Reviews

it is advertised as ladybugs. the photos on the box and the stickers show ladybugs. The larvae are not ladybugs they are pink lady beetles. false advertisement.

Horrible customer service here as well. I ordered over 200 dollars worth of caterpillars and almost all of them died. I had a whole school family night set up to release them. I have ordered from insect lore for years and never had any problems. After I sent my initial email explaining the problem they never responded but just sent two cups of caterpillars. (my original order was for over 75 caterpillars). We were on spring break when they did this. I emailed back and let them know that wouldnt solve the problem as it was too late and we were on Spring Break. They never replied and sent another cup of caterpillars. I have emailed them multiple times since then and have NEVER gotten a response.

Horrible customer service! They guarantee 3 butterflies to live. My order was running late, so I contacted customer service via email. It eventually arrived 8 days after I ordered (when they say 3-5 days for arrival), then there were only 4 caterpillars when there should have been 5. I contacted customer service regarding the missing caterpillar with no response. I took them to my classroom for my students to observe. After one day, a caterpillar was dead. I removed it from the cup and hoped for the best. Then 2 days later another caterpillar died, so I removed it as well since I did not want my students staring at a decomposing caterpillar all day. Once again, I emailed customer service and have yet to receive a response. Upon reading reviews from others with similar issues, it seems that in order for the company to rectify the issue, they want photographic evidence of the dead caterpillars before they will make it right. Who takes pictures of dead animals? Also, as I did not know photos were a requirement when this happened (and I had not heard from the company after multiple attempts to contact them) I threw the dead ones away. I am not going to let them sit and rot in my classroom while I wait for a response. This company seriously lacks any knowledge of customer service. I have ordered previously with no issues, but this year has been a horrific experience.

I am horrified at how I was treated this morning. I have been purchasing from Insect Lore for many years for several different schools. Last week I purchased 9 Butterfly Kits. Our school received 5. When I contacted them to have the situation rectified, their "manager" responded that they could only handle the issue if I sent them pictures of what we received. I explained that the kits had been distributed already to the classrooms. I was then told the same thing-they need pictures. I tried calling and the receptionist refused to put me through to their highest level manager. I asked repeatedly for a direct email address and she refused. She said to send it to her and she would route it to upper management. What company refuses to give an email address for a manager? What kind of company cheats a school out of resources and kits that only benefit children. Insect Lore took our money and did not provide the materials we paid for. I am no longer a customer-I will go elsewhere. Very unprofessional and disappointing.

I have tried to place an order for a month now and have only received a response ONCE after two weeks of trying only to say they need a purchase order, that I already sent in my original email. I have since tried to call and email continuously a couple times a week because my teachers keep wondering where their order is. I don't even know if it's placed and would really like to know so I can cancel it on our end. I've been on hold right now on the phone for 21 minutes and still waiting. This company is absolutely horrendous with communication.

Am I getting caterpillars? Who knows! After 4 emails begging for an invoice and two phone calls in excess of 20 minutes of wait time (because teachers have all the time in the world), I STILL DON'T KNOW. I gave them my credit card, so maybe. I also am writing to the President, Marcus McManama, but I have to send it through the mail because apparently the company has no other email than the one that goes to the unanswered customer service circle of hell. I am very frustrated and dismayed.