Using FB for chickens?

twentynine

Songster
10 Years
Jun 14, 2009
1,735
32
161
Do any of you guys use Face Book for sales?

Reason I am asking, I recently signed up for FB and joined several groups that sponsor farm supplies, poultry, livestock swaps. After I was personnally invited. I lurked for a while, just reading the post, getting a feel for the crowd. Then last week after helping several posters with illness problems in their livestock, advice about housing and feeding issues, I placed my first post.

It was a forsale ad, selling 23 sexlink chicks and 7 assorted cockerals. The ad was immediately answered by a youngman that said he wanted all of them, chicks, cockerals the whole shebang. he then asked me how much I wanted, well considering he was taking everything in one sale, I PMed him a discounted priced, also encluded my cell #, so we could arrange pick up.

At that time he told me 3PM Friday. I once again sent my cell # in responce and asked him to call me. But I did tell him 3PM Friday was ok, with me. This was then Thursday afternoon. As of Friday morning he still had not called me, he didn't have my address other than a general description of what part of the parish (county) I lived in.

About 1PM Friday I picked up my cell and saw that their was a FB message timed 12:25PM, I opened the message and it was the youngman saying he was on the way. This kind of stumped me, because he didn't know where he was on the way too! He had earlier "said" that he was working in my local vicinity, and our parish is of a size that on a slow day you can drive from one end to the other and all points in between, in 30 minutes.

I answered his message right away, again requesting that he call my cell and I once again sent my #. he messaged me right back and said he was "on the way to me" that all he needed was my address. I sent my address, he responded he was "on the way to me".

Next thing I know, it is now 3PM the scheduled time I understood to be the pick up time. And he has been on the way to me, for a couple hours now. Supposedly starting from a local that could be no mkore than 10 miles from me. So once again I check FB, no message from him, so I message him, once again giving him my cell #, requesting him to call. He responded minutes later and said-- you guessed it-- he's "on the way to me". But no call to my cell.

4PM he still isn't at my home, so once again I check my phone, no message, so I message him-- Where are you? He responded that he was in Kentwood La. Now Kentwood is more than 90 minutes maybe even close to 2 hours from my home. My wife and I have a family obligation that can not be postponed. So I asked the guy what happened to 3PM? He says he forgot he had a court appearance in Kentwood so he did not go to work, but went to court in, Kentwood. He then asked (via message) if he should turn around, in other words was I backing out of the sale. I told him turn around that I didn't want to have any dealings with him. Frankly I was out of time and could no longer delay leaving to take care of a family obligation.

I am beyond being alarmed at this guys weird responces. What is it with not calling me, he is accessing FB via a smart phone, so why can't or why won't he call. If he would have called I could have judged his intentions, I could have asked him "exactly what time", all this is impossible or nearly imposssible via messaging. All he had to do was call, state that he would be late or the circumstances had changed, then I could have responded in a like manner. Just look how many paragraphs it has taken me to explain this situation. And it's all generalizations, no real detail. But via phone I could have transmitted this information in 3 minutes or less.

Well as you can well imagine, this guy is some sort of bait and switch, con man. He buys anything and everything he can get his hands on, then resells at the swap meets. How does he efficiently and humanely house all the animals he buys, ducks, geese, pheasants, chickens of all ages. I have since been informed by other members of the group that this is his MO. I don't know the FB term for it but he went back to the message boards and tried to ruin my reputation, using curse words, physical threats, name calling and the whole nine yards. What distressed me more, was the friends that I knew prior to this FB encounter, tried to speak up on my behalf, were also cursed and physically threatened.

The moderators or administrators contacted me, once again- via message- to find out the circumstances. When I requested them to call me so we could discuss the issue, guess what- their cell phone is broken, it wont do phone calls. So I asked (once again) via message, how about a land line? You would have thought I was talking about flint arrowheads. What is it about making a phone call?

Don't even need to ask me about FB, obviously I am not quick enough to navigate the potholes, minefields and barbed wire. Frankly this has distressed me so much that I am at the point of getting out of chicken ranching. Chicken ranching was my zen, my happy place, sitting down and talking with the people that come by my home spending time discussing chickens, was the light in my day. I have never had anyone go away mad, even if they didn't buy chickens.

Typical, 1st shot out the box, I'm in trouble.
 
Sounds like you need to find another better FB group, there are lots of bad apples in FB groups, I what is called admin a group and things like this will not put up with, if was me he would have been removed and banned from group being that this was is MO. You may also in the future state meet time is at blah time if not met with in say 30 min past meet time, sale is canceled as you have things to do rather wait. this gives a warning that you will not wait and will move on to next in line. Sometimes even on FB groups people will put there phone numbers requesting calls only no emails or messaging those will not be answered.

One red flag should have been not having a address he states I am on my way, I would have said stop, you can not be on your way as you do not know where I live. Don't give up chickens because of one bad apples as there is more than one, you just have to know how to spot them and tell them no.
 
The complete irony of the situation has now unfolded.

I have not placed another post or comment on any FB group since this incedent, but I have lurked. Last night, a new post from one of the chicken boards administration-- this very same guy who used profanity and physical threat-- has now been made administrator. This after I was told (via message of course, no one can have a conversation) that he would be banned and not allowed at the swaps.
Pretty much sums it up for me. FB is not for me.
 
Like I said don't give up on fb find another group thats more relaxed and ran than this one, to promote a a$$hat like that to admin is awful.
 

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