Not Buyer Beware, but Seller Beware

[Amphy64]

Wow at those stories, it's really awful that people would actually make threats and attempt to cause legal trouble for a breeder, just shocking. Hearing stories like that definitely makes me think carefully about breeding, I think I can cope with the chins but people like that would be more difficult.

In regards to the stock photos, I'm sure it must be very frustrating to be constantly asked for pictures only to have someone not even buy the chin in question, so I do get why you'd feel it wasn't worth the effort, but isn't sending stock photos kind of hard on legitimate buyers? They may not be able to tell either, especially with really young kits, but that's not quite the point - aren't they asking because they want the opportunity to see their chin as a baby? I mean, I know I absolutely treasure the one pic. I have of Henry at three months. And yep, definitely is him! He was older so easier to tell I guess, and his breeder had other standard kits and they really looked nothing like him. I don't think it should matter less because someone only wants the chin as a pet, the picture still potentially has value to someone, especially considering how long a chin might be part of their family.

So, don't let the bad buyers, or people who mess you around, put you off, I guess.

I started telling people $300 and $400 when they wanted my breeders. Sold a dark tan for $300 a few weeks ago - much to my shock. People never leave with what they come looking for. It's strange.

Hee, if you have any nice ToV PWs (tan optional) going, I'll have one for $400. But you'll have to post her to us...

 

[greychins]

I always manage to get the people that think every chin is for sale. I have had people demand that I sell them a specific chin, whether or not it's for sale. All the chins, with the exception of quarantined ones, are in the same area. That includes breeders, pets, and rescues. They're not all for sale, sorry. Not even all the chins in the same cage are for sale. My one pet female doesn't get along with any of my other females - but gets along with most female rescues. People can't comprehend that the other chins in the cage are for sale, but not the beige that's barking at them. The best part is that people always seem to want whites, and since we have considerably more rescues than babies, we mostly have greys up for adoption. So they ask if we have whites for sale and I say no... they come to the house and see our whites (two pets and one breeder) and they act like I'm lying about having whites for sale. Though... they are NOT for sale.

I can't wait to move to a new place and have a way to separate the chins into multiple rooms - I will have one just for chins for sale so people stop asking me to sell my breeders/pets.

I hate the people that want every freaking detail about the chin and four million pictures. My ads are long - I state whether the chins are friendly, how they do with being handled, whether they get along with other chins, what they come with/don't come with, and so on and so forth. And I get people emailing asking for "more information." What else can I tell them? How many poos the chin makes per day? Omg and the people that want more and more and more pictures. The chin looks the same from every angle, sorry. I probably don't have 40 pictures of the same chin, unless it's one of my 4 original pet chins that I've had for the last 9 years.... which aren't for sale.

Honestly? I could take a picture of one standard and send it to everybody every time they ask for a picture and you know what? No pet person would know the difference. Same thing with anything but a white, and then it would only matter if the white was marked.

Ain't that the truth.

I think the one thing that aggravates me the most about people wanting chins is what happens when we have babies. If we're going to sell, instead of show, the babies, we'll list them on the website and often they'll have a deposit on them before they're ready to go. That's fine, that's the idea of listing them - so they find homes. But I get the people who will email me saying, "well, I know there's a deposit on them... but I'll pay you more for them if you sell them to me." That wouldn't be too unfair to the person with the deposit, would it? I mean come on. I want to find good homes, not homes that think they can pay their way into getting any chin they want.

I think the most interesting people I get are the ones that tell me, when I have a ton of rescues up for adoption, if I can't handle them, they'll rescue them for free from me. Um, excuse me? And these same people ask basic questions on chin care and have no idea how to care for chins and want to feed them popcorn and jujubees, but if I can't handle them, they'll rescue them and they start telling me how they'll take in any homeless animals as well. Ok, here's the thing - if I can't handle more rescues, I will not take in more rescues. If I have just gotten in a rescue that's cost me a lot of money, I will hold off on taking in more until I'm not quite as far in the hole. I think people assume that rescuing results in large amounts of money. Newsflash - it doesn't. I'm always in the hole cause of the rescue chins. If I was just breeding and selling babies, I wouldn't be as far in the hole. But just cause someone hands me a chin and a cage and I get to adopt it out for some amount of money - chances are, another chin has come in with major medical issues and has cost me $$$ and I have to adopt out 20 chins to pay for that one medical bill. Those exact same people are always the ones that email me - a few months later - when they've taken in every chin on craigslist, now have 20 chins, and one of those chins had $$$$ medical bills and they now need me to take in all of their "rescues."

 

[AZChins]

I think the most interesting people I get are the ones that tell me, when I have a ton of rescues up for adoption, if I can't handle them, they'll rescue them for free from me. Um, excuse me? And these same people ask basic questions on chin care and have no idea how to care for chins and want to feed them popcorn and jujubees, but if I can't handle them, they'll rescue them and they start telling me how they'll take in any homeless animals as well. Ok, here's the thing - if I can't handle more rescues, I will not take in more rescues. If I have just gotten in a rescue that's cost me a lot of money, I will hold off on taking in more until I'm not quite as far in the hole. I think people assume that rescuing results in large amounts of money. Newsflash - it doesn't. I'm always in the hole cause of the rescue chins. If I was just breeding and selling babies, I wouldn't be as far in the hole. But just cause someone hands me a chin and a cage and I get to adopt it out for some amount of money - chances are, another chin has come in with major medical issues and has cost me $$$ and I have to adopt out 20 chins to pay for that one medical bill. Those exact same people are always the ones that email me - a few months later - when they've taken in every chin on craigslist, now have 20 chins, and one of those chins had $$$$ medical bills and they now need me to take in all of their "rescues."

I hate people asking about helping me with rescues. It drives me nuts because I don't need the help and I want to find actual homes for the chins not just stress them out by moving them around from home to home.

The rescues have cost me thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years. I'd be closer to breaking even if I didn't do it. I'm in a position where I can take care of all their needs. Most people wanting to get into rescue (not all of them, but probably 75%) cannot afford to take in rescues. Sometimes the chins are very sick and need veterinary care right away. I get these dumped on me all the time and I always try.

My favorite though is when someone wants me to take their chin and give it vet care and then they want me to give it back to them after I spend all that money and time. Like the chin with the leg that was so badly damaged...the woman wasn't going to give him up because she wouldn't be getting him back!

 

[jags]

I agree taking hundreds of pics for everyone is about the worst part here, but I will not send a generic photo to anyone, every pic is of the actual animal listed. I would hate to say how many people we hear from once or twice, send tons of info including pics and then never hear from them again every week. I even have had some animals fully paid for and never heard from the people again. Pics take a ton of time and I hate when people want photos of everything that's for sale here, most times that is hundreds of animals and will just not not happen here. Some may disagree with me but I encourage people to come here to my barn to look and see what they are getting in person. Most times the ones that make the trip are willing to learn more about the animals in general and about what I have available before making a quality choice in the animal they want.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

I guess we've been really fortunate with our buyers!

I seem to do a pretty good job of weeding out the e-mails and phone calls. Most of the ridiculous ones I just don't reply to (like the one a couple months ago wanting a chin for their 5 year old daughter - Them: "But she's SO mature for her age!" Me(in my head): "NO, she's a grabby little child!"). If I don't reply, I don't risk rude/offensive e-mails, because they most likely think the e-mail address is dead!

I would have a hard time stopping people from coming into the chin room (or barn, in the future) and seeing all of our chins. We love pulling out our top show animals and bragging And then the buyers can see how it's our passion and we're really proud of what we do.

 

[greychins]

My favorite though is when someone wants me to take their chin and give it vet care and then they want me to give it back to them after I spend all that money and time. Like the chin with the leg that was so badly damaged...the woman wasn't going to give him up because she wouldn't be getting him back!

We had one of those too, recently. Adopted them out a chin in the summer, the chin got an absess recently, and she wanted me to take the chin, spend the $300-500 the vet had quoted her to treat it + aftercare, and return her the chin once he was healed. Um, I don't think so. I was in a bad mood the day she emailed me, and I not-so-nicely told her that she had made a commitment and had noted that she understood vet care was expensive, what did she think that meant, $20?... and now she wasn't willing to charge the bill or do anything other than hand the chin back to me? Long story short, she said she chose a less expensive option (antibiotics) and the chin got better - I don't know if that's the truth - but if someone's not willing to spend money on chin vet care and wants me to do it for them - they sure aren't getting the chin back if I do take in the chin and spend the money on vet care.

I think the problem, like Susan said, is that people want to rescue and have good intentions... but most don't have the money or the time to follow up with all of it. Running the rescue and managing the rescue chins and dealing with potential adopters is practically another full-time job for me. I need to be working my actual job to be able to afford to run the rescue. We started selling supplies cause it's the only thing that keeps us from being thousands in the hole every year. People have good intentions... but if you don't have some money to back it up, intentions aren't much. People seem to have the whole "it won't happen to me" thing - but the reality is that many rescue chins have medical issues, whether the owner knows it or not - and it's never cheap to fix those. I've had people adopt a chin, tell me they have unlimited time on their hands, and then tell me they'd be willing to foster rescues (which we don't do)... and then a few months later I find out they're trying to sell all the chins on craigslist... what happened to that unlimited time on your hands? They think one chin is too much, but they want to foster for me? Or the best ones are the ones that get one chin, tell me they'll foster, and then later return the chin saying it's too noisy or too messy or too whatever. Instances like this make me glad I don't foster our chins, cause most would come back cause the owner thought one was too much, much less fostering an additional one or several. No thanks - they'll all stay here, where we know what to expect, how much it's all going to cost, and how much time it'll all take.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

A breeder friend of mine recently had an email offering to take any Chins she couldn't sell, For free. Even more scary she thought was them saying they wouldnt be available to talk the next day as they were off to pick up a free 12 week old kit!!

Needless to say she wasn't going to take them up on their kind offer.

On the issue of photos, I can understand why for some it would be frustrating but as an owner I do cherish the photos I have of my new baby. I have aged 2 days (when I reserved him), 2 weeks and 6 weeks. . Its definitely him, and as I had to wait for him to be old enough it was nice to watch him grow up. Having said that, in his case it was important for me as I wanted a white - so as well as watching him grow, I watched his colour change. He was born standard with a white tail tip and a pure white stripe across his back. In between the last baby pic I had he grew a spot on his bum - that was a suprise. lol.
So for some of us, we absolutely appreciate the time it takes

 

[mishalaa]

I have never had any major problems with buyers, but I've kept things simple. I do not give out my phone number. I really am not a phone person and half the time don't even return calls from my own family, let alone a number I don't recognize. I never give out my address, either, I will only meet strangers in a public place. I realize that in a world puppy mill breeders, some people like being able to see the parents and how the chins are cared for... but I am a single woman that grew up in a high-crime area. I just don't feel safe inviting strangers to my home.

I take photos periodically of all my chins for my own collection. It's easy enough to post them online so folks can see the exact chin that is for sale. This is getting more difficult as my herd gets bigger, but for the moment I still have a handful of photos of each chin that has passed through my door the last 6 years. I choose to spend the time doing this, but I do it for myself, not for buyers - although it is my hope that by having so many photos, buyers are satisfied with the desire to see the parents (right on my website under My Herd) and can see by their looks that they're well cared for. I purposely don't photograph cages because I worry folks might flip out about the size of the runs - I know the first time I saw runs I thought they were cruel, but I was merely a pet owner at the time who was under the impression that chins needed play time every day and spacious cages. I assume most pet people think like that.

The worst I get is folks wanting to buy kits off my nursery page.

 

[starleomach]

I take photos of all the babies every few weeks and update my website. If someone wants more photos they are out of luck unless I have others. But every chinchilla photoed is that chinchilla. I have been tempted to use other photos though LOL

My chinchilla barn is devided in half with my show animals and ones I am growing in back. People actuall pushed the chair I put up to block the door way to go back there, People are inconsiderate

 

[clarinuto]

Wow!! Sounds like everyone suffers similar issues!!

I too have had someone who was going to adopt a pet only girl express interest to come in and see all the others. I obliged. Then they started asking me... is this one for sale? How about that one? Are you sure I can't have these 2?

I was trying not to be rude, but honestly.... who believes you can just show up and expect someone to give you what ever you want for the price of your choosing?

My recent horror experience though was a man who had paid for a boy in full and told me that he'd like to pick up the boy sometime during the holidays. I said that this was fine and to let me know when he wanted to meet. I contact him because I haven't heard anything for quite some time and do not get a response. Then, on a Monday afternoon, he calls and says that he will pick up the boy in less than an hour. Um, what?

I work for living... and it was during the work day. I said that this could not work, not to mention that he wanted me to drive nearly an hour away in the first place (which I agreed to do... but not with so little notice).

So then he proceeds with, "Okay, well I told you as soon as I knew I could get him. I'll get him between 2-3 pm tomorrow."

Um..... again, I work!!!! I'm not taking off work because you didn't let me know before the day you decided you wanted the boy. So I told him that couldn't work, but I could meet him that evening.

He proceeded to go off on me about how I am trying to screw him over and only care about myself and [insert additional threats and insults]. Then proceeds to demand a refund, which I don't do. I mean, I fed and watered and cleaned this animal for over a month and now he wants a refund?? He knew I don't issue refunds.

So he opens a claim with Paypal which I escalate and attach his emails where he goes off on me and tracks the events. Paypal rules that the buyer is not covered in this case and I don't have to issue a refund.

A week later, I get a message from Paypal that he had his bank "reverse" the payment. I didn't even know this was possible? So, now it's up to me to provide "tracking" information or I have to issue a refund. Needless to say, I haven't issued a refund yet and am dealing with Paypal again. I am hoping Paypal will see why since I have sent the original claim plus all the verbally abusive emails. This issue is still outstanding.

In addition, I love the many individuals who demand things from you but do not do what they say. Like the guy who was supposed to come and adopt 2 female geckos today and never showed.

I agree that there are more good buyers than bad, but the bad are definitely taxing me lately!

Sigh. Exhausting.

 

[greychins]

Like ^^ I too, have had people that state what time they're coming. Same thing - I work. My work schedule isn't the same every week, and so when I tell someone a day/time that might work one week, it may not be the same the next week. My days off aren't the same, and just cause the day they called me I had off from work does not mean that I NEVER work (they always seem to assume if they catch you during normal working hours, that you must just sit home) or that I always have that day of the week off. But people tell me all the time, "I'll come tomorrow at 10" - well... no one will be home, cause everyone in the house works. I have explained to people that it's not like we're running a petstore... we all have "real" jobs that require us to be away from the house for 8 hours at a time, and a lot of times, those 8 hours overlap, so no one is home for a part of the day.

And even if someone else was home, they know better than to show chins to anyone who randomly shows up at the door. It's by appointment only. I tell people that, and they still show up randomly. We do not have "hours," we "set appointments." Not hard to understand, I don't think. Sorry, but no one is getting into see the chins if they don't make an appointment, I don't care HOW long they spent driving here...

I've had people tell me, "well, that's the only time I can come" (at like 10 am on a Monday morning) - well, then I guess they're not getting a chin. I always think, when they say that, do they think I'm going to ask for time off of work to come home and sell a chin? Or do they think I'm lying that I work? Selling a chin may be one thing - I've had days where between the chin and supplies, we've been at $200-300 for the total sale, and I only probably make $50-60/day at my day job after taxes. So, I suppose, taking it literally, I might do better sitting at home on a day someone's coming to buy a lot of stuff or a large supply order. But I've had things like bird cages for sale for like $10 or someone coming to pick up $5 of hay and they're like "oh I'll be over in 20 minutes" - really? I don't sit home, and I'm not coming home from work on my lunch break for $5.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

That's a number one issue I have is people calling me and wanting directions to my house to come get the animal immediately....or just to come "look" I'm sorry but im very busy and don't have time for people to "look" so i let them know i can send photos and that i do work and will have to schedule something with them...... That irritates me so much

 

[starleomach]

I have had people get nasty over me not being available 24/7 or call at 2 am wanting to come by, that is why I have a separate phone for the chinchillas that I ignore when it is not convinent for me

 

[chinchillalover0927]

Now I haven't had people call me past 12 yet but I prefer to text due to the fact I'm usually at work . I have had people text me at 3-4 am ..... I don't respond back to them. if thry cant respect me to contact me at a decent time then forget it , waste of my time... I have to wake up for 4:30 am so I'm not a happy camper if i hear you text me !