And you probably did put it together wrong or installed it wrong. I love it when people reach out asking for help but like I said, when they are overly emotional or dramatic to the nth degree, you figure out pretty quick that ain't no one making them happy and they aren't likely to listen to a word you say. Not saying you were this way, just stating a general fact about dealing with retail customers. I have no idea who you are or what the details of your email was for the record. But yeah, you get more flies with sugar than vinegar in most cases.
When a bird gets clocked it is nearly ALWAYS because the customer has installed the feeder wrong or assembled it wrong. The birds aren't comfortable using the feeder from the front and they try to reach around from the side, then another bird steps off... well nothing can prevent that from happening but setting the birds up to fail by not following the instructions is just frustrating.
I had a customer write in about this very issue last week, new customer. I asked for a picture and sure enough the feeder was mounted up off the ground on patio blocks which is great but they didn't think to put patio blocks under the treadle. So the poor birds were trying to balance on the treadle with both feet about three inches off the ground. Of course they weren't wanting to stand on the treadle and were going in from the side. I pointed that out and a couple of other things and voila, no more problems for the customer or his birds. Birds will use one foot on the treadle and one on the ground and balance just fine when the feeder is installed and assembled correctly.
A month or so ago I had another customer that wrote a review saying her birds couldn't be trained to use the feeder. I emailed her and asked for pictures as always and sure enough, same issue but the feeder was mounted up off the ground, not even sitting on blocks. Plus, they had installed the nylon locking nuts to the point where the nylon insert touched the bolt end and stopped. Left a good inch of bolt for the treadle to slide back and forth on, on both sides and the dang counterweight too. She also complained that the bolts were too long..... that the counterweight kept swinging down.....and that the instructions were too long. AKA, I never read the instructions....
I get it, not everyone has seen a lock nut in their life if they aren't the handy type which is why we put on our sales page warnings about the feeder needing assembled and a person needs some basic skills or find someone to help. So I wrote back explaining that the instructions stated to tighten the lock nuts all the way down, then back off 1/8 of a turn so the treadle was held in place and how to fix the other problems caused by not reading the instructions. All of this was after a scathing review that was posted.
I have been very clear on what our feeder is and what it isn't. It is not for the clueless, you will need some skills or find some help that has skills to put the treadle on, a five minute job with a cresent wrench and some pliers to fold over the treadle link. It is a feeder that needs tinkering with on occasion if the counterweight starts hitting the side of the feeder you have to bend the treadle bar out a bit for it to clear. Springs break and need replaced, so do the wire links and when they are installed EVERYONE needs to watch the video showing how to do it correctly so the part will last a long time.
There are plenty of feeders out there that are pretty, very well made, come in a prettier box, cost more, have great customer service, but that also do not work. There is a certain kind of customer that probably needs to buy from one of those companies.
Our feeder is kind of ugly, takes a few skills to assemble, has a cranky customer service department when the customer won't listen (that would be me), but it does solve the rat problems IF the customer will read the instructions and follow them or at least watch the videos and assemble and install accordingly.
