Cedar Creek Hatchery in Michigan

[fpsoftballwade]

I order 10 turkeys and 5 keets on March 29th, 2014 and they emailed stating they would ship out at the end of May or 1st week of June. I have not received them and have called several times and also emailed them with no return calls or emails back. I learned through Paypal that you have to dispute transactions within 45 days of the transaction and through my credit card company 60days. This was past, prior to the alleged shipping date.

Anyone else have issues with Cedar Creek Hatchery? I filed a complaint with the BBB.

 

[memphis]

I did. First batch of chickens arrived dead. All eight. After another month they re shipped but I had to pay for shipping. I had ordered 5 speckled sussex girls. Paid extra! They claimed they could feather sex and that it was an accurate way to sex day olds. Got 5 boys and 2 girls. I just gave up and ordered from somewhere else. Didn't have the time to try and get them on the phone yet again & didn't want to wait another month for a box of roos.

 

[DelcoChix]

You might want to do a search on BYC for this particular hatchery....I'm afraid you won't find much that's terribly encouraging.
My experience was one I won't repeat, "burn me once, shame on you.."

Bottom line:
1) Feather sexing is rarely accurate, the exception is apparently only a couple of breeds, and I believe none of them are breeds sold by Cedar Creek. I knew it wasn't 100% had simply hoped to increase the 50/50 average male/female ratio one usually gets with straight run. I ended up with 13 cockerels out of 21 chicks. Pay extra but it's a waste of money.

2) Their communication stinks. I did not have a bad experience talking with them (via e-mail). My bad experience was due to misrepresentation, lack of response, and total failure to provide requested NPIP paperwork as he had promised.

3) Birds are not the quality they advertise. And frequently not the breed they advertise. Their "Ameraucanas" are Easter Eggers.

The birds I ended up with (I ended up keeping 9 out of 21, 8 pullets and the rooster) are pretty and healthy. Beyond that I wouldn't ever buy another bird from them, nor would I recommend them to anyone, ever. I want honesty, communication, and folks who have integrity.

There are way too many other reputable breeders and hatcheries out there who want our business, and apparently understand that if we are treated honestly we will return, and tell others. On the other hand, if our experience is poor, we will share that also.

Best of luck with a successful outcome--hope your chicks arrive safe and sound...soon!

 

[lgc1970]

The ** words are his bad words that the system takes out automatically. But this is my back and forth with Cedar Creek Hatchery in Twin Lakes, MI. You might want to start at the bottom. This hatchery regularly substitutes. Be ware!


Lisa,
First of all you f****** b****. You ordered eggs from us we did not solicite your order. We were honest with you and told you the Dark brahmas were not laying that well. You not us made the decision to take other brahmas. If you would have called or emailed before you ordered we would have told you they were not laying that well. You could have waited to see if they started to lay better. You not us wanted what we had to ship out. And all of that is in the emails *****. If I ever see you posting anything about us or call us or email us again. Your going to need more than a f****** lawyer ****. f*** offffff you worthless b****.


On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 6:51 PM, Lisa Claus wrote:
You are a business, swearing in any manner is unacceptable. Customers are your only way to glean monies for your business, so you really should try to keep the ones that you have. You know nothing about me yet you chose to swear and be very unprofessional. So, curb your 'tude and try reading what I am writing.

I pulled the eggs on Day 9, but could see that they were yolkers or clears on Day 5. In lighter shelled eggs I like to see the heart beat, which you can see only on Days 5 and 6 (if you knew what candling was maybe you would have already known this fact), and I look at the veining that has started on Day 4 (eggs that have veining in a cluster formation rather than a scattered spider web do better, so I keep those eggs with scattered veining separate and handle even more carefully). Only 3 of the eggs that you sent had air sacs that rocked around the egg, 2 of those developed blood rings the other never did anything. 7 of the eggs you sent, when I pulled them on Day 9, did not have the bullseye (the white dot that is the pre-embryo) on the yolks. In fact, they looked like regular eggs from the store even though they had been incubating for nearly 10 days. All 7 of them were the same, no bullseye. 1 of the remaining eggs was weeping, meaning a crack in the egg, I pulled that one the moment I found the egg white sticking it to my tray. 3 had small blood rings (a blood ring that forms early in incubation is most likely from improper nutrition or improper management of the breeder flock) that I could see on Day 5, but I left them until Day 9 with the yolkers as I just do that. Run down: 7 eggs (1 with a loose air sac) were yolkers, 3 (2 with loose air sacs) developed blood rings, 1 was cracked, and 1 is developing.

The eggs you sent were right next to 12 other eggs that have been in the incubator for just 2 days longer; of those only 1 has been removed the other 11 are doing well. Those eggs were also shipped. I am not kidding or making this up. Is this where I get to call you names? Same incubator, same conditions, same handling on my part, but your eggs are not viable; save for 1.

This is after already having been given a short order of only 4 Dark Brahma eggs even though I had ordered 12. The remaining 8 had been replaced with what you had said were Buff and Light Brahmas. Your website makes no mention of not being able to ship out what has been ordered, or that you would try to replace the eggs with something else other than what was ordered. The first I had it mentioned to me was in the email you sent to me a couple days after I placed my order. Then, after I responded it took you nearly a week and a second email from me for you to let me know that the eggs were even being shipped and what would 'probably' be in the order, but quite frankly other the email below I really have no idea. This would have been the moment to show some customer service and mark the eggs, since I was receiving something that I had not actually ordered.

I have read well over 100 reviews (this is only some of them) about your company not sending what was ordered, sending out only partial orders and not sending out the remaining order, sending chicks that died along the way and not replacing the chicks, and then there is your BBB D rating. You obviously have a lot to learn about customer service.

I am a member of a chicken discussion site that has nearly 80,000 members, and I will be letting all of my friends know how you handled this matter. I will be posting your email on the site for their reference, and letting them decide for themselves if they want to pay you for anything in the future. And you obviously do not know what Bait and Switch is. It is the listing or advertising of an item that you cannot or do not intend to sell, with instead the intent to switch it to something else that you have in stock. It is illegal, and the 'terms and conditions' that you list on your site can be easily negated in a court room simply by referring to Bait and Switch cases from the past. Your T&Cs actually state that you do not have to send what is ordered, which is classic Bait and Switch. Just because nature can be unpredictable it does not give anyone the right to switch the product or not provide a product at all. Telling a potential customer that you get more money from hatching eggs and that they needn't bother trying to drive down to pick up any chicks is also a poor way to run a company. Companies seem to do these things when they are not run properly.

If you take the time to reread my emails and do some research about your company on the WWW, then you may learn that you should try to take better care of any customers you may have before you alienate the rest of them.

Hint on your fertility: You should be able to hatch out more than 95% of the eggs from your chickens at your site, but some of your web info says that you do not. This is a big red flag!!

Amazed at the lack of respect,
Still Waiting for the Refund



On Jul 2, 2014, at 1:56 PM, Joe Brezina wrote:

Lisa,
We are a hatchery all the eggs we send out are the same ones we set for our self. All are eggs are fertile hatching eggs. We do not have eggs sitting around for shipping and then other eggs to set our self's. For you to come at us like this is ridiculous. Maybe you should not spend so much time reading *** holes comments on some website.And more time taking care of your incubator. If you would just have said you are not having a good hatch I would Have sent you replacement eggs out. We don't advertise that, we do that it encourages slime balls to say they had a bad hatch. And for you to say its not the usps is a ******* joke. If anything did go wrong it would be from there mishandling them. And there is no way at 5 days you can candle eggs properly. And if they were infertile how do you have one developing. none of them would be. So please hire a lawyer and sue me for the cost of the hatching eggs. And I will bring in the terms and conditions that you agreed to before you ordered that you seen to have read.

Thank you
Cedar Creek


On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Lisa Claus wrote:
To let you know on Day 5: 1 egg weeped, 7 eggs were found infertile, and 3 eggs had blood rings. Only 1 of the 12 eggs is developing. I have 11 of 12 other eggs that were shipped to me just a few days before these that are developing right along side this lone egg.

The unfertilized eggs and blood rings are things that you need to correct. These things are not my doing or that of the USPS, and you need to provide a refund. I understand that you post the "not our problem once they are handed off to the USPS" clause. But you cannot provide unfertilized eggs and eggs that do not have a shot because your birds are getting proper nutrition, and expect people to just accept it.

First, your website does not discuss shortages on hatching eggs. Second, you attempt, and from what I can discern from other reviews posted about your business, succeed at the Bait and Switch, which is illegal. Third, you provide infertile or unviable eggs.

I expect a full refund. If you choose to stand behind your claim of USPS, then expect a call from my lawyer. At worst case for me you will be fined for the Bait and Switch tactics, which is NOT a small claims court finding.

I am expecting a check via USPS mail within the next 3 weeks or my lawyer from Michigan will be contacting you.

Sincerely,
Lisa Claus
9878 Fallen Rock Road
Conifer, CO 80433


On Jun 17, 2014, at 12:38 PM, Joe Brezina wrote:

Lisa,
The eggs will be shipped out tomorrow. Sorry I did not get back sooner. They will most likely be 4,4 and 4 from all three colors.

Thank you
Cedar Creek


On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 5:35 PM, Lisa Claus wrote:
Joe Brezina,

Do you think that you are going to be able to send out the hatching eggs that I ordered? I do not have the luxury to keep my incubator running all summer. I need to be done setting eggs by June 20, 2014. Your website does not make any statement of possible delays or that some eggs are in short supply. Only your single email attached below introduces the idea that you do not have what you claim to have on your website.

So, with my response to this email having been 5 days ago, I was expecting to here something, anything, to my statement of having ordered what I wanted, DARK BRAHMA hatching eggs. If you are unable to fill an order, then why do your customers still have the ability to order these items?

If you cannot send this order by tomorrow, then I will need the order delayed until August 20, 2014, or a full refund.

Thank you in advance for your time,
Lisa


> On Jun 11, 2014, at 10:32 AM, Joe Brezina wrote:
>
> Lisa,
> We have received your order thank you. Our dark Brahmas are not laying right now (very little). Our buffs and lights are laying. I will leave it up to you we can wait a week or two to see if the darks start laying again. Or we can send out buffs and lights. Or all three if we get a egg or two of the darks. Please advise on how you would like to proceed.
>
> Thank you
> Cedar Creek