Scammed by local breeder...advice please!

[Chickenhappy8708]

Oh... This thread is old

 

[jvls1942]

this is my last post about dogs, honest..
I think those four breeds are pretty much the same dog. Only the regions they came from gave them different names..

 

[diamondsilkies]

I must say, I was a little surprised to see so many notifications from this thread! Unfortunately, I never did end up getting much more from her. I ended up with five chicks (of the 14 I paid for) and she ended up owing me around $70. I messaged her and called her quite a few times, but she was constantly making up lies to avoid me, and eventually stopped answering. I reported her on both Facebook and Craigslist multiple times, but not much seemed to come from it.

Over the years, I've run into several other people who were scammed by her and even had customers who were wary of me because of recent dealings with her. Apparently, she's not only taken money from people, but sold them sick birds. One couple that bought from me said that she sold them a silkie with severe flystrike (hidden by the feathers), which had to be put down within hours of purchase. Someone else told me she sold him 3 chicks that had seizures and died within days of getting them.

Luckily, all my chicks seemed perfectly healthy, except for one with a splayed leg, but that was easily fixed. However, after learning of the health issues in some of her other chicks, I decided not to breed them, and a friend of mine took them in. Three of the five died early on of unknown causes, but the other two still appear to be fine. None of them ever grew to quite the quality pictured in her supposed breeding stock (which I was never allowed to see in person).

The chicken/silkie/breeding community in my area quickly became aware of her and I think she eventually got out of the chicken world. I haven't heard anything about her in quite a while and her business Facebook seems inactive. The last I heard about her, she had posted quite a lot on her Facebook about all her birds being killed by predators. Several of her friends/followers sent her free chicks and eggs out of pity. Someone told me that they had been to her house after the supposed predator attack and everything was just fine. Several months later, I found several posts of hers on Craigslist selling her coops, advertised as "very predator proof" (which they obviously were not).

Although I never got my money or chicks from her, I was just glad to hear that word spread and ran her out of business. I certainly warned as many people as I could. It proved to be a good lesson, and I have become much more careful about who I buy from.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

I'm glad you can be done with that lady now. Wish you got your 70$ back, but I understand.

 

[Pullet Press]

Ugh. Honesty is a virtue and the love of money is not a virtue. That's all I'll say.