Non-existant customer service from Kelly

KeyLargoBees · June 02, 2015, 08:16:05 AM

Ordered some solid bar medium foundationless frames from Kelly...they shipped me shallows. The packing list states they are supposed to be mediums but that's not what was in the box. Called to try and get instructions for a swap out and so far ...3 e-mails and three voice messages later and no call back yet and its been a week and a half.

Has anyone else had this experience with them.

craneman54 · June 02, 2015, 09:10:48 AM

Yes I have had a similar problem with them. I ordered 2 queens,they sent 4. I called several times never got to talk to anyone. After 3 days of trying to get a call thru I traded the queens for a discount on 2 packages. ( I didnt want to just let the extra queens die) I kept calling to arrange payment for the extra queens. Took me another 2 days to actually talk to someone. The lady said they were very short on operators.

I doubt I will ever use Kelly bees again.

sc-bee · June 02, 2015, 10:59:32 AM

Kelly was left in some kind of trust and changed hands a few years ago. It had been in a trust for 20 years. After the trust expired I think a private company bought Kelly. It seems at this time. maybe just coincidental, prices went up and based on comments posted service went down.

In 1978, Mrs. Kelley passed away after a steady decline in health and in 1983, at the age of 86, Mr. Kelley negotiated the sale of the Louisiana property and relinquished all holdings. At 89 years of age, Mr. Kelley passed away on August 22, 1986 at the local hospital of congestive heart failure. The company was willed to the hospital, now known as Twin Lakes Regional Hospital, in an operating trust for 20 years where a hospital wing now bears his name. The Elizabethtown Technical and Community College - Leitchfield Campus also adorns his name as the Walter T. Kelley Building and serves to educate future young leaders in Grayson County. Today, the control of the company lies in private partnership, but honors Mr. Kelleys strong commitment to his employees, the community, and the beekeeping community.

gilligan · June 02, 2015, 02:52:13 PM

Yes, we placed an order with Kelly and not only did it take FOREVER, it was all screwed up.

They attempted to make it right but even screwed that up! In the end we came out better, but still not what was promised.

Paul_B · June 02, 2015, 04:34:25 PM

I ordered all my equipment from them starting last September and they were great. Even ordered my package bees there. However, I placed an order four weeks ago for more equipment, and haven't received it yet and my email has gone unanswered.

LuciwhitAR · June 02, 2015, 05:25:35 PM

We ordered frames, needed them quick. After two weeks of waiting and then being told it would take another 3 weeks, we cancelled the order. They were quick about returning our funds. We ordered from ManLake and got them in 3 days and we ordered on a holiday weekend (memorial Day). We'll stick with MannLake.

James M. Wagner · June 03, 2015, 01:24:11 PM

I'm beginning to wonder if they are even in business. I placed an order for foundationless frames on the morning of 1 Jun and received a computerized acknowledgement but have received no indication of shipping date or when it would ship. Sent a message later that same day, no answer. Phoned today and literally ran the battery on the phone dead while being on hold. I called back and pressed 7 to "check on an order". Got a recording - No big surprise. I left a message but have no expectation of a speedy return call. I am quickly becoming disenchanted with Kelley. I need the frames quickly. If it will be a while before they get shipped, I need to know that so I can purchase some locally to get me by while I wait on the Kelley order.

I am left wishing Mann Lake had frames designed specifically for foundationless.

LuciwhitAR · June 03, 2015, 04:43:16 PM

Beethinking.com has them but I don't know how long they take to ship. Free shipping.

Eric Bosworth · June 03, 2015, 09:26:22 PM

Quote from: James M. Wagner on June 03, 2015, 01:24:11 PM
I'm beginning to wonder if they are even in business. I placed an order for foundationless frames on the morning of 1 Jun and received a computerized acknowledgement but have received no indication of shipping date or when it would ship. Sent a message later that same day, no answer. Phoned today and literally ran the battery on the phone dead while being on hold. I called back and pressed 7 to "check on an order". Got a recording - No big surprise. I left a message but have no expectation of a speedy return call. I am quickly becoming disenchanted with Kelley. I need the frames quickly. If it will be a while before they get shipped, I need to know that so I can purchase some locally to get me by while I wait on the Kelley order.

I am left wishing Mann Lake had frames designed specifically for foundationless.

I bought 10 foundationless frames from Kelly last year. Now that I have something to go by I make my own from scratch. It is cheap and once you get it down it goes quick. It also gives you the option to make narrow frames for the brood nest.

James M. Wagner · June 03, 2015, 11:46:14 PM

I checked out beethinking. I'd not heard of them before and now I know why. $2.10 per frame. OUCH!!!

As for making my own, it just isn't worth it. For one thing, I really don't have a place or the equipment to do it. Too, I don't think I could do it cheaper than 85 cents, especially considering my time.

Eric Bosworth · June 04, 2015, 05:28:55 AM

I have a local saw mill that I can get rough cut 1"x10"x8' for $4.00 they work great for top bars. A slightly planed finished 2x? Will make lots of end bars. They can be a pain if you use deeps and I have an office at work a few miles away from the Waverly NY Dadent store. I rarely need to go to that office but the lady across the hall from me goes at least once a week and I can give her some honey to make a stop on the way if I need to. They are under $14 for 100. Bottom boards can be made from the 1" boards. All of this is mute if you don't have a table saw and a place to work however. Yes it takes some time. With my router and table saw I have gotten top bars down to two passes on the router and a zip with the table saw. I ordered a tongue and groove bit set to make it one pass on the router.

KeyLargoBees · June 04, 2015, 10:18:24 AM

Just looked at the google reviews for Kelly and almost everything in the past 6 months is a 1 star review....the company is in trouble and it looks like whoever is running it now is clueless how to conduct online business and doesn't understand how much "communication" is needed for order fulfillment and customer support. If you cant drive up to their store to pick up your order they aren't worth it.

BeeMaster2 · June 04, 2015, 12:59:52 PM

Here is a review I found on Bing:
4/17/2015 READ ENTIRE REVIEW: as a new beekeeper, I thought buying my supplies from a company that was "established" would be the way to go. wrong! I placed a substantial order (over $400, including an entire full hive) and was told it would ship within 2 days. a week later I called and was told it had NOT shipped because one $10 item was on backorder! who holds up an entire order for one small backordered item?! I told them (Amy) not to hold the order and to cancel the b/o item.

I called again a week later and was told it had NOT shipped because, you guessed it, one item was on backorder. I told them, AGAIN, not to hold the order up and was told it would ship next day. this was 2 weeks after placing order. I called again 2 days later to get a tracking#, and spoke with a "supervisor", Mary Glenn. she said the order had NOT shipped because the order was not complete. I'M NOT KIDDING! Mary Glenn "promised me" she would personally see that this order shipped that day, and I should have it in 2 days. she promised to email me the tracking# the next day.
2 days later, I had not received my order. I called Mary Glenn and she told me the order had NOT shipped, guess why? you got it, they were waiting for one item. she told me she would go to shipping department and personally make sure it shipped that day. it did not ship that day.

I then had to drive 2 hours to a bee supply company to buy a partial hive, because my bees were due to arrive that weekend. an additional $120 I had to spend because of Kelley's horrible service.

4 WEEKS after I placed the order, and 3 promises that it would "ship that day", I finally received the order. a section of the hive had been damaged in shipping (the bottom board, or base, which the entire hive sits on), and one major component they said they had shipped was missing. I contacted Mary Glenn immediately and she said Jessica (customer service?) would get back to me that day to address the problems. after sending daily emails for 6 DAYS, they never even responded. I finally had to contact my credit card company to dispute the charges.

when the hive and accessories finally did arrive, the quality was really very poor. the hives were STAPLED together (and not glued prior to that), rather than nailed or screwed, like good quality hives are constructed. they were flimsy and the corners fit poorly. I can tell these hives are not built to last more than a couple years, a considerable investment for such poor product.

I know for certain that I would never order from this company again. their product is poor quality and their customer service is non-existent. I have ordered online on a regular basis (weekly) for over 10 years, and this was possibly the worst experience to date. AVOID Walter Kelley Beekeeping.

BeeMaster2 · June 04, 2015, 01:00:42 PM

And another one:
5/22/2015
Terrible company. My bees did not arrive ever! They do not care. They say they care about the bees but they only care about the money. They would not give me a refund. DO NOT DO BUSINESS with this company. Horrible. On hold for 45 minutes . Customer service is terrible. I was told that once the bees are shipped, they did their part. Now it was my job to find them. Find a different company. Their supplies are cheap also.

Hi-Tech · June 04, 2015, 06:17:01 PM

Its funny how its different from one to the next. As a newcomer to Kentucky, I drove to their location about a month ago (1 hour drive) and they were super nice and very helpful. Got what I wanted and left. Then I ordered more supplies for a new package last Thursday and it came it today.

Who knows? LOL

gilligan · June 04, 2015, 06:51:19 PM

I have a BUNCH of the F style frames. I'm not sure I really like them.

I like the fact that they don't have places for SHB to hide, but that's about it. That wedge shape really doesn't give them much of a guide to go by and they couldn't care less sometimes. Something with more of a starter strip would be better in my opinion.

Beewildered61 · June 05, 2015, 08:52:58 AM

Hey James M. Wagner... Try Miller Bee Supply, I have been using them for several years now, and love 'em. They always ship fast and never had any problems with orders. They are in North Carolina. Not sure if it's the kind you are looking for, but they have foundationless frames for $1.60.

KeyLargoBees · June 05, 2015, 09:52:15 AM

Hey Hi Tech...like I said driving to the shop is probably the only way to do business with them....

I would have no issues with their customer service if they HAD any customer service. My order was shipped relatively fast and the other items in the package were as advertised so for the most part I am not upset....but if you have a message machine on your customer support # that asks that you leave a message and they will get back to you as soon as possible and then they IGNORE those messages....and then if you have an automated service answering your e-mails with this...Hi Jeff! Your request for help has been received and is being reviewed by our support staff. Happy Beekeeping! KBC Support One would expect a reply of some sort sooner rather than later...Its been 3 weeks and I have yet to hear from anyone either on a call or an e-mail reply.

Intheswamp · June 05, 2015, 11:15:42 AM

I haven't purchased much in the last year or so. Since I started beekeeping there was a rep that I worked with at Kellys, I just happened to deal with her on one of my initial purchases and kept asking for her when I called or emailed her directly. She was *excellent* in helping me out and would ship stuff out to me *fast*. Also, took good care of orders I'd email her for delivery to beekeeper meetings. Then about a year or so ago I emailed her and she responded that she would be leaving very shortly. I sensed "something" in her voice that made me think "things weren't good". Not knowing her *that well* I didn't question her, but just wished her well. Since then, it seems I've heard mostly negative experience with Kelleys. Walter Kelley wouldn't be a happy camper if he was still around. :(

http://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-frandsen-corporation-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-the-walter-t-kelley-company-llc/

Ed

Kathyp · June 05, 2015, 12:07:42 PM

James, there's nothing to making the foundationless frames. I do it in my kitchen and just use regular frames. Info on here about it and it's easy and cheep.

Mann Lake has been good for me. I watch for free shipping, but even without, they are not bad.