I bought a custom wood snake cage and canopy from Custom Wood Reptile Company on Aug. 15. Kasia is the person I did business with, and who I exchanged the first few emails with. I ordered the Best Seller, a 48x 24 x 24 wooden cage with red chestnut stain (I had emailed Kasia prior to my purchase to ensure the stain was indeed a red color) and nickel-plated hardware. I requested the glass side viewing windows and the polyurethane stain (to protect the wood against the extra moisture). I had also requested a circular cut out in the back top right corner for my temperature probe to fit through.
The cage was supposed to be delivered 15 days after purchase. I did not receive the cage until Sept. 17. This turned out to be an error on the shipping company, DHL, who offered a refund in my shipping costs. They would refund Custom Wood Reptile Cage Company, and it would be up to them to return the shipping charges to me.
When I opened the box, the first thing I saw was that the canopy I had ordered was not assembled, as stated on their website, Fully Assembled. It was also made out of very thin, flimsy wood, and was cracked down the middle. The cage was not the color stain I ordered (it was brown, not red), nor the type of hardware I had requested (it was brass, not silver). The circular cut out I had requested had been drilled from the outside to the inside of the cage, after the cage had been stained, was not sanded down or finished, and had splinters and pieces of stained wood and the polyurethane stain chipped off.
After two emails to Kasia, I finally received an email back where she told me to contact Mr. Steve Milligan, the owner of Custom Wood Reptile Cages, and gave me his phone number and email. I contacted Mr. Milligan by phone and by email and explained what was wrong with the cage and canopy. On Sept. 18, his response by email was word for word:
Rebecca,
I have to address this concern first... The hole made for the temperature probe. I have since found out that it was put in right before pickup... Cage was wrapped and scheduled for pickup. Orders it had to ship that day... Then it was noticed on the work order a opening was needed for a temp probe... So it was opened just enough to make the hole... And make the truck for pickup... Obviously not the best decision made... Then I went for an explanation about the color... I was shown the stain and sealer it was clearly marked red chestnut... Ordered special for your order. Because it was not in stock it is actually a new color that has come available... I was curious to see the color so I did a test piece it has a tint of red. But nothing near the red mahogany for instance. Putting the word red in the color description you would expect it to be so... Then the wrong hinge color. No excuse..
Steve
When I contacted Mr. Milligan by phone after receiving the above email, he said he wanted to work with me, and would be responsible for his errors. He asked me to email pictures of the cage and canopy. I emailed pictures that night (9/18). I called 9/19 and left a message on Mr. Milligans phone - received no response. On 9/20, I left a message on Mr. Milligans phone - no response. On 9/21, I left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone - still no response. I emailed Kasia, who promised me he would call me that night (9/21). Mr. Milligan called me back that night and offered to send an assembled canopy and extra stain for me to fix and re-stain the cut out myself.
On 10/04, the new canopy was shipped, and I received it on 10/08. As the box was being pulled off of the truck, I could see a huge brown stain in one of the corners of the box, and it smelled like wood stain. There was no padding around the wooden canopy, and the cardboard did not even fully cover it - at parts there was only the packing tape covering the wood. When I opened the box, I could see that the Bisquik bottle Steve had poured extra stain in, without any leakage protection, had indeed leaked all over the canopy and therefore left streaks and stains across the wood. There was also a large dent in the front of the canopy, since it had not been packaged properly. When I placed the canopy on top of the cage, they were obviously different colored stains as well. The canopy was the actual red colored stain I had requested, which contrasted sharply with the brown stained cage.
I immediately called Mr. Milligan and told him what had happened. He discussed flying out to California to fix it himself. He mentioned finding a wood worker out in California, and said he would pay for the repairs. I said I wanted this fixed in a timely manner. He again asked for pictures, which I promptly emailed him, along with a video that night.
On 10/9, I called Mr. Milligan and left a message - no response. On 10/14, I left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone no response. On 10/15, I called and Mr. Milligan answered his phone, and we discussed sending everything back, and he would pay for shipping. Then he decided he didn't want to risk the glass breaking, and asked me to get estimates to have a wood worker in California fix the cage.
On 10/20, I sent an email and left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone to ask for a refund so that I could have someone to fix the cage myself. I had estimates ranging from $300-$600 for a wood worker to re-stain the cage to match the canopy, change the hardware, sand out the stain streaks in the canopy, and fix the dent in the front of the canopy. I also requested the shipping charges to be refunded to me that DHL had promised back in September. I received no response.
On 10/22, I called and left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone no response. I also emailed Kasia, who responded and said she had emailed Mr. Mililgan as well. On 10/23, I left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone no response. On 10/24, I called and Mr. Milligan answered his phone, and said he had received a refund from DHL with my name on it. I asked for the shipping refund, as well as a partial refund on the cage so that our business could be done with each other, and I could have someone fix the cage. He said he would like our business with each other to be done as well, but would have to get back to me regarding the partial refund. I asked, Are you going to call me because you have a hard time returning my phone calls. He promised he would call or email.
On 10/26, I left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone no response. On 10/29, I left a message on Mr. Milligan's phone no response. I emailed Kasia and asked for someone to please contact me back.
On 10/30, I called at 9am PST, and Mr. Milligan answered his phone. He said to call him back later in the afternoon to discuss the situation. I called at 1:30pm PST, and he said he was still in his shop and that he would call me when he got back to his office. I said I really wanted to work with him on this, and he said he did too. He asked me to send my invoice so he could financially see what was feasible.
On 11/03 I called Mr. Milligan at 3pm PST, and someone else answered. Mr. Milligan got on the phone and said he would call me back in 45 minutes. At 4:30pm PST, I called Mr. Milligan and left a message no response. At 5:40pm PST, I called Mr. Milligan and left a message and sent a page no response. Over the next few days I left messages on Mr. Milligan's phone, and he never responded.
On 11/08 I called Mr. Milligans phone and he answered! He said he would send a whole new cage with the correct color stain, the correct hardware, a properly drilled hole, everything! He said he should have done that from the beginning. He said he would have it shipped by Friday, 11/16. I sent him an email confirmation, just reiterating what we had discussed to make sure we were on the same page. I asked for a confirmation number once the cage was shipped so I could be home for the delivery.
On 11/13, I called Mr. Milligan and left a message, just to make sure we were still on for a ship date of 11/16 no response. On 11/16, called Mr. Milligan to get a confirmation number of the shipment. Mr. Milligan said the cage was started but not finished. He said it would be shipped Monday, 11/19. On 11/19 I called and emailed Mr. Milligan for a confirmation number for the shipment no response. On 11/20, I called Mr. Milligan and left a message no response. On 11/21 I called Mr. Milligan, and he answered the phone. He said the new cage still wasn't finished, but would ship on Monday, 11/26.
On 11/24, I called Mr. Milligan, who assured me the new cage would ship on Monday, 11/26. That was the last time I spoke with him. I have left several messages on Mr. Milligan's phone, and sent emails to both Mr. Milligan and Kasia. I have contacted DHL, who said no shipments have been sent.in my last email and phone message, I asked for a response from Mr. Milligan by 11/30.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (Complaint ID#: 94154755) on 12/03/07, which dragged on until 01/19/08. The BBB sent me an email:
The BBB has made several attempts to contact the business regarding the above referenced complaint. We regret to inform you that we have not received a response from the company. Your complaint was closed out as unanswered, and their public reliability report has been changed to unsatisfactory.
In total, I have sent 22 emails, and placed 49 phone calls to Mr. Milligan. Of those 49 phone calls, 6 times Mr. Milligan answered. He only called me back on his own once. I have been trying to work with this company since August. Mr. Milligan lied to me about sending a new cage, and now will not respond to my emails nor phone calls. He also has my DHL shipping refund, which he never gave to me, even after admitting he received it. This whole process has been nothing but a headache.
I do not recommend working with this company.
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