Be careful with CM Game Birds...

(Reposted in this section per Jake Levi's request)

Hello all,

Just became a member of this forum, and it looks like a great place to exchange ideas and information. With that, I would like to share an unfortunate situation that happened to my business this year.

We decided to double up our production of quail this year to 9,000. We had been buying day-old chicks from a supplier about 200 miles from our farm, but due to the rising cost of fuel and a $1.50/mile delivery charge, we elected to order through CM Game Birds and have them shipped in. We have had stock flown in (pardon the pun) with success in the past. We ordered 4,000 birds and with freight paid roughly $2,000. When the birds arrived, 2,500 were dead in the boxes. They continued to die at the rate of 100/hour until we were left with less than 300.

We contacted CM and he told us we had to file a claim with the postal service. Turns out CM was just brokering the deal and had them shipped from a hatchery in South Dakota, and the freight spent two days in transit. We contacted the postal service and provided pictures. Of course the claim was denied because a) the boxes were not damaged and b) there were no special care instructions printed on the boxes (that's right, plain white boxes). CM has refused to provide the name of the hatchery and will not refund us the $2,000. He has since stopped returning our calls. Now we are out the initial investment, not to mention lost revenues (we estimated about $15,000). Small claims court is not an option since CM is in Maine, the hatchery is in South Dakota, and we are in the middle, both literally and figuratively. My only recourse is the BBB and to inform the good people of this board to be very careful when doing business with CM Game Birds. IMO, they have no honor.