This is the initial set of correspondence between myself & Meyer, back in May of '15.
It took quite a bit more writing to come to an agreeable (although less than satisfactory) solution:
Dear Meyer Hatchery-
I thank you for including 2 extra in my order of 50, but the loss has gone way beyond that.
I ordered 50 Delawares from you and 50 from Cackle, as I wanted a varied bloodline. Each came with 2 extra. Both orders arrived the same day, and I picked them up from the P.O. on the morning of May 8th (1 week ago).
I opened both at the same time, and introduced them to their separate areas, with identical heat, water & (organic) chick starter.
The Cackle order had 1 dead out of 52. The chicks were lively, alert, and ready for food and water. Two more died since then, and I consider that to be an acceptable loss.
Your Meyer order had 4 dead out of 52, and I was OK with that. However, the chicks were smaller / stunted-looking, lethargic, and visibly weak. They were introduced to feed and water, but pretty much stood around, stupefied, for lack of a better word. Thirty-three MORE have died, and I do NOT consider that to be an acceptable loss (38 out of 52).
While there is always a possibility of "operator error" (me), I have kept and raised chickens for quite a few years, and the identical Cackle order acts as a "double blind" in this case. I do not know if others have experienced severe loss from that particular hatch, or if there was some problem in their shipment. In either case, I ask that you make this right, in a prompt manner.
Thank you!
Russ
HI Russell,
I am so very sorry to hear that you lost x38 of your baby chicks from your order with Meyer Hatchery.
We do have a 48 hour LIVE guarantee, which covers the first 48 hours AFTER you pick up your chicks from the Post Office. Since you picked up your chicks on 5/8, your guarantee went through 5/10.
Unfortuantely, we are only able to guarantee any losses through the first 48 hours. This is to help with any "stress" during shipping. Since we have no control over how you handle, the brooder, etc, that is why we cannot guarantee after the first 48 hours.
I totally can understand your disappointment in losing so many - this number is way out of the ordinary! I don't know if the handling by the Post Office had something to do with it. Did you chicks have "pasty butt"? This is very common due to stress and getting chilled during shipping. It is imperative to keep that cleaned off. Be sure your temperature at chick level is correct and there are NO drafts. Have an area for the chicks to also get away from the heat lamp. You can try adding 1 Tablespoon sugar to 1 Quart room temperature water for a "boost".
Just for any future orders, we do ask that you contact us at the end of your 48 hours to report any losses.
If you could let me know how many you lost through 5/10, you then have 3 options: we can issue a credit on your account with us for any future order, OR we can refund your credit card (if over $5.00), OR we can reship at no charge if/when available (must meet minimum).
Any losses AFTER 5/10, we cannot guarantee. I can understand that this seems unfair as you received chicks from another hatchery and you did not experience the same number of losses from them.
I will offer a "compromise" for you. As I mentioned earlier, ANY losses through 5/10 we can either credit or reship - your choice.
Other losses after 5/10, I can issue you a credit on your account with us for 1/2 of the price of the chicks. I am unable to reship or issue full credit, since our guarantee ONLY covers the first 48 hours. But I do feel bad for you and want to try to help you out.
We certainly thank you for choosing Meyer hatchery and I look forward to hearing from you.
Laura
