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Watch Out For Spiders In Big Apples Feeders

Justin Mitcham

Justin Mitcham

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Man this is kinda silly me posting up here about this but these guys had ticked me off for the last time, I have been buying from them for several years now here and there and recently started purchasing crickets through them for my animals. It seemed that every other order had a problem, either wrong size or the count was way off.. last time I decided to let them know about it they told me due to there pilicies they weren't going to do anything, I was past the 24hr notice...fair I understand terms, this time pissed me of royally, me and my Fiance's are arachnophobics to some degree, we're just not fond of them at all. We recieved an order today from them and in it was not just one..but dozens of large brown spiders, my girl noticed one running up here arm as she was dumping them out... then she went through all the crickets and got them out... she did better than I would of, I would of likely grabbed a can of raid and wiped them all out... crickets and all.
I emailed them asking what the hell is up with this and they told me that due to me having late deliveries in the past that the spiders must of infested this cricket proof box on the way over here...not one bit of "hey we'll send you out another order", or this one's on us, or "thank you for bringing this to our attention". I don't know much on spiders , here's a pic of one... probably harmless, but definetly not a pleasent experience.
Justin
 
pic...
 

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Big Apple is a big company. I'm really suprised they just blew you off.
 
I have been hearing lots of bad things about them latley.. And yeah they are big so thats exactly why they do not care.. The field I am in I get all the news about bad experiences with other supply companies and you not the only persona having problems Justin.. I personally would have freaked out since I am terrified of spiders..
Matt Graybeal
 
Getting other critters in with crickets happens occasionally. But getting a crap load of spiders would make me think twice about ordering from them again. Then add in the way they blew you off would completely seal the deal for me. I would not order anything from them again.

Try www.grubco.com , that is the only place I get bulk feeders and have never had a problem with them in any way. I get crickets from them every month. Even through out the Winter I never had a problem with them. I got the mealies and supers that started my colonies from them as well. All was perfect with every order.
 
That does NOT look like a harmless spider...send that pic to an arachno-nut and see what they say...but it looks suspiciously like our western brown spider, whose bite hurts like hell !

Don't blame you for being pissed....'nother name on the list of places not to do business with...

greg
 
We got some of those with our crickets too. I could overlook one, maybe two, but in one box of 1000, 1/4in crickets, I killed 26 of the little buggers! You also get these teeny, tiny little red/brown ants that get into your hair and clothing, not to mention, infest your herp/feeder room. Plus you get a bonus mishmash of sizes, when you buy 1/4in crickets they can almost be assured to have quite a few huge ones in the box.

I order from The Bug Company now and don't get any "hitch-hikers" at all and all the crix are the same size. Don't seem to lose as many due to their untimely demise either.
 
along came a spider...

I have seen these spiders in cricket shipments occasionally over the years form several cricket suppliers, and it is annoying.
 
I'm with Marcia. I've gotten those spiders with cricket orders from several companies, including Grubco.
 
man there trying to intimidate me now!!!!

Check out this email I recieved from them this morning...you can also checkout the rest, I never got rude with them till they started insulting my intelliigence and putting the blame elsewhere...

1st is a copy of my original email to them...


From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 3:58 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: New Order



this is BS... my last order came in missing half and the wrong size, now this order is full of spiders..WERE ARACHNOPHOBICS meaning...WE HATE SPIDERS especially ones that look like Brown recluses, I am no expert , but they look the same compared with my field guide, how would you like this running up your arm when you try to dump them out... I will likely be posting these Bad Experiences on the Board Of Inquiry for everyone to see...
thanks for all the problems...Tell you what if my fiance' would of been bitten ( she just had problems with and enlarged spleen) and would of meant immediate hospitalization, I would of sued you people into the stone age...no hard feeling and such ...but that's how close you came to it...


Justin Mitcham



In a message dated 4/26/2005 3:29:49 P.M. Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Justin,



Sorry to hear of your experience but we have not had any complaints of spiders in our shipment, we have noticed your file is full of FedEx delivery alerts that they were unable to make deliveries on many scheduled days since no one has been there to receive them. We ship from northern United States (Illinois) and brown recluses exist only in the southern United States. Therefore, if this is a brown recluse it could have only come from a local source (TX). We again apologize for the experience but I can assure you we do not ship feeders with spiders in them.


Andy

Director Of Internet Services

Big Apple Herpetological, Inc.

http://www.bigappleherp.com

800-92-APPLE



Big Apple Is A Registered Trademark Of Big Apple Herpetological, Inc., all rights reserved.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 4:36 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: New Order



this driver delivered straight to me, if the box had holes the crickets would of gotten out since you don't take blame and try to come up with excuses I will post a complaint against you ..

don't insult my intelligence.. the box had an invasion of spiders..riding in the truck...get a l brain idiot. Like I said in my email I am no expert.. on spiders, but saying that because we missed one or two deliveries in the padst this is the reason why spiders chose to invade this package. You people suck, sell infested feeders and I will let everyone know about it..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a message dated 4/27/2005 7:04:39 A.M. Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes:

The reason why we have over 85,000 customers is because we service our customers well and have an industry wide reputation for providing quick service and quality products. However, you are a very rude individual with little manners. Therefore, you are requested to never contact us again through any means. Any attempt to damage our reputation publicly will be printed out and provided to our corporate attorney. I would advise you to be very careful in this area as slander is a serious offense. We have already prosecuted on two different occasions. We will VIGOUROUSLY defend our good name so it is my personal advice to you that you be very careful in the method and fashion that you post your comments online.



Andy

Director Of Internet Services

Big Apple Herpetological, Inc.

http://www.bigappleherp.com

800-92-APPLE



Big Apple Is A Registered Trademark Of Big Apple Herpetological, Inc., all rights reserved.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"it is my personal advice to you that you be very careful in the method and fashion that you post your comments online."

....it is my personal advice to watch what you say to customers,they may post IT online....
 
I had a very similar experience with an order of crickets from Big Apple. (I think it was actually the same kind of spider)

I also spoke with Andy about the stow-away spider and he sent a new shipment immediately. I don't have any complaints about the Customer Service at Big Apple. They've always taken care of any issues right away.

I don't want to give away any trade secrets or anything; But, I don't think Big Apple has anything to do with the spiders. Their crickets come from a vendor that drop ships them to you. The best we can hope for is that Big Apple plays the quality control advocate and lets the cricket supplier know about the problem.

It was explained to me that shipping boxes are put together and stacked in warehouse until they are needed. Sometimes a spider will nest inside the box, and then they get packed and sent.
 
Thanks, you had indirectly busted Big Apple in a lie, as you can plainly see in his email he stated that they do not ship spiders nor have had any complaints...

"we have not had any complaints of spiders in our shipment"

"I can assure you we do not ship feeders with spiders in them."
 
Wow

They screwed up and won't admit it. Thats not uncommon for large companies. As far as being rude, you were rude first. I read your email. There are ways to voice a complaint without coming across in a threatening manner. Thats why you got the response you did.

BUT, You were absolutely right to complain. Especially now. I love the fact that try to disuade you from posting your experiences by threatening you legally. For that reason alone, I say screw this company. Rather than just deal with you, they took the "its not us, and if you go public, we will legally persue you". I hate that crap. They should have just apologized and sent you more crickets. Much cheaper solution.

Big Apple: Cmon guys...that last email was just stupid. It was even written poorly. If your going to threaten someone, at least make it look professional.

Shawn
 
Now it seems this is a problem that he seems to be was aware of prior to my situation, it is quite obvious that he just didn't want to take care of the customer. Basically instead of not believing me it's now in my opinion a case of "I don't care, won't take blame or do one thing about it..."
Man whoever owns biggapple needs to fire this guy...
 
I really think it wasn't rude given the circumstances, I told the guy honestly what would of happen if she was bitten, remember I have had ongoing problems and they have not taken care of me once...so I am a little on the offensive this time because of it..
My fiance just racked up almost 4k in medical bills due to a enlarged spleen, she was told by the doctor to take it easy, no sodas , junk food nothing that can lead to toxic buildup in the body or her spleen could enlarge and rupture, that is life threatening, and I love her to death...more than anything, her telling me that these spiders ran up her arm when she was putting the crickets up really set me off... and in my opinion they need to know how serious this was and it could of been far worse. Basically if she were bitten by even a harmless spider it would of required me to at least take her to the hospital, perhaps an overnite stay, blood work exams etc.. who's going to pay for this!!! So I feel not sugar coating this issue was appropriate. Really I am tired of there BS.
 
I think your original email could have been done with a little more tact and in a more business like manner. It probably would have been addressed a little bit differently from Big Apple if you had. There was no sense in you starting the dialogue with them with attitude because I am certain they did not ship spiders intentionally. If you approach a problem with attitude you are going to get attitude in return.

Now as far as Big Apple saying they will sue you. That is a joke and makes their company look like a joke and an extortionist. They can't sue you for slander when all you did was report the truth. That approach alone from Big Apple is enough for me to never do business with them again.

On a side note, I bought some mealies from Big Apple once. About half were dead upon arrival. I politely informed them and they shipped out replcements almost immediately. Regardless of that though I will not be doing business with them again. I will not support any company that tries to resort to extortion to hide the truth.
 
maybe your right, I should of cooled down 1st before I emailed, I admit that I can at times be hotheaded..but when it comes to my woman I am very protective...she is the sweetest nicest person I know and GOD help anyone who hurts or endangers her..thats all I can say. Whatever happens to me is cool, but I will not be reasonable in any fashion were something to happen to her.
 
Spiders

We get 20 - 25 thousand crickets per week and this has happened occasionally. Same type of spider, which does seem to be harmless.
Occurs mostly in the smaller sizes. My supplier gets the crickets from a variety of growers and when I alerted them to the spider problem they switched to a different grower and we have not had the problem lately. Obviously the cricket farms cannot use bug killer in the cricket facilities but there are other ways to control spiders that the growers can use. As someone pointed out Big Apple does not raise the crickets themselves, they simply buy and resell them, if you deal directly with a grower they would probably be more reponsive to your concerns.

To say the spiders got into the box en route is ridiculous!
 
Yellow Sac Spider

We recieved a shipment from ReptileFood.com a cpl months back that contained 1 of these spiders. After a little research and communication with ReptileFood.com it was determined to be a Sac spider, either Cheiracanthium inclusum or Cheiracanthium mildei. ReptileFood.com like most Cricket providers use cricket farms from various places. The order in Question, as well as a majority of my orders as of late, have all shipped from Marion Illinois. I would be willing to bet that they originated from the same cricket farm that your Big Apple Order originated from. I've had 50% die off in shipments from ReptileFood.com in the past on 2 occasions and they have always shipped me out a replacement order free of charge and all I had to due was fill out their customer service request form. I've never had an issue with Sizes being wrong or orders being small thru them. They are also quick to respond to any issues I've sent to them. Our meal worm colonies were also started from Meal Worms purchased from them. We have also ordered Wax Worms from them without any issue. The only other stowaways we have ever had were a particular species of beatle but those were always contained in the egg crate and come in both cricket orders as well as meal worm orders.
 
Just like to let everyone know that the president of Big Apple emailed me apologizing and taking full responsibility for his employee's actions, he has reimbursed me on the crickets and all is good...
maybe his subordinates will learn something over this and improve the quality of there feeders and customer support.

Weird I rather be in a cage with 20ft hungry retic then with a 2in brown fuzzy,8 legged little vampire... should see me when I go hiking through the woods and run into a large web...it looks like an epileptic version of stop,drop and roll...
 
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