Hoovers canceling orders and forcing customers to the end of the line

[3KillerBs]

Again, I understand there can be problems. There are tons of things that happen in any industry, including this one. I'm not complaining about there being problems. I'm complaining about how they are resolving and handling those problems.

They are handling them the way I would expect them to.

Bumping other customers' orders in a cascade of ongoing delays is far more disruptive than refunding the money of customers who knowingly took the weather risk of ordering chicks in the winter.

 

[Brooks_]

After having more time to think it over, I am convinced that there is no right way to handle the situation. No matter what they did there would be a sizeable amount of people that thought it was wrong and complain. For myself, a 3 month delay would be easier to adjust to than a 1 week delay.

 

[JeffandLori]

Be glad they didn't ship.

I ordered 15 Rudd Rangers and 5 Black Jersey Giants in early January.

Thursday morning I received an email (12:06 AM) stating that they had shipped on Wednesday.

They finally arrived at my local PO box (West Palm Beach, FL) Saturday morning. It looked like they were only coming from Decatur, Ga. and spent a couple days in ATL.

However, there were only 10 Rudd Rangers packed. Of those four were DOA. One of those was outside the foam blocker.

I lost a Black Jersey Giant yesterday afternoon and another Rudd Ranger this morning. I have another RR I'm watching. Could be I just caught it at naptime. The remaining eight seem to be currently running around like maniacs, so that is good. But the RR seemed good this AM as well.

I'm pretty sick as this is my first time trying baby chicks and yeah "they're just chicks", but I feel personally responsible to do all I know to do for the animals in my charge while I have them.

 

[MROO]

I understand your frustration and empathize with you.

I would move onto another hatchery or even feed store.. chick days at TSC is starting soon.. which is where a good number of the Hoover chicks will be going. My other local feed stores also start carrying chicks around the first of Feb. Maybe call around and see if they know what breeds they'll be getting in.

I've had good luck with Cackle, and Meyers, even Ideal but the Ideal birds are lower quality in MY experience.Are you looking for something specific.maybe we can help you find, since your original plan didn't come to fruition?

Hope you find some to your liking soon!

Our TSC will let you pre-order for in-store chicks. It's worth asking. The worst-case scenario, is that they say, "No."

 

[Sammster]

I'm sorry. That must be very frustrating and disappointing

 

[SourRoses]

I find myself agreeing with both sides of this.
OP - You have the right, as a paying customer, to be upset that the business you contracted with did not hold up their end of the agreement.
They did not make you feel like a valued customer or any kind of priority, which is what good customer service should do.
You are also not to blame for ordering from what they had available. Winter or no winter, customers trust that businesses wouldn't offer what they can't provide.

On the other hand, the business was in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" scenario. Sometimes shit happens.

Here's what I would do, if I were the customer, having been raised by former restaurant owners with guidance on how to complain.
I'd call them up and politely, calmly ask them to make my spring chick order free.
Yes, the refund and the free chicks.
Because this has been an inconvenience, because I feel devalued being thrown to the end of the line, because I haven't submitted a review for my experience yet.

When the first person says "No" in the blah-blah policy-speak, you just patiently, kindly, explain it all again.
1. What happened. 2. How that's affected you. 3. What resolution would satisfy you.
Yes, I would like to speak to your manager, please. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Stay nice.
The thing is, any half-decent customer service is obligated to stay on the line with you until you acquiesce, they're not allowed to hang up. So, you just have to wait them out, and let them work through their policy arsenal. Don't take any of it personally. Keep in mind the representative is not to blame.

My parents taught me, from a business standpoint, it's important to get solid feedback form customers, and to learn what's a hard line in the sand that customers won't let them cross. Because a business is profit hungry, it's easy to lose touch with the people who keep it afloat.
Without the opportunity to improve, a bad reputation spreads and the customer base dwindles. It's not just about you, it's every customer that encounters the same scenario with them. Should their current approach be set in stone, or can they learn to be more accommodating?

That's why I always complain when I'm disappointed by a business. If they make it right, I get the chance to sing their praises.

And yes, I've worked in customer service myself, and yes I've dealt with difficult customers. I have to say I felt better when I could fix something than when a customer walked away unhappy. I would rather they give me the chance to make it right.

They can't give you the ship date you want but they could comp your next order. However, this does have a better chance of success if you haven't disparaged them first.

 

[JeffandLori]

I find myself agreeing with both sides of this.
OP - You have the right, as a paying customer, to be upset that the business you contracted with did not hold up their end of the agreement.
They did not make you feel like a valued customer or any kind of priority, which is what good customer service should do.
You are also not to blame for ordering from what they had available. Winter or no winter, customers trust that businesses wouldn't offer what they can't provide.

On the other hand, the business was in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" scenario. Sometimes shit happens.

Here's what I would do, if I were the customer, having been raised by former restaurant owners with guidance on how to complain.
I'd call them up and politely, calmly ask them to make my spring chick order free.
Yes, the refund and the free chicks.
Because this has been an inconvenience, because I feel devalued being thrown to the end of the line, because I haven't submitted a review for my experience yet.

When the first person says "No" in the blah-blah policy-speak, you just patiently, kindly, explain it all again.
1. What happened. 2. How that's affected you. 3. What resolution would satisfy you.
Yes, I would like to speak to your manager, please. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Stay nice.
The thing is, any half-decent customer service is obligated to stay on the line with you until you acquiesce, they're not allowed to hang up. So, you just have to wait them out, and let them work through their policy arsenal. Don't take any of it personally. Keep in mind the representative is not to blame.

My parents taught me, from a business standpoint, it's important to get solid feedback form customers, and to learn what's a hard line in the sand that customers won't let them cross. Because a business is profit hungry, it's easy to lose touch with the people who keep it afloat.
Without the opportunity to improve, a bad reputation spreads and the customer base dwindles. It's not just about you, it's every customer that encounters the same scenario with them. Should their current approach be set in stone, or can they learn to be more accommodating?

That's why I always complain when I'm disappointed by a business. If they make it right, I get the chance to sing their praises.

And yes, I've worked in customer service myself, and yes I've dealt with difficult customers. I have to say I felt better when I could fix something than when a customer walked away unhappy. I would rather they give me the chance to make it right.

They can't give you the ship date you want but they could comp your next order. However, this does have a better chance of success if you haven't disparaged them first.

This is a great post. We've all lived long enough to be disappointed and then relieved when a business does the right thing. I have planned to call Hoover's tomorrow and hopefully they will send me replacement chicks. I'm currently down 11 birds- shorted five and six deaths. They say they won't ship less than 15, so I'm hoping we can figure it out.

If the best they can do is refund, well, I guess I'll take that and move on. There's other hatcheries.

 

[imacowgirl2]

I find myself agreeing with both sides of this.
OP - You have the right, as a paying customer, to be upset that the business you contracted with did not hold up their end of the agreement.
They did not make you feel like a valued customer or any kind of priority, which is what good customer service should do.
You are also not to blame for ordering from what they had available. Winter or no winter, customers trust that businesses wouldn't offer what they can't provide.

On the other hand, the business was in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" scenario. Sometimes shit happens.

Here's what I would do, if I were the customer, having been raised by former restaurant owners with guidance on how to complain.
I'd call them up and politely, calmly ask them to make my spring chick order free.
Yes, the refund and the free chicks.
Because this has been an inconvenience, because I feel devalued being thrown to the end of the line, because I haven't submitted a review for my experience yet.

When the first person says "No" in the blah-blah policy-speak, you just patiently, kindly, explain it all again.
1. What happened. 2. How that's affected you. 3. What resolution would satisfy you.
Yes, I would like to speak to your manager, please. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Stay nice.
The thing is, any half-decent customer service is obligated to stay on the line with you until you acquiesce, they're not allowed to hang up. So, you just have to wait them out, and let them work through their policy arsenal. Don't take any of it personally. Keep in mind the representative is not to blame.

My parents taught me, from a business standpoint, it's important to get solid feedback form customers, and to learn what's a hard line in the sand that customers won't let them cross. Because a business is profit hungry, it's easy to lose touch with the people who keep it afloat.
Without the opportunity to improve, a bad reputation spreads and the customer base dwindles. It's not just about you, it's every customer that encounters the same scenario with them. Should their current approach be set in stone, or can they learn to be more accommodating?

That's why I always complain when I'm disappointed by a business. If they make it right, I get the chance to sing their praises.

And yes, I've worked in customer service myself, and yes I've dealt with difficult customers. I have to say I felt better when I could fix something than when a customer walked away unhappy. I would rather they give me the chance to make it right.

They can't give you the ship date you want but they could comp your next order. However, this does have a better chance of success if you haven't disparaged them first.

I second this…having been in phone customer service myself, I know there is a process they have to follow. I stay calm and polite, and I tell them what it will take to make me happy, but most importantly, I tell them that if they don’t have the authority to do that, I would like to be escalated. If you firmly tell them that alternatives are not going to appease you and that you’d like to be escalated, they will be able to move you up the escalation chain faster without having to go through all their usual offerings of appeasement first. My wording is usually something like “(explain what happened), I really hope we can come to an agreement to make this right; to make it right, I would like (insert request) because (reasons this is a fair way of them making it right). If you are unable to fulfill this request, please escalate my call to someone who has the authority to make this happen.”

 

[sdm111]

I placed an order through Hoover's Hatchery for shipping on February 1. They were informed by USPS on Jan 31st that they would not be able to ship. Instead of letting customer's know right away, they originally pushed my ship date out to February 2. Now I received a follow up email letting me know that they will be canceling my order and forcing us to reorder. I looked and the first available ship date is May 1.

I understand that they have challenges, but they should have just pushed everyone out instead of forcing customers this week to the end of the line. This is terrible customer service from Hoovers.

Email I received is below:

We were informed Tuesday morning that USPS would not allow us to ship orders via air freight this week due to inclement weather in Memphis, TN, which is the main shipping hub for USPS air shipments of live chicks. We at Hoover’s Hatchery made every effort this week to ship your order, but unfortunately there were not any options that would ensure the well-being of the chicks in transit.

Due to the increasing egg prices and egg shortages, we have experienced a surge in demand, causing us to be sold out all the way through the end of April (might change to May). With this in mind, we are not able to re-schedule your shipment for several months. We will be canceling your order and issuing you a full refund.

You should be receiving an email confirming the cancelation and a refund going back on the card you used to place the order. You are welcome to visit our website and re-order on the next available ship date.

Please understand that due to high call volumes, this is the most efficient way for you to reschedule your order. You are welcome to call our customer service team, but please understand that hold times have been very long and we are doing everything that we can to help our customers through this difficult time. If you wish to communicate with us, email is the most efficient way and we will answer your email as soon as we can.

We greatly appreciate your business and are very sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this time.


The Hoover's Hatchery Team

I believe this is a little over dramatic. You didn't get your way. Order from someone else or wait.

 

[DavidReaves]

One thing this thread has taught me is that I shouldn't order from Hoovers. There's no way that I would find a 3-month delay on delivery acceptable. A three week, as some others suggested, would be somewhat tolerable. One week would be better. I would however, if I'd experienced this circumstance as the OP, take the refund and find the chicks as soon as possible from some other source and be done with the hatchery that couldn't fulfill the order.