HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same problems I am. I've been trying to purchase a few Ruggies these last three or four weeks and for some reason I just can't. Everytime I enter my information and click submit (to complete my order), I get an error message stating that my transaction cannot be processed :-/ I doesn't give me a reason or explanation. I've contacted them three seperate times asking what is going on and if they could process my order but no luck. I originally wanted a few E's but since my first attempt to now, they're no longer in stock, which is why i'm only getting Ruggies now.
How long do they usually take to reply? Do any of you possibly know why this could be happening or have had it happen to you? My card works elsewhere, so it can't be my card, right? Ugh! this is frustrating!
Can anyone please help?

The communication bit isn't too surprising, even members who have paid for their crabs have waited for weeks and weeks for reply e-mails about when they would ship. (One even had to threaten to cancel the order with the credit card company to get her to respond.) She'd been doing better in the last few months and I haven't seen any complaints aside from a few crabs arriving with mites, but she does seem to have greater problems in the summer with filling orders and keeping crabs in stock. Many have mentioned that she has personal problems involving her child, and she always puts her family before the business.

If you wanted Es, the Hermit Crab Patch is now carrying them, though they are more expensive.
http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Coenobit ... /hc120.htm
http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Coenobit ... /hc110.htm

I knew she was bad at replying but I didn't know it was THAT bad! :-/
I knew she had been doing better which is why I decided to finally give in and buy, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I should probably take it as a sign to save my money lol we'll see...
I can certainly understand her having difficulties, even more so with a sick/injured child, so I agree with the whole family before business. The site shouldn't be open though if that's the case, specially with them selling lizards now. Seems like way too much to handle with just crabs, but now iguanas and anoles!? Even more temptation to buy a few!

I did see the ones from HCP and I love that they've molted in captivity before they ship 'em out, but $95 for three crabs (including shipping) is a bit extreme. I was hoping to get the 6-pack of E's from LHC for $80 (including shipping), or the Ruggie 6-pack for $113 (including shipping). I even found a wholesale website that had a pack of 50 tiny PP's for $60 (including shipping). Decisions, decisions...

I have wanted to order from her too, but since she has a hard time getting back with people I decided against it. If I really want some straws I can have Jack's order me some with them only being $14. I'm sticking with the common! PP's and E's I did want some Rugs though.....best to just stick what I have though

Striker0086 wrote:I have wanted to order from her too, but since she has a hard time getting back with people I decided against it. If I really want some straws I can have Jack's order me some with them only being $14. I'm sticking with the common! PP's and E's I did want some Rugs though.....best to just stick what I have though

Ouch, $14 per crab!? That's a bit much, but I guess since straws are so beutiful then it's definitely worth it.

I finally heard...well read...back from her yesterday! she apologizded for not replying and stated she never received my first email. I replied explaining what exactly was happening when I tried to submit my order. Still no reply but she better give me a good deal or a discount or something! haha, just kidding. I'm going to email her in a bit and let her know that i'm not interested but appreciate her help. I really wanted a few more ruggies but as Striker mentioned "best to just stick what you have"

I got some violas & straws from her about a month ago. The crabs have all been fantastic, but she hasn't responded to anything I've sent her. The customer service aspect put me off from buying anything else from there.

Well if you get them from her the straws are $14.99 plus $38 overnight shipping.....I can still drive and get them for less money because of where I happen to live.

I emailed her a few times when I placed my order and she got right back to me. She even agreed to ship them on a particular day so I would receive them while I had vacation time. I didn't have any problem. And I just love my baby straws!!


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She's not awesome at responding to emails with questions and concerns, or communicating with you about your order. For me at least, she's my only option for buying exotics, so I have tried to be patient and order well in advance from when I would actually like the crabs.

I hope that the ordering issues get worked out quickly so that you can place one! I don't know if I love many things more than beautiful, exotic crabs in the mail.

finally was able to process my order! two small ruggies should be in within 2 weeks!

nice!

Still no ruggies :-/
I hate to say this but I had to demand a refund. It was always something when it came down to my order. The replies to my emails were always short, rude, and lacked details on anything.
I asked for a refund and was given every reason in the book to not cancel my order. The problem is that I returned to work (at a school) this week so I'm away from home between 7:30am and 8:00pm on weekdays (due to class and extra rehearsals) so there was no way to safely get my crabs delivered to me. My closests neighbor is miles away, and my family also works crazy times causing them to be away from home for most of the day. I wasn't expecting to run into this problem as I was told by livehermitcrabs.com that my order would arrive by the middle of July, then I was told they'd arrive at the end of July.
Thursday (08/02) I asked what the status of my order was and was told today "It will be at least another two weeks before I can ship out."
There is nothing I hate more than people giving me the run around and not being responsible. It may just be that I'm upset or ranting but that is not how your run a business. It's ridiculous.
I was really looking forward to a few new rugs!

I'm so sorry kip! I know you were looking forward to them.

And no, I don't think you are upset or ranting - waiting two months is more than generous! (Well, I can tell you're upset - anyone would be!) I'm starting to wonder if the company is having money troubles and they're waiting until enough people pay so that they can afford to order the crabs in. I just noticed that she finally put up a pre-order notice on the site, which is nice but it says shipment by the end of July. :roll:

Thanks wodesorel!
I really was looking forward to them!

wodesorel wrote:I'm starting to wonder if the company is having money troubles and they're waiting until enough people pay so that they can afford to order the crabs in. I just noticed that she finally put up a pre-order notice on the site, which is nice but it says shipment by the end of July. :roll:

That was one thing that came to my mind, but even if that were the case they should let you know what exactly they are doing.
The pre-order notice came up after I had ordered and even then I was forced to wait. I notified them that the notice should be changed as we're in August already. It's unfortunate that this happened, i have the worst luck!

Sorry that you can't get the ruggies. Totally understand about not being able to wait any longer. Some day I'd love to have a couple blueberries, but the idea of having to order them from LHC holds me back from considering it seriously.