Badly infested cricket shipment, what are these?

[flamesbane]

People keep these and other species, such as lesser mealworms, in feeder bins in order to help keep colonies clean and healthy. It is perfectly normal. You've very quickly gone from someone who didn't know jack about these to an expert. Flukers is not a bad company, the reason they are giving you a refund instead of shipping a new order is because you acted like a nut. They responded back with a nice email and you came off with "having to warn others" of course they aren't going to ship to you again, I sure wouldn't.

 

[xhexdx]

Lol @ flesh eating beetles:

I realize some people think flesh eating beetles are no big deal

They are decomposers. They eat dead and decaying animal matter. They're the carnivorous equivalent of isopods.

As Protectyaaaneck and flamesbane already said, they aren't an infestation and are common to find in cricket shipments. I find them all the time in mine. They help to manage cricket waste material. They are beneficial when managed properly. Yep, I'm sure you got way more than you 'should' have received. Yep, they're annoying. Nope, Fluker's didn't really do anything wrong, and they were (in my opinion) completely within their right to deny you further business considering the brashness of your e-mail correspondence with them. If they haven't refunded your money yet, yes, that's on them and you should certainly pursue that (in a more appropriate and less heated manner), but if I were them, I'd not do business with you either.

Calm down, take a few breaths, collect the larvae, and stick them in the freezer. Done deal. Good luck finding any cricket supplier that doesn't have a few dermestid larvae in with their shipments.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Just out of curiosity. Are the larvae or the beetles decomposers? Or both?

 

[xhexdx]

Both .

 

[jayefbe]

The fact that Flukers tried to pass the larvae off as "feeder bugs that get into the feed" is pretty ridiculous. I would be annoyed if someone tried to get a fast one by me. That said....they haven't done anything wrong.

1. Is there really a large cricket supplier that DOESN'T have dermestid larvae in with their colonies? I get them when I buy crickets from the pet store. Chances are, whoever you normally buy from, has dermestid larvae just like Flukers.

2. You did not get ripped off. They offered to replace the order free of charge. When that wasn't suitable for you, they offered a refund. That is standard business practice. They even offered to alert their supervisor about the order, implying that they would try to figure out what happened. Yes, they sent out a bad batch, but that has to happen with any company selling more than a few shipments a day. I'm sure similar things have happened with whatever company you believe "isn't crap" you've ordered from.

3. A full in-house inspection? Really? Your expectations are ridiculous, especially considering that dermestid beetles are a fact of life when it comes to cricket suppliers.

4. Flukers should be shut down? They are unethical....how? You're going to contact the agricultural department? Also, how can shipping a pest species be a federal offense when it's already everywhere. They have a WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION. Your claims are outlandish and without merit.

5. Finally, there is a direct relationship between the number of complaints a company is going to receive and the amount of business they do. Flukers is THE supplier of feeder insects. Of COURSE they have the most complaints, they do the most business. I'm sure they supply a very large number of pet stores across the nation. Just stating that they have more complaints than anyone doesn't really mean anything. I've never ordered from them (nor will I) so I can't say I've had any first hand experience. But if I was in your position, I would've been mildly annoyed and taken the offer of a replacement.

You had a bad order with a company. They offered to rectify the situation in a perfectly reasonable manner and offered to refund your money. Assuming they've refunded your money, your response was completely unreasonable. If you're going to be ordering crickets, these things are just going to happen.

Also, just on a side note, you started this thread looking for advice with the possibility of posting a review later. By mentioning the suppliers name from the very beginning, it is already a review, only the company in question has not had time to respond or rectify the situation.