Ordered bees from Shamrock S and no communication

Terri Stanley · April 16, 2012, 05:44:07 PM

I ordered a package of bees from ShamrockS.com 4 days ago. I paid them through paypal and was supposed to hear back from them within 2 days about shipping charges etc. and I haven't heard anything from them yet. I've emailed them and left voice mail. I really expected to hear something from them by now.
Should I be concerned about this company? :?

AllenF · April 16, 2012, 05:56:35 PM

I bet they are swamped with work being spring. Also, it they are like me, I only do paperwork one night a week. Payroll, invoices, bills, everything on Thursday night. Being so late in the season also, they may not have packages available for this year. Keep tying to call.

Terri Stanley · April 16, 2012, 06:02:01 PM

Thanks, Allen. I figured they were busy.
Their web site indicated there were packages still available so I thought it was safe to proceed with payment.
I just don't want to get stuck without bees this summer. I'll keep trying to contact them and hope for the best.
They are reliable in your opinion?

G3farms · April 16, 2012, 07:00:43 PM

Go back to your paypal account to see if they transferred the money from your account to their account. If they have done that much they had time to call or email.`

I do not know of them.

Terri Stanley · April 16, 2012, 07:25:06 PM

Okay, I checked the paypal and it says "Status: Completed"
I don't know if that means they accepted or transferred the funds. I suppose I'll have to wait a bit longer.

My only concern is that I have bees this season. I know I'll get my money back, paypal's good that way.

AllenF · April 16, 2012, 07:49:51 PM

Is this Shamrock S from California? That is a long way to ship bees to NJ.

Terri Stanley · April 16, 2012, 08:17:14 PM

Oh man, I was worried about that! I'm going to try to call again and hopefully just cancel the order and hope the other lead I got still has a package available.
It's not easy being a newbee!

AllenF · April 16, 2012, 08:35:58 PM

Most of your big package producers sell out of packages real early. The ones that don't sell out, the bees cost a premium, some other reason. With late season packages, something else to think about. It is hard to ship packages when the weather gets too warm. The bees just over heat in the packages. And some producers will not ship them after a certain time. Look local for bees if you can not get your package bees. There are northern producers there.

G3farms · April 16, 2012, 08:38:58 PM

send Bjornbee a pm he might have some packages or nucs about ready also, and he is in PA.

Robo · April 16, 2012, 10:13:00 PM

Quote from: G3farms on April 16, 2012, 07:00:43 PM
Go back to your paypal account to see if they transferred the money from your account to their account. If they have done that much they had time to call or email.`

I do not know of them.

As a seller, there is no involvement in the transfer, it happens automatically when the buyer pays.

AliciaH · April 17, 2012, 11:49:43 AM

If Shamrock is out of CA (sorry, I didn't look, just read that here), then hopefully they are shipping this week. The three suppliers I work with all get their bees from CA. One got her bees last weekend, one gets his in on Friday, we're still waiting to hear about the third. His are potentially coming in next week.

We just kept hearing how delayed CA was in their queen mating.

But none of that is an excuse not to answer your phone calls or emails. Gosh, they probably have other orders, too, and a group email would be sufficient. Most folks understand delays and problems, they just want updates.

Terri Stanley · April 17, 2012, 02:22:23 PM

Quote from: AliciaH on April 17, 2012, 11:49:43 AM
If Shamrock is out of CA (sorry, I didn't look, just read that here), then hopefully they are shipping this week. The three suppliers I work with all get their bees from CA. One got her bees last weekend, one gets his in on Friday, we're still waiting to hear about the third. His are potentially coming in next week.

We just kept hearing how delayed CA was in their queen mating.

But none of that is an excuse not to answer your phone calls or emails. Gosh, they probably have other orders, too, and a group email would be sufficient. Most folks understand delays and problems, they just want updates.

I know they're busy, but geeze, get back to me with some info!
I have left numerous emails and voice mails with absolutely no reply. That's the crap that really irritates me. Minutes ago I sent off another email, all in caps, canceling the order and requesting a full paypal refund. Who knows how long that'll take. Their website clearly states I would be contacted within 2 days, it has been 5 and I am not willing to play catch me if you can with this vendor. He's a fool, I'm a newbee and I'll be needing quite a few more items, he just lost a lot of potential business from me.
Sheesh, I had a rough day yesterday and today isn't looking much better, the last thing I need is a slug vendor to chase down!

I'm so greatful for the kind people here, thank you all for your help and encouragement! Really means a lot to me.

AllenF · April 17, 2012, 03:25:26 PM

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort"! :-D

Terri Stanley · April 17, 2012, 09:04:01 PM

ShamrockS refunded my money. Glad he didn't make me wait.
Now I can try for some local bees.

I'm attending the NJBA meeting Thurs. evening. I'm super excited about that!
I spoke to Bill Eislie (spelling) from the South Jersey/cape chapter on the phone for a bit.
Sounds like they have a lot of active members, and several live in my area.

Busy day, I'm going in to crash in front of the tv.
Thanks again, you wonderful people! :-*

Garlicyoda · March 21, 2015, 09:26:53 PM

I am local to shamrock, and there are a lot of commercial sized bee keepers here for almond pollination and the like. I have been trying to hear anything from them since mid November 2014.

For all they know I need a few hundred queens. Oh well Glad to see I am not the only one with this experience. I keep getting captcha errors when I try to send them a message as well, did you end up with a real email you would be willing to send my way ?

thanks for the thread, and will be looking for other threads of how your beekeeping adventures are going.

jayj200 · March 22, 2015, 09:36:14 AM

I remember when you sent money orders and 4 to 6 weeks was when you would get your gift

10framer · March 22, 2015, 11:40:37 AM

always look for someone local and smaller. the big suppliers are filling big orders. making packages is a lot of work. also, the guy ordering thousands of packages every year is going to get the attention before the guy buying one package. it's a business.

Garlicyoda · March 22, 2015, 05:05:51 PM

Yeah 4 months though. Just bad business. since this post started in 2012, guessing not much has changed. Good on them for staying in business and hopefully doing what they love. On the same note hoping this thread helps others make better choices without the frustrations some of us have already experienced :0)

pdmattox · March 23, 2015, 09:19:17 AM

I agree. Buy local and from a small business and I am sure you will get better service.

johng · March 26, 2015, 12:58:35 PM

I picked up some packages from H and R this past Monday. They asked if I wanted any more to just give them a call. So they must still have some. Here's their website. GA. would be closer than CA. http://www.handrapiaries.com/