We placed our order about a month ago. 25 Top Hat special, 10 Lakenvelders, and 5 Phoenix.
Got our phone call / text message at 6am last Saturday that they were on the way. Now the waiting began. They were due to arrive on Valentine's Day. We called the post office so many times by Tuesday morning they were tired of hearing from us!!! They just kept telling us "not yet" and "we'll call you - we get chicks all the time"
When they didn't show up on the appointed morning, my wife, (already worried about the babies' trip from Minnesota during the coldest weekend so far this winter - it was in the 50s all the week before), called MM and spoke to someone in authority. He told her they were having some issues shipping to Kentucky and that the owners were trying to sort it out. He said that he could only guarantee the chicks if they arrived by the due date. He said to her, "Even if those chicks show up tomorrow in perfect health, I will replace your entire order." They gave us 2 options - refund the whole cost back to our card, or replace the order. We went ahead and had them replace the order
Well, they showed up on the 15th. The post office called and said, "They're here, but I don't hear any peeping." My wife opened the box to 41 dead chicks. From the conditions inside the box, they either froze to death or starved. The box was full of poop and all the gro-gel they put in for the trip was gone. All the chicks were huddled together for warmth. She said they were still limp, so they probably hadn't been dead long. Her morning was spent holding a mass funeral for 41 babies that never had a chance due to "logistical problems".
We are expecting our replacement order the week of March 12th. We will try this one more time. MM's customer service is first-rate and I hope that this is, as I was assured, an isolated incident. I also hope we don't lose too many in shipping. It was too hard on my wife to open the box to see those beautiful chicks in that condition.
Like I said, we're trying again and hoping for the best.
Wish us luck....