HCA: Hermit Crab Association

No response yet. I imagine she's buried in emails right now.

It snowed today, then hailed, then poured for hours, then hailed again, then poured the rest of the day. I'm really not feeling good about this. Living on the shore of Lake Ontario, being buried in two feet of snow on Halloween is not unheard of. I guess I'll have to trust the heating packs.

I am expecting four small crabs: two straws and two violas. To say I can't wait would be an understatement! I've literally been dreaming about this for weeks. I wish I could have a dream about something other than crabs, as a matter of fact. I think I have a problem.

Can't wait!!

I just received an email from her - Hermits ordered before 11/01 will have their live arrival guarantee honored. She said that my crabs (ordered 8/27) will be "about 4 weeks." The secret to receiving an answer seems to be threatening to cancel your order. (Wish I was joking...)

I ordered 3 small Indonesians, and am receiving 2 bonus crabs.

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Did you say 4 more weeks?

Ammolite wrote:The secret to receiving an answer seems to be threatening to cancel your order. (Wish I was joking...)

If you read through all the responses from last year, you'll find that is what other customers have sadly had to do as well.

4 MORE weeks! Sigh...I also ordered mine in August so I'm probably looking at that too. She hasn't answered my email yet.

Okay, I emailed for clarification as to her estimation of "four weeks," asking if this meant the crabs would be shipped between the end of November and beginning of December. (It seemed odd to me, as she was quoting me "end of October, beginning of November" a month ago.) She said that hopes they will be shipped sooner than this. So, it sounds like she's HOPING for three-ish weeks, but is saying four to be safe. (So, expect four, haha. )

I also asked if there are any fail-safes for snow. since it's getting more and more likely. She told me that they (LHC) check the weather in the receiving area before shipping. They also email the receiving party to see if the planned shipping day is acceptable. It sounds like she's careful about shipping, which is good.

Hope this info helps everyone else!

I hope she answers you. I wonder if she means 4 weeks from the receiving time or 4 weeks from now. It's in the 50's during the day here already. By late November...brrr. I do think she tries her best to do everything for the crabs and when she gets them is a bit out of her control. I think my kids are doing a better job being patient than I am. Lol.

I just hate that I am gonna end up having to skip classes to ensure that I'm there for the delivery. This is my semester from heck; there isn't a single day I can play hooky and feel okay. I ordered them before I even had the bigger tank I was gonna need to house them. I figured the delay in shipping would, at the worst, have them on my doorstep by the end of the summer, considering I ordered in the first week of July. C'est la vie. All I can do now is wait. I just wish she would answer my gosh dern emails.

Leeko wrote:I just hate that I am gonna end up having to skip classes to ensure that I'm there for the delivery. This is my semester from heck; there isn't a single day I can play hooky and feel okay. I ordered them before I even had the bigger tank I was gonna need to house them. I figured the delay in shipping would, at the worst, have them on my doorstep by the end of the summer, considering I ordered in the first week of July. C'est la vie. All I can do now is wait. I just wish she would answer my gosh dern emails.

Here's my advice:

1. Are you willing to wait another 6+ weeks for the crabs? If you are, email her and ask her to hold your crabs until your winter break (I'm assuming you attend a college/university that runs on a semester schedule that ends late-November to mid-December). I'm sure she'd be more-than willing to. Of course, you will be taking a chance with heat packs at that time of year, though the live-arrival guarantee will still be in place. Since people are going to receive their crabs in December as it is, you won't be much behind anybody who ordered in September.

2. If you're not receiving a response to your emails, you may need to threaten to cancel your order. I hate to be "that customer," but the few times I've made the threat (while legitimately planning to cancel the order if I did not receive a satisfactory response) I've received a response within 24 hours. While we all care about our crabs, you really can't put what is essentially a hobby above academics. (And while a few sub-par grades aren't the end of the world, I'm sure you don't want to fail a final because you stayed home on the review day.)

Good luck!

I have not heard anything either, though a member in our group got his crabs so I know she's shipping!!

I'm glad to hear she's shipping!

mom23 wrote:I'm glad to hear she's shipping!

Yes indeed very good news

CrabbyJ wrote:I have not heard anything either, though a member in our group got his crabs a few days ago but another person that ordered the same time as him did not get hers (or hear anything from her as of yet) so I know she's shipping

When did the person who received their crabs order? I'm curious, as this might make it (a bit) easier to figure-out just how behind LHC is with shipping. (Their site currently says that they are working to get backorders out as quickly as possible.)

I got an email tonight. She said June went out this week, July will start shipping next week, and August in 2-3 weeks. Waiting is soooo hard.