What would you do? Broken up shipped eggs

[callducklover20]

I got some more silkie eggs off ebay, 24 and the auction went pretty cheap but there was still a huge shipping cost that made up plenty for it. I opened the undamaged box and it was somewhat packed with newspaper and had 2 egg cartons in it that almost appeared to be smashed before they were packed in the box (yes I have saved it so I can take pics if it comes down to it) there was only a light layer of pillow stuffing material cushioning the eggs, but it was soaked in egg yolk so it stuck to the few eggs that made it-out of the 24 eggs I only got 12 eggs that I had to soak the stuck on egg yolk off of. Now I know that shipping is always risky but in this case I truly believe the seller is at fault-I have never had so many broken eggs and I have had lots shipped to me. I am going to tell the seller, but wouldnt you be mad? I have had half smashed boxes and the eggs inside were just fine. I guess I am just ready for a fight from the seller since they will give me the same old not responsible speech Im sure but with ebays new rules I will probably win, I just dont want to cause trouble since I am always one of the first ones to always say how its a gamble with shipped eggs, but in this case I feel that something happened to the eggs and they didnt have any others so they packed them anyways just so they could blame it on the post office

 

[mrslb333]

I believe it's the sellers responsibility 1, To pack fresh eggs that they honestly believe are fertile and the breed stated, 2, To package them properly as to minimise damage caused by the postal system. I t sounds like at least one of these hasn't been done. I would open a dispute through PayPal if that's how you paid. A couple broken would be unfortunate but it's half the order which I wouldn't find acceptable. Email the seller and tell them your intentions sometimes the mention of a dispute or negative feedback will make them become more reasonable and also state what it is you would like to happen, either a refund or replacement.
It's the same as anything else, if you bought 24 glasses and half were broken you would complain.
Hope you manage to get a good result.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

As an Ebay seller, I want to give you some advice. The first thing you should have done as you opened the package and found that mess was taken pictures. Its the first thing I do when I get eggs, damaged carton or not. I recently got two shipment of eggs from Ebay and one from Ovabid. Both shipments from Ebay, the boxes were perfect but upon opening them, there were egg cartons inside with shredded paper inside and eggs inside the egg cartons. There were also eggs strewn all over inside the boxes, broken. These were from two different sellers. I took pictures before I opened the boxes, just in case. No sign of damage but inside was a complete mess!

I took pictures of the entire thing, sent them to the sellers and said, "what are you going to do about this??" I immediately got replacement eggs that, believe me, were a lot better packed.

On the other hand, the Ovabid eggs, I picked up from my post office yesterday. They brought the package out to me and told me that I had better open it there. I dreaded it. But I went out to my car, got my camera, (I carry one with me all the time) and started taking pictures. The seller had packaged the eggs so well that even though the post office mangled the box badly, not one egg was damaged.

I wrote to the seller and let him know.

Now, I sell eggs as well. I sold some eggs to someone. She told me that the first eggs were weeping after 1 day in her incubator. Okay, I took her word for it. The temps WERE hot here when I shipped. So I mailed her a second shipment, no cost to her. She contacted me, AND LEFT FEEDBACK, saying that the second shipment had half developed chicks in them and she wanted a 3rd set of eggs. I got no pictures of the weeping eggs, no pictures of the supposed chicks in the eggs. Do you think I shipped her a 3rd shipment? I did refund her money though because I know that if I didn't, she would have disputed it with Paypal and she would have won anyway. Lesson learned.

Point is, document your damage. It proves that it happened. I will now require pictures of damage before I ship more eggs out.

Good luck!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Sure sounds like a case of improperly packaged eggs if you ask me! I can understand a few being broken, I had some broken eggs in one large order I made (that I still got twenty-five or so chicks out of! Well worth the money!) NOT as a result of improper packaging, but it sounds like this seller was not doing their responsibility packaging the eggs for the trip. It's one thing if a box arrives crushed and everything was perfectly packaged and it was just the post system's fault, but this does not sound like that kind of situation. It's suspicious, I agree that maybe something happened to the eggs before their trip and the seller sent them anyway.

I think you should ask for replacement eggs, packaged better this time, or a full refund. The seller was not performing their duties as a seller to make sure the eggs arrived safely with a good chance of hatching.

Also, TennesseeTruly's advice above is great about documentation. That way if you have to fight about it, you'll be much more likely to win with the advantage of proof on your side.

 

[mrslb333]

Quote:
Some people will try anything for a freebie just a shame they don't take into consideration that it costs you money.
The only time I have complained is recently when some "pure breed silkie eggs" hatched out a mixture of cross breed silkie/orpingtons and a guinea fowl keet! Luckily after I sent photo's she did admit she was at fault and had mixed up the eggs by mistake.
I always leave feedback based on packaging and egg condition as I feel fertility and hatch rate can be affected by
post and incubation which is the risk you take. However I do add to it when the chicks hatch so other buyers know they are good. I've seen so many people leaving negative feedback complaining about things that are mainly down to nature or incubation such as quitters or chick dying in shells which is unfair on the seller.

 

[callducklover20]

thanks, I did take pics of how I found everything but not before I opened the box-I just wanted all your opinions too, I never complain about shipped eggs but I see you all agree with me that there is something definately wrong with this order, I dont mind paying for packing materials since I believe thats what I am paying for with a 15.00 shipping charge but all I got was a free box from P.O. a little newspaper and a tiny bit of pillow stuffing in grocery store egg cartons. I have never seen a perfect shipped box have smashed egg cartons in it before nor have I ever had so many broken eggs

 

[TennesseeTruly]

A seller who cares about their customer and about their reputation will do everything they can to make sure that the eggs they send out are received the exact same way that they want to receive them. That's what I try to remember every time I ship a box of eggs.

I really hope that you're able to resolve this with the seller. Both eBay sellers that sent me horribly packed eggs are experienced sellers. I don't know why they packaged my eggs so poorly but if I ever purchase from them again, I bet they make sure they handle my eggs with kid gloves. LOL

Good luck!

Laurie

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
I may have just gotten lucky, or perhaps its because I watched the Ebay seller's ratings and bought from ones with high numbers of favorable reviews, but I purchased 7 different batches of eggs this year off of eBay from 5 different sellers, and all of them were packaged superbly. So, I would say that most breeders/shippers do "get it." Frankly, it was actually a pain in the butt unwrapping a lot of them, but I was grateful that they took the time to do such a thorough and tedious job, especially in light of the fact that none of them were particularly expensive.

 

[callducklover20]

oh yeah I have bought 10 + batches of eggs this year off Ebay and I dont remember last years count but lots lol, these are the only ones I have ever got like this besides the one box of dirty dirty nasty duck eggs I got last year that were packed so terrible and they didnt even have that many broke ones but still none hatched because they were too dirty. Everyone who I have bought from BYC has perfect packed eggs and great hatch rates-I know things can happen but this is just different. Thanks TennesseeTruley-I totally agree with everything you say and I have never tried to lie to someone just so I could get more stuff from them on ebay but I know people do that, I will either stick with my regular sellers or do as you say and take pics from receiving the box til they hit the bator-thanks everyone else, I know Im right in getting more eggs or my money back now

 

[kelar]

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents on the comments about shipping charges. I sell silkie eggs and I pack them extremely well because of my own bad experiences in the past with shipped eggs and poor packing. I also charge $15 for shipping and at this price, I LOSE money on nearly every shipment. I pack in a 12x12x8 priority box layered with newspaper and bubble wrap on the bottom. The eggs are individually wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in egg cartons and then the cartons are bubble wrapped. They are then packed tightly into the box with newspaper and another double layer of bubble wrap on top. The boxes normally weight out at 3.5 to 4 lbs. which shipped from my location in Wa. to nearly all destinations costs me $14.14 if I purchase the postage online. Egg cartons cost .39 each plus tax. Bubble wrap is 8.99 per roll plus tax. Scotch tape is 1.99 per roll plus tax. Packing tape is 3.49 per roll plus tax. Some of these items are of course used for more than one shipment, but just adding up the cost of the egg cartons and the actual shipping, I am already spending more than $15 to get them out. It takes me about an hour to pack one shipment & get them to the po, so I get nothing for my time. If you think about the other factors involved with shipping eggs such as maintaining a healthy breeding flock, gathering and marking eggs, making sure they are properly stored and turned, taking pictures and posting auctions, fielding questions and corresponding with buyers, it is not hard to understand why there are many good breeders who just will not sell hatching eggs. My buyers have had very good luck with their eggs and I am proud of that, but I think sometimes that expectations for shipped eggs are just not reasonable. To the op, I'd certainly contact your seller and most reputable sellers will make it right with you. Personally, if I get poorly packed eggs and bad results, I chalk it up to experience and do not order from that particular seller again.