I wanted to tell my story, for the record, related to My Pet Chicken (mypetchicken.com, MPC). I have two buff brahma bantams who are 5.5 weeks old, and three easter egger bantams and a black frizzle cochin bantam who are 1.5 weeks old, all from MPC.
I chose to order from them because I live in an urban area, and don’t have much yard space. In fact, my run, although over 30 feet long, is only 2 feet wide, because it’s in the landscape planter. This meant I couldn’t have very many chickens, and figured bantams would feel less crowded when they went to stretch their wings. MPC has a small minimum order (in my area, SF Bay, 3 standards or 5 bantams). They also sex bantams.
Originally, I had placed an order in December for assorted female bantams, because I couldn’t decide what to get. The first available ship date was in May. I realized in January that was a difficult week for me to be receiving chicks, since I’d be out of town shortly afterwards. So I decided to change my order to my birthday week in April (babies for my birthday!), and specify breeds… of those available that week, I chose three easter egger bantams and two buff brahma bantams. I paid the change fee and the difference in cost for the chicks. The transaction was well within their change order policy, and proceeded quite smoothly.
My order of five bantams shipped Monday, April 8, from Ohio. Here’s the USPS shipment tracking activity:
Electronic Shipping Info Received, 04/08/13
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, Mansfield OH 44901, 04/08/13 @ 2:40PM
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/09/13 @ 7:57AM
Depart USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/09/13
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/10/13 @ 12:46AM
Arrival at Post Office, Sunnyvale CA 94086, 04/10/13 @ 6:31AM
Delivered, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, 04/10/13 @ 7:57AM
I’m not sure what happened in SF, but it seems the post office had some trouble getting our chick boxes the 45 miles down the road. There was one other shipment of chicks arriving at the same time… the Sunnyvale post office was getting calls from both of us all day Tuesday, and they had to double check which box was mine when I went to pick them up after they called me on Wednesday.
When I got home from the post office, two of my chicks were dead.
I sent an e-mail and picture to MPC to report the loss. I also sent a question about how to take care of one of the others who was weak. They responded the next day with their condolences and reminded me of their live arrival guarantee policy of reporting within 48 hours, with a website link. They also let me know that chicks properly cared for but lost during the 48 hours would be covered as well, and sent information on how to care for the weak chick.
Alas, after all I did for her, my weak chick died in my hands on Thursday. :’( I was pretty heartbroken, and admit I cried over her as I buried her next to her sisters. I wrote to MPC again, to tell them of her death, and I followed their links to read the refund policy. They say they only have about a 1% loss rate, but here I had an order with a 60% loss rate. Maybe it was because it was so far away, maybe it was because they were so tiny (bantams, after all), maybe it was because there were so few of them, maybe it was the delay in SF, maybe it was a weak hatch, maybe… In any case, their policy is normally just to refund chick cost, but said that if more than half the order was lost, they will offer a replacement order and cover the cost of shipping.
Since I only had two chicks left, I really did want more. I lost three, but I still wanted bantams, so with any replacement shipment, I assumed I would have to order two more chicks. I was ok with that, so I called them that week to talk about my refund/replacement. They made a note that I wanted replacement rather than refund, and that I was willing to purchase two more chicks, but they said someone would call me the next week to arrange.
A week passes… I wondered what happened with scheduling a replacement shipment, since there were certain weeks that would work best for me. I also wanted to be able to pick the two extra chicks, and assumed they needed my credit card number to pay for them. I called them, and after some effort, they tell me three chicks are scheduled to ship the next week, one buff brahma bantam and two easter egger bantams. What?!?! I am frustrated… not only is that the one week I couldn’t pick up chicks at the post office, but three bantams is below their “safe minimum” shipment. They made such a big deal about caring for their chickens, and making sure you were available to pick them up, and requiring a minimum order for warmth… and yet they make an order that violates both of these things and don’t even tell me it’s coming!
After much hassle, I manage to get them to change the ship date, and specify which two additional chicks I want. I also explain that I lost three easter egger bantams, and would like the replacement order to be three easter egger bantams. They tried to charge me a change fee, before I pointed out quite clearly that my last e-mail reporting the losses specified the remaining live chicks were buff brahma bantams, so the lost chicks had to be easter egger bantams (per my order). I give them my credit card number for the two additional chicks, and they say I’ll get a confirmation soon.
The next week, I get a call from MPC saying I need to pay for the extra chicks. I’m at a loss, because I already gave them my credit card number. I realize I didn’t get a confirmation, so maybe something happened. I call them, but their system doesn’t seem to know anything about me previously giving my credit card number. I try to confirm all the details of my order, because now I’m worried they are still shipping the wrong chicks, on the wrong date. They take a great deal of time figuring out what is shipping and when, and finally confirm my order is correct. Then they have to contact the accounting department about how much they are actually going to charge my credit card.
Meanwhile, as I’m waiting on hold for the accounting department, I get a confirmation e-mail saying they charged my credit card (the one I gave them the week previous), for a reshipment the week I can’t receive the chicks. When the customer service person comes back on the line, she’s also figured out she doesn’t need to charge me, and confirms that the order will really ship the week I want, not what it says in the e-mail. So after much pain, we are in the same place we were the week before, with an order of five bantams arriving early May.
Monday, May 6 comes around, and I anxiously await an e-mail from MPC with my tracking number, since that’s what happened last time. I worry about the chicks, and the trauma of getting more dead babies in the mail. The day comes and goes with no acknowledgement of shipping or tracking from MPC. So I write to them requesting status of the order. I also call the post office Tuesday morning, just to check. No cheeping packages, but they’ll call me as soon as they arrive. Lunchtime Tuesday, the post office calls, saying they have arrived; meanwhile, no response from MPC. But it doesn’t really matter anymore, since I have my chicks and got the tracking number off the box. Eventually, MPC responded with a tracking number. Out of curiosity, I typed it into USPS, to get this shipment activity:
Electronic Shipping Info Received, May 6, 2013
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility, POLK, OH 44866, May 6, 2013 1:25 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility, MANSFIELD, OH 44901, May 6, 2013 2:40 pm
Shipment Accepted, MANSFIELD, OH 44901, May 6, 2013 3:48 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility, CLEVELAND, OH 44101, May 6, 2013 3:59 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility, CLEVELAND, OH 44101, May 6, 2013
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94125, May 7, 2013 8:27 am
Arrival at Post Office, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:50 am
Available for Pickup, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:53 am
Delivered, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:56 am
This shipment fared better in transit. All alive when box opened, checked for pasty butt, showed them water, put them in a warm spot. But by the next day, one was definitely weak, minor pasting up, not moving much. We tried giving her sugar water, yogurt, egg, but she wasn’t eating or drinking. By Thursday she had died. I reported the loss, and they acknowledged I would receive a refund. A week later, they wrote to ask for my credit card number to refund, and when I called they were reasonably prompt in getting it processed and sending a confirmation.
In the end, I have six bantams, presumably all female. But the loss rate was 40%. It was traumatic, and although the “normal process” customer service was fine, the organization and tracking when something was out of the ordinary was lacking. I don’t think I would order from them again, because I can only assume the high loss rate (so different from their published 1%) is because they are tiny chicks going across country in a minimum order. Yes, I know that chicks from a local feed store also shipped and might have had losses, but they probably came in a larger order, from a closer hatchery, and probably went through less stress.
Anyway, here’s hoping the rest do fine, and are really all female.
I chose to order from them because I live in an urban area, and don’t have much yard space. In fact, my run, although over 30 feet long, is only 2 feet wide, because it’s in the landscape planter. This meant I couldn’t have very many chickens, and figured bantams would feel less crowded when they went to stretch their wings. MPC has a small minimum order (in my area, SF Bay, 3 standards or 5 bantams). They also sex bantams.
Originally, I had placed an order in December for assorted female bantams, because I couldn’t decide what to get. The first available ship date was in May. I realized in January that was a difficult week for me to be receiving chicks, since I’d be out of town shortly afterwards. So I decided to change my order to my birthday week in April (babies for my birthday!), and specify breeds… of those available that week, I chose three easter egger bantams and two buff brahma bantams. I paid the change fee and the difference in cost for the chicks. The transaction was well within their change order policy, and proceeded quite smoothly.
My order of five bantams shipped Monday, April 8, from Ohio. Here’s the USPS shipment tracking activity:
Electronic Shipping Info Received, 04/08/13
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, Mansfield OH 44901, 04/08/13 @ 2:40PM
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/09/13 @ 7:57AM
Depart USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/09/13
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, San Francisco CA 94125, 04/10/13 @ 12:46AM
Arrival at Post Office, Sunnyvale CA 94086, 04/10/13 @ 6:31AM
Delivered, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, 04/10/13 @ 7:57AM
I’m not sure what happened in SF, but it seems the post office had some trouble getting our chick boxes the 45 miles down the road. There was one other shipment of chicks arriving at the same time… the Sunnyvale post office was getting calls from both of us all day Tuesday, and they had to double check which box was mine when I went to pick them up after they called me on Wednesday.
When I got home from the post office, two of my chicks were dead.
I sent an e-mail and picture to MPC to report the loss. I also sent a question about how to take care of one of the others who was weak. They responded the next day with their condolences and reminded me of their live arrival guarantee policy of reporting within 48 hours, with a website link. They also let me know that chicks properly cared for but lost during the 48 hours would be covered as well, and sent information on how to care for the weak chick. Alas, after all I did for her, my weak chick died in my hands on Thursday. :’( I was pretty heartbroken, and admit I cried over her as I buried her next to her sisters. I wrote to MPC again, to tell them of her death, and I followed their links to read the refund policy. They say they only have about a 1% loss rate, but here I had an order with a 60% loss rate. Maybe it was because it was so far away, maybe it was because they were so tiny (bantams, after all), maybe it was because there were so few of them, maybe it was the delay in SF, maybe it was a weak hatch, maybe… In any case, their policy is normally just to refund chick cost, but said that if more than half the order was lost, they will offer a replacement order and cover the cost of shipping.
Since I only had two chicks left, I really did want more. I lost three, but I still wanted bantams, so with any replacement shipment, I assumed I would have to order two more chicks. I was ok with that, so I called them that week to talk about my refund/replacement. They made a note that I wanted replacement rather than refund, and that I was willing to purchase two more chicks, but they said someone would call me the next week to arrange.
A week passes… I wondered what happened with scheduling a replacement shipment, since there were certain weeks that would work best for me. I also wanted to be able to pick the two extra chicks, and assumed they needed my credit card number to pay for them. I called them, and after some effort, they tell me three chicks are scheduled to ship the next week, one buff brahma bantam and two easter egger bantams. What?!?! I am frustrated… not only is that the one week I couldn’t pick up chicks at the post office, but three bantams is below their “safe minimum” shipment. They made such a big deal about caring for their chickens, and making sure you were available to pick them up, and requiring a minimum order for warmth… and yet they make an order that violates both of these things and don’t even tell me it’s coming!
After much hassle, I manage to get them to change the ship date, and specify which two additional chicks I want. I also explain that I lost three easter egger bantams, and would like the replacement order to be three easter egger bantams. They tried to charge me a change fee, before I pointed out quite clearly that my last e-mail reporting the losses specified the remaining live chicks were buff brahma bantams, so the lost chicks had to be easter egger bantams (per my order). I give them my credit card number for the two additional chicks, and they say I’ll get a confirmation soon.
The next week, I get a call from MPC saying I need to pay for the extra chicks. I’m at a loss, because I already gave them my credit card number. I realize I didn’t get a confirmation, so maybe something happened. I call them, but their system doesn’t seem to know anything about me previously giving my credit card number. I try to confirm all the details of my order, because now I’m worried they are still shipping the wrong chicks, on the wrong date. They take a great deal of time figuring out what is shipping and when, and finally confirm my order is correct. Then they have to contact the accounting department about how much they are actually going to charge my credit card.
Meanwhile, as I’m waiting on hold for the accounting department, I get a confirmation e-mail saying they charged my credit card (the one I gave them the week previous), for a reshipment the week I can’t receive the chicks. When the customer service person comes back on the line, she’s also figured out she doesn’t need to charge me, and confirms that the order will really ship the week I want, not what it says in the e-mail. So after much pain, we are in the same place we were the week before, with an order of five bantams arriving early May.
Monday, May 6 comes around, and I anxiously await an e-mail from MPC with my tracking number, since that’s what happened last time. I worry about the chicks, and the trauma of getting more dead babies in the mail. The day comes and goes with no acknowledgement of shipping or tracking from MPC. So I write to them requesting status of the order. I also call the post office Tuesday morning, just to check. No cheeping packages, but they’ll call me as soon as they arrive. Lunchtime Tuesday, the post office calls, saying they have arrived; meanwhile, no response from MPC. But it doesn’t really matter anymore, since I have my chicks and got the tracking number off the box. Eventually, MPC responded with a tracking number. Out of curiosity, I typed it into USPS, to get this shipment activity:
Electronic Shipping Info Received, May 6, 2013
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility, POLK, OH 44866, May 6, 2013 1:25 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility, MANSFIELD, OH 44901, May 6, 2013 2:40 pm
Shipment Accepted, MANSFIELD, OH 44901, May 6, 2013 3:48 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility, CLEVELAND, OH 44101, May 6, 2013 3:59 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility, CLEVELAND, OH 44101, May 6, 2013
Processed through USPS Sort Facility, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94125, May 7, 2013 8:27 am
Arrival at Post Office, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:50 am
Available for Pickup, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:53 am
Delivered, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086, May 7, 2013 11:56 am
This shipment fared better in transit. All alive when box opened, checked for pasty butt, showed them water, put them in a warm spot. But by the next day, one was definitely weak, minor pasting up, not moving much. We tried giving her sugar water, yogurt, egg, but she wasn’t eating or drinking. By Thursday she had died.
I reported the loss, and they acknowledged I would receive a refund. A week later, they wrote to ask for my credit card number to refund, and when I called they were reasonably prompt in getting it processed and sending a confirmation. In the end, I have six bantams, presumably all female. But the loss rate was 40%. It was traumatic, and although the “normal process” customer service was fine, the organization and tracking when something was out of the ordinary was lacking. I don’t think I would order from them again, because I can only assume the high loss rate (so different from their published 1%) is because they are tiny chicks going across country in a minimum order. Yes, I know that chicks from a local feed store also shipped and might have had losses, but they probably came in a larger order, from a closer hatchery, and probably went through less stress.
Anyway, here’s hoping the rest do fine, and are really all female.
