for sale.
 
Apologizing, and stating that those animals are currently out of stock seems like a pretty straightforward response to me. Where's the smoke?
 
I fail to see where they("Gina") treated you like you were stupid. They were, in my opinion, friendly and apologetic in their response.
 
They "avoided" your question because it was irrelevant. Offering to add you to the waiting list is nowhere near the realm of being a bait and switch. You seem to be completely out of touch with reality.
 
Posting ads for animals you dont have is smoke as soon as this ad was put on ksnake they got a mssg. It just seemed like they ran the old Bait and switch and this is something i would not have expected from this company.
 
advertising animlas for 45dollars then when you go to there site to make a transaction there 60 is bait and switch... I dont know if its common place to advertise an animal for one price then when you call about it or email its suddenly more money.

I know its not like this with feeders or supplies.

like my op said there great for supplies and feeders. and that is why im dissapointed
 
I don't see a bait and switch. Judging from their response, it sounds like they broke the savanna monitors into two groups (I'm assuming by age and/or size), and that one was more expensive than the other. They were pretty straight forward in telling you that they were sold out of both groups. Not sure why your feathers are ruffled... there was no lack of professionalism on their side.
 
Bait-and-switch means that the original product is not available, but they try to talk you into something else. They offered to add you to a waiting list for the same animal you inquired about. That's not bait and switch, and all you had to do was say "no thanks, I wanted to buy soon."

Also you didn't actually ask a question in your first e-mail to them regarding the price. If you wanted a direct answer regarding the price, you just had to politely ask "would the cost be x, or y?"

I don't see where they treated you like you are stupid. I expected something quite terrible from your initial post and I'm not seeing it.
 
I didn't see any "switch" there, which is required for a bait-and-switch to take place.

Also, are you JUSTINE or JUSTIN, as the name in your profile and the name in the email don't match. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the former a girl's name (typically) and the latter a guy's name?

I would give them a break when it comes to the Blizzard, too. A lot of people in that area got hit hard and while it wasn't a disaster like Sandy, it's perfectly reasonable IMO for there to have been delays and staffing issues.
 
Well thanks fellas, ive been out of the hobby for about 15 years getting back into it. At the time it seemed like they were trying to use this as a way just get people on a list.

BUT as i said the feeders and supplies ive bought in the passed ive always done things over the phone so if this is normal for email in todays evermore commercialized reptile market i see it in my best interest to call.

It IS justin the spell checker changed the name

I did find it odd for them to have babies this time of year for savannahs though
 
This all seems pretty standard to me. There are enough people cruising classifieds now so if something is advertized at a very competitive price, the animals usually go out of stock pretty quickly.
 
Apple and there policies

They do not know there inventory because all animals are dropped shipped from a supplier. They would never see the monitor, nor would they know anything about it other that it is availalble or not...

Be very careful with there return policy. You have to pay shipping back if something is wrong on there part and even sending a replacement is at there whim.. Secondly, you even have to pay to have the animal in question re shipped to you.... Devils in the detail with this company.. Very bad people to deal with on livestock.... JERRY
 
They are Horrible regardless!

Jerry is correct. I can tell you first hand that Big Apple Herps are indeed drop-shippers, this is nothing new with them. Very rarely will they actually tell a person that a "monitor" lizard is in fact, in-stock. They stay in business because of clueless people who use them for little things or supplies. I live approximately 25-30 minutes from the address that you see them have listed, hauppauge, out here on Long Island, New York. Well, that address is nothing more than a 10 by 10 ft single room office with a few woman on computers that have no knowledge of animals or what happens on their company website. Does anyone really think, an online store run out of "New York" would carry that many animals, 90% illegal where they are. It just doesn't look right! They get you the animals from elsewhere if they even can. Similar to a reptile city type deal. It happens though, learn from your mistake, do better research, don't take the cheaper way out, you will survive, lol!! The boss of this company is not a very good person either. Honestly, you came out the winner here and should have no complaints here on out. You didn't want the stuff they offer anyways:) Hope this helps some people out!! 100% TRUTH
 
They couldn't tell me whether they currently had any kingsnakes older than the hatchling stage when I emailed them. Told me to call them on the phone when I was ready to purchase and then they'd check the availability.
 
I just tried ordering Northern Pine Snakes from them, and they pretty much told me that they didn't have any in stock and that they could replace it with one of these similar animals, a "Northern Garter Snake" or a "San Dieho Gopher". First of all, they didn't even spell San Diego correctly, second of all, how is a garter snake similar to a Northern Pine Snake??
 
I've had the same thoughts about ball pythons for years. then again im a lizard person lol
 
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