Got 4 roosters and 1 wrong breed in my order.

[Smorz]

I couldn't see where this might fit better so sorry if I'm posting in the wrong category.

I ordered 18 speckled Sussex pullets, delivered in June. Of the 18 ordered, 4 are roosters, one is a Rhode Island Red. Do I have any recourse with the vendor?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Definitely call them and talk. Most have certain guarantees though each will be different. Some are more helpful than others. You can check their website to see what their guarantees are, but a phone is the way I'd approach it. Don't start off mad, just explain and see what they say. The few I've called have been pretty helpful, though it was about other things.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Probably not. Just a reason to perhaps not buying from them again. Vent sexing is rarely 100% accurate and though 4 of 18 is a high percentage, I've heard of worse.
RIRs are great layers so if you aren't breeding, you may not be disappointed in that mistake.
I would probably write them a letter to let them know. Depending on the vendor, they may do something for you. It can't hurt but I don't think they have a legal obligation to do anything.

I bought 50 chicks of 17 different breeds and varieties once. I ended up with 3 breeds not on the list. It took forever to figure out what I had.

 

[donrae]

If it's a major hatchery, yes you do. Pretty much all of them will offer you refunds or credits...not always what you want, and doesn't solve the problem of your Oops roosters, but it's really about the best they can do, and from what I understand they're all very good about it.

Now, a smaller hatchery or private breeder, you'll just have to ask. See how ethical they are. Were I the private seller, I'd sure want to know. I'm very customer service oriented and would be distressed to think someone had been unhappy with my sale, so would find a way to make it right to the buyer.

 

[CrazyTalk]

I don't know what hatchery you used, so I checked Meyer - their policy is :

Quote:

So, you'd be guaranteed no more than 2 male, you got 4,

In the 16-25 quantity bracket, Males are 1.82 and females are 3.00 - so they'd owe you $2.36. But they policy says they have to be 10 weeks, and its going to cost you more than $2.36 to grow them up to that point.

I don't see anything about sending the wrong bird - they'll probably refund the cost of that bird


Cackle says this:
Quote: So they'd refund you the cost of 3 birds - although I'm not sure - the guarantee may only be on 100+ bird shipments - it's not really clear (their website is a bit wonky). They'd definitely refund you for the RIR if their policy page is accurate.


Either way, you're probably looking at $10 max - it's up to you whether its worth pursuing.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's good information. Another problem may be that it's been 4 months since the purchase. There may be a time limit.

 

[Smorz]

This is all good info, thank you so much. I'll look and see what my options are. The roosters are sweet as can be, so that's a plus, but heck. That makes the ratio of roos to hens a bit high, since I also was silly enough to order one. Duh. So I have 5 all together.

Thanks for all the in put!

 

[Smorz]

"90% Sexing Accuracy Guaranteed - If greater than 10% males are received in a pullet order of 25 or more, IDEAL will refund the difference between pullet and male price for all excess males. IDEAL makes no guarantee of sex when male chicks are purchased nor does IDEAL guarantee the percent of pullets in straight run chicks except that they will be boxed as hatched."

Well, it starts off good. My order of all chicks was 24. Plus they are only refunding the DIFFERENCE in cost. Oy.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous that they all seem to give that 'difference' refund - you grow up a bird you can't use, don't want, etc, pay for food and medications, and they think you still got something valuable.

 

[lazy gardener]

All the more reason to boycott the hatcheries and hatch your own. At least you are guaranteed that your own straight run birds will be straight run. The refund of the difference between male and female when the male chicks are greater than their guaranteed percentage is a slap in the face. They know that the average person won't pursue the refund. They should stand behind their claim, and give full refund on the pullets missing from the order.