LiveHermitCrabs.com

[Eugooglizer]

Both of my transactions with LHC.com have been beyond satisfactory, I will definitely be placing another order in the near future. My last order was for 3 Indos, a 4th free one was included. And at one point during my email convos with the owner I mentioned my love of pink Indos and how I've dreamed of having one for years. She personally went through the whole Indo tank to see if there were any pinks mixed in and sent me both of the ones she found. I had originally ordered violas, and after finding out they'd run out of stock before being able to fill my order, they did a very good job of compensating for it and it was resolved in less than a day. One of the things they offered was to include 2 free violas with my order if I was to place another one, having now fallen in love with Indos, I emailed asking if it would be ok if 2 Indos could be subbed in for the 2 free violas and in less than 2 minutes I received a reply saying that they'd absolutely be able to do that. The crabs I've received from them have also been in surprisingly good condition as well, although that might just be coincidence.

[boxcat]

I'm personally very impressed with the customer service offered to Lauren with her pink indos. I've emailed the customer service account a few times now and have received emails back within the day. I'm ordering some ruggies after Christmas.

[Rocky]

I think they're like deltona, it's a hit or miss kind of thing

[boxcat]

I think they're like deltona, it's a hit or miss kind of thing

Have you ever ordered from them? A lot of the complaints on this thread seem to be things out of the owner's control. I personally don't want to take advice from people who haven't ordered, since they have as little experience as I do with the site. Almost all of the people who I've spoken to who have ordered from LHC (crabs or just supplies) have only had good things to say-- and the ones who didn't, well, it seemed like they may not have been the nicest in some of their replies.

[wodesorel]

She took money from people for animals she claimed to have in stock, but then didn't get in for 3 months! And if you read through the first 25 pages, you'll see that she ignored her paid customers e-mails, usually until they threatened to file a claim against her with Paypal or their credit card company, or threatened to ask for a refund. Worse yet, she has an account here and was logging in daily, but instead of handling things herself she was using a single member as her "spokesperson" to let everyone on the HCA know about the status of the crabs. Yeah, she's not going to get a lot of nice replies for handling a business like that.

[HermitCrabingrid]

I read through allow it and will never buy crabs from there!

[boxcat]

She took money from people for animals she claimed to have in stock, but then didn't get in for 3 months! And if you read through the first 25 pages, you'll see that she ignored her paid customers e-mails, usually until they threatened to file a claim against her with Paypal or their credit card company, or threatened to ask for a refund. Worse yet, she has an account here and was logging in daily, but instead of handling things herself she was using a single member as her "spokesperson" to let everyone on the HCA know about the status of the crabs. Yeah, she's not going to get a lot of nice replies for handling a business like that.

I did read through the thread, or at least most of it. Skimmed a lot of the replies that were "I just ordered from them now I don't know what to do should I cancel my order?" You yourself said she's been having personal problems with her child and always puts family first. It seems to me like a lot of people in the hermit crab business (purchasing crabs online, food, etc) are running very, very small operations. I'm willing to give someone a bit of leeway if they have a child and put that child before hermit crabs I've ordered.

She seems to at least make an attempt to notify customers when crabs are not in stock, etc. Personally I want to keep LHC in the context that it is; a small business that is overwhelmed with customers from all over the world wanting hermit crabs. Every person on this thread who asked for a refund received one. Another common theme seems to be people are upset she charges their card before shipping. I thought this was common practice? Every time I've ordered something online my card was charged the minute I ordered it. The shipment goes out when it goes out.

It's a bummer that so many people seemed to have a bad experience, but there were also a lot of people mentioning that they were fine with their orders. I find that people tend to complain when things don't go their way but when they go at status quo few people pipe up. That doesn't make anybody more "correct" in their opinion, but we're used to things going smoothly and it can be upsetting when they don't. I'm going to be "taking my chances" after Christmas and I'll be sure to post an update on this thread, for better or for worse.

[parrothead]

@Jeshicaaa, I'm guessing you're her new 'spokesperson'?

Glad you had a good experience, but it doesn't make up for the rest of us that were alienated by her during our summer transactions. I paid her over $150 for an order that took four months to 'process' as a result of her delayed shipment. I am a business owner and I am not in the practice of taking payment for a product I don't even have. If you are familiar at all with Paypal, there is only a 45 day window to open a claim and many of us waited well beyond that time for our orders.

In addition, she was only able to fill one species order as she didn't receive the others species I PRE-PAID for. Proof she was advertising product that she had yet to receive.The issue isn't that she charged my card before shipping, the issue is she charged my card for something she didn't even have and more importantly for something it took four months to get!

I ordered Medium crabs and received near Jumbo which has put me a capacity for tank space. Also, of the 7 crabs I got, nearly all of them had severe leg damage including two that had missing limbs. (obviously out of her control, but non the less)

Several times she asked me to apologize for her on our site and I did just that not knowing that she had her OWN account and could have done so without my assistance. Sure makes me wonder why she didn't post updates as a courtesy because most of us simply wanted to know where our money/crabs were as she rarely responded to emails we sent.

Tend to complain when things don't go my way? not the nicest in my replies? Uh YEAH! $150 isn't pocket change and four months is a long darn time to wait. Glad you're "impressed with the customer service", but CLEARLY the 'Customer Service' you received was much different than the 'Customer Service' the rest of us received.

[boxcat]

@Jeshicaaa, I'm guessing you're her new 'spokesperson'?

No, I'm certainly not. If you actually read my posts you'd see that I've said multiple times I haven't ordered yet. I've never insinuated in any way that I'm affiliated with the site. I'm attempting to put in my two cents about the service I've experienced thus far and will continue to do so throughout the ordering process. Is that not what this thread is for? I never said anyone's experience wasn't valid... I'm just trying to balance out the negative comments because I don't feel as though they accurately represent my experience.

I've heard many things about the crab sizing issue so I decided to email her prior to ordering. I saw in the past she sized them relatively (the largest crabs she had were large, next largest were mediums, etc) but according to her emails that's not the case as of right now. Since crab sizing can be incredibly variable by the person doing it I decided to double check on that.

Glad you're "impressed with the customer service", but CLEARLY the 'Customer Service' you received was much different than the 'Customer Service' the rest of us received.

This doesn't seem fair. Many people I have spoken to (only a few of whom have posted in this thread) have received excellent customer service. Are you speaking for "the rest of us" as only the people who had similar issues? I'm trying to point out not everyone has had these problems, and indeed, some people have had very good experiences.

[HermieLuv<3]

Wow. Yall could it be possible that this lady went through a tough time in life and messed up... and now maybe shes trying to make up for it by giving better service. i wouldnt boycott something just because it had some problems for a little while. i would read more recent reviews and if you want to take the chance...order from her? why argue about it?

[Nnnnnnnn]

Tend to complain when things don't go my way? not the nicest in my replies? Uh YEAH! $150 isn't pocket change and four months is a long darn time to wait. Glad you're "impressed with the customer service", but CLEARLY the 'Customer Service' you received was much different than the 'Customer Service' the rest of us received.

Okay, you didn't get good customer service.. Why yell at Jeshicaaa for saying they had good customer service for her? If you want to be crabby you've got a whole tank dedicated to it.

[Rocky]

Okay, you didn't get good customer service.. Why yell at Jeshicaaa for saying they had good customer service for her? If you want to be crabby you've got a whole tank dedicated to it.

The problem is it's hit and miss, like I said Some people will be really happy with her, other people will not (and both have good reasons!) for lots of us, it's just a risk we're not willing to take You won't KNOW ahead of time if everything will be peachy or if you'll end up paying an arm and leg for service you're unhappy with. If you're unsatisfied with the way she treats you, it doesn't really matter to you personally how other people were treated.

[parrothead]

oh geez whatever

[Eugooglizer]

Parrothead, since you're unhappy with the size of your Indos and they're taking up too much room in your tank, I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands--especially the pink one

[parrothead]

I've offered a few to Wolf so she has first dibs, check back with me in the spring (P.S. I plan on keeping 3-4 of them, especially the pink one)