My Poor Experience with the Exalted Boaphile

A while back, I saved up quite a bit of money to get my male BP a better terrarium. On the 20th of September, I ordered a BoaphilePlastics 421D. Two weeks passed without shipping notification. I called the number on his website, and he told me that they were in the middle of a shop change and that I'd have to wait four to six weeks before the "shop move" would be compete.

I awaited a shipping notification, checking my e-mail daily. Having waited five weeks (total wait time of 7 weeks now), I once again called The Boaphile (Jeff Ronne Sr.); not once up to this point did he call or e-mail me for any further updates. When I spoke to him again, he told me that the "shop move" was nearly done and that my $350 cage would be shipped no later than Friday, November 20th. When Friday came around, I didn't receive a shipping notification, call, or e-mail. Nothing.

I called him once again Monday, November 23rd, but there was no answer. Over the course of an hour and a half, I called a total of 8 times in an attempt to determine where my item was. Frustrated, I opened a case through PayPal requesting either a full refund or compensation for the two months I had, up to this point, waited.

In a matter of a few hours, Ronne quickly issued a full refund. I find it ironic how quickly he did so.

Not once, from the time of my purchase to the time of the refund, did Ronne contact me to supply updates, I had to call him just to receive yet another excuse, not once did I receive any form of apology.

This is sad to here, I always thought they were an excellent company

I had a similar problem with Bean Farm, when I ordered some heat tape etcetera, though I waited it out and got my merchandise. I ordered the items, after looking around their site - nowhere was anything posted about delays. After a week, when their site stopped working, I found their facebook page. The day after my order was placed, they'd gone on vacation. That's fine... vacation happens... but they should have either closed orders, or notified people in the checkout that they wouldn't be getting their orders for several weeks. The checkout and confirmation email had both assured me that my order would ship within two days. Instead it didn't ship for almost a month. Had I known that, I'd have ordered through someone else, but I couldn't get any answer at all from them until after they'd sent the shipping confirmation, almost a month later. I won't be shopping there again.

It seems like this is an issue with a lot of reptile caging suppliers as they all seem to be very small businesses with a good amount of demand. I was lucky to find my T8 used (on the classifieds here!) and picked it up locally all set up and ready to go.

My second purchase is a rack which I bought from Reptile Basics. I ordered it Monday, it shipped Tuesday and will be here next week. I can't think of a faster way to get a rack and from what I've read, I should be very happy with it. Already thinking of the next rack to order because my BP addiction is taking over...

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Originally Posted by treaux

It seems like this is an issue with a lot of reptile caging suppliers as they all seem to be very small businesses with a good amount of demand.

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They are often one- or two-man shops as well. So, when they get backed up, they really get backed up. Frankly most have the same problem I've noted with gunsmiths - there is one guy who really knows what he's doing with the product, but his CS stinks, he has no idea how to run a business, and doesn't have enough capital to hire someone to do it for him.

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I was lucky to find my T8 used (on the classifieds here!) and picked it up locally all set up and ready to go.

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Every enclosure I have was purchased used. My racks are all DIY's.

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My second purchase is a rack which I bought from Reptile Basics. I ordered it Monday, it shipped Tuesday and will be here next week. I can't think of a faster way to get a rack and from what I've read, I should be very happy with it. Already thinking of the next rack to order because my BP addiction is taking over...

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Reptile Basics is awesome, but it is a decent-sized company, not a one-man shop doing nothing but caging.

Not sure if the info isn't on his site anymore but boaphile has always been 4-8 weeks lead time and the only emails you get are ordered and shipped. Did he tell you it was going to ship in two weeks initially?

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

Not sure if the info isn't on his site anymore but boaphile has always been 4-8 weeks lead time and the only emails you get are ordered and shipped. Did he tell you it was going to ship in two weeks initially?

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He did not give me an estimated wait time, thus I called him after waiting the two weeks. Over the phone, he stated an additional wait time of four to six weeks. I waited about five weeks, contacted him again, and he told me another week and a half (to November 20th). He said that, based on my position in the queue of others who have purchased caging, it should be shipped no later than November 20th. It was not shipped on the 20th, nor the following Monday.

I really want a 421D, but I think it's absurd to make a customer wait roughly eight weeks without providing any updates and then be so immediate as to refund my money via PayPal.

All around disappointing. I'm on the fence between sucking it up and placing another order, or going with some other style of cage. Any recommendations? I'm not really interested in the Boaphile items on FaunaClassifieds; I'd really like something new that doesn't make me wait two months.

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Originally Posted by Vanthios

He did not give me an estimated wait time, thus I called him after waiting the two weeks. Over the phone, he stated an additional wait time of four to six weeks. I waited about five weeks, contacted him again, and he told me another week and a half (to November 20th). He said that, based on my position in the queue of others who have purchased caging, it should be shipped no later than November 20th. It was not shipped on the 20th, nor the following Monday.

I really want a 421D, but I think it's absurd to make a customer wait roughly eight weeks without providing any updates and then be so immediate as to refund my money via PayPal.

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Maybe you missed a page on their site?? http://www.boaphileplastics.com/timing.html
I am not justifying the additional time but as a small business owner and one that purchases from other owners I understand that we all have lives and things change or get in the way of deadlines.

This is a common issue with Boaphile, unfortunately.

That being said, I have 2 of the cage you ordered, purchased from a crested gecko breeder that had only had them for 4 to 6 months or so. It took her 7 months from the time she ordered the cages to the time she received them!

I love the cages. Lightweight and easy to clean, love the drop down door, but I will never directly support a business that takes months to send you the finished product.

Here is a photo of them in my current set up. They are sitting on top of an AP T20 (6x2x2).

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11...f8b8e369a9.jpg

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Maybe you missed a page on their site?? http://www.boaphileplastics.com/timing.html
I am not justifying the additional time but as a small business owner and one that purchases from other owners I understand that we all have lives and things change or get in the way of deadlines.

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While this is true his customers would probably be a lot more patient if they were not charged for the product until it shipped. My credit card merchant processor would rake me over the coals if I didn't ship a product within 30 days of receiving payment.

I think some here are being way too rough on the guy IN THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION.

A shop move is a tremendous ordeal for a small business, especially a one or two man operation.

He informed the OP that was moving. And he can't give an exact time frame of when the move will be completed, things come up that can't be predicted.

Do you want the man to work on his move so he can get to work, or sit on his computer delaying his operations?

Having been involved in several shop moves in my life I can tell you first hand that they are a real beat down, and you never want to do another again. Many days we worked 18-24 hrs. You just can't expect the guy to be 100% "on" during a move.

Plus someone mentioned a 4-8 week lag time AFTER the order is placed. Add that to the 3-4 week move and you have an easy 3 month wait.

And then to cry over a shipping confirmation? Gee, how did we ever survive long distance buying before the Internet?

Sure he could have an automated confirmation system and or hire some help, but that costs money. Then his pricing would have to increase. And he is in an extremely price competitive market where with a large portion of the business is based on nothing but price.

Now I admit, I do not agree with charging folks UNTIL the product is to be shipped. I personally feel it is WRONG to charge people and use THEIR money until shipping.

However, please cut the guy some slack. :please:

If your sight says a certain time for your customer to get that product, you need to honor that time or update the information warning the customers of the extended wait time. It's not really fair to have people order from you without any warning of an extended wait time. They could take their business somewhere else with a shorter wait time given that heads up. That being said I do understand that it must be really hard to keep up with the demand without a big team of help, especially during a shop move. I just think the customers should be warned on the front page of the site and possibly a dialogue box when they go to put the items in their cart that warn them of the extended wait time.

Well if the site says a 4-8 week wait, and when the OP contacted him, he was informed of the shop move and a potential delay, then that's a announcement and a warning of the extra wait time.

More communication is never a bad thing, period. But it seemed pretty clear that it would take time right from the beginning.