Shops and suppliers

[retri]

I thought this may be a useful thread, so thought I would get everyones opionion?

I have been thinking of a thread that lists all the rep shops and suppliers in each area, and peoples opinion on that shop with regard to a number of requirements.

for example:

Shop:The shop you are rating

Location: Town where shop is based

Variation of animals:The variety of live stock available

variation of equipment:the variety of equipment and accesorise available

pricing of animals:how reasonable you feel the prices of livestock are

pricing of equipment:how reasonable you feel equipment and accesorise are priced

Knowledge of staff: how knowledgeable are the staff about the livestock, and are they giving out the right information?

Customer service: how friendly, willing to help, or rude the staff are

condition of animals: how well or badly kept the livestock are, ie the right requirements, how healthy they look etc.

Would you return: do you feel this is a shop you would use often?

Would you reccomend: would you recommend others to visit the shop.

Rating out of 10: give the shop an overall rating from 1-10

Any thought on this will be helpful, any points I have missed? any points that are not needed?

So you get the idea ill start:

Shop:Rushden Reptiles

Location: Rushden

Variation of animals:Good Variety of stock, plenty to choose from

variation of equipment:Variety of equipment, some I have not even seen elswhere

pricing of animals:Very reasonable, almost half the price of some other shops

pricing of equipment:very reasonable, again almost half of what some shops charge

Knowledge of staff: Fair knowledge of stock, you know which ones they have kept for years, and what they have only recently encountered, but they have done thier research.

Customer service: Excellent, very friendly, make you feel welcome, only issue is that there are alot of people in the shop who tend to crowd around the counter which can feel unwelcoming, but they are all very friendly and helpful.

condition of animals: very good, all look healthy and are kept in good conditions. couple of issues, the snake hatchlings seem to lack water sometimes, and there are a coupld of mixed vivs, which I know some people will not agree with, but the mixed vivs are well thought out, not like beardies and water dragons etc.

Would you return: Definately, this place has become my 'local'

Would you reccomend: Always, definately worth a visit!

Rating out of 10: 8/10 very good but no one is perfect, negatives can be seen above, they are a young shop, I think once they become established they will be an excellent shop!

[retri]

Shop:Northampton Reptile Centre

Location: Northampton

Variation of animals:Always have a good variety, and alway something new in there

variation of equipment:Again, good variety, but mostly your standard exo terra stuff

pricing of animals:Varies, some things are very over priced, while others are fairly reasonable for shop prices, it all depends on what you want

pricing of equipment:About average for a shop, not cheap, but not extorsionate

Knowledge of staff: All have a good knowledge and have kept most of the species they stock persoanlly, never really had bad advise from them.

Customer service: Varies, some of the saturday staff are very friendly, always willing to help and give advise, on the other hand there are a couple of that staff that are friendly and helpful as long as you are buying something, dont like to hear that you have baught something elsewhere, and very argumentatve if you disagree with them (they are always right, will not listen to critisism or advise)

condition of animals: All well kept, only ever really seen one ot two issue's there, animals are nearly always very healthy, though there was a dead yemen in the bottom of one of the vivs, also some of the hatchling boxes have no water in alot of the time.

Would you return: No, I used to go there regularly, but since hearing about the way they treat people and recieving some awful stories about the way they treat customers I would not return.

Would you reccomend: No, unless you like to have your head bitten off or be bitched about behiond your back for asking the wrong question, if you want to just go have a look anf handle some reptiles, or just get some advise this is not the place to visit. If you do visit, go on a saturday and speak with Gary.

Rating out of 10: 4/10 They have good knowledge of reps, and all livestock are well looked after, but due to the poor treatment of customers I do not think they are a good shop at all, customer service counts for a hell of alot!

[freekygeeky]

Shop: Jap koi

Location: Henlow

Variation of animals: Lots! from leos, to boas, to frills, to cat geckos and so on...

variation of equipment: basically everything you need.

pricing of animals: I have found that they are a little pricey but they are good quality, i personally would liek to pay more for a ''better'' looked after rep.

pricing of equipment:as all shops, equipment is expensive

Knowledge of staff: i have to admit, half of the week i love the staff the other half i dont... the guy scares me, and so does the girl. on the oher hand ben and maritin are brilliant!

Customer service: as above on the day that ben and martin are there, brilliant. the otther days.. not so good.

condition of animals: how well or badly kept the livestock are, ie the right requirements, how healthy they look etc.

Would you return: i go every week.

Would you reccomend: yes

Rating out of 10: 8 out of 10

[Pauline]

Shop: Leaping-Lizards

Location: York

Variation of animals: Plenty to choose from, if you can't see what your looking for ask it may be through the back or else they'll get it in for you .

Variation of equipment: Good variety and a few more unusual items.

Pricing of animals: Average for a shop

Pricing of equipment: Average for a shop

Knowledge of staff: Owner is very knowledgeable and his assistant is a whizz at latin names and genetics.

Customer service: All very friendly and helpful

Condition of animals: All animals are in top condition and the shop is always spotless

Would you return: I do regularly

Would you reccomend: Yes, highly

Rating out of 10: 10

[Grakky]

FOR KENT SHOPS

(I've done 3 haha)

Shop: Vanishing World

Location: Herne Bay/Canterbury

Variation of animals:Great variety, they have looooads of stuff, and more than your bog standard corns and beardies (although they have those too haha)

variation of equipment: LOADS again. so much choice, loads of vivs, stats, heating, everything.

pricing of animals:average, well priced. Kind of fluctuates, you see somethings and think 'woah that's cheap' but others you think 'ouch, pricey'

pricing of equipment:very reasonable, cheaper than most places, and I've seen a couple of things cheaper than on the ''cheap'' online stores.

Knowledge of staff: Really knowledgable, give out the right info, promote the use of stats (for once!).

Customer service: friendly, helpful, the type that will actually come over and say 'need any help?' and will talk to you about the animals.

condition of animals: perfect, didn't see one sickly, thin or dull looking animal there.

Would you return: HELL YEAH

Would you reccomend: HELL YEAH

Rating out of 10: 9.5

[Grakky]

Shop: Canterbury Exotics

Location: Canterbury

Variation of animals: alright, wouldn't say brilliant, will have a bit of unusual stuff though, generally more lizards and T's than snakes though.

variation of equipment: TBH haven't looked much at the equipment in there, and there isn't loads of it, but it has the usual stuff.

pricing of animals:average for a shop really, some things I've seen have been a tad pricey though.

pricing of equipment:average shop prices really

Knowledge of staff: Very knowledgeable.

Customer service: not perfect haha, I think they get a lot of kids messing around in there so are a bit wary of people, but once they see you're actually interested in getting a reptile (for the right reasons) they are very good.

condition of animals: fine, didn't see anything to cause concern.

Would you return: probably

Would you reccomend: yes.

Rating out of 10: 7.5

[Grakky]

Shop: Jay's Exotic Pets (although I think he's changed it to just ''jay's pets'' now)

Location: Ashford

Variation of animals: standard, plus some unusuals. changes a lot though, usually about the same ratio of lizards to snakes though.

variation of equipment: pretty much everything.

pricing of animals: standard, some thing a bit expensive though, have seen a hatchling classic corn in there once for £50

pricing of equipment: little pricey

Knowledge of staff: Very knowledgeable.

Customer service: lol...where do I start. Jay isn't great with the customer service haha, always kind of get the impression he'd rather be somewhere else, but he's a nice enough bloke, and was great with my disabled brother when I brought him in there once.

condition of animals: very good.

Would you return: yup

Would you reccomend: yes.

Rating out of 10: 8

[snakearms]

Originally Posted by Grakky

FOR KENT SHOPS

(I've done 3 haha)

Shop: Vanishing World

Location: Herne Bay/Canterbury

Variation of animals:Great variety, they have looooads of stuff, and more than your bog standard corns and beardies (although they have those too haha)

variation of equipment: LOADS again. so much choice, loads of vivs, stats, heating, everything.

pricing of animals:average, well priced. Kind of fluctuates, you see somethings and think 'woah that's cheap' but others you think 'ouch, pricey'

pricing of equipment:very reasonable, cheaper than most places, and I've seen a couple of things cheaper than on the ''cheap'' online stores.

Knowledge of staff: Really knowledgable, give out the right info, promote the use of stats (for once!).

Customer service: friendly, helpful, the type that will actually come over and say 'need any help?' and will talk to you about the animals.

condition of animals: perfect, didn't see one sickly, thin or dull looking animal there.

Would you return: HELL YEAH

Would you reccomend: HELL YEAH

Rating out of 10: 9.5

erm..just gonna copy this one!
great shop

[Becky]

Shop: Jap koi

Location: Henlow

Variation of animals: Everything! Mammals, fish, reptiles, inverts etc
variation of equipment: basically everything you need.

Pricing of animals: I don't think their prices are TOO bad.. but then i'd much rather pay twice the money in there than half the money in a shop where the animals are not looked after.

pricing of equipment:as all shops, equipment is expensive

Knowledge of staff: Everyone can help you with everything in there.

Customer service: Always had a friendly service where i tend to stand and talk for ages lol. No complaints :-D

condition of animals: Everything in the shop is kept brilliantly. Clean and in the correct conditions.

Would you return: I go more than once or twice a week LOL!

Would you reccomend: yes

Rating out of 10: 9 out of 10

[knighty]

Shop: Jap koi

Location: Henlow

Variation of animals: have lots to choose from frogs, gekos, chameleons, snakes, fish, spiders, scorpions. pretty good at ordering stuff in to

variation of equipment: always have had what im after, again good at ordering stuff in

Pricing of animals: not too bad, as said before though better to pay more for good quality.

pricing of equipment:no worse than any were else i have been.

Knowledge of staff: Ben, Adam, Martin all top notch, good knowledge and good after care. been very helpful to me.

Customer service: as above very good and always willing to help, or have a general chat.

condition of animals: everything is clean, well fed, well looked after and well worth the money.

Would you return: practicaly live ther lol

Would you reccomend: most deffinately, well worth the journey.

Rating out of 10: 9 out of 10