Ferret Nation 182 - Poor Quality

[Duhh001]

Anyone else have issues with Quality from Ferret Nation?

I bought a Ferret Nation 182 Cage from Ferret.com and the quality was poor at best. They package 150lbs of metal in a box with nothing for shock absorption. Needless to say parts were bent, scratched and wouldn't fit together very well. The doors don't line up and the top is bent, so it doesn't fit flush.
I was will to overlook all but the top, and asked to just replace the top. I was told they would only send out a new kit.

Ferret Nation - Round 1

 

[Snickers]

I had problems with one out of 5 that i purchased from Petmarts about a year ago. One of the panels had bent wire due to poor quality control. I sent the company pictures of the panel in return they said they would not replace the panel. I ended up taking it back to Petsmart for a full credit.

Yours looks pretty bad I would return the whole box back and get another one.

 

[Peep_erz]

geesh. Looks like they need to go back to the 140 series. I have 3 142's. They all have slightly wonky doors but all of the side paneling fits flush and nice. Sorry your 182 came like that.

 

[seachin]

Oh wow....that's pretty bad. But I will say that my doors, and a few I have seen in the forum, do not line up...I think it is a design flaw. Regardless, as long as they latch, you may have to deal with them not lining up. If they aren't going to ask you to send the damaged cage back, I am sure you can bang that thing into place and have a cage to expand into!

 

[Sandi]

Wow! That box looks like it went through the ringer. I only have the FN 142's and I got 2 from amazon and 2 from petsmart. The 2 from petsmart were already assembled and the 2 from amazon shipped in decent condition, but my box says total weight is 92 lbs. Are the 182's that much heavier? I know someone on here received a damaged one from amazon and they did an exchange without any problems.

 

[Stackie]

I just helped someone put one of these together yesterday. While I must say I really like not having to screw everything together, there was a few tabs that we had to hammer because they weren't lined up correctly. However the hammer did the trick and we got it assembled.

None of the doors on my 142's line up.

 

[celmisha]

Oh wow. That's bad. I have a Critter Nation 162 (same as FN142) and the box came all beat up, but only the doors are slightly off. You should definatley take that back and demand a refund!

 

[Pikaia]

My doors don't line up either, I think that is how they are built.

Mine came the same way. The box was tore apart and a few of my parts were bent. I managed to assemble it though. I just didn't want to deal with the hassle. Maybe the next time I will build a cage.

 

[Duhh001]

All I wanted was a new Top piece and I would accept the rest of the defects. They refused to send out replacement parts. They made me take another full rack that came in, in just as bad a condition as the first.
After getting 2 bad in a row, it was apparent that the packaging was the problem. There is nothing to keep parts from banging around or absorbing shock. Great looking cage, but poor execution on their part.

 

[rem]

The other major problem that I have found with the 182 is that the top doesn't actually lock in place... It's held on by gravity.

I ordered mine from: http://www.petsbycsn.com/
The box came pretty beat up, not nearly as bad as yours, but my 183 was actually worse than yours (I ordered at the same time).

In addition, while trying to move the cage, with no wood shelves in it, it basically fell apart. The tabs for the bottom half basically fell out and it was quite a mess. My doors are only slightly off though as I bent the front portion to make sure they lined up better (just pulled really hard on the side where the door was closer to the top).

Otherwise, it's been okay so far.

 

[LittleTrinkets]

Wow, I would definitely contact Ferret.com if you haven't already. I have purchased four FN 142's from the same website and from the occasional door that doesn't line up perfectly my cages never arrived bent.

 

[menagerie]

Wow, I would definitely contact Ferret.com if you haven't already. I have purchased four FN 142's from the same website and from the occasional door that doesn't line up perfectly my cages never arrived bent.

Ferret.com does not ship these cages, they are sent directly from Midwest Cages.

 

[Duhh001]

Ferret.com does not ship these cages, they are sent directly from Midwest Cages.

Yes, Ferret.com has no control they are just a re-seller. I'm sure if I got 10 more, they would all come the same way. There is 150lbs of metal with virtually no packaging to keep them from being damaged.

The fact that they refuse to just send me a replacement part, and wants to blame everything on the shipping company, shows this is a company I will not recommend to anyone!

In my opinion, this is a great example of taking a good product and ruining it thru excessive cost cutting measures. Is saving a few dollars worth all the unhappy customers?

 

[dcfluegel]

was ordering some replacement parts for some used FN142s I have/ am getting and the Midwest CS person I spoke to seemed very surprised that the 180 series was getting a bad rep (I suggested they may need to do some forum surfing and see what their customers are actually saying...)

in the meantime, I am going to stick to the 140 series stuff - seems much more durable/ reliable