Hi all! I haven't been on here enough to have made friends, but I had an experience that I really need to share in hopes that others will not have to go through it!
This spring we decided that we were going to add a few laying hens to our farm. I had been researching chickens, coops, and all that goes with that for MONTHS! I found a guy in Middleton that builds coops and was really excited to meet him and talk to him about my ideas. He was very pleasant to work with, interested in my ideas and was willing to build me the coop that I wanted. My family and I spent a total of 6 hours at his workshop before we got all the details worked out - with plenty of time looking at and chasing chickens! I loved the experience. He started work on the coop, saying it would take 10-14 days for him to be done. So I ordered my started birds with that in mind. The coop took over three weeks to get done and the run wasn't ready when the coop was, so he sent us home with one of his runs, promising delivery of the run we ordered in a week. Two months, several e-mails and a leaking coop later, he stopped out to deliver the (wrong) run and take a look at what we were having trouble with on the coop. He admitted to using sub-par materials on parts of the coop, that the roof was in need of an overhang, and that the nest box needed re-roofing as well. The poop drawer needed a bit of re-fitting to slide better. He made plans with us to be back Thursday or Friday of that week to make the fixes and deliver the correct run. That was more than a month ago - pushing two months, actually. Now, we're quickly approaching winter and I'd really like to get things shored up! I've tried contacting him and he has not responded at all. I told him that if I didn't hear from him I would flag him on Craig's List and let my friends on the chicken forums know about his (lack of) customer service. So, there it is; a warning, and a bit of advice - check references. It seriously never crossed my mind, and I know better. His name is Jeff Jicinsky and has a shop in Middleton.
Sorry to interrupt your flow of lovely, chatty posts with this.