I'm done with Animal Plastics...

I have ordered 3 racks from Animal Plastics: one 3-shelf CB70 Series, and two of the 375 Series (4 shelf, and 7 shelf). I also have one 3-shelf CB70 rack from Reptile Basics, and two 32 quart melamine racks I got off Craigslist. Wanting to increase the homogeneity of the racks in my collection, I ordered the 3rd rack from Animal Plastics recently (7 shelf 375 Series), to replace the melamine racks.

First of all, comparing an Animal Plastics rack with an RBI rack is like comparing apples to oranges. I personally feel that Animal Plastics is slightly better functionally and aesthetically, while with Reptile Basics you're going to get a rack that is completely assembled ready to plug and play. The main difference, and the reason why I will never purchase from Animal Plastics again, is the time it takes to get your rack.

My first rack I ordered was the CB70. They quoted me 5 weeks until I were to receive it, and while I received it a couple of weeks later than the 5 weeks, I was very satisfied with the product. I ordered the 2nd rack (4 shelf 375 Series) well ahead of my future Ball Python purchases anticipating the long time it takes them to ship their racks. 2 months had passed after ordering this rack before I decided to contact them. Their response was pretty much: oh shoot, we forgot about your order... we'll ship it out immediately.

I know after that last order, I should've taken my business elsewhere... but darnit, I want my racks to look the same in my snake room. My CB70 from AP and RBI are side-by-side each other, and it just looks funny. So I ordered my 3rd rack from AP (7-shelf 375 Series)... *SIGH* 2 months later again, I decide to contact them for the status of my rack. Emails kept bouncing back, and the ones that got through didn't get responded to. Well I finally got a response back and my rack is on its way.

I personally feel that Animal Plastics just didn't care about me and my small orders. It felt like if I weren't to contact them... who knows if I were to ever get my racks. Needless to say, I am done with Animal Plastics. I'll have an oddball AP CB70 rack next to my stack of RBI CB70s. If you're debating ordering from either Animal Plastics, or Reptile Basics Inc, go with Rich at RBI. You will get a quality product in a timely fashion.

Mark

All I have are animal plastic racks........I know to order many months in advance. So you are not alone in thinking they will never ship. Atleast they treat everyone equally as bad.

I have 2 AP racks and an 3' x 2' AP Cage. My 2nd rack and the cage took FOREVER to get here. That said, I'm 100% satisfied with them. In fact, I love them. I always had very quick responses from them when I e-mailed questions and concerns.

I'm sticking with AP, but I wish they could get stuff out faster.

I love my AP racks and every time I've called them, or emailed, I've been treated courteously. One of my racks was picked up at a show. The others were shipped. I was told of the turn-around time. It is expected to be longer if there is a show coming up as well.

That's business in this world. It isn't Walmart. It's a reptile cage company. They can only afford so many employees and they also travel all across the country for shows. There is going to be some lag time for a small company such as this with high quality racks that almost any keeper can afford..

It does take a long time to get products from them but that's why you plan ahead. They quoted me 6 weeks and I got mine in 6 weeks. I always got an email response same day from them though so I wonder why they took so long to respond. Maybe they were out of town at a show? It's hard to run a mill when you are across the country.

I personally will never by anything from AP ever again. The lead time is way too long and you have assemble it once you get it. RBI all the way for me. Rich has always gone above and beyond for me and anyone else I know who has ordered from him. AP treats all there customers like dirt and we just take it. I for one see no reason to do that when there are better options out there.

Each place has their pros and cons

I know Ap usually has a 4 week lead time, but they have now started doing like "10 day" shipping on some items as well.

Ive been to their shop many times and have seen how they do business and know they have made steps to be able to provide people with product faster.

Ap for me all the way brother

Let me know how pissed off you are after your order gets "skipped" on a round of cage making and you have to wait twice as long from another cage competitor.

RB now has a minimum 3 week lead time on their racks now. Looks like one will have to plan ahead no matter what. I orderd one of the Rhino Raxx 3 weeks ago so we shall see how Boaphile does. If their racks are built like their cages I'm in.

I had great customer service from AP and my order shipped right on schedule. Sure it was a long wait, but the rack is great!

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Originally Posted by meeistom

I personally will never by anything from AP ever again. The lead time is way too long and you have assemble it once you get it. RBI all the way for me. Rich has always gone above and beyond for me and anyone else I know who has ordered from him. AP treats all there customers like dirt and we just take it. I for one see no reason to do that when there are better options out there.

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other than the lead time which they state on the site. when and where was anybody treated like dirt?
i will only ever but animal plastics racks. the customer service is second to none in my book. if you want fast build your own. if you want quality you plan ahead, purchase and then wait for your item to be built for you, by hand, by a small American company. they will also add custom features as well if you need something modified. they replace parts fast and without hassle.
i see no need not to buy from them.
adam jeffery

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Originally Posted by Strick

RB now has a minimum 3 week lead time on their racks now. Looks like one will have to plan ahead no matter what. I orderd one of the Rhino Raxx 3 weeks ago so we shall see how Boaphile does. If their racks are built like their cages I'm in.

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I bought one of the Rhino Raxx from Boaphile. It took about a month to get it, which I knew upfront. I'm very happy with it.

I own an AP rack I got it used but I suspect they are built to order by someone whom works part-time at it. I'd expect it to take a while myself.

My lone experience with Animal Plastics (a 4x2x2 cage with swing doors, flexwatt, and a shelf) was wonderful, and I'm sorry the OP had so many issues on multiple orders.

However, I have no experience with their racks.

I will chime in and say that, if you're looking for alternatives, my experience with Boaphile was fantastic. Their lead time was dead on, and I got my FOUR slot adult rack in precisely 5 weeks. Shipping and tubs included in the price, completely assembled and ready to go, keeps my snakes toasty warm in winter.. yeah, it was a great purchase.

Dunno if anyone mentioned this yet, but they are having issues with their email server.

I have had three different PVC type racks: Animal Plastics, Reptile Basic Racks and HerpEnclosures. HerpEnclossures is the strongest and heaviest of the racks - but they are out of business. The Animal Plastics rack was OK and had to be assembled (seven level 41 qt rack). Not a hard job, but not a simple throw together either.

RB racks were all assembled and ready to work right out of the box. The best customer service by far was from Reptile Basics. I've ordered many things from them and most of the time it ships the same day I order. However, racks do require some lead time.

AP had a tub that was damaged in transit and I emailed them pics. They never responded. I called and they seemed a little agitated and denied that their tubs would get damaged in transit, but did send me a replacement.

Herp Enclosures has gone out of business and when he was in business, he didn't have the best customer service. Although, he made a great rack.

I have switched all of my adults over to ARS Caging (similar to FreedomBreeder) and hope one day to have all of my racks from ARS. They are expensive, but very well built and by far the easiest to clean and maintain. I am hoping to even buy their rodent systems.

You have to remember that many of these companies are small mom and pop operations. There is not a big demand for racks systems for reptiles so we all have to buy from smaller suppliers. When people are building racks, raising their own reptiles and maybe even working another job, it takes a lot of lead time to build racks. Also, if the builder has supply chain issues, it could cause further delays.

I understand your frustration with AP. If your rack is going to be delayed, you should have had some type of communication.

I have to put my vote in for Reptile Basics - I have 3 of their racks and have owned his cages in the past - all were shipped on time and great customer service. All racks and cages worked well.

I've also bought a Jason's Jungle Juvie Rack - another great rack with great customer service but unfortunately I don't think Jason builds racks any longer either.