An awkward customer

[petal]

My little girl and I sell chicks/growers of buff orpington, light sussex, pekin and silkie. all healthy, broody reared stock. We have had many happy customers who often return to us. I recently sold some growers to a local fella who has since been nothing but a pain in the neck. He is now, 3 weeks after getting the stock demanding that I collect them as they are producing yellow, runny poo and he says they must be infested with worms!. None of my stock is unhealthy(none produce yellow, runny poo), indeed a local farmer told me he has never seen such well cared for birds. He told me not to worm until they are 20 weeks as its too much for their gut.! When I told the fella this he said, well they all look like cockerels anyway, ...no WAY are they!! I am collecting the birds tomorrow and repaying him(minus collection charge!) as i am worried about my babies. it seems a bit naughty of him - if they are ill, they were not ill when they left here! what would you do/say? I think he has just changed his mind about having chickens.

[Glutton4...]

I'd be cross too, Petal. I wouldn't refund the wotsit either. You didn't sell them as 'sale or return' did you!?

Cheeky s*d!

[RichmondHens]

Sounds like he just changed his mind. He could have been a bit more polite about it though. Presumably if he was a newbie keeper he did not know about the variety of poos chickens produce, and is just realising chickens are not neat and tidy like guinea pigs and wanted an excuse to return them.

You are wise to collect them and then you can check them over to make sure they are ok before you re-sell them.

[kirsty b]

Cheeky sod. They are better off with you than they are with him, and I'd never sell to him again either.

Hope they are ok xx

[lynda66]

just in case they have picked something up from his place, it may be worth keeping them separated for a few days when u get them back to be sure?

[petal]

I am fuming less today, I will keep them separate for a week or until I am happy. I reckon he has simply changed his mind when he realised how much they eat!!! He got them at a bargain price and if i sell them again in a couple of weeks(when I am happy with them) I will make a lot more, so....alls well ends well. The main thing is that he hasn't harmed them.

[lettucegrow!]

That's the trouble with dealing with Mr Jo Public, not all are pleasant and you meet some quite unpleasant characters.
Does sound like he didn't really want them or know anything about chooks. Well done you for going to collect them, you'll be able to check out where they've been kept.

So, you breed Silkies???? I may be in touch, are they bantams?

[julesapple]

That's the trouble with dealing with Mr Jo Public, not all are pleasant and you meet some quite unpleasant characters.
Does sound like he didn't really want them or know anything about chooks. Well done you for going to collect them, you'll be able to check out where they've been kept.

So, you breed Silkies???? I may be in touch, are they bantams?

You should see some of the people I meet at the craft fairs - "Did you make this yourself? Well, it keeps you off the streets, I suppose" and one biddy to another "They learn to do all this in prison, you know"

When we put ads up for our chickens we say that we can't guarantee the sex of any young chicks and we don't accept the return of any unwanted cockerels, but mad as it sounds, if I don't take to the people at the off then I don't sell them anything. I always ask questions, like what set up have they got at home, what runs, space etc and if they realise that any eggs they get will be the most expensive eggs in the world!

Jules

[lettucegrow!]

Theres's nought querer than folk!
I bet you've got the character assessment knack down to a fine art, Jules.

[petal]

I have sent people I don't like away too! I also tell ones that buy chicks that if they get cockerels, such is life! We collected my birds and they are fine, no yellow diarroeah and they are not cockerels!! what a pillock he was!
Yes lettucegrow - we have silkies but they are classified as large fowl, not the diddy ones. we have a gold cockerel, 2 gold hens, 1 black hen and 2 white hens. They have had lots of babies this year, indeed we have some fluffies at the moment - very cute baby silkies!