Birdcages4less.com defective products, rude, Internet
I bought a cage from these people only to get a cage with razor sharp corners and bent pieces. When I asked them for a replacement cage they said they don't do that, they would only send me replacement parts. I tell them that this cage is for my grandchildren and that the edges are too sharp for them to be near it and the guy tells me that "some cages have sharp edges, that's how it is" So it's apparently alright that there are sharp edges and I can't return the cage for my money back without having to pay the costs to ship it to them AND !!!AND!!! repay the shipping costs to them for shipping it to me in the first place (which was free since I had paid over a certain amount).
The guy I called for customer service told me that he has 20+ stitches in his leg from one of their cages. WHAT? They know they're selling products that could potentially harm people and it's alright? Then when someone complains about the sharp edges they basically say "too bad"
When I asked him why they don't say anything on their site about this he says this: "This is the same cage you would have bought in a store, you should have went to the store and looked at it before you bought it.It's not our fault that you can't go out and look at something before you buy it."
This is a very large cage and the shipping costs I would have to pay to get a refund would be close to $200 for a cage I paid $250 for. So they left me in the position where I either pay $200 to get $50 back or just be stuck with a useless cage. I went back to the site to read their customer testimonials to discover that they don't post negative reviews, only good.
After this happened I spoke to quite a few of my "bird friends" and found out that several of them have wrote scathing reviews of them and their services due to similar complaints in poor customer service and a lack of caring when it comes to people being satisfied with their products, but you don't see those letters up there.
I'm not even sure those testimonials are real. Here's an example:
"Please ignore our earlier e-mail of today. Our bird cage just arrived, way earlier than your e-mail predicted it would. Thanks so much."
Antoinette & Michael
What did the first email say? They make it out to sound like the person had a complaint but then the company magically came through in the end and satisfied them completely. It doesn't make sense though. "Our bird cage just arrived, way earlier than your e-mail predicted it would." If they sent a bad email because their cage hadn't arrived yet, then how would they be happy because it showed up way earlier then their email predicted? If it was late , it was late. A couple of my friends had similar problems with these people not shipping their products out when they said they would, then they tried to blame it on UPS. I guess nobody told them that UPS has tracking numbers and keeps track of their packages. One person was told "UPS didn't give us a tracking number."
Here's another example:
"Hi Scott,
The cage arrived at the truck depot on Friday and was delivered today. I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you again for the beautiful substitute! It exceeded my expectations. A very heavy, well made cage. Even the seams were beautifully done. My cockatiels are already enjoying their new home."
Best regards,
Bob , CA
It seems he got a substitute cage, they told us they don't do that. They only replace parts. Here I am with a complaint about sharp edges and they just happen to get an email saying that the seams were "beautifully done"? Who looks at seams to check craftsmenship for no reason? It seems like they are trying to cover their own butts on specific topics before people complain so it looks like there is no problem.
I would honestly be willing to be $100 that almost all these testimonials were fabricated by the people at birdcages4less.com to convince people that they're reputable company so they buy their products. I almost forgot to mention that one of my friends bird got caught in one of their cages on a RAZOR sharp edge and practically tore its own wing off trying to get free. When she called the company they told her that she shouldn't have let the bird get stuck there in the first place and she should have blocked the sharp edge with something so the bird couldn't reach it.
I would never recommend this site to anyone who values their birds, their money or have any self-respect. Buy from them if you like, but remember that if anything bad happens with the cage and its their fault , you're on your own.
Mrbrosco
oak lawn, Illinois
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Bird Cages 4 Less
Bulverde,Texas,
U.S.A.
This is not our customer
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, March 10, 2009
I learned of this report this morning and after carefully investigated everything, I offer the following response.
The first thing I did was to verfiy whether or not this individual had actually placed an order with our company. He has not. We have no record of a sale to someone with his last name. This was researched by name and city.
According to TJ, he did receive a phone call from this individual yesterday (3/09/09) but this person refused to provide an order number, although TJ requested it multiple times. The customer also told TJ he in fact did not purchase the cage from us, but it was a purchased by a friend. So when he states in the complaint that HE purchased the cage from us this is not truthful statement, which does cast aspersions on his good character.
Bird Cages 4 Less does not the manufacturer products, but we do guarantee the condition of the product(s) against shipping damage and/or manufacturer defects.
Our published policy is to replace any damaged/defective parts at no cost to our customer. Our policies are common business practise, particularly among companies shipping large and heavy products such as bird cages. Our return policy does require a customer to be responsible for associated shipping costs - we make absolutely no profit any any return and actually lose money if you consider the associated employee costs.
This indivdual (I cannot refer to him as a customer since he is not) complains that he was forced to either accept a defective product or suffer the cost of the return (btw - shipping costs are nowhere near $200 on a $250 cage), but this is not true either. He states himself that we offered to send replacement parts for any defects.
Of course it is possible that a particular product is defective - it's not a perfect world. We do stand behind the products we sell. We have also been in business for some 8 years and enjoy a very high percentage of repeat business - this type of business is earned.
As TJ explained to the customer, his walking into the corner of the seed guard on his cage, did not make the product defective, any more than someone walking into the corner of a coffee table would be the result of a defective coffee table. Accidents happen. This is what TJ was referring to as sharp edges.
As for the his offer to bet $100 that the customer testimonials posted on our site are fabricated, I would gladly take him up on that. Everyone of those testimonials are from actual customers, and furthermore are in their own words. Unfortunately I will not be able to prove that since we respect our customer's privacy and doubt I would receive anything anyway.
Finally, TJ was attempting to assist this individual (not a customer) when the person abruptly hung up on him.
Like all businesses, our policies are in place for a reason. We also require anyone making a purchase to agree to them BEFORE purchasing. We take great pride in our customer service and altough we can't claim to please everyone ( do you know any company that can?), the posted feedback on our website from ACTUAL customers indicates we have been successful on many occasions.
Sincerely,
J Scott McDonald
President
Bird Cages 4 Less, Inc.