welp hatchery

[zydrate]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it didnt seem to fall under other categories unless I overlooked one, apologies if I did. but this is just a somewhat rant/complaint about welphatchery because I ordered goslings from them on the 13th this month, i picked the soonest date which was 22nd and I did say 'I just picked the soonest, i dont mind if the date is later than what i chose' in the notes to them. the confirmation first said theyd ship the 'week of april 20th' then the email said theyd ship on the 22nd, and that they would notify me of any changes.
I email them on the 25(saturday) asking for an update since I've received no email of changes, but no tracking number or confirmation of shipping. their 'office hours' are Monday through friday, so I expected they wouldnt reply till Monday. monday comes and goes, still no word from them. today, 28th tuesday, I email them again that it's ok if they arent ready, I just wanted any short update as to what was going on, early around 2am i think, now its afternoon and still no reply..
they had all last week and now 2 days this week to give me any short response on the order, any little update, and nothing. I'm sorry, but that's just very bad customer service.
I started looking for more reviews,(I had before I ordered but most seemed pretty positive so I figured it was fine) and now I've seen some pretty bad reviews and experiences with them, but also really positive reviews, so its very mixed, and I'm confused as to why some get good customer service, and others dont hear from or even get tracking notice or refunds when their birds show up dead. I'm very worried that this will happen to me, I spent almost 90$ on goslings, which may not seem much to others, but it's a lot for me. I have stockpiled food and supplies so I'm not worried about being able to care for them, but I dont exactly have much money to go around since I am on disability and cant work. I'm afraid if they ever send them, theyll show up dead or die, I really have dealt with too much death, which was the main reason I stopped raising poultry for several years, but I missed raising them greatly and decided to take the chance of some dying to experience them again, which was only prompted because my gooses mate died and I wanted to get more geese so he wouldnt be alone(I temporarily have put a few adult ducks with him, but he doesnt seem to like them, just tolerates them, neutral at best) ((and i fell for buying ducks too since I knew I'd be ordering geese and I said **** it, why not?)) i know no one here can help with this issue as its in welphatcherys control, I suppose I just wanted to vent about it because I'm worried. I really dont want to see more death, so far ive been very attentive and all my ducklings are healthy and alive, and I hope to keep it that way.. I really wish theyd just contact me and tell me what's going on.

 

[AnimalGeek23]

I really can't do much to help but
I really hope those goslings arrive soon safely. This angers me, I've personally known people who've gone through this. Bad costumer service, and especially not notifying you of delayed shipping. I really wish you the best and I'm crossing my fingers for you!

 

[zydrate]

I'm confused to why some have such great customer support with welphatchery and others hear no word at all, like, what are they doing? who's managing this place? why can't they keep the good customer service or just any response person? its very frustrating

 

[zydrate]

they finally replied after I emailed a different address not listed on their site as a contact and said they shipped today but a tracking number wont be available until tomorrow? I'm not sure I understand how the number isnt available, isnt it printed on, you know, the shipping label? also that was literally all they said, no explanation on why their other email contact doesnt respond or why there were no updates or anything.. very disappointed with their service, I really hope the babies arrive alive and ok.

 

[zydrate]

I've received my geese. they're all alive thankfully, gave them the water supplement, wasnt a fan of the packing material they used, but since all are alive I cant complain much. it looks like I only got two types of breeds, though since a lot look similar when young I guess I wont really know til later. a little disappointed I didnt get a tufted, since that's my favorite type and the one adult I have, but mostly just glad they're alive.
first impression is they are dumb as rocks lol, even the ducklings didnt hop around so much. though I've never raised this many geese at once, the first time was only two and second time was three. 10 is a big jump of geese and feeling a bit worried and overwhelmed. any extra tips from experts would be appreciated just in case it's something new I have yet to learn, which is highly possible as it's only my third time raising geese. (though I've raised countless chickens/ducks/guineas so at least I have a grip on what I'm doing for the most part).

overall though, im not sure I'd recommend welphatchery. the fact that they didnt respond to the email address they have listed as a contact on their page, and when I email a different address they didnt even answer any questions or reasons why, they didnt ship until a week after the date they gave me and didnt follow up their email of 'if the date changes we'll let you know', so the customer service is pretty poor. but the geese did come alive and seem lively, so it's a toss up. just wanted the info out there for anyone else considering them.

I'm more likely to reccomend idealpoultry, their customer service seems very good and all came alive as well, plus free shipping and no minimum on amounts of chicks(as long as it comes to 30$). my sister ordered from them too recently, and while they sent her a couple wrong ducklings, they quickly said theyd send the right ones in her other shipment. all of mine were the correct breeds, so no complaints with them at all.

 

[sharpequeen]

I was just on their site last week, and i just didnt like the inconsistent way the pics looked and the fact that they dont have any reviews on most of any of the chickens. not even the basic ones. I would think ppl have something to say about you red comets or leghorns. so i had them on the bottom of my list to order from. im glad you got your chicks though

 

[rlhagan56]

I'm so sorry you went through this, and relieved to know they arrives all alive. I made the sorry mistake of ordering from Welp this year, ONLY because they had a breed I can't get through Cackle. By the way Cackle is the best hatchery I've always ordered from them. Welp never contacted me for delivery or shipping date, which was a nightmare knowing when they would get here. They charged me to mark the 3 roosters I ordered with the 15 pullets, and 7 other pullets. Apparently Privett Hatchery in New Mexico is where my chicks came from. No males were marked so all of us who ordered had to wait until we could tell which were the male's. They never refunded me for paying to mark the male's. And Cackle never once charged me for marking roosters. On top of that out of the other 22 pullets there are 6 more roosters! Other hatcheries will refund you for an excessive amount of male chicks. I can't even reach Welp to complain or get refunded for all this crap.

 

[zydrate]

I beleive my father ordered from cackle before several years ago, and I definitely dont remember any complaints about them, the only reason I chose welp and ideal were because of the free shipping. wishing I just skipped welp and added the geese to the ideal order, since it appears they only sent me chinese and african anyways, which is all ideal had. I only got from welp because I was hoping for a mix of their other 4 available breeds in the choice mix like the saddleback which are super pretty. still hoping maybe I'm wrong and they arent only African and chinese but its doubtful from their beak shape.