Opinions please Breeders Going Back On Word

[Lifesong Farm]

In Dec I purchased 6 hatching eggs off of a different auction site. Out of the 6 eggs my friend (an experienced hatcher who hatched 100s a year) hatched out 2 eggs. After doing an eggtopy she found the other 4 were NOT fertile and one of the two chicks had wryneck/"stargazer"(as the breeder called it). Breeder had said that if I had less than 2 hatch she would reship eggs. Let the breeder know about the hatch rate and she said she would ship new eggs later when it was warmer if I paid for shipping.
Next problem I found out from another buyer of this same persons eggs that she had chicks hatch with the same issue and that it was genetic (up until then I thought it was a vit deficiency). She said she had informed the breeder of the issue and the breeder said she would take care of it and not ship any more bad eggs to people. This had happened befor she auctioned off my eggs. Well I get a PM from the breeder (I found out she was a BYCer) about how sorry she was that I got a stargazer and when she replaced her stock she would make things right. Ok fine. You already said you would.
Well now she has new stock and I even skipped on bidding in some auctions so the prices wouldn't get jacked up as high even though I wanted the birds. I asked if I could just get some chicks shipped instead and she told me that she felt she only owed me 3 chicks. Again fine and I would cover shipping. Well today she pms me and says that she is just going to refund me the money and the shipping costs because she doesn't feel that it is fair that she is giving me $75 in birds for a $10 auction. That I should pay what everyone else does.
I really really really want to let everyone know this persons name because she has just proved to be an unethical breeder who doesn't stand behind her word. But I sent her a pm that esentially said its not my fault she was selling bad stock and that an ethical breeder stands behind their word. It is also a risk in the price you get when auctioning off eggs.
I am really upset that this person has the gall to insinuate I should feel bad about the offer she made and I feel that she should stand behind the promises she made. The ONLY 2 people who know who this person is that I have spoken is one who contacted me and another who I contacted and said she needs to talk to the breeder before sdhe used her rooster.

Opinions?? What would you do? Would you expect them to honor their word?

Just wanted to add that this is not all word for word. I would have to go back to pms to get that.

 

[MandyH]

Buying shipped hatching eggs is always a gamble and the buyer should expect that all outcomes are not good BUT, but I say that the breeder should not have told you something and then done something totally different. If she was a good breeder she should honor her word, obviously she is in it for the money. Too bad you don't know about breeders before you buy from them.

 

[debilorrah]

She should have just refunded your money and not made any further promises about chicks, etc. Or she should have sent new hatching eggs once she had proven healthy stock.

I think alot of people that sell hatching eggs are small. Like one person in the family that raises chickens small. I get the feeling that maybe she doesn't have anything to replace them that she has to send. Too many different stories for it to ring true. Chalk that one up to the "neverbuyfromagain" category and move on.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Quote:
Yes she is a small breeder however she just got done bragging about really good hatching rates and having lots of chicks. I am going to put her in the "do not buy or sell to catagory" however if she knew she wasn't going to honor what she said she should never had made the offer. But then again I guess I give people to many chances. I stand behind my animals so if something is wrong I honor my commitment.

I guess I should be glad that my customers have a breeder that doesn't slack and stands behind the animals. I know I have lmost money on some of my sales but I honored my agreements. Yes I know shipped eggs are a gamble. I guess I am more ticked off by the promise and backtracking that I originally didn't ask for but she offered.

 

[redhen]

YOu can PM us all the name of the person.. thats allowed.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Yes she is a small breeder however she just got done bragging about really good hatching rates and having lots of chicks. I am going to put her in the "do not buy or sell to catagory" however if she knew she wasn't going to honor what she said she should never had made the offer. But then again I guess I give people to many chances. I stand behind my animals so if something is wrong I honor my commitment.

I guess I should be glad that my customers have a breeder that doesn't slack and stands behind the animals. I know I have lmost money on some of my sales but I honored my agreements.

One cannot build a good reputation or good references behaving in the manner this one did. You do things the way a good business person should even if you lose some money here and there. When a seller makes it right, they retain the customer for the future. When they do not, they lose them forever.

 

[SourRoses]

I'm sorry, but it doesen't sound to me like she didn't honor her word. If you have a problem with the chicks, either replacing them or refunding the money is perfectly acceptable. Especially if she now has birds of a much higher value than the ones you purchased, I don't see a problem in her refunding you the money instead. You can just use that money to buy similar eggs from someone else.

I have never sold, only bought eggs and chicks.. but I don't think it's fair that people hold egg sellers to such a standard, when you are buying the potential for life not life. The most I see an egg seller being responsible for is getting the eggs shipped in the most secure manner possible, and that the eggs come from the birds they claim they come from. Other than that, it's just the risk of buying eggs.

I'm not sure, but I'm really not sure about the claim that wry neck is genetic... and if it were, and the breeder didn't encounter the wry neck themselves, I don't see how they could be held liable for it. That's just the risk of live animals. They aren't inanimate objects, that you can expect to look just like a picture and arrive without any dents or hidden flaws.
The eggs that didn't hatch... a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs is a typical hatch rate... your 33% hatch rate does not seem that bad to me.

Is it just me, or does it kind of sound like your hatcher person didn't so the eggtopsy until the other chicks had hatched? If they were candling the eggs, they should have known the eggs were not developing fairly early on.

I would just thank the breeder for my money back, and find another egg auction from a different breeder.

 

[debilorrah]

Squishy I disagree. If the breeder tells someone they will send more eggs, then send them. If they change their mind (which is wrong to start with) and say they will send chicks, then send them. THEN they changed their mind again. Not good business.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Quote:
Thank you for your opinion. I am uset so may not be thinking right. I am ok that she is giving my money back. That is at least honoring part of it. I just expected to much in expecting her to follow through with promises.

I feel she didn't honor her word when befor they hatched she offered to send more eggs if less than two hatched. Then she admitted there were problems that she was aware of after she found out about the chick. Said after she got a new rooster she would replace the eggs. That's where I feel she didn't honor her word.

 

[speckledhen]

Since this is a personal dispute between BYC members, it cannot be allowed on open forum, even though you did not name names. The person will see it, feel compelled to defend herself, and it will spiral downward from there. Please feel free to leave feedback for the seller.