At the $200 and up price point for 4'x2'x2' enclosures, only a handful of options are recommend online, all of which seem to have equally positive sentiments. If anyone is skeptical about whether this is the right choice over the 2 or 3 others in every YouTube video and Reddit thread, I hope this helps you.
As is the case with pretty much every product, it comes with a "satisfaction guaranteed" label slapped onto it and every other product, which I always assume is either because they offer the same return policy, or they're blatantly lying and I'll have go the chargeback route. As per usual, I ignored it when I placed my order. However, after my experience I felt compelled to tell someone that it wasn't for decoration this time.
For context, I'm one of the most "value driven" buyers out there, prioritizing getting a good deal to a fault. I buy full price if it's a necessity, last-minute gift, or impulse purchase. That being said, I am all too familiar with the buyer's remorse that impulse purchases come with. I self-justified this one with the handful of "pretty good customer support" comments I saw online and the fact that our baby bearded dragon had plenty of time before outgrowing their current tank. Instead of cancelling the order, I figured we could return it after using it to plan out our stand/furniture arrangement and save some money going with another tank. When I unboxed our package, I started to change my mind (but wasn't quite sold yet). It seemed like everything came in such perfect condition that it would have been in poor taste to return it (diagnosed OCD, so "perfect" in the literal sense). However, we noticed a small chip in the corner of the acrylic substrate barrier (shown in pic). One of my obsessive needs requires every part of a whole to have the same relative condition if I'm assembling something, regardless of whether it will show in the finished product or not. Needless to say, I decided to reach out to customer support with the intent of just seeing what they had to say. They advised that the pane could be installed so the chipped edge would be completely covered and hidden (which I already knew), and if we would like to use it as-is we could get a partial refund. Great policy, but that's just a step above the bare minimum, so I asked if we had any other options.
It took exactly 18 MINUTES from me sending that email before I had an order confirmation and direct response from the support team in my inbox. It was confirmed before I could even realize that they never asked for the broken piece back. I'm not writing this to vouch for their return policy or warranty, I'm writing this because they have earned my respect and loyalty in spite of my plan to abuse their generous return policy.
The way that Zen Habitats handled this situation went far beyond "pretty good." They showed that they respect their customers by showing me respect for my time. They proved that they will listen to you and do whatever they can to make you happy with your purchase, and will do it with zero hesitation.
Sincerely,
- Random customer
