I Have Been Had!

Remember some months ago I posted about The Finch Farm, and how I was going to get some birds from there. Well, I was wrong! This morning I went to their website, only to find out that the website is now down. A few months back, I looked at some of the comments on their website left by the customers who have ordered from them. Most were happy comments. But one comment stood out. It was by a woman who placed an order for a bird, and signed on one day to check the status of her order, only to find out there was no record of her order. She exclaimed there's something fishy going on. Since then, I wondered if they'd done the same thing to my order. So, I looked on my profile there to see if my order was listed, and it wasn't.

I ordered some shaft-tailed whydah birds, and paid $300 for them, plus shipping. They took no time taking the money from my credit card, but here it is, almost a year later and I have not received any word about the birds I ordered. And now, their website is down! If you go to the website, this is all you'll see now...

Apparently, the website has been down like this for several months now. I just haven't been on the internet in a while. Supposedly, they are understaffed now because of Covid. But they were open last year at this time! Not only that, but Google now also lists the store as being closed permanently.

I cannot believe this. I have been had! I'm so angry! Not so much for the loss of the money, I don't even still have that credit card anymore. What makes me mad is now, there is no other place I can go to buy shaft-tailed whydah birds! And I want some! They are a rare species to find in the trade. When I first saw the website, I thought I'd found a bird-lovers Heaven! Now, it seems like I slipped into the 7th circle of Hell. But if I think the loss of almost $400 (including shipping) was bad, some people lost way more than that! Look at this poor guy's review from the BBB website...

And he was not the only one. Lots of people placed orders to The Finch Farm and never received their birds. There are 131 reviews on the page. Most of them, not good! Especially the more recent reviews. I do see where one of The Finch Farm's representatives responded to one of the customer's complaints.

And this was the response the representative gave...

We all signed their terms and conditions when we ordered. OK, our part is done. Now, what about the jockies who are supposed to fulfill the orders?? Why haven't you guys kept your part of the bargain? And then to tell us ALL LIVE PET SALES ARE FINAL??? You are hiding behind that now to not give us our birds and not give us a refund. I never asked for a refund, all I want are my birds!! If you cannot fulfill my order, then PLEASE, be good people and give me my money back so I can go try to find the birds I want from someone else! You've protected your behinds. But have done nothing to satisfy your customers in months! Yes. There is no excuse for that! Very unprofessional and sneaky.