I had a similar disappointing experience with them -- but I bailed out before they shipped because of the issues and problems. Barbara was always very nice, but the communication from their end was non-existent. First there were the problems with ordering -- the website gladly took my PayPal payment right away, but I never heard a peep from them re: a confirmation, etc. I called Canada several times trying to get things straightened out. A week went by each time between the time I called her and the time she got back to me (only after more prodding). Twice she asked me what the correct order was, my address, etc. -- things that I had emailed to her more than once. I just figured they were busy and were overwhelmed.
My chicks were supposed to hatch on 04/02. I had called a few days before to confirm that they would be coming and to make sure she had all of the info she needed to ship them to me on the 2nd. I never got a call saying that they weren't going to come, so I was assuming that they would be peeping at the post office by the 3rd or 4th. When Friday afternoon came and I had to head out of town over the weekend, I called Barbara. That was when I learned that my order didn't get shipped -- had I not called, I wonder if I would have ever received a call. She told me that they had a lower than expected hatch rate. I asked her if we could put my order on the 04/09 hatch and she said that she could not -- but that she would put me down for the 04/16 hatch. We reconfirmed (for at least the 3rd or 4th time) the order and she assured me they would ship on the 16th.
I even called on the 14th and the 15th (but got no return call) to confirm whether or not they would ship on the 16th for sure. When the 17th came and no chicks and no communication again, I started to get worried that this would be a repeat of the week of the 2nd. I called Barbara and asked her if my chicks had shipped. She told me they had not -- because she had orders for the 16th and that they had a low hatch rate again. She said she did not want to disappoint the folks who were expecting them on the 16th. I reminded her that she had already disappointed me twice -- that I had been expecting them on the 2nd and then, again, on the 16th. She apologized (she is always very sweet -- but still no chicks). She PROMISED me that I would get them this past week -- on the hatch of the 23rd.
The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I was not going to go through this again -- particularly, because I have to be out of the country in the summer for two weeks and my goal was to have the chicks shipped on the 2nd so they would have had plenty of time to grow out and for me to have them processed before I leave.
Meanwhile, Barbara finally sent me an invoice for my chicks who were supposed to be shipped on 04/23 -- but, like happened to one of the previous posters, mine, too, was wrong -- it was for a whole lot more birds, reds instead of goldens, and for a whole lot more $$ than I had originally ordered. (As a matter of fact, I think that she was going to send me your reds, Liz, as I was supposed to get 50 goldens and the invoice and her emails were only for red/bronze.) It was just the last straw in an already very disappointing experience. I emailed Barbara and asked her to cancel my order because by this point I had lost faith in them. She was quite gracious and actually refunded my $$ within an hour via paypal. I was disappointed -- very disappointed -- but time was running out and I just could not risk one more week of excuses, errors and delays. I understand that they have had a rough year, but -- like you said -- if this is the way they do business, it is no wonder that things aren't going well for them. (I'm thinking like you are -- if they have had this big buyer back out -- how come they didn't have our chicks for us when we needed them?)
I immediately started searching the internet for breeders of the same birds or similar birds (in fact, if you look at the hubbardbreeders.com website and click on color birds and then differentiated growth you will see the freedom ranger-'style' red broilers and grey broilers right on their website). I was lucky enough to find a hatchery less than an hour from me that hatches the very same birds. (Joel Martin -- JM Hatchery in New Holland, PA,
www.jmhatchery.com) I called him and asked him if he could supply me with 100 chicks this week and -- without a problem or a hassle or any of the drama that I had been through with the Freedom Ranger folks it was a done deal. Joel's communication was excellent and -- because I was so gunshy after the FR experience -- I asked him if it was ok if I just drove up there and picked them up on the day they hatched. (I was fed up with delays and just wanted to get my birds!) They are healthy, happy, active and doing great. I received 100 chicks and have not lost a single one of them. He was great and I will buy birds from him again in a heartbeat. Shipping is included on his birds and they actually come out to be less than the cost of what my original FRs would have been with the shipping added. There is also another hatchery in PA (MT-DI -- but they don't have a website) who hatch the same types of birds. George at MT-DI calls his the Color Pak and Joel at JM calls his the Red Bro -- in fact, that's how come I am pretty sure that they all come from the same stock.
Anyway...that is my 2008 FR saga to add to the list. I was really looking forward to the Goldens, too -- not only did I hope they would grow out well and be tasty for my customers, but they would have been pretty! You will have to let us know how they grow out.
As disappointed as many of us have been with our experiences with them, I do hope that Barbara can get things turned around. I felt bad for her when she sent me the email explaining what had happened to the. She seemed like a really nice lady who was just totally overwhelmed by the whole turn of events -- -- but, unfortunately, I just couldn't risk waiting any longer.
I was goign to email Barbara and complain, but if this is just the way it goes with broilers then I'll adjust. But darn, I was really hoping for better things from the Freedom Rangers. 
