Anyone ordered from MG Reptiles? Problems?

[ByRandom]

Even if I didn't have any personal interactions with Matt, I still wouldn't purchase from him. The BOI posts read like a soap-opera.

MGREPTILES Trouble with shipment - This thread is where Matt seemingly goes whacko.

Dennis Hultman dabbles in more than reptiles BAD GUY - A thread started by Matt just to be malicious

The list goes on from "Matt's a Great Guy!" to "Matt's Horrible, never buy from him!"

I know Big Apple Herp and Bean Farm carry most of the same products that Matt does. They will be getting my business from now on.

 

[BalloonzForU]

Even if I didn't have any personal interactions with Matt, I still wouldn't purchase from him. The BOI posts read like a soap-opera.

MGREPTILES Trouble with shipment - This thread is where Matt seemingly goes whacko.

Dennis Hultman dabbles in more than reptiles BAD GUY - A thread started by Matt just to be malicious

The list goes on from "Matt's a Great Guy!" to "Matt's Horrible, never buy from him!"

I know Big Apple Herp and Bean Farm carry most of the same products that Matt does. They will be getting my business from now on.

Josh, I agree his attitude about complaints have not been nice at all!

 

[Aunt J]

I've emailed him with questions and asked for advice pre-order, and he was super helpful. The first time I ordered from him, the service was great. But I recently ordered two Johnsons and a couple of timers, and they took almost two months to get to me. I had a breeder holding two bearded dragons for me until I could get the stuff from him, and it took so long I eventually had to pick up the beardies without my order. I had to buy duplicate timers and steal the herpstat from my leos and replace it with a dimmer for over a month until my order could get to me.

I will say that every time I emailed to check on it, he was very prompt and polite. I also had a problem with a herpstat he sold me --not a problem caused by him. I emailed him about it, and although he had no idea how to help, he gave me the contact information for Spyder robotics and they were able to fix the problem immediately.

I'm sorry that he seems to be having problems. I'd rather order from a place like his, with more personal service, than go to the bigger companies. But I'm not sure I'd order from him again if I was in a hurry.

 

[SaSobek]

i have orderd from him as well. all i wanted was a herpstat thermastat i ordered it on 2/16 i didnt get it intill 3/6. it wasnt even shiped out intill the 2/28. when you have all the stuff that i do. i need to have the stuff fast. i cant wait for a month. so i probably wont buy from him again as well.

Matt Baronak

 

[Sunshine State Exotics]

I bought my Herpstat directly from Spyder Robitics.

 

[Russ S]

Once again I am reminding all of you that full names are required for all posts in this section of the forum.

 

[CoolGecko]

So where else can i order from beside matt because i dont want that to happen to me send me a mesage with the information thank you because i only know his web site thank you.(JoHn)

 

[justin-branam]

Well i have updated my signature according to how i feel and the facts behind my order. i sent him the following e-mail after i received no reply to 2 others asking for a confirmation that he actually sent my package.

Okay, I think i have waited long enough for my stuff and since you have no customer service manners, to even tell me if my order has shipped (like i asked in my past two un-answered e-mails), if i don't hear from you with a tracking number by tomorrow, i will be forced to call my credit card company, tell them the situation, and have them cancel the payment to you. I don't know what has happened with your service, but i came to you because you used to have a good rep. but after more research that has obviously changed. you really need to start being a little more respectful to your clients, or you will end up losing business from more than a few people. I will be sending a carbon copy to a third party to verify this e-mail was sent.

Sincerely,
Justin Branam

And just so i was clear, immediately sent this one:

Since i forgot to mention in my other e-mail, if my order has not shipped yet (as of 12 March 2007), consider this my notification to you, to cancel my order. If i do receive the package with a ship date later than 12 March 2007, i will be sending it back pending a full refund on both the item total as well as shipping and return shipping.

Justin

I'll let everyone know how he responds....if he even does that. Wouldnt surprise me if i get an e-mail threatening to sue me for slander, after some of the reviews i've read about him lately

2 :main_thumbsdown: for Matt at mgreptiles

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Nice Guy, Sure....

Originally Posted by MGReptiles
I honestly dont care if I win or not.. It is just the fact of the matter!

Kelli, You are not the person I thought you were.. When your son passed I sent you 200 bucks to help out now you come on here against me.. Sorry but that is about as low as it gets! You should be ashamed of yourself! I guess you have everyones money and it dosent matter now huh.. Horrible!

Originally Posted by MGReptiles


Sharp- You are what whats her name just said.. The dirt on the bottom of my shoe.. You ARE the Roach.. You actually look like a child molester from your pics..lol..

____________________________________________________________

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Buyer Beware

I am blaming the customer because they are wrong...

I have dealt with Matt on 3 occasions and needless to say was not very happy on each one. Let me say I did receive what I ordered each and every time but its always some BS excuse about how he was sick, or his mother was sick or passed away or something like that, or its out of stock. Which let me say if she did expire I apologize but its like the boy who cried wolf it gets to be tiresome listening to the same old song and dance. I mean he doesn't email or for that matter no correspondence what-so-ever unless you initiate it, and then he starts with the excuses. I mean one time I was in dire need of heat tape and t-stat bought items I needed littlerally took him over a month to get it to me and I emailed him 2 weeks after I purchased the items and told him I wanted a refund that I bought them elsewhere and still I received the items I purchased somewhere else before I got the stuff from Matt. I mean to save a few measly bucks on t-stats, heat tape and other items is not worth the time and headaches. But just my opinion
Damian Macioce :firedevil

I too received the run around and like Jim S. said was bashed for even saying Matt lied to us,it was a big mess and a long story.It took 6 weeks for me to get all my things and Matt and I had dealt with each other for years.Then i get a visit from my sister that I was on the BOI and Matt brought it here.It was smug to say the least.It said stop don't deal with VanZweden Reptiles due to poss mentel Illness..I know him and my X had some words on here over as did my sister.But like i said in my other post its in the past and I'm not going back to rehash all this.I'm just not going back period

Greg VanZweden

I ordered from Matt, because i heard nothing but good things about him and his service. I ordered flexwatt and a thermostat. I waited a week and heard nothing about my order, so I emailed matt and he told me that it would be sent out at the end of the week. I waited until Tuesday of the following week and once again heard nothing, so once again i emailed him, and was told that it would be shipped the following week and it wasn't. Finally I had to email him again and was once again told that it would be sent the following week, with no explanation of why it was so late. My biggest beef with Matt was if my order was going to be late he should have let me know, but every time I had to contact him. I did finally receive the items a month after the order was placed. The items work great. I have no problem with his product, but his customer service greatly needs improving.
Lawrence Gooden Jr

On Oct. 13 I needed to order a thermostat and some flexwatt for an incoming snake. I figured I would order from Matt because he seemed like a nice guy and had heard some good about him. Well all was fine until my order was placed.

I ordered on Oct. 13 a wired Johnson Controls thermostat, a sterilite 1960 tub, and a foot of prewired flexwatt. His website said approximately a week to wire and ship the thermostat and flexwatt so I was fine with that. So I e-mail him on Oct. 23 asking for an update on my order. He responds back that day and says that he was out of the clips to wire the flexwatt and they would be in on Wednesday and ship whenever it arrived. I said okay, waited a few days and e-mailed him again asking about the status of my order. It was Oct. 28 and I asked him if the clips were in or was the order shipped. Receive a response of Sunday Oct. 29 and he told me the clips were in on Friday and that my order would be shipped on Monday the 30th. I asked him how long shipping takes and he said 2-3 days. I e-mail him again on 11/03 making sure my order was shipped and he tells me that is has not shipped yet and would be shipped the next day. Here I am on the 7th, nearly a month later with no thermostat and a breeder waiting to ship a snake off to me. If they were in on the 27th, what was the problem with shipping it off on the 30th? Why was another 5 days needed until my order left his place?

Normally, I would not get worried over this or worked up, but I never got any e-mails from Matt explaining updates or anything like that. I never got any info until I inquired. If you want your flexwatt on time, order from somewhere else. Being out of stock is understandable, but no updates for me and procrastination if not understandable of a business
Timothy Lowe

I have heard nothing but good things about Matt and his company. This statement alone negates every good thing I've heard. Someone, possibly a customer, states how much they respect you but gives you a suggestion as to how to improve your business and what do you do? You blow them off, quite sarcastically IMO, stating that they are no longer a customer and to "Have a good one!" PATHETIC!

The emails that you posted supported what Tim said. Though your post shows your replies first and Tim's emails second, it is obvious that your comments were just that, responses. You showed nothing that supported that you, as the business man, made the effort to keep your customer informed as to YOUR delay.

As a business, there is a thing called inventory. You know how much product you have and make some kind of predictions as to how much business you expect in the near and long distant future. Your order items you need well before it comes to a point where you are "Out of Stock."

You can make it two people that you are truly sorry to have lost their business. And yes, I WILL have a good one!
Spencer Webber

I have had a similar experience recently as well. Granted there was an error on my side but it was corrected promptly on my part. While I am not satisfied this time I hope to be next time. See I can't find anywhere else that connects the flex watt(I honestly haven't looked too hard, Know anywhere else?) and I don't want to pay for the tool to use it a few times. Here is my story.

I ordered a small order of flex watt on September 7th. To be specific it was 4 pieces in total all 11" , 2 each 1' long and 2 each 2' long all to be connected(plug and play). I get the automated responce the next day as well as a responce from Matt to clarify that he understood my order to make sure it is right. On September 14, I get an e-mail from Matt telling me that my package was about to ship but he(his shipping clerk) found a mistake on my order before it went out. I had accidentally ordered full connection sets but not the plug and play which was maybe three bucks more. So I email him back and ask for a bill so I can pay and get it out. I get the payment request on the 17th of September and pay it on the 19th of September. So I should be good to go.



Well a couple weeks go by and nothing so i email him to get an update. On October 5th Matt replies that the order shipped sometime ago and I should have it by now(I agree). He says If it doesn't arrive in a couple days he will resend it. So I receive the package on the 11th of October,and open in a few days later as I was busy, low and behold there is the flexwatt rolled up, cords banded togeather and a bag of insulators and clips, not a single unit connected. So I email Matt to let him know and that I am being understanding due to MY mistake in the beginning, what should I do. I get a email from Matt on October 17th telling me to send it back and he will connect them. That was a Tuesday, and i got to the post office and sent it back that Friday the 20th of October. I hear nothing till November 3rd, when I get a PayPal shipping confirmation(the only one i got). So Monday, November 6th, Noon I open my door and there is my order.

This time it is correct, but in order to get my flexwatt I had to wait a total of 2 months and pay for shipping twice. Now I realize shipping three times took a few days here and there but what about the rest of the time. Note Matt never contacted me to inform me of any delays or anything. The only time he contacted me was to inform me of the mistake on the order or to reply to inquiries as to why i didn't have my product. I've dealt with Matt in the past and probably will in the future, I just hope my next orders will be smoother.
Andrew Elholm

had a similar 'issue' with Matt, but it's really not a big deal.

I made the suggestion to him when the box finally arrived to immediately drop USPS and ship using FedEx. He sent me my package 'priority mail', and the damn thing took almost 10 days to get from West Va. to Connecticut.

That is horribly lame, and that is not Matt's fault. A FedEx ground order would have been here in 2-3 days, and for half the price. Plus, with the number of orders that Matt sends out every week, FedEx should be salivating to get in on that. I'd assume there would be a decent sized discount offered.

Now I did have some communication problems with Matt, so perhaps he needs to try and work out some bugs with his server or spam filters, but he does appear to be trying to rectify that, and that's all you can really ask.

I think having a website showing actual in stock numbers will help these problems out a great deal. If that can get improved, along with the e-mail problems, Matt will be all set.

From what I can gather, nobody is complaining about the actual product, just the customer service. Thankfully, that doesn't take too much to fix.

Hey,

I've noticed that Matt's proposed solutions nearly all involve blaming someone else:

Number 1- blame the shipper!
1. Switching to UPS or possibly Fedex only using USPS as a choosable option for the customer, this removes some delay as USPS is proving to be undependable.

Number 2- blame the customer!
2. Only selling to my distributors in Canada and not selling anywhere else as that initself is problematic. Sorry UK and the rest of the world

Number 3- blame the website
3. New website that automatically informs the customer what the status of the order is. (Yes sometimes I do forgect to send an email but the deal with Ken is not the case). Tells quanity in stock and hopefully prints orders into a batch every morning and evening(Is that possible Nathen)

Number 4- blame the products
4. Downsizing what I offer. Some of the auto items are just not profitable enough to offer, like the emitters, bulbs etc. This will remove alot of the orders being delayed as the rest of the products are ready to rock and roll.

Number 5- blame the unhired employee
5. Still trying to hire some help, anyone local to 25154????

When does the blame come to Matt? I guess never. If you noticed 2 years ago on the BOI, if anyone jumped on Matt- everyone came to his defense, now it's about 50/50.... tells me something.

I wish I had too much business! Darn pesky customers!

Steve Harrison
Jacksonville, FL

wish I had looked here sooner. I haven't taken the time to read this entire thread (I kind of lost focus when it came to bashing each other's religious principles) But I feel I have to make everyone aware of MG reptiles current practices.
I placed an order with MG Reptiles through a Kingsnake Classified and paid in full through PayPal on 11/19. I received a confirmatio e-mail of receipt of funds from MGR on 1/23 with a statement that my order would be shipped in 1-7 days depending on complexity of wiring. My order consisted of 50' of 3" flexwatt, 10 sets of connectors and a set of sexing probes as an afterthought since he had them listed "on sale". Since there was no wiring involved, I assumed my order would be shipped on the lower end of his self listed timeline.
Well......
On the EIGHTH day I received another e-mail from Matt that stated :
......The 6pc probe sets are currenntly on back order as I am sure you know from previous emails.

There were no such e-mails. I had never been told ANYTHING was on back order. Nontheless, I informed him that the probes were only an afterthought and the flex watt was what was needed. If the probes were causing a delay then please cancel them and send the flexwatt as expeditiously as possible- I had a rack built that was on hold waiting for the flexwatt and I never expected it to take 10 days to prepare a 50' piece of flexwatt for shipping.
I received a vert snappy e-mail from Matt stating "It didn;t take 10 days to prepare an order of flexwatt, the probes were on backorder and he would refund the probes. From this I assumed the flexwatt and connectors were ready and since the probes were being refunded, he would immediately ship my order. So I waited- even as long as his first imposed 1-7 day shipping time frame.
Well......
On the eighth day I assumed I had been taken. I had patiently waited the first eight days and been given a story about probes being on back order. Then I patiently waited the second eight days and tried to call Matt at what was listed as his business hours and got no answer on several occasions. On about the fifth or sixth call, I got an answering machine. I left a message with my name, phone number, and the order that was in question.... I never got an answer either by phone or e-mail.
I logged on to Paypal on 12/08 and opened a dispute- not a claim. Paypal states that a dispute is only a communication between seller and customer not a communication with PayPal. I listed events as I have already outlined. Matt answered the dispute (still has never called ME back) in a little over 3 hours stating that the order would be shipped via USPS the next day, but he went on to say that items I had ordered were custom made and went on about a return policy. He also alluded to the fact that I didn't leave a message on his answering machine and he didn't know I called.
I addressed those issues through PayPal stating I felt the sellers response was deceptive, but was satisfied that the order would be shipped the next day.
Well.....
I received another personal e-mail berating me about professionalism and that my tactics wouldn't work and I would get a refund "IF YOU ARE ENTITLED TO ONE" Then another e-mail stating he could either ship the order or charge me a 25% restocking fee since he had already cut the flexwatt and prepared the box for shipping. I responded telling him that all I ever wanted was what I had already paid for.
Well........
The next day I reeceived another e-mail saying he refused to ship my order until I cancelled my dispute with PayPal. He stated That I could always open it up later as a claim. I re=read the terms on PayPal that stated once a dispute is cancelled it cannot be reopened or elevated to a claim. I posted this in my buyers response on paypal and in a personal e-mail to Matt, assuring him that I would gladly cancel the dispute as soon as I received my order.
Then......
Within an hour, Matt responded to PayPal by escalating the disput to a claim himself and sent me another personal e-mail berating me as paranoid because he didn't ship the minute I placed the order.
Sorry this is soooo long, but I wanted to make it as complete as possible as to the details and I will apologize for any typos ahead of time since it too long even for me to go back and proof read.
Shawn Gilbert

I have now read the entire post. There seems to be a lot of side arguments and personal issues here. What prompted me to include myself in this post is not just a simple matter of a delayed order. If it was, I would have come looking here and contributed on 12/01. That is not the case. I asked Matt as nicely as possible in my e-mail to please cancel the probes if they were causing the delay and ship the flexwatt as expeditiously as possible.
His very snappy response stating "it didn't take 10 days to ship flexwatt....I will refund the probes." led me to believe the order would then be shipped immediately. I find it hard to believe if he was that angry about the matter, he simply forgot to refund the probes. At that point he was delaying for some other reason- someone mentioned that the common denominator was the inclusion of flexwatt in the order. Maybe that is what it was and he just delayed some more until he got it. Even that is not what sent me here.
When another eight days went by and i tried to contact him in person over the phone and was unsuccessful, I became worried that this was a scam artist- I had no knowledge of Matt's all of you here obviously do.
I told him to please contact me about the order or I would FIRST contact Paypal, and if I did not get a resolution I would THEN contact the police.
When I filed the DISPUTE (remember, I NEVER escalated it to a claim) Matt responded (through PayPal) with a verydeceptive answer talking about the customer's (ME) order containing custom built materials that could not be returned. His reply ended with a very simplistic "next time you call, leave a message so we know in fact you called" (paraphrased- I probably shouldn't use the quotes) Leading anyone who read it to believe that he had no knowledge that I called and so the reason he NEVER returned my call and also why he did not promptly take care of the matter.
Now after reading his response in post #219, he finally admits (I'll leave out the quotes) getting angry about receiving a voicemail about contacting the police.
See, he DID get my message on his answering machine. He LIED about not getting it in his response to PayPal. He LIED about my order containing custom built components, he sent up a smoke screen about the issue revolving around returns and refunds when the ONLY issue was non shipment.
The terms of service for PayPal are clear about canceling a dispute. I am sure most of you are aware of them, and someone who is more computer literate than I can post them verbatim - that once a dispute is closed it CANNOT be reopened OR escalated to a claim.
Matt LIED to me when he wrote that I had to cancel the dispute to allow him to ship. He LIED to me when he said I could cancel the dispute and later reopen it as a claim.
In Matt's first response to PayPal he stated...customers order will be shipped tomorrow using USPS. He LIED because he contacted me via personal e-mail and stated he would not ship unless I cancelled the dispute.
When I posted a reply in PayPAl that I still had concerns about the transaction. Matt responded by saying... the customer has filed a CLAIM that prevents me from shipping.
Got to say it........ LIE AGAIN!! I was very clear in my communication to him that I was keeping it as a DISPUTE not a CLAIM for as long as possible to keep it (as Paypal told me) between the customer and the seller, and give him the opportunity to do the right thing. Please read the posting of the PayPal correspondence- SELLER has escalated this to a CLAIM. He blames ME twice for holding up the order because I filed a CLAIM.
Matt's last responce to PayPal said something about me being offered a refund SEVERAL times. Guess what...... LIE again.
Matt sent me a single antagonistic e-mail saying something like .. tell you what I can either ship your order today or refund your order minus a 25% restocking fee. That was the only reference to refunding that was ever made, and it was entirely unsolicited by me. All I wanted was what I paid for.
This post was started by someone else that created a great deal of discussion about whether or not they should get a full refund after waiting so long for an order and whether they opened the box or not. In this case, Matt is damanding a 25% restocking fee for an item he never shipped! not to mention the other option- I can ship your order today (12/08) was, as we all now know......... yes,...... a LIE. Since he did not do it.
Some of the post I read seem to be more accurate that others, but one thing came across rather clear, Matt will blame ANYONE BUT HIMSELF.
He sent an e-mail saying he would refund the probes, he sent an e-mail saying he would refund shipping. My guess is that if and when the order arrives neither will be refunded and that those, too, were lies. I will let you know. He lied about not getting my message on his answering machine. He lied about my order containing custom order electronics. He lied about the issue being refunds. He lied about shipping my order the following day of the initial PayPal dispute. He lied about shipping it the same day if I didn't want to swallow a 25% restocking fee for an item that was never shipped. He lied about saying he could not ship because I filed a claim. He lied about me filing a claim. To me there is more at issue here that poor time management of a business that simply get behind on shipping. I could have lived with that.

I ordered a T-stat and some more flex from Matt and with a couple weeks of no contact and a couple emails asking if my order was sent out and if the credit card was billed, NOTHING. I sent him an email saying he had 1 more day to get back to me or he could consider the order canceled. Needless to say its been 5 days now and nothing. No phone call, email, nothing. His company has been falling under lately. I don't know about you guys but waiting 2-3 weeks with NO communication on an order is BS!
Maybe my emails stopped getting through and your phone broke so feel free to email me Matt, Please and once I have your attention I will give you my Number privately
Jake Terry

Jake - This is EXACTLY what happened to me. I ordered my first t stat and flex from him. I only ordered it because he was on BP.net so I thought "ok cool, good guy" Little did I know at the time, nor had I ever heard about this place either. Well I didn't hear much from him but he told me he sent it out to my house. Well I NEVER received it -- BUT he sure did get my money and I did get billed for it. I fought long and hard with my bank to get that money back too. I emailed Matt and his response was something along the lines of "To bad...you received it so I can't help you."

Jake if I was you, I WOULD NOT wait... call your bank or credit card company today and ask them if you have been changed for it. If so tell them what happened and that you have been ripped off by this guy and that you need help to get your money back. It may take a few months like it did mine because I had to fill out paper work and all but I did get my money back in the end.

Good luck Jake!
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Allison Covan

As with everyone else's orders, mine was delayed. No big deal, except for the fact that Matt didn't tell me until after I placed the order that the item was out of stock. Like I said, this wasn't that big of a deal, but was enough to make me take my business elsewhere. Notice I asked him about the price of the thermostats on March 10 at 3:53 pm. He responded the same day at 4:37 pm with no mention that they were out of stock. I then placed my order and received an email from Matt at 5:33 pm saying that they were out of stock and he would ship the first of next week, but it actually took about two weeks.

See emails below.

Matt Crabe

On Oct. 13 I needed to order a thermostat and some flexwatt for an incoming snake. I figured I would order from Matt because he seemed like a nice guy and had heard some good about him. Well all was fine until my order was placed.

I ordered on Oct. 13 a wired Johnson Controls thermostat, a sterilite 1960 tub, and a foot of prewired flexwatt. His website said approximately a week to wire and ship the thermostat and flexwatt so I was fine with that. So I e-mail him on Oct. 23 asking for an update on my order. He responds back that day and says that he was out of the clips to wire the flexwatt and they would be in on Wednesday and ship whenever it arrived. I said okay, waited a few days and e-mailed him again asking about the status of my order. It was Oct. 28 and I asked him if the clips were in or was the order shipped. Receive a response of Sunday Oct. 29 and he told me the clips were in on Friday and that my order would be shipped on Monday the 30th. I asked him how long shipping takes and he said 2-3 days. I e-mail him again on 11/03 making sure my order was shipped and he tells me that is has not shipped yet and would be shipped the next day. Here I am on the 7th, nearly a month later with no thermostat and a breeder waiting to ship a snake off to me. If they were in on the 27th, what was the problem with shipping it off on the 30th? Why was another 5 days needed until my order left his place?

Normally, I would not get worried over this or worked up, but I never got any e-mails from Matt explaining updates or anything like that. I never got any info until I inquired. If you want your flexwatt on time, order from somewhere else. Being out of stock is understandable, but no updates for me and procrastination if not understandable of a business.
Timothy Lowe

MG Reptiles / Matt Graybeal bad guy.....
We placed an order with Matt on April 4th for the following:

1 Scale weighing in 0.05 gram increments
1 Ranco thermostat
40 foot of 3" 10 watt heat tape

On 4/6/06 our credit card was charged and we assumed the order was on the way.
On the morning of 4/8/06 we decided we needed to add something to our order so we called Matt to see if he sent it out yet. He hadn't and we added 3 foot of 11" heat tape to our order. He told us the order was going out that day. Our credit card was charged again on the 8th and we again waited for our order.
On 4/18/06 we contacted Matt to tell he we had not received our order yet and wanted to know what the hold up was. Here is the e-mail we sent:
Ok we called Matt to report the problems .....he actually told us that he thought the tape was 10 watt and that he must have shipped out 500 foot of 6 watt tape without knowing to others ......he asked us to ship the incorrect items back to him and he would credit us the different $120.99 + the return shipping which was $11.00 through USPS.

We sent the items back on 5/2/06 and I made sure to get a delivery conformation # on it......on 5/4/06 their was an attempted delivery and a notice was left........the order has still not been claimed from the post office and if it isn't picked up soon it will be returned to us again..........here is the tracking number to the order we returned.
0305 0830 0002 0370 3406 ...........We have left 4 messages with him since we returned the order.......he will not return our calls.......but he seems to have enough time to post new ads on the other classified websites daily.

I don't think anyone should have to go through this to get what they paid for..........don't get me wrong.....we all make mistakes now and again but I would hope that most of us would fix the problem as soon as it is brought to our attention.........it is 5/10/06 and we have not resolved this problem........I don't want to do a credit back on my credit card but I'm afraid Matt has left us no choice.

Nicole & Kevin Elliser
K&N Reptiles

Another case of POOR customer service
I had the EXACT same experience with MG Reptiles. Bought a Thermostat and two small pieces of Heat Tape - maybe 6 inches long each - because he was having a sale. Took him over 3 weeks to ship that stuff to me. Was a "Oh, it is coming", "Oh, I ran out of supplies to put the heat tape together", "Oh, I'll get to wiring the heat tape next weekend". Wasn't worth at the time to make a big stink about it as I just wanted my stuff but after reading the starting post to this thread I had to chime in with my experience because I had the exact same poor customer service dealing with MG Reptiles - and I have never talked to or know any of these vaunted "Wolf Pack" gang. MG didn't even offer to pick up the shipping to make up for him taking forever to get his act together and I wasn't an irate customer or a pain in the @$$ either to piss him off. Maybe I should have grumbed a bit but that is my bad. Good news is both the Thermostat and Heat Tape are still working just fine, so at least I didn't have to wait forever for bunk product. At any rate, I don't think my experience makes him a bad guy or a scamer but most definitely someone I wouldn't do business with again in the future and after seeing all this, definitely looks like there is a pattern here.
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Matt Jillson

Same deal
Sorry I didnt see this sooner. Same deal Matt, your missing the whole problem. YOU promise shipping and then say it is on the way, when it is not. YOU create these situations. If you were honest about when you were shipping upfront in the first place and not ignore emails when we complain about it it wouldnt get posted here. Then when it does you and your friends put a twist back at the buyer to make them a bad guy, throwing insults and making them think they dont have the right to complain about you. I know you are not out to rip anyone off, but you need to have alot better communication and not put your customers off. Our whole deal was as well I didnt know you and you said its on the way when it wasnt. And your complaint about me "your customer" was I was impatient and jumped the gun on calling back the PayPal. I wasnt nearly as patient as them, but your lack of communication after the money is sent causes the problem. Not everyone knows you and will wait for there purchase as long as some of your customers do. That you need to face and fix. I have one Bad trader rating and its from you, for being YOUR customer one time.
__________________
Robert Holveck

Greg.I would like to back you up on what you have said cause you have done it for me on a few occasions.The one time Greg and i made a deal for a few cages and they were to be shipped with a company called red arrow.He quoted me the price for shipping and cages.Well the day of shipping came around and red arrow changed their weight limit and thewy would ne accept my cages.Greg went to another company who charges more for shipping.He took the loss on this and never once aske me for extra money.See link to my boi post on Greg.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76181
Matt 29 dollar refund could have gotten you a repeat customer who tells everyone about your great service which means a few more cutomers and most likely another good guy post here on the boi(like the one i made for Greg) which means alot more customers and repeat customers.
I dont understand why you are taking this stand here cause i feel it is gonna make you look bad man which to be honest i dont think you are.
I think you should make things better and do whats right for your customer,you and your bussiness.
Todd Peddle

I had 2 similar experiences with Matt back in 2005/2006. You know the old saying, screw me once..... Well, I switched to the Bean Farm and have placed MULTIPLE orders and have not only been surprised at their communication and shipping times but they often send me extra items for free. NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE and something that Matt will never do.

Here's to you Matt and thank you for showing people what Christians are NOT. :thumbsup:

Griz

I ordered 2 Rancos w/8 slot power strips from MG in October and paid for them at that time.He said the 8 receptacle strips would have to be ordered.I checked a month later and he said they hadn't come in,and offered some 6 slot strips instead.I needed the 8's and I agreed to wait as long as the 8's were indeed "in the system and not forgotten"A month later,I checked again and was toldthe manufactuer said three more weeks.It seemed odd as the 8's are on the shelf at the Home stores,but I figured he has to get them from his source to make his margin.3weeks later,NOTHING.At this point I am not upset YET,and agreed to accept 2 6 slots on each themostat instead of 1 8 slot,and was giving a definate ship date.Several days went by with no package and I contacted MG with a request for the merchandise or money back and he said no refunds,I already shipped.I asked for a tracking # and was given a generic PO message that said MG had notified the PO to "expect a shipment"????? I asked him why he lied about my shipment and he replied"I didn't lie,I simply failed to ship on the date I said I would"I then replied If I don'y receive my order,I will report to KS,Fauna etc .MG replied that if I say one word about this,he will sue me as his Father in law is an attorney.I asked him how can he sue someone if they are telling the truth?
I finally received my order and now the best part.One ranco had 2 of the same strips and the other one had 2 differsnt strips.Upon plugging them in,onlly the odd strip worked.I contacted MG and he said everything is tested and if I wanted to send them back,he would"take a look at them" After all the above,I went to the home center and purchased 2 8 slot strips,hooked them up and learned my lesson.I have all the e-mails if someone wants to post them,but it seems like a moot point after all the other posts .Perhaps it is good his father in law is a lawyer,he may have to support matt when he has no income.
A.P.DiPASQUAle

I placed an order with Matt at the beginning of February and finally received it today. I had requested that the flexwatt be hooked up a certain way and it was not done! Very unhappy at being made to wait and then having an incomplete job done. Poor business practice. I had to make numerous e-mails and leave various messages to only get 2 e-mails in return and never a return phone call. Last time I ever do business with him.

Anyone have any "issues" getting in touch with Matt or anybody for that matter from this company. I ordered two Herpstats from him a couple of weeks ago, my credit card has been charged but I've yet to see the items. Numerous messages and emails with no response. What gives?!

I had a little trouble last time I ordered from him. It would take a couple days for him to respond and I didnt get any products untill about a month or more afetr I ordered them. He may be a good guy but with the experience I have had with him I probably won't order from him again unless I start hearing good things again.

I am not dealing with Matt anymore. From what I understand he is a one man show. It took me a month to receive my last shipment from him as well (after many calls and emails).
Nice enough guy to talk to but I stopped believing his many assurances that my order was "in the mail" by the end of the first week.

Good luck.

Matt seems like a great guy, but I won't deal with him again either. The first time my order was placed, after at least a week of waiting I emailed just to find that they were out of stock on the item I already paid for, and I was going to have to wait another week, I cancelled.

Second time I ordered I was very clear on when I expected the delivery to take place, and it was delayed almost a week beyond that.

I've started ordering from Rich at Reptilebasics, he has always answered his cell for me, and ships stuff out to me within hours of me ordering it, one time in 30 mins ...

Great guy, 5 *'s from me.

That is exactly what happened to me. He assured the stuff was in the mail and it wasnt.

Matt helped me with any questions i had for building my rack and he emailed back pretty quick, but, when i went to order the flexwatt for the rack it NEVER came. i got in contact with him and tried to get my money back through pay pal. i guess paypal contacted him or something and he sent us a very rude email. he said he was gonna put my name, phone number, paypal account, or something to that effect, on every forum on the net saying that i was trying to fraud him.

i would never deal with him again although a lot of people seem to like him. the other stuff for the rack like the wire, crimps, and crimp covers came pretty fast with no problem.

i understand about orders being late, etc. but my order NEVER came and when i tried to get reembursed thru paypal (i guess they have a guarantee about orders never getting received) i got the flexwatt because of paypals guarantee but he sent me a very rude email like i said above, calling me a fraud, and "how dare you" etc, etc.

I placed an order over 2 weeks ago and have yet to receive it, so far I am very dissatisfied. I guess next time I'll go with bean farm.

Has anyone else had a hard time with their MGReptiles Orders lately? I placed my order for a tub/flexwatt setup on August 27th. When I originally had trouble getting a hold of Matt it was due to a change in my email address so fine blame is on me for that. When I did finally hear from him at my new email address on Sept 5th he said my package would ship that week and arrive in 2-3 days. Its now Sept 26th, I wrote him an email on the 21st and called him on the 25th. No response, meanwhile I'm stuck waiting for a tub to house my pastel thats on hold. I don't want to go through paypal because I want to give him the benefit of the doubt with him getting married an all. I just wish he would respond to my many attempts to reach him. I'm not looking to tarnish anyones reputation, but when is enough enough?

I've been waiting for a flexwatt and thermostat order too.

David

Hi Matt - Hopefully you get this - I had placed and paid for my order on Sept 7th! Two Johnson Thermostats. I have sent you multiple emails requesting a tracking ID as you stated over a week ago that it would be shipped on Friday and I have received no response. I can't wait any longer - I need my thermostat to keep my BP happy! Just so you know I will more than likely be cancelling my order via paypal tonight if I dont receive it and ordering thru someone who can ship to me tomorrow next day. My BP needs his thermostats - I cant wait any longer....


Also in the future it would be helpful to inform your customer if the product is on backorder for over 2 Weeks instead of having to wait two weeks giving you the benefit of the doubt waiting every day only to find out it is on backorder

Not trying to be harsh, but I really need and needed my thermostat 3 weeks ago when I ordered it


Thanks,
Cara

Matt - Tracking # Please?. Next Day AIR I Hope? Considering I ordered this 3 weeks ago? ...and had I not logged on and seen this I still would not know it was coming But I guess this is the best way to communicate with you???? :frustrate Matt I purchased from you because of all your advertisement on this board and so far this has not been a good experience. I have to say I am disappointed. Sorry but I am

Matt - I STILL have not received my thermostats. The confirmation you sent says that you have notifed the USPS that you have a package to be mailed- but says THAT IT STILL HAS NOT LEFT !!!!!

Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper or shipping partner on September 27, 2006 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later

I am cancelling my order right now thru PAYPAL! You took my $ via Paypal almost 4 WEEKS AGO! This is ridiculous!

Good luck getting your money back! I know it took me from May to about two weeks ago to get my money back from them. I too ordered something from MG. I too had to wait a month to get myself shipped out, and I never received it. I went though everything from having to email Matt, to having to go to the post office and bugging them, filing a claim with them, questioning my poor mail man - having him file a claim saying he never dropped us off a package, them filing and calling pay pal many many a time and complaining. Finally I just not got my money back. Never again! I still do not know whatever happened to my stuff that apparently was shipped out.

I'm in the same boat you are. My tracking info says the same nonsense. Do all these people with good things to say get on a VIP list of some sort that I wasn't aware about.

You know, I've wondered the same thing in the past. I couldn't believe all the excellent reviews that I read.

I've kept quiet about my experiences, but I guess I'll speak up now.

I now purchase all of my heating supplies from Rich at Reptile Basics, and I get what I order within 2 days of placing my order (he ships UPS or Fedex and I'm only a 2 day route even with ground).

My first order I placed with Matt was in late July 2005 for a thermostat, flexwatt, used 20 gallon long tank, and a lid.

In late August I was trying to reach him for the status of my order and finally responded and said that he had sold out of the tanks. :confuzd: A month he had my money and then he tells me he sold out? Why didn't he tell me the moment he received my money? So, we finally worked it out that once he sold a gecko that he'd have a tank available.

Then, his supplier of flexwatt was out of flexwatt. I finally got my order in middle September.

January 2006 came and I gave Matt the benefit of the doubt and decided to order another thermostat and some more flexwatt. The same sized flexwatt, wired was now five or six dollar more. When I asked about that, he tells me that I had actually purchased USED flexwatt on a special in the summer. Unbeknownst to me, because I would not have ordered used flexwatt. When I questioned it, he came back with an "LOL" and tells me that he sold OUT of the used, so I actually got new at a used price.

So, we worked out pricing and exactly what I wanted in flexwatt and an agreed upon price. I stressed when I needed the order, because I had scheduled a day off to receive three snakes, and I needed to get their tubs set up and running for 48 hours. I was assured that everything was in stock, and that would be no problem. After a delay, I heard again that a supplier was out, this time the thermostat. I had to put off delivery of my animals for another week, and my order shipped out on the third promised date.

I will say this - the USPS website will always say what's been posted above until your order is delivered. I would prefer to work with someone who will ship UPS or FedEx that provides true tracking.

But based on two purchases that failed to be delivered when originally promised, and no communication about delays unless I specifically asked (I shouldn't have to ask, the vendor should give the customer a courtesy e-mail at the very least to let them know their order is NOT shipping when promised), and excellent service EVERY time from Reptile Basics, that is my vendor of choice for heating supplies now, and will be the vendor I refer people to.

In my "real life" I am a buyer for a multi-millon dollar company. If my vendors don't deliver as promised or don't communicate delays in my orders, I give them two chances and then I replace them with a vendor who will deliver as promised and will openly communicate if there's a delay without me having to ask.

Now that I've reached the limit on how far I'll let people go, I'm going to voice my FULL opinion about my experience.




This statement right here is a bunch of balogna. I left multiple emails, PM's on this site, even voice messages without response. Everything I did was in a neutral professional manner. The only time I got a response initially was when I mentioned paypal, and even then he answered with a "don't threaten me with paypal" What ever happened to customer satisfaction? Where was the I'm sorry it took me so long to respond to you but only a day to accept your money. NOWHERE!

Even throughout all of this I hoped he would just send me my order and gave him the benefit of a doubt with all his personal complications...But then I thought I was being played for a fool. After all what self respecting business man would envolve his own personal life as an excuse of why he is delayed. I DON"T CARE. If there are any personal reasons you can't run your business, then temporarily close it down, don't screw with customers that you obviously don't give a damn about. Don't send me an emails saying you shipped my product when you did nothing but notify the post office to expect a package.



Don't feed me this crock of you know what. All your doing is taking advantage of my patience.

To anyone who ever had a good experience with this vendor, Bravo, and good luck with him in the future. I know for a fact I'd rather rot in a ditch than deal with MGreptiles again. Not because of the delays but because of all the b/s fed to me in the process, quite frankly I have indigestion.

The "i'm a one man show" excuse is crap, if you have a workflow that demands more than one set of hands, hire the help, or at least have the decency to tell your customers its going to take them more than a month to receive their orders, not the misleading and broad verbage you have written in your terms of sale.

Never Again!

I hope many other people will be spared the aggrevation I have gone though.

Special thanks to Evan for dealing with all the changed dates and holding my snake for so long. It is good to know that the straight up businessmen still exist in this world.

AMEN! Rich! x2

I did finally receive my thermostats on Sat night but still never received any other form of communication. I too had a new BP on the way and had expected my thermostats to be there before my BP - WRONG!!!
Instead I spent every 2 hours adjusting UTH's and lights with dimmers, etc to keep my new BP happy! Which BTW - I must have done right! Because he had his first rat with me last night!

Looks like there is a need for someone to look into pulling his rights to advertise on this sight so that people don't associate him with this site - like I did being a NOOB! I trusted because his banner was on this site.

Well I'm thankful my stuff did arrive a month later!

Note: Dont buy from someone who does not use UPS or Fedex - the trackers are worthless from USPS!

I wasn't even lucky enough to recieve my stuff. I opened a dispute with paypal today. I would love to be wrong though and have my stuff arrive, would make things much easier. But we'll see i guess.

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Buyer Beware, Part 2

I wish I had checked out reptilebasics.com, before I ordered anything, I asked Matt if he could guarantee its arrival before October 7th. I am travelling a 1000 mile round trip, to a reptile expo, which is the first in my province on October 7th, so it's pretty useless if I don't have anything to house him in.

He did guarantee it would be here by then, and now, being October 4th, I am not even sure it has shipped yet. He won't respond to my emails. I ordered on September 20th, so that gave a lot of time. I spent $250, and am now requesting a refund, if it hasn't been shipped as of yet. It's ridiculous, especially since he GUARANTEED it would be here.

I am getting a very nice deal on my first ball python, which is CB, 3 years old, 1400 g, for $75. I may have to let this deal go, since the person selling it seems to really want to get rid of him, for either money, or space reasons. I am feeling very screwed over.

I can empathize with you on this..... I hope your stuff magically arrives soon, he never responded to even one of my several emails! Im still amazed my stuff finally got here but it took 4 weeks.

Good luck with your new BP (hopefully).

i too was promised a very fast delivery... i only purchased from him because he promised to ship it the same day (provent-a-mite) and yet... he didn't ship when he said... he had some excuses... but honestly i never believed any of them. personally i'll never order from him again.

no laws broken here matt... unless telling the truth about your "service" (and lack thereof) is against the law!

Yea I'm sure getting a hold of you for a refund would have been easy as pie, especially with the level of customer service you displayed throughout the entire ordeal. If you think waiting a month is ok for an order you should give your customers warning. I just don't want to do business with you, and god bless my right to do that.

Short Story:

I placed my order on Feb. 21 for one Ranco bare thermostat (NO wiring required), one Herpstat thermostat, and one bag of perlite. It was confirmed via e-mail on Feb 22 and said it would ship within 1-7 days depending on wiring. I heard nothing for 2 weeks and sent an e-mail asking what the status f my order was with no reply. 2 days later i sent another e-mail asking the same thing and i expressed a little disappointment that i didn’t get a reply. i got a reply to this one claiming my order would be shipped the next day, march 8 via priority mail, and that i would be refunded for the perlite since he didn’t have any in stock (even though orders are claimed to be pulled the same day ordered, which means it took over 2 weeks to tell me this). i asked for a tracking number that same day. i didn’t receive a tracking number or the package after the 3 days it takes for priority so i sent another e-mail, this one clearly expressing my frustration, but i was not rude about it, the afternoon of the 11th. I waited all day on the 12th with no response, so sent him another e-mailing that i was disappointed with his service, and would be canceling my order, etc. etc. (see emails below for more on this). I then got a response only 11 minutes later (and this is at 10:30pm) stating my package was already shipped, and that he would be dropping it off in 30 minutes (that doesn’t add up), and that he would never do business with me again. Now if you read all of that, you will probably like to read the e-mails:

remembering my order was placed and then confirmed on feb 22, we'll start with the second email i sent:

Me on Mar 7 am:

Sent the email below on sunday. it has now been 2 business days and you have not responded (like you state on your website). i also left a phone message yesterday with no return call. i am starting to get a bit flustered with this. please let me know if i need to order from somewhere else as i am in need of the items for my incubator.

Justin

----------original message sent mar. 4, 2007------------------------------
hi,

i am wondering where my order is. i have been waiting for 11 days now since your last e-mail which said 1-7 days depending on wiring, and there was no wiring since i ordered a bare ranco unit (and i don’t think the herpstats have to be wired). i am starting to get a little frustrated that i haven’t heard anything or received my order. please let me know what the status is.

justin

His reply on mar 7 pm:

Hello,
Yes sir we are indeed here. We don’t get a chance to be n the hone much and sorry to say I did not get your email. Your order will be shipping out of here tomorrow vis priority mail. We are out of the perilite so I will be refunding the 9.99.. Thanks for your patience,
-Matt

Lies here about shipping it.

My reply on mar 8:

tracking number?

justin

with no response from matt, my reply on mar. 11, 3pm:

i have now sent you another e-mail which i did not get a reply to. i was simply asking for a tracking number so i could be sure you actually sent out my package when you said you would. please let me know if it has shipped out and please provide me with a tracking or confirmation number (USPS Priority includes this).

justin

with no response after 36 hours, my 2 replies sent this one at 9:35pm:

Okay, I think i have waited long enough for my stuff and since you have no customer service manners, to even tell me if my order has shipped (like i asked in my past two un-answered e-mails), if i don't hear from you with a tracking number by tomorrow, i will be forced to call my credit card company, tell them the situation, and have them cancel the payment to you. I don't know what has happened with your service, but i came to you because you used to have a good rep. but after more research that has obviously changed. you really need to start being a little more respectful to your clients, or you will end up losing business from more than a few people. I will be sending a carbon copy to a third party to verify this e-mail was sent.

Sincerely,
Justin Branam
________________________

and this one at 9:44pm

Since i forgot to mention in my other e-mail, if my order has not shipped yet (as of 12 March 2007), consider this my notification to you, to cancel my order. If i do receive the package with a ship date later than 12 March 2007, i will be sending it back pending a full refund on both the item total as well as shipping and return shipping.

Justin

then his reply to my emails at 9:46pm (only 2 minutes after my second email):

Hello Justin,
Thanks for your email. You emailing me stating I do not have a good rep is not the way to get attention, neither is stating you will commit fraud and reverse the charges on your card.. Now, I haven’t been ignoring your emails or anything I have been pretty busy and I also had my right eye damaged by a dog. Your order will have a tracking number in the next 5 minutes. Please pass this aling to your buddy as well.. Good day sir!
-matt

and this one at 9:56pm

Allow me to direct you to our TOS
http://www.mgreptiles.com/Terms.html
Your order has indeed shipped. It will be dropped off in a night box in the next 30 minutes. Label and tracking on file with paypal and I shipped to your confirmed address so that basically means no refunds! Have a good one and please don’t email us anymore as your business is no longer wanted!



Now let’s look specifically at these last 2 e-mails:

WOW! funny how that works. Doesn’t reply to 2 other e-mails, but when i send him those at 10pm look what i get only 2 minutes later:
His reply to my first e-mail:

Hello Justin,
Thanks for your email. You emailing me stating I do not have a good rep is not the way to get attention, neither is stating you will commit fraud and reverse the charges on your card.. Now, I haven’t been ignoring your emails or anything I have been pretty busy and I also had my right eye damaged by a dog. Your order will have a tracking number in the next 5 minutes. Please pass this aling to your buddy as well.. Good day sir!
-matt

actually this was the way to get his attention. seemed like the only way in fact.

First i in no means would be committing fraud. what a joke (really, i laughed when i read this). if you pay for something and you don’t get it, that’s what you do. call the CC company and ask them to stop/reverse charges. In fact i believe fraud could be defined as stating you have shipped a package, and then not shipping it.

second, if he had his eye damaged, a simple e-mail to all pending orders is not too much to ask. would surely keep him from being hassled by pending customers.

third, so even though my order was supposedly shipped within 1-7 days from feb 22, again last thursday, mar. 8, it is now going to be shipped in the next 5 minutes?? so thats twice it should have gone out, but now he claims to be sending it yet again.

Now let’s look at his second email:

Allow me to direct you to our TOS
http://www.mgreptiles.com/Terms.html
Your order has indeed shipped. It will be dropped off in a night box in the next 30 minutes. Label and tracking on file with paypal and I shipped to your confirmed address so that basically means no refunds! Have a good one and please don’t email us anymore as your business is no longer wanted!

First, I find it hard to comprehend how my order has already been shipped, yet he will be dropping it off in the next 30 minutes.

Second, so ill assume what he meant is that it hasn’t shipped yet, but is on his way to do so. That's funny because i clearly remember stating that if he hasn’t shipped it yet, to cancel my order. seems silly to make a special trip to the post office drop box at 11pm to ship a cancelled order.

Third, In fact i did read his TOS which clearly state that the items i ordered can be returned (less a ridiculous 35% re-stocking fee), yet he states in the e-mail "that basically means no refunds!". The TOS also state orders on flexwatt and thermostat can take up to 7 days. why wasnt i notified when it has obviously taken much longer than that.

Fourth, he tells me my business is no longer wanted. I guess he didn’t understand that i wouldn’t be ordering from him ever again. Darn, i guess ill have to go somewhere else!


So far i received the tracking number through paypal the night of the 12th, but i checked it and all it has said up until today (mar 15), is Electronic Shipping Info Received (which doesnt mean it has actually been shipped). I have no idea if he actually sent it this time, or if he just lied about it again. Ill update if i ever receive the package.


Signed: Justin Branam

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Buyer Beware, Part 3

HAd the same problem took me a month to recieve 1 little bottle of reptile relief!!!Will never do bus with this company again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in July/August I placed an order for heat tape and thermostat and it was supposed to get to me within a week because I was going to be gettin some animals and I made sure he knew that before i ordered from him.
Needless to say I didn't get it by the time I received my animals... I emailed him and he replied saying the thermostat i ordered was out of stock and wouldn't be in for half a week. I was furious and he made the same remarks to me ... something like...
"getting on edge will not get you your order any faster "
i was so pisssed and I will NEVER do business with him again and i will NEVER reccomend him to anyone. Actually i've posted in every post about buying supplies to stay far away from mgreptiles.
I'll say it again... if you want great customer service i reccomend reptilebasics.com!
Shawn Krucek

We ordered 50 feet of Flexwatt from him.. Took him nearly a month to get it out to us after several attempts to cancel the order. I called him and emailed him, never receiving a call/email until he emailed me to tell me my order shipped, 4-ish weeks after I placed the order.

Plus, with his conduct over on the BOI -- you better believe he's not getting our business, or anyone else's that we refer to anyone.
__________________

Joshua Ellis

On October 17, 2006, I bought 3 snake hooks (among other items) from Matt at MGReptiles. The payment was completed on the same day using PayPal (ID # 9PP094663U805183B).

On October 30, 2006, I emailed Matt advising I haven't received a Delivery Confirmation number, and asked how much longer it would take. I never received a response to this email.

On November 9, 2006, I emailed Matt advising him that I received the items, however, the 3 snake hooks I received were not the high quality stainless steel ones advertised on his website (http://www.mgreptiles.com/hooksandprobes.html) but were instead of a lesser quality as the handles were made out of plastic. I further advised Matt that the plastic handle on the 38" snake hook was cracked, and that if he couldn't replace it and the other hooks with the high quality ones advertised on his website, then I would request a refund. I never received a response to this email.

On November 15, 2006, I emailed Matt advising him of my concern over his complete lack of response, and requested that he respond to the problem. I never received a response to this email.

On November 24, 2006, I opened a Dispute with PayPal and explained in my Dispute what I described above.

On November 26, 2006, the Dispute got Matt's attention. He wrote in the Dispute that I can return the snake hooks for a refund or he would offer me a 15% refund and I could keep the snake hooks.

On November 28, 2006, I wrote back advising I would send the snake hooks back to him. I asked if he had the snake hooks as advertised on his website.

On November 29, 2006, Matt wrote back acknowledging that I can send the 3 snake hooks back to him. Matt further stated that he is expecting a shipment of the stainless steel hooks (as advertised on his website).

On December 11, 2006, Matt wrote that he got the stainless steel snake hooks in. He asked when I would send the plastic handled ones to him.

On December 14, 2006, the Dispute with PayPal closed automatically (timed out). I allowed it to close since Matt was now communicating with me. Unfortunately, I have never heard back from Matt again.

On December 18, 2006, I sent the 3 snake hooks back to Matt using the USPS (Label/Receipt Number: 0306 2400 0001 8101 7348).

On December 19, 2006, I emailed Matt advising him that I sent the 3 snake hooks to him. I further advised him of my concern over his lack of response. I never received a response to this email.

On December 26, 2006, delivery of the 3 snake hooks to Peytona, WV (Matt at MGReptiles) was confirmed by www.USPS.com

In addition, I have telephoned Matt at his contact phone number on his website, (304) 836-5147, explaining the problem and asking him to call me back. I have called approximately 6 times from November 2006 to March 12, 2007, leaving both my home and cellular phone numbers. I have never received a call back from Matt.

In summery:
Matt completely ceased communications with me once the Dispute on PayPal was closed. If I had known Matt would do this - and it appears he may have done this strategically - then I would've certainly escalated my complaint to a Claim using PayPal's resolution center. Filing a claim with PayPal was the only avenue left, but once the Dispute closed, then filing a claim was no longer an option.

I'm sorry I did business with Matt at MGReptiles.

Scott Reeves

I have done a couple orders with Matt, but after this last one I think I am done with him. About a month ago I contacted him and asked if his Herpstat 2 was going to be on special soon and he replied "not for a long time". He offered it to me for $229 instead of $235 so I ordered one. I asked him if he could lower the value on the shipping documents and to NOT INCLUDE ANY INVOICE IN THE BOX, but to email it to me instead. He agreed by email and that was that. Four days later he advertises the Herpstat 2 for $200 and I email him about it. He says his supplier told him to put it on special and he offers me no refund. - strike 1 - . I pick up my package tonight and I am charged $46.50 for taxes and duties because he put an invoice in the box(remember I asked him not to!) and Canada customs opened the package, which they often do and found the invoice. - strike 2 - He charged me $34.90 for shipping, and the actual shipping charge is only $18.29 - strike 3-
I guess since on his website he advertises that Jesus is the reason for his success, I should take it up with him, but I don't know his email address, so this will have to do.

Overall I am very disappointed that this one small package ended up costing me almost $100 Canadian too much! Ron.

Hey! We ordered a scale from Matt at the beginning of December. He kept saying he had sent it, but he never ended up sending it until the 21st. When it did arrive (New Years), it was the wrong scale. It turns out he didn't even have the type of scale that he was trying to sell. We recieved a partial refund, but didn't get the money back from sending him back the scale. We recieved a lot of excuses from him and he never seemed to get to the point and actually answer our questions. Not a good experience.

On the other hand, we recieved a great Scale from Reptile Basics. Rich has great service and ships really fast! Thanks Rich!

I ordered a thermostat from MG a few weeks ago. Aside from the order confirmation e-mail, I did not receive any communication, which was disconcerting but the thermostat arrived a week after I'd ordered it, so I didn't worry about it too much.

I notice that in the earlier thread (now merged) a post from Matt in June stated that he was shipping all items himself at that time. For what it's worth, my thermostat shipped directly from Spyder Robotics, not from MG. This was mildly startling, since my bf works in the tech industry and packages labeled "Robotics" are always for him...I couldn't figure out why it adressed to me until I saw the Herpstat label on the side.

My experience was satisfactory, but based on what I'm reading in this thread, I will probably think hard before ordering from him again. It's a pity, because I am from WV and liked the idea of supporting my home state.

I also have an order for several items that is long over due, with a email saying probes are on backorder, I am starting to worry.

 

[Dennis Hultman]

Buyer Beware, Part 4

I've been waiting 2-3 weeks now with no answers as to if my order went out. I sent him an email saying either you let me know if I was billed and if the order went out by Monday the 29th OR consider my order canceled and I'll take my money elsewhere.
Either way, I won't be using Matt again

I ordered from Matt 2 MG a few feet of Flex Watt, some connetors, and a few misc. things. First off, it was not shipped when he "said" it was. It got to me late, about 1.5 weeks late. And then when i finally got it....One, I had to give the mail man 10 bucks cause Matt shorted me on the shipping, and it turned out to be the wrong Flew Watt.

Ugh....Never again will I order from MG Reptiles.

Ive also used ReptileSupply, they were great. Big Apple is great, but prices arent the best. Bean Farm is also great.

i won't go into detail about the hellish experience matt graybeal put me thru,but if your looking for a herpstat thermostat i highly recommend the bean farm,they are a class act.have fun!

I too, unfortunately, had a bad experience with Matt a while back. It's sad because at the time, he was the best out there and people recomended him left and right. I wonder that if he just got too many orders to keep up! Who knows, but I won't be ordering from him again either

well i ordered a herpstat, a esu power console and 2 strips of fully wired flexwatt(a two foot piece and a three foot piece). when it finally came in, the box had the herpstat and esu but the flexwatt was in two, three foot pieces.


i contacted him through email(because he will never return a call), and he told me he would send me a four foot strip on wednesday. this was maybe four or more wednesdays ago and i never heard from him since. i called shortly after that and not to my surprise he never called back.

i went to him because he is on this forum and i thought that i would support the bp.net community rather than go to a supplier that would get my order right and have the time to deal with me...

anyways just thought i should finally post my feedback with mgreptiles.

thanks!

would like to make a complaint about the service I received from Matt at
MG Reptiles.This is what happend.I contacted Matt by e-mail on the 3 of Oct
left him 2 e-mails I received an auto response from a yahoo site.Finally I called
him on the 5 of Oct because he must have been busy due to his recent marriage.I placed an order for some heat tape, connectors and some dimmers I had specified that I needed it ASAP and asked him to send it express even though the postage was expensive, the total came to 485.00us 552.00 cdn.He assured me that he would send it the next day.On the 27 of Oct.I sent an e-mail to Matt telling him that I no longer wanted the merchandise and would like a full refund he answered back saying that he was not sure what I was talking about,even though he had sent me the box the day before, the 26 of Oct. 3 weeks later. I find it hard to believe that he knows a whole bunch of Kens from Montreal he said that he would look into it.I had agreed to purchase the merchandise pay the extra postage, but if he would have told me that he did not have everything in stock I would not have placed the order,he finally told me that he had to wait a couple of weeks for some of the the items,he at no time made an effort to tell me this so I feel that he was not very honest he should have given me the choice to continue or cancel the order.So now he says he will take back the connectors and insulators but not the rest, I just took it for granted the merchandise was always on the way,imagine he charged me express sent it regular 3 weeks late and now he refuses to refund the total purchase he has given me a credit for the difference in postage.He will say that I was rude and aggressive because I insulted his religion I never insulted anyone but him, I told him I was not satisfied and that he should be ashamed for not having told me the truth and that he does not know right from wrong.His slogan is HONESTY AND QUALITY IS WHAT WE BRING YOU .I have 3 retail stores and I never hesitate to compensate my clients when I know it is my fault, which in his case it was.There are always exceptions to all rules and terms, but not in this case according to him.I feel because of the delay and the fact that he was not truthfull at the beginning I should be entitled to a full refund,I am not talking about 5 dollars we are talking about 485.00.
Sincerely Ken Gubersky

Matt,

I was never your enemy. Still aint. I was a customer who had two back to back bad transactions with you and quit ordering from you. Both orders were taking too long to ship on top of you shipping the wrong item. In both incidences I emailed you and very politely told you about it. I never said or felt you wronged me in any way.

In fact, I never started a BOI thread about either incident. It was not that big of a deal. An isolated situation for all I knew at that time. But when more and more people kept starting threads about the same issues, I then felt it was only right to share the fact I too had 2 unsatisfactory orders from you. It was no longer an isolated situation. I think people had a right to know the truth.

At no time in these threads did I do anything more than say, "yes I too have had 2 bad transactions with Matt". I told the truth about two transactions and voiced my disappointment in your actions. Not once did I make you out to be a horrible human being or a monster. I honestly didnt realize that telling the truth and prodding you to raise the bar a bit would make me out to be an enemy in your eyes Matt.

Personally, people who are being honest and prod me to do better I consider a valued friend.

 

[Sunshine State Exotics]

WOW!

 

[RoseT]

WOW is right........:shocked:

 

[KelliH]

I posted this in the Fauna thread as well.

Matt, what is your Pay Pal address, I would like to send you your $200 back. You are a despicible, menatally ill, hateful, lying piece of scum. I hope to see you at a show someday so I can tell you that right to your face.

What is going on with people these days? I don't understand it at all.

 

[PrototypeGeckos]

OK, I take back the kind words I gave him in an earlier post (because I had never had any bad dealings with im, and didn't know about all the others who had, and his responses). Anyone who would refer back to an earlier time when he gave someone $200, because their son passed away, and expect that to make that person not speak their opinion on whether their dealings are ethical or not is completely rediculous. I was totally wrong with my original post and I will never do business with him again, and going at the pace he is going I don't think anyone else will either!

 

[o0 Ryan 0o]

I posted this in the Fauna thread as well.

Matt, what is your Pay Pal address, I would like to send you your $200 back. You are a despicible, menatally ill, hateful, lying piece of scum. I hope to see you at a show someday so I can tell you that right to your face.

What is going on with people these days? I don't understand it at all.

Kelli, I'm with you. My jaw is still on the floor after reading that comment. "Wow" seems to be the word of the day.

 

[RoseT]

OMG I can't believe he went there..............What is his PROBLEM!:main_angry:

 

[Val]

Between his comment to Kelli and the one he made about Shrap, I hope that no one does business with MG Reptiles. I know he certainly won't be getting a penny from me. Matt, YOU should be ashamed of YOURSELF.

Saying you're religious and being religious are two completely different things. You can speak about your religion all you want, but until you back up your words with actions anything that comes out of your mouth is dirt to me. Get yourself together and open up your eyes to the number of people here complaining about your customer service, and the number of wonderful people you've hurt with your ill-thought words. You blame everyone else, but not the real problem and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can get on with your life. :main_thumbsdown: