Buyer grief, what would you do?

[Cara]

I received this e-mail this morning regarding a batch of eggs that went out on Tuesday. They arrived intact but frozen (they went to SD).


OK Cara, we have a HUGE problem here. Finally got the eggs. They are frozen. It is 22 degrees here & since they did not have Priority Mail stickers all over the box & say "Hatching Eggs" on the box, they were treated as if they were two glass vases, because they only said "Please handle with care" on the outside. There was no urgency to get them to me at all... Since they are frozen, they are no good. I'm not even going to bother to put them in the incubator that I've had running for two days now. You need to put Priority Mail stickers all over them. Better yet... Actually USE a Flat Rate Priority Mail Box that you can get for FREE at your Post Office. They eggs are no good & I don't have time to wait for more. My other eggs are already in the incubator & I don't have time to run two seperate batches through. I would like a full & complete refund with shipping & everything I paid you. If you agree to this, I will give you positive feedback. Fair enough?


As far as i'm concerned I fulfilled my end of the bargain. I sent them out in a timely manner and they were well packaged in a plain box. What would you do?

 

[miss_jayne]

she ordered eggs during the cold season.

a great hint from my awesome mail lady:
mark the boxes 'Do Not Freeze', 'Perishable' & 'Fragile'.

every box i've received this winter showed up in excellent shape after info'ing the breeders i bought from.

i would decide what you want to do about the feedback.

maybe offer to resend the eggs, but not a monetary refund.

 

[tomcio]

Personally I think you did what you should. You mailed the eggs. They arrived intact.

You cannot control the weather (or the mailman

). If the buyer decided to get eggs shipped to her when there is possibility of freezing weather, well, they took a chance.

Back in October I have ordered some quail eggs from a person on this site. She did all she could to send them to me, BUT I am in Canada and they didn't get across the border. I took a gamble, my loss (she kept the money, the eggs are somewhere in a bin at the border). It happens.

So, I would not refund. Shipping breakables is a tricky business.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I got eggs in below zero weather and they were not froze. Did she leave them by the mail box maybe overnight. it takes a lot to freeze eggs that were packed well.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
I'd be more inclined to honor her request if she werent so snippy about it.

Did you send it Priority Mail?

It isn't hardly your fault that SD is experiencing this weird weather action right now. If they were sent Priority Mail, and got to her intact and in a timely manner, then I'd say it was no one's fault, and depending on your feedback count, I'd just eat the bad feedback. (or take it up with ebay or whichever auction place it is to get it taken off).

If you only have a couple of feedbacks, however, One bad feedback could hurt you for selling.

Save any correspondance, if you do try to have the bad feedback taken away, though - the people running the auction site may need it to determine if it is warranted.

Priority Mail is about a one to two day ship - so Tuesday to Thursday would be about right.

Just make sure you covered your end of the auction, and let the auction owner straighten it out if you are in the right.

meri

 

[Wifezilla]

Did she ask for priority shipment? Pay extra for priority shipment? Was a priority shipping label used?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

If she ordered eggs in 22 degree weather, its her own fault. They were mailed, thats your end of the bargain. You can't control the weather, shipping conditions, or anything else after they leave your hands...

 

[patandchickens]

If there is feedback leverage involved here, unfortunately I would say probably refund the money and take the hit...

... BUT in all future egg sales, clearly and in large print state exactly how you will pack and send the eggs, and include a clause that says that by bidding on this item the buyer is agreeing to accept the shipping terms, and if they don't like the shipping arrangements then they shouldn't bid.

On the whole I think you are in the right -- at most, the buyer might deserve a replacement shipment, but not a refund, since pretty much everybody KNOWS that it is still cold weather and the P.O. is unreliable -- but it depends how much you want to trade off between a principle and your feedback record.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Cara]

I'm thinking about asking for photos. There were 21 eggs triple wrapped in bubble wrap and double boxed, with padding in between.

Do the post office really handle boxes marked 'do not freeze' differently? I'd imagine the mail would take twice as long if they sorted them that way.

It does make you wonder, ordering eggs to SD in March. The thing that got to me the worst was the bad attitude. We'd been conversing as he was worried that they didn't arrive yesterday, and were trying to track them down.

 

[speckledhen]

Got news for her...HATCHING EGGS stickers do NOTHING to expedite anything. She ordered during cold weather and it's her own fault. Tell her the experts who mail hatching eggs on a daily basis said so.