# Ordering from Betterbee



## bakerboy

On January 3, as I do every year, I ordered several packages of bees from Betterbee. I always order early, it's important to get on that first bee delivery in the spring. 

Placing the order online, I entered my information and credit card numbers, placed the order and received a confirmation number.

Yesterday I called Betterbee to make sure the delivery date was still this weekend, and this is what they told me : no, your order was cancelled . You entered your credit card's security code incorrectly, so the computer cancelled your order. We will have no bees for you, and cannot help you.

Wow. The computer cancelled my order, after first giving me a confirmation number and telling me that all was well with my order. The website never told me I had entered the number wrong, in fact it told me the exact opposite, and confirmed my order.

I have been buying from Betterbee for five years now, and here is what they have on file for me :

My home phone number. 
My work phone number.
My street address.
My mailing address.

Here is what action they took when the computer cancelled my order :

Zip. 
Zero. 
Nothing. 

They had absolutely no sympathy, offered no solutions, and did not even apologize. 
The woman I spoke with felt Betterbee had not done me any wrong, since "the computer did it." 

Maybe someone should go scold that computer severely, and take away it's coffee. It's been very bad. Meanwhile I am going to print a copy of the computer screen shot I took, with it's beautiful confirmation number, and tape copies to my hives. Let's see how much honey that makes.

Needless to say, I will never again order anything from Betterbee under any circumstance. Very unprofessional, very disappointing.


----------



## carrojb

*Re: Think twice before ordering from Betterbee*

Sorry this happened to you. Year in and year out I have dealt with Rossman Apiairies in Georgia. Dealing with bees, equipment, and supplies at erratic "I need it yesterday" timeframes have taught me one thing. The people there will bend over backwards to get you what you need. If for whatever reason there are problems, they will call, follow up and touch base later on, and if it cant be solved by phone Fred Rossman will do whatever it takes to get you what you need whether he has it or not. Give them a call maybe they can help or know someone who might can help you.


----------



## Island Apiaries

*Re: Think twice before ordering from Betterbee*

I would verify with your bank that here is no pending hold. When customers order from my site, the charge is placed when they receive a customer order even if the funds are not actually withdrawn till pickup date. Mine will not even give a confirmation if the info is incorrect. It would be very bad to not get bees and still be charged for it.


----------



## sqkcrk

*Re: Think twice before ordering from Betterbee*

Is Red Hook a long way away from Greenwich? Maybe a trip is in order. And a mtng w/ the owner. It sure seems as tho Betterbee gets more online complaints than any other supplier. Or is it my imagination.


----------



## mythomane

The guys at Betterbee really have a big city attitude. On the plus side they have a few items you cannot get anywhere else. On the con side, they have no real customer service and their ordering/ship dept is sketchy. More than once I have been shortchanged on an order. One time they took my money, and then a week later informed me that it was on Backorder. I only order the few things that only they supply, like the queen intro cages I like.


----------



## sqkcrk

*Re: Think twice before ordering from Betterbee*

Those those styrofoam like things?

Yeah, I never liked going there for anything either. That's why I stopped dealing w/ them 20 years ago. No body has anything that I want so bad that I have to do business w/ someone who treats me poorly. Not more than twice anyway.

I'm gonna have to look up Red Hook in the Atlas. I'm thinking it's real close to the City.

I disagree w/ mythomane. There's nothing Big City about this.


----------



## bakerboy

Well, Betterbee has called me twice today, offering packages on the 21st or later. For me, starting a package late in May means lots of feeding, and a fight to build up for winter.

I am simply not interested, nor do I have any faith whatsoever that when the 21st rolls around they will, in fact have my bees.

Every year when I pick up my packages I inquire about extras, they always seem to have them, but seem unwilling to turn them loose ahead of time.

True to their heinous customer service ways, Betterbee is more interested in pointing out to me why this is my fault. Nice.

Never again.


----------



## sqkcrk

They must be monitoring beesource.com or maybe someone notified them of this Thread.

Have you thought about nucs?


----------



## mythomane

They always struck me as a Long Island style company by their conduct, even though they are Upstate a few miles. I would be curious to know who actually runs the day-to-day operation. Geography notwithstanding, they are still a crummy outfit. My last order had everything just thrown in the box loose without any packaging.


----------



## Riverratbees

I woundn't send a E-mail I would send a letter to them and give them a peice of my mind. Then you contact the BBB and file a complaint that will get their attn guarantee you that. Companies hate that type of complaint. When the BBB contacts you to see what the company can do to fix this problem tell them nothing cause you will never do business with them again. Let them also know that you are going to keep a thread open on this forum for everybody to see for the next month. That will get their attn, and they might try to talk on your thread then everyone burnt by them in the past and that city boy attitude might change for others. Notice make your letter be very professional so they can't tell BBB your a belligerent person!!! They act like that they don.t need you business the more people read this the more people will think before they order. Brushy mtn has always been great to deal with. I personally won't do bus. with them. Later on man BBB rules on situation rules.


----------



## KQ6AR

They have been notified about previous complaints submitted here on beesourse, & if they care about their reputation they should come in and look.
I know because I gave someone my permission to tell them about the complaints I had on a very screwed up order.


----------



## ArkansasBK

Thanks for the info on Betterbee. Crossed them off my list. They better realize quickly just how much influence this forum has.


----------



## KristenSanFran

As a newbie, I am glad to have this forum as a resource. I had just looked at Betterbee earlier today, but will avoid them. I ended up placing my order with Rossman Apiaries because of their high approval rate.

The other thing that you can do to lodge a complaint, is to write a review on yelp, and/or their business listing on Google. I noticed on their site that they also are on Twitter and Facebook. These online social media services are also effective to publicize your complaint. If you don't have accounts on these services, send me a message and I can comment on these sites for you. Just let me know.


----------



## NDnewbeek

KQ6AR said:


> They have been notified about previous complaints submitted here on beesourse, & if they care about their reputation they should come in and look.
> I know because I gave someone my permission to tell them about the complaints I had on a very screwed up order.


Actually, I have always liked Betterbee - I grew up in that area (although I don't live there anymore) and feel a bit like it is my 'hometown' company. Now, I have never had any problems with any order or customer service from them and have always liked their products. 

However, the last time the forum lit up with complaints about Betterbee - I copied the link to the thread and sent it to them via email. My thought was that they should know so that they can address the issue - frankly, I thought (and at times still do think) that the problems experienced here are the exception rather than the rule. I thought I might help them out and give them an opportunity to put out a small fire before it became a big fire.

I was surprised at the response from Betterbee that I received. I received an email in reply from the company that essentially stated that they were aware of the forum and complaints but weren't interested in what goes on here with respect to customer complaints. My impression was that they see it as just a place for gossip.

I was disappointed in their response. I will probably still purchase from Betterbee until I have a bad experience. It is just hard to grasp that sort of indifference.


----------



## bluelake

im new and i felt i was running out of places to order, and i just ordered my very first 3 packages to pick up inlate may. Now I read this. I guess i better crss my fingers and hope fr the best. I had planned on buying some supplies while there but maybe i should order them elsewhere and not take the chance. I was hoping my drive would save me some shipping expenses.


----------



## JohnAllen

You can save some shipping expenses but be prepared to spend some time waiting for them to get your order together. Some people have complained about long waits on package pickup days.

Last year I ordered equipment from Betterbee in May including Hive stands for the Beemax styrofoam hives that I could not find anywhere else. The stands and some other wooden items were backordered for over 2 months until I finally cancelled for good in late July. Twice during that time I called and told them that I would come pick up what was in stock since there were things that I needed. I told them what time I would be arriving. Both times when I got there they had not even started to gather the items that I was picking up and I had to wait a long time while they went around their warehouse putting the order together. I assume that is standard practice. Betterbee has decent stuff at decent prices but their attitude toward customers seems arrogant and I will try to avoid doing business with them in the future.


----------



## BoilerJim

Thank you to all for the information about Betterbee. I had been thinking of placing an order but now I think NOT.


----------



## bluelake

well like i say i better cross my fingers then and keep it simple with just the packages. i just hope the pickup date doesnt move back further...


----------



## deknow

well, if everyone stopped doing business with every supplier that made a mistake (and didn't handle things properly), there would be no suppliers in business.

i'd be angry as well.

with that said, you posted your problem here, and the same day, they called you twice and did what they felt they could to make you happy.

no, this is not perfect, perhaps it's not even "good", but they have at least offered to do something.

deknow


----------



## bakerboy

They did nothing to make me happy. They offered me bees on pickup dates weeks or more into the future.

They did remind me that the cancellation of my order was my fault in several different ways . I mistyped the number, I should have realized I hadn't been billed for my bees, I should have called earlier when I did not receive a postcard alerting me to the delays in pickin up my packages. 

You see, it's my fault !

Here's what they should have said 'oh, I am very sorry , Mr Customer. Our computer system is at fault. It seems you were given a confirmation number, both at the time of the sale, and later in a follow-up email. Then, without any notice to you or us, the computer cancelled your order. We are sorry about this error and we will stand by our word, we will have your two packages of bees for you as promised. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you, and hope you will see fit to give us another opportunity to serve you in the future. '

This is how customer service issues are dealt with. 

In a way, I am glad they would not help. I am stupid enough to have driven up there and given them my hard earned cash in exchange for bees I cannot (this year) easily obtain elsewhere. While it seems like the perfect solution, it would contribute to keeping these people in business.
This behavior should not be rewarded. They may know something about bees, but they know nothing about customer service.


----------



## deknow

...I agree wholeheartedly with what you say they should have done.

But, now it is up to you....are you going to deny them busines (that they don't seem to need) to make a point (that they don't seem to care about), or do you want bees this year...even if they are 2 weeks late?

deknow


----------



## mythomane

The rule for me is not to do business with people that have already burned me. You are probably not going to come out on top, nor is it worth the hassle. In this economy there are plenty of people who both appreciate the business as well as come through to do a good job. As they do not seem to need or care about your business what is going to stop them from delivering a sub-standard product/late or not at all? Cut them loose and move on.


----------



## palmerbee1629

bakerboy said:


> Well, Betterbee has called me twice today, offering packages on the 21st or later. For me, starting a package late in May means lots of feeding, and a fight to build up for winter.
> 
> I am simply not interested, nor do I have any faith whatsoever that when the 21st rolls around they will, in fact have my bees.
> 
> Every year when I pick up my packages I inquire about extras, they always seem to have them, but seem unwilling to turn them loose ahead of time.
> 
> True to their heinous customer service ways, Betterbee is more interested in pointing out to me why this is my fault. Nice.
> 
> Never again.


So let me get this straight bakerboy. You entered you credit card information incorrectly and thus was never charged and now your upset that you are not getting bees? Seems to me that Betterbee has been selling bees for more than decades pre-paid. They even say it on their website "For IN-STORE PICK UP ONLY In Greenwich, NY Important Note: Payment must be received before bee orders are officially confirmed. Bees are available on a first-come, first-served (paid) basis. " Seems to me a little more than libelous to complain about something that was your mistake and you won't take responsibility for. 

And here's a thought, rather than complaining perhaps you can get bees on another weekend? It seems that they offered you options and tried to work with you to resolve a situation that you caused and you still rejected it. You just refuse to take responsibility for your actions. I mean come on; given that you entered your cc information incorrectly why should you blame them? I see they have multiple weekends they offer them. Seems like something you can try to do rather than whining. As for the rest of the comments to this it just seems a little strange. Mention Betterbee on here and that sqcrk guy pops up every time almost as he wants to put an small family business out of business. I wonder what his agenda is? I guess he sells nucs so he probably view them as the competition and this is the easiest way for him to snipe at them.

Tell me, it seems alot of people complain viciously and cowardly about every company on this forum. Often it is demanded that the company should get on and defend themselves. With the anger and agendas that appear behind so many of such posts, what exactly could they ever say or do to please such a lot. What would make you happy bakerboy to take the bees from someone else who paid and give them to you?


----------



## Barry

palmerbee1629 said:


> So let me get this straight bakerboy. You entered you credit card information incorrectly and thus was never charged and now your upset that you are not getting bees? Seems to me that Betterbee has been selling bees for more than decades pre-paid. They even say it on their website "For IN-STORE PICK UP ONLY In Greenwich, NY Important Note: Payment must be received before bee orders are officially confirmed. Bees are available on a first-come, first-served (paid) basis. " Seems to me a little more than libelous to complain about something that was your mistake and you won't take responsibility for.


According to his first post, it's not the CC# that was entered wrong, it was the 3 digit security code (according to BB). Part of the "mistake" is having a customer receive a confirmation and then later (4 months) being told there was a problem, and the order was canceled.


----------



## Desert Viking Ranch

I have been reading this thread since it started, and while I sympathize with the originator of the post, the confirmation was most likely that the order was placed, NOT the confirmation that a charge was made (it was stated I believe that your card was not charged, correct?). Unless there was a disclaimer of some sort stating that you would not be charged until right before the bees were ready, it was your duty to notice that you were not charged and make the issue known long before now. The CCV2 security code is not a failsafe and if entered incorrectly you are not always guaranteed to get notification of the error immediately. 

I run more than one web store and I am currently working a similar issue with a customer. Due an error somewhere down the line I was never given the order information nor an authorization to charge his card. He received a confirmation of his order as well, but I never seen anything on my end. He took the responsibility upon himself after a few days to call and check on the status and we are working things out. Had he not called I would have never known - I wasn't even notified he tried to place an order.

I can certainly understand your frustration, but please remember that there are usually more details than you may realize and the blame is not always cut and dry on one party or the other.

(I do not shop at Betterbee, nor will I ever most likely. This is just my 2 cents worth)


Oh, and anyone who still uses the "it was the computers fault" issue still to this day is either trying to pull a fast one or really shouldn't be near a computer at all....computers don't do anything on their own, it the operator that is at fault. :no:


----------



## sqkcrk

He said he got a confirmation NUMBER. Seems to me, w/ a confirmation number, which implies the order was accepted, one is entitled to what one ordered or something of equal value plus. 

We've come a long way. "My dog ate my homework." "Mikey did it." "The computer messed up." "My car's key code doesn't recognize the keys." (the last one is real)


----------



## NorthernIllinoisPlumber

The majority of credit card transactions will not be processed when numbers are entered wrong. So either the system is outdated, or they simply forgot about him.

Do you work for Betterbee, palmerbee?


----------



## Desert Viking Ranch

sqkcrk said:


> He said he got a confirmation NUMBER. Seems to me, w/ a confirmation number, which implies the order was accepted, one is entitled to what one ordered or something of equal value plus.
> 
> We've come a long way. "My dog ate my homework." "Mikey did it." "The computer messed up." "My car's key code doesn't recognize the keys." (the last one is real)


 
I am not sure I understand what your intent is. Ofcourse he got a confirmation number. That number was referring to an order being placed. If he was never charged then how is he entitled to receive his order? In my opinion the buyer should have contacted them much sooner instead of expecting everything to go through when he knew he wasn't being charged...and Betterbee (if they received any indication of his order at all, probably likely) should have also inquired about the order long ago. Perhaps their customer service really is that bad (I have never dealt with them) and one order doesn't mean much to them. On that aspect alone there is no excuse, customer service is still the most important part of any transaction, big company or small.

...dogs DO eat homework, a LOT


----------



## ekervina

I've had online orders reject because of typos, credit cards expiring between the day a pre-order was placed and the day the product actually released, and similar. I've always gotten some kind of notification letting me know the order was canceled. 

I have to agree that not letting the customer know an order has been rejected seems like poor customer service. 

That being said, I imagine that the packages they have on hand are already spoken for. What are they supposed to do? Tell someone else "sorry, you'll have to wait for your bees, we're selling 'em to this other guy." Either way, they make a customer angry.

Hopefully they move to a system that flags when an order is rejected so they can get with the customer and straighten things out.


----------



## sqkcrk

So, what does a confirmation number mean, in this case?


----------



## farmerted

I don't know about anyone else but I keep track of my credit card account and bank account on a daily basis and monitor when a transaction is taken out.If I had placed the order I would have wondered after about a week why the transaction was not complete and called the bank to find out if there were any pending charges and when I found out that there were none I would have called Betterbee to see what was going on.It sounds like the original poster made a mistake and wants Betterbee to take the whole blame,I have done business with them as I live locally and I have nothing but praise for them I'm sure they are not perfect but I don't see that they made a mistake here and they did try to make it right by offering packages at a later date.


----------



## ArkansasBK

What would have happened if he had given them a check, and for some reason the bank would not honor it? BetterBee would have notified him immediately. What's the difference? BetterBee dropped the ball, and that's all there is too it. They are probably the one that wrote the security code down wrong. When I give a credit card number and security code to ANYONE on the phone, I make them repeat it back to me. 50% of the time they have make a mistake. If I make a mistake online, the selling company still wants my money and notifies me that I made a mistake, and I correct it. Thats good business.


----------



## palmerbee1629

NorthernIllinoisPlumber said:


> The majority of credit card transactions will not be processed when numbers are entered wrong. So either the system is outdated, or they simply forgot about him.
> 
> Do you work for Betterbee, palmerbee?


That would be a heck of a commute day after day. And to answer Barry's question yes it seems he did mention that he entered his cvc wrong. And to sqcrk why should Betterbee give him more than what he paid for when he didn't pay for anything, what exactly is he entitled too? He didn't pay for the bees? What do you expect them to do? An analogy is ,maybe you might express an intrest in buying a car and say I want that car, but when you don't pay for it do you expect them to give you a better car? I wish I did business with the business you do business with if that is what you get.

I doubt they forgot about him with all the fraud that goes online these days with out the right credit info it probably kicked the transaction. It probably never crossed there minds assuming that if someones card was rejected you think that person would inquire about why there card was rejected. Here's a thought, perhaps a cancellation notice went into his SPAM folder. I shop online and that happens all the time. Given the silence from bakerboy on this now I sure his intentions about this whole thing were made clear. Reading it again they tried to help him out and he rejected it. No one is perfect but in this case there is no one to blame but he who does not knoweth his/her own credit card number.


----------



## farmerted

ArkansasBK said:


> What would have happened if he had given them a check, and for some reason the bank would not honor it? BetterBee would have notified him immediately. What's the difference? BetterBee dropped the ball, and that's all there is too it. They are probably the one that wrote the security code down wrong. When I give a credit card number and security code to ANYONE on the phone, I make them repeat it back to me. 50% of the time they have make a mistake. If I make a mistake online, the selling company still wants my money and notifies me that I made a mistake, and I correct it. Thats good business.


How did they drop the ball they never had it he said he put in the wrong code not them and if he put the order in over the phone the person would have seen it was rejected right away and told him.Like I stated before it's as simple as keeping track of your accounts maybe he was hoping they just forgot to charge him and he was going to get a bunch of free bees


----------



## wildbranch2007

palmerbee1629 said:


> That would be a heck of a commute day after day.


ya probably all of 50 ft. since betterbee is located at
8 Meader Road
Greenwich, NY 12834 <--- same town you list as your address??

I was at dadant yesterday while they were processing online orders. had a problem with the card number of one of the orders and called and got the number corrected while I watched. thats one of the many reasons I shop there.


----------



## bakerboy

In a truly bizarre twist to this customer service nightmare, I had someone walk into my shop today and tell me that he had called Betterbee on Wednesday and they told him they could get him a package this Saturday.

So if anyone is going to Betterbee tomorrow, ask if they have an extra packages. Feel free to post here to further disgust me.


----------



## bakerboy

palmerbee1629;.
Given the silence from bakerboy on this now I sure his intentions about this whole thing were made clear. Reading it again they tried to help him out and he rejected it. No one is perfect but in this case there is no one to blame but he who does not knoweth his/her own credit card number.[/QUOTE said:


> Perhaps you misunderstand the meaning of a confirmation number. It means that they have received all pertinent information from me, and have agreed to provide something in return.
> 
> Like
> 
> A rental car
> A hotel room
> Opera tickets
> 
> But not bees ?
> 
> By giving me a confirmation number, they were CONFIRMING THAT THE TRANSACTION HAD PROCESSED SUCCESSFULLY. How can you not understand this ?
> 
> They confirmed the transaction twice, first at the point of sale on their website, then again in a follow up email. And no, by the way the alleged cancellation notice did not go into my spam folder.
> 
> Gmail saves all mail junk and all, and I searched it for 'bees, Betterbee, cancellation, and credit card' and they truly never notified me.


----------



## Barry

farmerted said:


> How did they drop the ball they never had it he said he put in the wrong code not them


You go back and reread the first post. They said it.


----------



## camero7

Based on all the responses, both deleted and otherwise, it's pretty clear that Betterbee has a problem.


----------



## farmerted

I'll say it again he had to know that the transaction didn't go thru because he was never charged,there is a lot more to this story that is being told.Why would someone expect something for nothing??If he didn't pay for the packages then he won't get them and it sounds a little funny that knowing he wasn't charged he waits almost 5 months to call Betterbee,I know Betterbee won't get on here to tell there side of the story as do a lot of people so anyone can say whatever they want knowing it won't be contested.I'm not going to say Betterbee has no fault in this situation but they are not fully at fault,people need to except personal responsibility.As for the confirmation # meaning that they received all pertinent info and have agreed to provided something in return,in return for what the order was never paid for and this was known from early on.


----------



## sqkcrk

Certainly you can understand them not taking back the cover. It's your responsibility to buy what you need and then you painted it. What are they to do w/ a painted one? Have you ever tried taking electrical parts back to an Auto Parts Store? I don't know what you expected them to do.


----------



## sqkcrk

Oh, I didn't get that from your previous post. You asked for one thing and got another? Well, that's different. Were I them, I would have handled things differently. Clearly, if you asked for a specific item and they handed you a similar, but different, item, they are at fault and should have made it right. I would have given you the right item when you brought back the wrong item provided to you. What does the item cost? Compared to a satisfied customer who will return for more business.

I needed a new Honey Valve for my bottling tank. I sent Maxant an e-mail and Jake responded quickly and sent me what I needed and at a fair price. Jake pays attention to what goes on on beesource and he knows how to treat his customers. Customer satisfaction is the best form of advertising that a company can't buy. It has to be earned. I can't recommend Maxant any higher.

I know that doesn't do y'all who are looking for wooden ware much good. But you can alweays shop around.

Get to know who treats people right and be willing to pay for quality products and service. You'll be glad you did.


----------



## Layla

Betterbee could have apologized and offered OP first dibs on all extra packages. 
They could have gone one step better and offered any part of the order that they couldn't fulfill on the first pickup day for free.

Betterbee could have apologized and swapped the painted cover for a correct cover from the "seconds bin."
Betterbee could have gone one step further and just given him the right item.

If Betterbee had, they would have two walking advertisements. When a transaction with a company just goes well, it is rarely talked about. It is when there was a problem that people notice. But solving that problem WELL can create more positive PR for a company than if there was never a problem at all. Solving it poorly can lose them thousands of potential customers through bad word of mouth. 

There ARE companies that operate with excellent customer service policies. LLBean comes to mind immediately, and I willingly pay more for LLBean items because I know that they will stand behind their product.

On other forums and or sites with product reviews I have seen companies post and ask customers with concerns to contact them so that their problem can be resolved. (King Arthur Flour does this, for example, I have even seen them offer free ingredient replacement for flopped recipes.)

Seems short-sighted of Betterbee when it is now so easy to make purchases from non-local businesses over the internet.

Also, it is my opinion that it is the responsibility of the retailer to provide notification that an order has been cancelled. I do not feel that it it the responsibility of the customer to examine their credit card statement, keep note of all purchases made, and notice that a charge is missing. I look over my statement regularly, but I am looking for errors or charges I DIDN'T make, not confirming that every charge I DID make is there. And even if I DID notice that I hadn't been charged, in the OP's situation, I would have assumed that they wait to put the charge through until closer to pickup, since SO many companies don't bill the CC until the item ships.


----------



## tchekote

Just to let you all know! The is a betterbee in Ontario Canada... I dont believe that is the one you are talking about... 

Just clearing things up...

Cheers


----------



## TNBeek

I have been trying to get 10 lbs of 15% Global pollen patties. In dealing with BetterBee the VA location never called me back and the NY location wanted to charge me over $20.00 to ship 10lbs to a short zone. No thanks.


----------



## The Honey Girl's Boy

As I can see by the long list of complaints over many years, Betterbee doesn’t seem to get it. I just had the same problem as the first post on this thread. I order online, receive my email conformation, I was sitting waiting for my order. Finally calling them- order was cancelled because I did something wrong. No contact of any kind from them. I have dealt with them before and seem to get frustrated nearly each time. You don’t want to ever receive the wrong stuff from them in your order. There is another nightmare dealing with them, sending the wrong stuff back and getting the right stuff. I really love the BeeMax equipment and I wish Betterbee had some competition for that product. I have become so frustrated with Betterbee I have gone as far as contacting their competition and asking them to start carrying the product or something close. I have just found a company that appears to have a similar hive as the BeeMax and have just ordered one to see what it is like. I will post the results of this order.
Ernie


----------



## farmerted

I can't speak about their mail order as I live within 20 minutes from them but I can say that I have had nothing but great service and have found no reason to deal with anyone else.I understand mail order can be very frustrating I have to send back a bunch of parts I ordered for my Harleys but I have had problems with the same place before but have had great customer service so I tolerate a little bit of problems.With the amount of people with complaints about betterbee and the amount of people I see at their store I think the problems are minimal.I do agree with you about the Beemax equipment I'm still a little old school and like wood but set up 2 Beemax hives and they are working great.Hope your order gets fixed so you can give them another chance,if you had the chance to meet the staff in person they are a very nice group of people.


----------



## Brent Bean

I have ordered supplies form Betterbee and was happy with there service. I have never ordered honeybees. It’s also my experience that when I order bees several months in advance they don’t charge my credit card until the bees are shipped. So there would be no way for me to know the transaction was canceled unless I was notified. 
I usually try and avoid buying package bees form a middle man, and get them directly form people who produce them like Rossman Apiaries or Gardner bees. This year I broke from that because of higher than normal losses last winter. And bought four packages from North American Beehive Co. they delivered and I was happy with the service but the packages had Gardner Bees inspection tags on them.


----------



## jrhoto

I ordered some labels from them last week, and the way their web site is designed you have to order them in seperate orders which i was not crazy about. This cost more in shipping for
each order.The lady from BetterBee caught this when the went to fill the order and called me and asked if they could combine the orders and save me money on shipping i said sure.I
think this is pretty good costumer service and they offer a pretty nice selection of lables.Thanks BetterBee.


----------



## sqkcrk

A friend drove down to Greenwich yesterday, 300 miles round trip, and came home w/ the two packages she had ordered. We installed them that evening. She said there were people there taking home 12 or more at a time.

Some things working out for those people. Good.


----------



## Omie

I find the biggest issues I have with both Betterbee and Brushy Mountain always seems to concern shipping charges.


----------



## TOMAS J

I couldn't believe the "sucks to be you" attitude of Betterbee. 

I ordered $1200 worth of equipment and indicated that I could drive down to pick it up. 

I was called by Betterbee a month later and told that "all" of my equipment was in stock. I told them when I was arriving and they assured me that they were ready for me. When I arrived, however, I was informed that they did not, in fact, have all of my equipment in stock. This was after a 4 hour drive to get there. When I asked where the remaining equipment was they stated that they did not know but they were sure it would be available shortly. I asked if I would have to pay freight after having driven down with their assurance that my goods were in stock. The answer was yes. Freight compensation was not an option. 

When I arrived home I found that some parts were missing from my order. I discussed this with them when I went back to pick up bees and was told, after a brief search for the parts, that they did not have them but that I could probably easily manufacture the missing parts myself. Not even an apology.

Mind you the equipment that I was still waiting for still had not arrived at Betterbee even thought they had indicated that they should be there by the time I picked up the bees. 

Jump forward several months. The missing equipment , which I now really needed, was still not available. When I called to find out where it was I was told that they did not know and could not find out. My options were to switch to a more expensive option or "you could go look for them somewhere else". As the parts I needed were a missing part of an assemblage I asked if they would let me return the parts I had so that I could settle and order the more expensive assemblages (Which were , of course, in stock). I was told , no I could not return the parts I had already received as I had had them over 30 days. Now keep in mind I had them over 30 days because I was waiting for the remaining parts which they could not deliver , and for some reason were entirely incapable of finding out when they would be available.
Their only option to me, pay for the new assemblages ( 60 of them mind you) , eat the parts I already had received , and pay freight. 

Their inability to:

A- deliver on parts they told me over the phone were in stock after a 4 hour drive to get them (and a 4 hour return trip)
B-offer restitution (or even an apology) for shorting me on parts that I paid for
C-deliver on backordered parts. 

Cost me time, money , and stress. Not to mention having to put up with their smug attitudes towards me and total lack of concern. (twice I was informed over the phone that they would look in to it and call me back, twice I received no call back- ever!).

This experience has certainly cost them a customer and I assure you that I will never recommend them to anyone.

They are arrogant, rude, totally lacking in common business courtesy, and apparently too busy to give a **** about a new customer. 

Betterbee sucks


----------



## TOMAS J

*Betterbee's attitude*

I couldn't believe the "sucks to be you" attitude of Betterbee. 

I ordered $1200 worth of equipment and indicated that I could drive down to pick it up. 

I was called by Betterbee a month later and told that "all" of my equipment was in stock. I told them when I was arriving and they assured me that they were ready for me. When I arrived, however, I was informed that they did not, in fact, have all of my equipment in stock. This was after a 4 hour drive to get there. When I asked where the remaining equipment was they stated that they did not know but they were sure it would be available shortly. I asked if I would have to pay freight after having driven down with their assurance that my goods were in stock. The answer was yes. Freight compensation was not an option. 

When I arrived home I found that some parts were missing from my order. I discussed this with them when I went back to pick up bees and was told, after a brief search for the parts, that they did not have them but that I could probably easily manufacture the missing parts myself. Not even an apology.

Mind you the equipment that I was still waiting for still had not arrived at Betterbee even thought they had indicated that they should be there by the time I picked up the bees. 

Jump forward several months. The missing equipment , which I now really needed, was still not available. When I called to find out where it was I was told that they did not know and could not find out. My options were to switch to a more expensive option or "you could go look for them somewhere else". As the parts I needed were a missing part of an assemblage I asked if they would let me return the parts I had so that I could settle and order the more expensive assemblages (Which were , of course, in stock). I was told , no I could not return the parts I had already received as I had had them over 30 days. Now keep in mind I had them over 30 days because I was waiting for the remaining parts which they could not deliver , and for some reason were entirely incapable of finding out when they would be available.
Their only option to me, pay for the new assemblages ( 60 of them mind you) , eat the parts I already had received , and pay freight. 

Their inability to:

A- deliver on parts they told me over the phone were in stock after a 4 hour drive to get them (and a 4 hour return trip)
B-offer restitution (or even an apology) for shorting me on parts that I paid for
C-deliver on backordered parts. 

Cost me time, money , and stress. Not to mention having to put up with their smug attitudes towards me and total lack of concern. (twice I was informed over the phone that they would look in to it and call me back, twice I received no call back- ever!).

This experience has certainly cost them a customer and I assure you that I will never recommend them to anyone.

They are arrogant, rude, totally lacking in common business courtesy, and apparently too busy to give a :no: about a new customer. 

Betterbee sucks


----------



## sqkcrk

*Re: Betterbee sucks*

So, why did you go to them in the first place w/ Dadant comparatively w/in walking distance? 

I always say that education is expensive no matter how you get it. You have learned what others have learned. I hope you have better luck w/ other suppliers.


----------



## NorthernIllinoisPlumber

*Re: Betterbee sucks*

That is just bad....


----------



## The Honey Girl's Boy

*Re: Betterbee sucks*

I too have had some problems with ordering from Betterbee. I only order from them now for the Beemax products as I can not find a comparable product elsewhere. What I have found that helps me receive service is to call their 1-800 number every 2 or 3 days asking for a status report on my order. I seriously suggest that if this company has a product that you just can’t get anywhere else, you must understand the lack of service and be proactive. I do not understand or excuse the poor service. Just realize what you are working with. It appears that Betterbee has property rights on my particular product, but I have contacted Betterbee’s competition pleading with them to provide a comparable product. 
Ernie


----------

