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Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:15 pm
by Lisa
The lavender waxbill seemed slightly dizzy/off balance when I first received him but seems to be ok now - maybe a bit of vertigo from the trip? Will have to keep an eye on him, though I've been checking on him and he seems alright as time goes on.
That was Thursday when I first received him.
This morning, I noticed that he was not up and about like all the other birds. He slept almost all day. I set him up in a hospital cage with a heat lamp, added a bit of Thrive to his food & kept an eye on him. While refilling his waterer later tonight, I noticed he did not seem to want to move out of the way even though it was coming right for him. I reached in and easily picked him up, he started to go to sleep right in my hand. Returned him to his cage a little while later with towel in place for him to be more comfortable since he was no longer even perching, low lying caps of water & scattered some seed around so he could get to it. Half hour later, I walk by and he's laying on his back, dead.
I seem destined to never have a pair of lavenders. Every time I get a second one, either that one or the first one suddenly dies. I'm going to email the Finch Farm right away with a picture as proof. I only had him for 3 short days. I also emailed them Thursday night as it turns out the african silverbill hen I ordered was a male (he was singing up a storm).
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:33 pm
by ranchnanny
Lisa sorry to hear that you lost your male lavender waxbill. I sure hope The Finch Farm will make it good for you. So far I have been lucky with my purchases from them. Good luck with the rest of your babies...
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:54 am
by lyzzyjayne
Oh Lisa,I am so so sorry,especially after all that. Bless Your Heart.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:16 am
by debbie276
So very sorry Lisa
sending good vibes for the rest of the flock
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:14 am
by mayble
Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that.
What a tremendous disappointment, after such a roller-coaster. Hopefully it will all be good from now on.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:42 am
by wilkifam
I also emailed them Thursday night as it turns out the african silverbill hen I ordered was a male (he was singing up a storm).
Jeff told me that he doesn't know much about the "Bird" end of the business that he has been learning for the past year or two, that he is more of a businessman than a bird breeder. He also sent me the wrong sex Gouldian. I had to explain to him why it was male and not female, and he did not know that SF Goulds were always male. One of the birds he shipped me died a few days after it arrived. He did replace it, this time with the correct sex, and the bird is doing great.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:49 pm
by Ginene
Lisa...I'm so sorry. That is so awful...I cant handle losing an egg, let alone an actual bird. They should do something extra for you, than just replace the bird. Isn't this the 2nd time you lost a bird from them? Sending you hugs and happy thoughts...
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:57 pm
by Lisa
Isn't this the 2nd time you lost a bird from them? Sending you hugs and happy thoughts...
Ginene, nope, this is the only order I have ever placed with them. This is, however, the second lavender waxbill I've lost this year. Lost one in early December and now this one dies 2 days after I get him.
So, the saga continues...
The Finch Farm called me at 3:30pm today but I was at work and missed the call. Later that evening I realized I had a voice mail from them - it basically said, we are sending out a replacement OWL today and you will receive it on Thursday. I immediately called them back (this is by now 8pm) and said, first off, it's a lavender waxbill, not an owl. Then started to ask if you are shipping a replacement bird, maybe we could try again for the silverbill to get correct sex this time as well since it's the same cost to ship 1 bird or 20 birds. This is where I was shocked at the response - too late, it's already gone out! I can't believe they shipped before even receiving any confirmation from me that I would be available on my end to retrieve the bird. What if I was going out of town or something? Of course, I will go get the bird ASAP when it arrives but this will be the second week in a row that I will have to leave work suddenly (last week I was gone 1.5 hours between picking up the birds & getting them set up at home) and also had plans to meet a couple of former co-workers for a long lunch, which I guess I will now have to cancel.
Another friend who also ordered birds said she got the same phone call tonight, we shipped your birds already, also without confirming with her the time/date. I know this company means well but it's almost like they're shipping an inanimate object rather than a live animal that requires immediate care and must be picked up IMMEDIATELY. I don't know if it's going to be a lavender waxbill or an owl that comes on Thursday, but I think no matter what it is, I'm just going to accept it and call it a day with this whole matter.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:08 am
by debbie276
Lisa wrote:
Isn't this the 2nd time you lost a bird from them? Sending you hugs and happy thoughts...
Ginene, nope, this is the only order I have ever placed with them. This is, however, the second lavender waxbill I've lost this year. Lost one in early December and now this one dies 2 days after I get him.
So, the saga continues...
The Finch Farm called me at 3:30pm today but I was at work and missed the call. Later that evening I realized I had a voice mail from them - it basically said, we are sending out a replacement OWL today and you will receive it on Thursday. I immediately called them back (this is by now 8pm) and said, first off, it's a lavender waxbill, not an owl. Then started to ask if you are shipping a replacement bird, maybe we could try again for the silverbill to get correct sex this time as well since it's the same cost to ship 1 bird or 20 birds. This is where I was shocked at the response - too late, it's already gone out! I can't believe they shipped before even receiving any confirmation from me that I would be available on my end to retrieve the bird. What if I was going out of town or something? Of course, I will go get the bird ASAP when it arrives but this will be the second week in a row that I will have to leave work suddenly (last week I was gone 1.5 hours between picking up the birds & getting them set up at home) and also had plans to meet a couple of former co-workers for a long lunch, which I guess I will now have to cancel.
Another friend who also ordered birds said she got the same phone call tonight, we shipped your birds already, also without confirming with her the time/date. I know this company means well but it's almost like they're shipping an inanimate object rather than a live animal that requires immediate care and must be picked up IMMEDIATELY. I don't know if it's going to be a lavender waxbill or an owl that comes on Thursday, but I think no matter what it is, I'm just going to accept it and call it a day with this whole matter.
It's too bad they can't seem to get their act together
good luck, please keep us posted.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:09 pm
by Pukasand
Wow, what a trial you have had. I feel so bad for you. I went thru the same thing a few years ago with another company. Sending you hugs and wishing you and your fids the best.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:31 pm
by Lisa
For those who are wondering (today was the day the replacement bird was to arrive):
Unfortunately, when I picked up the bird at 9am this morning, he was already dead. It was WAY too cold for her to have shipped him to arrive today. We've had weather in the 50's the last few days but today was 28 degrees, below freezing. In the box, his water dish had come unhooked from the floor and was laying upside down on his body. So, in essence, he had a free flying object moving around the cage that he could have been hit with, no water supply since it had come undone and was upside down, plus the freezing weather. When I took him out, even holding him in my hand was making my hand cold. His body was cold to the touch. I think he had been dead for many hours. It turned out it wasn't an owl after all, it was a lavender finch. I immediately sent Shirley an email notifying her and another picture as proof (I took a pic of exactly how I found him before I even touched him), and wrote in BIG letters: PLEASE DO NOT SHIP ANOTHER BIRD UNTIL I SPEAK TO YOU. I can't believe she just sent him like that without even checking with me first. If she had notified me, I could have checked the weather forecasts, etc. I feel horrible for the bird. What a sad way to spend your last hours.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:02 pm
by ranchnanny
Wow! what a horrible thing to happen. I am so sorry that you had to go thru that. I have ordered from them twice and have been very lucky but your issues are giving me pause about buying birds from them again.
Hopefully the other birds you got from them will thrive.
Good luck
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:09 pm
by mayble
I've been wondering how this was all going to end.
What a terrible fiasco, and the poor bird is the one who pays the ultimate price. I can't imagine how you must have felt on opening that box.
I hope you can make them see the error of their ways.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:28 am
by Lisa
Shirley and I came to an agreement last night to just refund the price of the bird and be done with the whole thing. She wrote me a long letter, and from the sounds of it, they are revising some of their policies (for the benefit of the birds...yay!) I think it is best this way. I don't want any other bird put at risk and neither does she.
Re: Finches from the Finchfarm...Update
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:40 am
by debbie276
This is so sad
Unfortunately the birds are the ones that suffer, it's sad to think what that poor bird must have gone through.
I'm dumbfounded how they thought shipping a bird USPS in these temperatures would be a good thing.
I guess this is why it is against USPS regulations to ship birds that can not survive 2 days without food and water.
How they have handled all this is unacceptable, period, no excuses.