What’s the deal with Animal Plastics these days?

[kath_]

I was considering ordering from them again but am now hesitant after hearing they have really gone downhill in customer service.
I’ve ordered a quick ship T8 from them before for my ball and it was amazing. Easily the best quality enclosure I’ve ever had, despite the wait time of about three months.

I think I saw somewhere that their lead times for all enclosures are between 18-36 weeks but had also heard other people say they haven’t gotten their order in over a year. Also heard some feedback that their customer service was pretty much nonexistent; emails don’t work and the only way you can get updates is by calling repeatedly for multiple days in a row.

It makes me sad and disappointed if this is true because they really do have amazing products but I’m no longer sure if it’s worth the trouble.

Any recent experiences with them or insight would be super helpful! Thank you so much!

[Armiyana]

Can't say that I had any recent experiences, but they've been running on a 12-16 week schedule since before the pandemic. I ordered mine just before the first US lockdowns. Got it at week 18iirc.

With how the hobby blew up in the past 2 years alone, I'm not surprised if it had gotten worse on lead times again. Especially with shortage of materials or shipping issues with materials.

[mistergreen]

Plexi glass, clear plastic glass of any type has become extremely expensive. I recently bought my tank Black Box and its a great tank.

[kath_]

I wouldn’t mind the wait if the customer service was better. The whole company sounds like it’s really gone downhill. Like you said, post pandemic times have been tough on the whole reptile industry. It’s a shame

[kath_]

I’ve heard great things about Black Box! There have been a few other companies getting into the scene and offering better lead times and service.
Black Box
Reptile Kages
Toad Ranch
To name a few

I still think Animal Plastics are probably the best quality but it’s not worth it to never get what you pay for

[Caitlin]

From what I can see among keeper friends these days, Animal Plastics quality is average; customer service is poor; lead time on orders is unpredictable. So for me that doesn't make them particularly competitive.

All of my enclosures are by Focus Cubed Habitats - their customer service and quality are outstanding, and I am a dedicated customer. Their lead time can be a few months, depending - it's not as fast as some because their enclosures have so many custom options. If I didn't get enclosures from Focus I would order from Black Box Cages. Their quality is nearly as good as Focus and their lead time is shorter as they offer standard sizes and fewer customization options.

Toad Ranch has very nice enclosures, though probably the most expensive. Apex Reptile is a newer company offering modular enclosures that can be easily expanded; a friend who is super picky about her enclosures and usually builds her own has tried several of the Apex enclosures and is very happy with them.

There are several other companies out there - either I don't know keepers with multiple enclosures from them who can provide a thoughtful review, or I am aware of problems with their builds.

[Snagrio]

Once my pair of T18s come in, I don't think I will ever order from them again. They're among the cheapest PVC options around for the quality, but by now I just don't think it's worth the complete and utter lack of communication and endless months of waiting. I outright had to call them after sending a message (I've never seen them respond to emails except one time and that was due to them forgetting shipping costs on one of the PVCs), as it had gotten over 2 months from the estimation they gave me for turnaround time (almost 8 months by now), and after doing so they said they'll get it shipped out by this week. Which, does that mean my order was ready for some time and they just straight up forgot about it until I called?

[jmcrook]

It’s worth pointing out that despite the volume of business they do, AP is still a family owned small business. Working with that many likely thousands of orders at any given time working 14hr days 6days a week with a relatively small staff there’s bound to be a lengthy lead time and some messages that go unanswered.
I don’t really care for talking on the phone either, but Ali is super nice and will readily work with customers to make them happy. Seen lots of other enclosure manufacturers come and go and AP is still here and still making consistently high quality products.
Not to say the other manufacturers here aren’t doing good stuff. But they’re for the most part all very new compared to AP. Nice to have options for sure, but for the quality and cost of enclosures I’ll continue anticipating the wait time and ordering AP.

[jmcrook]

That said, I will absolutely agree that Focus Cubed are some tip top looking enclosures. The attention to detail is impeccable and they're definitely visually stunning. If someone were to drop $15-20k at my feet I'd redo my whole room with their stuff dressed to the nines.

[Caitlin]

That said, I will absolutely agree that Focus Cubed are some tip top looking enclosures. The attention to detail is impeccable and they're definitely visually stunning. If someone were to drop $15-20k at my feet I'd redo my whole room with their stuff dressed to the nines.

They are worth every penny. Focus is also run entirely by a husband-wife team who basically are working 7 days a week. I have no idea how they manage to remain cheerful, friendly, and very responsive to communication but I've had consistently great experiences with them across multiple orders over the last few years. Plus they are constantly innovating and adding more features based on their own experience as keepers as well as customer feedback.

I am in no way trying to trash AP, as I don't question their enclosure quality. It's just that a couple of other companies (Black Box and Focus) are currently producing enclosures of at least equivalent quality and doing so while maintaining great communication with customers and reliable production and delivery times. I kinda feel like AP maybe got complacent based on their well deserved reputation, but they have real competition now and it seems like their customer service and communication around delivery time has maybe not kept up with that reality.