Just received my first order from Ideal this week. I love the $25 (not 25 chick!) minimum order. I ordered 12 SL Wyandotte pullets, and the small order charge was only $7 -- my total shipping and handling was only $9.80. (I only needed 5, so I listed the rest on Craigslist and had them pre-sold before the shipment even arrived.) Best of all, since they were shipping in warm weather, there were no packing peanuts included! The chicks hatched before 10 a.m. on Wednesday and arrived at my local P.O. the very next day at 9 a.m. I lost one within 24 hours and the customer service rep promptly and cheerfully refunded my money when I called to report it.
All in all, I was pleased with the experience. My only complaints are that there is no toll-free telephone number, which I wouldn't mind, except that I called (long-distance) at least 5 times and was put on hold for what seemed like forever each time. It took several calls to successfully reach an actual person. Also, I was pleased to see on their website that for $1.70 you can purchase insurance and then request that they not include packing peanuts. Since I didn't want the hassle of finding homes for roos, I requested the insurance. A few hours later I discovered, by chance, that purchasing insurance VOIDS their live delivery guarantee --something that was not mentioned anywhere on the website, and not mentioned by the rep who took my order. I e-mailed to request the insurance be removed, which they did promptly. I figured I'd rather deal with the hatchery, and find homes for roos, than do battle with the USPS over an insurance claim if the chicks arrived in bad shape. Happily I ended up with no extra roos anyway.
If I ordered from Ideal again, I think I would call in February in order to get the breed selection I wanted (they're pretty limited now), and request delivery in June to avoid packing peanuts. All in all, though, I have happy, healthy chicks delivered promptly and quite inexpensively, so I'm a satisfied customer.
All in all, I was pleased with the experience. My only complaints are that there is no toll-free telephone number, which I wouldn't mind, except that I called (long-distance) at least 5 times and was put on hold for what seemed like forever each time. It took several calls to successfully reach an actual person. Also, I was pleased to see on their website that for $1.70 you can purchase insurance and then request that they not include packing peanuts. Since I didn't want the hassle of finding homes for roos, I requested the insurance. A few hours later I discovered, by chance, that purchasing insurance VOIDS their live delivery guarantee --something that was not mentioned anywhere on the website, and not mentioned by the rep who took my order. I e-mailed to request the insurance be removed, which they did promptly. I figured I'd rather deal with the hatchery, and find homes for roos, than do battle with the USPS over an insurance claim if the chicks arrived in bad shape. Happily I ended up with no extra roos anyway.
If I ordered from Ideal again, I think I would call in February in order to get the breed selection I wanted (they're pretty limited now), and request delivery in June to avoid packing peanuts. All in all, though, I have happy, healthy chicks delivered promptly and quite inexpensively, so I'm a satisfied customer.
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