Swell Reptiles Reviews 

I've used Swell for a number of years and generally the service has been great. I knew they had a bad reputation and a lot within the hobby (breeders and notable names) refuse to use them. However things had been fine until this past month.

Three orders places within a few days, totally over £1000.

First order - two weeks to ship. Two emails. Three phone calls.

Some products were out of stock for another few weeks apparently and they thought they'd just not say anything and wait a month to dispatch the order? We agreed an alternative product a week into the delay but for some reason an admin error meant it was delayed a further week?!

Also have tried to return one product from the order, they won't reply to any requests.

Second order - all products out of stock. Same story. Let's wait weeks for these to come back into stock. Requested cancellation numerous times because I needed the items urgently and ordered elsewhere. Customer service agent, Hannah, replied quickly to all questioned until I was adamant I wanted a return, then she just stopped responding. A further week goes by, numerous emails ignored, and the items were dispatched regardless of my request.

Third order - product faulty, vivarium top and bottom were for a different product, have emailed twice for the correct pieces to be sent without reply. I'm guessing because they were ignoring me until the latter order was sent out. Now I've requested a refund and return but it's pending review.

Honestly once I get these products returned I'll be deleting my account with them and won't be using them again.

I felt i wanted to make a review because my experiences with swell reptiles have been fantastic,I recently placed 3 seperate orders for vivariums and all electrics,decor etc.
The first order which was big was a little slower to arrive than id of hoped for but when I contacted them they got back to me swiftly and I got my order a few days later.
My other smaller orders came next day no problems.
I would recommend swell reptiles
And will be ordering again from them.

I ordered the SwellReptiles Bearded Dragon Set Up Kit on the 15th August 2026 with an expected delivery time frame of 17th August - 19th August.

After hearing nothing from the company on the 19th August, I emailed to chase my delivery up and was told "Sorry, it has been escalated to the warehouse team to be shipped". Still that day it had not shipped so I called, after waiting in a queue of 30 minutes and more I finally got through to a human who stated again they were sorry and it has been escalated to the warehouse team for priority shipping.

Again, the next day I heard nothing at all and I rang and waited wasting another 30 minutes or more of my time in a queue. This time I was told "Sorry there is an item missing out of the bundle and we are waiting for it". After telling them to just swap it for anything else of similar specification they did.

Although they did "upgrade" my delivery to FedEx priority, the only thing received so far is a 10kg bag of sand.

This company is a joke and needs to be avoided, I only wish I had seen the reviews prior to ordering. Please for your own sake, avoid this company. There is a clear sense of "we dont care, just give us your money".

So if you do like late deliveries, lies being told by the Customer Services Agents and stress added on to your day by wasting your time trying to find out any information, then yes, this is the place for you.

Overall, absolutely appalling service.

Don’t waste your time ordering from these guys. Unhelpful customer support half order never arrives. Impossible to get it sorted

Absolutely abysmal customer service. Placed an order after 4pm on Monday for next day delivery on Wednesday- Thursday and had to contact them 5 times for an update on much I still didn’t get. I had to cancel the order and go elsewhere. Please avoid especially if spending a large amount of money.

Unfortunately I didn't read the reviews before ordering but turns out next day delivery doesn't mean next day delivery. Also it's impossible to get any communication going. I've tried many different email addresses for them, I've tried using the contact from on the website and tried many times to ring an automated voice always says the phone service isn't available. The latest message I've sent is trying to cancel my order which hasn't been dispatched yet, I'll update my review to a 2 star if they manage to cancel the order

Ordered an Arcadia t5 shade dweller it arrived one week later faulty light was permanently on couldn’t switch on or off . Tried to contact swell by telephone nothing ! Send email returned lamp and still nothing no response no nothing can’t get in touch with them . People tell me they leave a message on their automated machine saying “ due to high demands “ this is rubbish they have been saying this for over 12 months . Scammers or thieves I don’t know definitely one of them

I really wish I had checked the reviews before ordering, because this experience has been incredibly frustrating. I ordered a light for my gecko along with some food. The food arrived, but the light never did. I contacted Swell and received two vague, evasive replies with no actual resolution or update.

I’m now out of pocket, still without the light I urgently need, and if I cancel the order they will likely keep the postage cost for the one item that was delivered. I genuinely don’t understand how this company is still allowed to operate with service like this.

Never ordering from them again.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience. Before going on holiday, I ordered 50 live locusts to feed my bearded dragon, but there were no more than 20 in the tub. As I was away from home, I had no choice but to place another order, only for that delivery to contain around 15 locusts instead of the 50 I had paid for.
When I contacted customer services to complain, I explained that I was on holiday and couldn't provide photos, but they insisted they needed photographic evidence before they would do anything. This was incredibly frustrating, especially as I'd already explained my situation.
As a reptile owner, it's important to be able to rely on live food orders arriving as advertised. Unfortunately, I paid for 100 locusts across two orders and received only around 35 in total. I won't be ordering from this company again and cannot recommend them based on my experience.

Ordered next day delivery, still waiting 4 days later.
WILL NEVER BUY FROM THEM AGAIN

Swell really pulled it out of the bag.

My order had not arrived by the due date and I was facing having a new tortoise but no home for it. When I called and explained the problem the guy (sorry I didn't get your name) I spoke to was so understanding and said he would try and expediate my delivery. I realised this was a big ask as Swell were having delivery problems across the board. But he did it. The tortoise table and accessories arrived by 2pm the very next day, literally 10 minutes before my children came home with their new pet tortoise. They had driven 360 miles to collect it so the timing was amazing.

Great customer service on top of very reasonably priced products.

Thank you Swell. I hope to buy from you again in the near future.

Made a time sensitive order based on two-three day delivery promise. With the delivery fee it was more expensive than a famous major online retailer but the promised delivery was quicker so accepted the increased cost.
Product did not arrive on day three so I checked with customer support. Was told that the package was still with them being packed. No explanation or apology.
I am aware that my holiday dates are not their issue but I had paid for a service that hadn't matched up to its promise.
Asked for a refund of delivery fee but was told that was not possible because it is their standard delivery fee.
Asked them to cancel delivery and refund everything but this was refused because it was already in the system.
Not sure when it will arrive now
Product is probably fine but I would suggest you don't order from Swell unless you are happy to wait for them to get round to sending it at their convenience.
Will look into other options myself going forward.

Really disappointed with my experience. Communication was poor, and the whole process was far more stressful than it needed to be. I was made to stay in for two separate days waiting for a delivery that never arrived, and to make matters worse, I never even received an apology for all the inconvenience.

I was left having to chase for updates myself, which isn’t the level of customer service I’d expect from a specialist reptile retailer.

To top it all off, I don’t feel the Platinum Chameleon Setup is worth the price. For what you pay, I expected much better value.

Overall, the lack of communication, poor customer service, and disappointing value mean I wouldn’t order from Swell Reptiles again.

So I had a subscription for some insects for my bearded dragon and for the most part didn't have any issues. However I went on holiday and didn't need the subscription anymore so when I got the subscription reminder asking if I needed to change anything, I cancelled my subscriptions.

They then sent them out later that day and I couldn't get anyone on the phone to answer!

When the arrived I applied for a refund and they granted it, but insisted I paid shipping which I didn't think was fair as I had cancelled the subscription when prompted if I needed to change anything and they chose to send them anyway.

I emailed twice and never got a response! The insects all died and I've just had to throw them away.

Seems like such a waste as I was more than happy to return them, but they just never got back to me to organise it!

Just an unreliable business that lies about next day delivery. I've had this happen on both of my orders I've placed. I paid for the next day delivery on both orders and they failed to deliver it on time. Didn't send out until a few days later on both parcels and even then, still took days to receive my items. Don't believe their "order before 4pm for next day delivery" bs, because it's not true. I ordered before 4pm and paid for the next day delivery fee and they still failed to provide the service they promise

Terrible customer service.

Ordered my Viv 3 weeks ago, it arrived damaged 5 days later. After emailing and following up with phone calls as the response by email was days not hours, they arranged to collect damaged one and send out new. This was a matter of urgency as snake was arriving following week.

We’re now a week later and still awaiting new Viv, our snake has arrived and nothing to put her in!!!

Absolutely shocking, no care for the welfare of an animal arriving. Would have asked for a refund and bought elsewhere but because it came with the python kit it wasn’t worth the hassle of returning, also would probably be waiting another 6 years for the refund.

AVOID.

Shouldn’t have to chase a refund.
Paid for next day delivery. Didn’t receive my order for a good couple of days. Emailed to ask for the next day delivery fee to be refunded. I was informed it would be back in my account within 3-5 business days. Lo and behold no money returned. Good old H in customer service can’t explain why it isn’t with me yet. In fact according to H it will be with me ‘in a few days’. H then couldn’t clarify what kind of time scale that was seeing as more than 3-5 business days had passed. Then suddenly my bank was the issue! Fancy that eh? Again H has the reading comprehension of a 3 year old and can’t answer any questions but provided a ‘credit note’. Yes the document you’ve just generated answers all my questions. Reputable companies are able to put refunds back in peoples accounts within the 3-5 day time scale and a lot of the time it’s even sooner. Dear H consider another career path because lying and not answering questions is bad customer service. I’ve had to edit H’s name out because apparently Swell are a secret branch of MI5 and I can’t disclose a customer service reps name even though it’s freely given through chat. It’s not like I doxxed H is it? Also if it was a breach of personal information why do customer service reps wear name badges?

AVOID!!! Ordered 4 bags of substrate and a water bowl and paid extra for next day delivery. Had to chase the delivery and it arrived 4 days later and only part of it arrived and was damaged beyond use, this was weeks ago now and I’ve been chasing none stop to get my money back (around £70) and they have given me a refund of £27. Even after I have returned the items I did receive that made such a mess of my house and the couriers van from being inappropriately packaged. I am insulted by their customer service and that they think this is at all acceptable.

Used to be a great company but something has gone seriously wrong recently.

Recently bought two swell paludariums and both came without any instructions how to install the drainage connections included of which there are some 20 parts
Despite emailing more the. 5 times and having no response and calling (holding for an hour) and speaking to an agent that promised they would be emailed over to me immediately I am still unable to set up my order paludariums as still have NO INSTRUCTIONS
Really shocked at the bad after sales service I have received
Now wished I’d paid more and bought the EXO TERRA paludariums

Ordered a 15gk bag of sand witch was deliver split with nearly half missing (not swell at fault but courier) I emailed them and Hannah and holly both sorted this out very quick.

A new bag is being dispatched FOC. Can't knock the customer service 10/10.