I hate to only post when I have something bitchy to say, but people are being exceptionally flaky lately.
I had one person who had their chin on hold and was going to pick it up. Ended up canceling because their kid was acting out, and they didn't want to reward the kid by letting them act out and then bringing them home a new pet. I get it, fine. So I told them, they only had a few days left to pick up their chin (out of the 14 days for the hold -- which I will get more into later). So they say ok, they'll let me know. Few days later, they send me an email, says if the game is rained out, they'll head up here. Cause they were like 2+ hours away. Well, the game wasn't rained out, and I didn't hear from them for a few more days, and it passed the 14 day mark. So I emailed them and told them, hey, the chins aren't on hold any longer, I need a deposit to hold them for you. Their response. Oh, we found chins closer to us. Thanks for the info!!
Now, that just makes my blood boil. First, they knew how far I was away. It wasn't like they realized, at the last minute, how far I was away from them. They knew that from the beginning. Second, they had waited til the very last minute to come pick up, which meant that those chins sat here for 14ish days, on hold, so anyone else who wanted them could not get them. I don't know who else may have wanted them, but who did not email because they saw they were on hold.
Had someone else email several times. Originally they wanted this one pair of chins, and they asked about how much it cost to care for chins. I literally broke it down into how much it costs for food, hay, etc etc, and sent them a book email back. Didn't hear from them for maybe a week or two, then they emailed back saying they decided maybe they wanted this other pair (which was already on hold for someone). I told them that, and they said, ok, they wanted to get this older pair instead. They said they kept coming back to that one and felt it'd be a good match. So they asked for the adoption form and care packet and I got those to them and they said that they would fax me the completed versions. Well, about a week passed and nothing, and I emailed asking if they're still planning on adopting. Nothing. Couldn't even be bothered to send an email.
Same with an order I had. People had emailed asking for an order for wood shelves, and I told them, it would at least be a few weeks, because I had (and still have) orders in front of them. Well, I skipped ahead to their order, because shelves are a lot less labor intensive than, say, a chinny-mobile, and I got theirs cut, sanded, bolted, etc etc. Emailed them because I realized I didn't have a zip code so I couldn't calculate shipping. Never received an email back. Like, could they at least email and say, hey, we decided we don't want shelves, or something? Guess not.
Had another, she wanted to know how much it would cost for two circular perches and two corner shelves with shipping. Well, the corner shelves are $6.50 each and the circular perches are $4.50 each. So $22 of the order was the shelves, and it cost $7.50 to ship all of those to her. Now, let's put this into perspective. For the average person, it costs between $7-8 to ship ONE corner shelf. Well, I guess $7.50 shipping was too much, because they couldn't be bothered to email me back either.
And notice a trend in all of this -- would it be THAT difficult to just email and say, hey, I changed my mind? When I was debating getting a puppy or not, I ended up getting a puppy. And granted, that decision came down to the night before we left to make the drive. But had I decided I didn't want to get a puppy, I would have emailed the breeder and said, hey, you know, I changed my mind, I'm sorry if this causes inconvenience. Like, at the end of the day, she doesn't know who she is, but even if she does, I changed my mind. It's ok to do that. Granted, I wish these people would do that before I make the effort to put together their order and whatnot, but at least if I would get a reply... because see, now, I have a box sitting on the side with those four shelves in it. I also have a stack of shelves for a large cage sitting on the side. I really have nowhere good to put those. I should put the smaller shelves away (the ones in the box), but then, my luck would be that the person will email 3 weeks from now and want those shelves. But if these people would just email and say, never mind, that's too much, or they just don't want it, or whatever, I would be able to put away the box and not wonder.
And people, don't wait til the last minute. I've had someone emailing about one of the chins. We've had a few miscommunications, but they've had the adoption form since early on. I had someone else email about the same chin, and that person emailed with adoption form attached. So, I tell the first person, ok, you have 5 days to get me the adoption form. Today is day 5 (well, end of tonight will be end of their chance). So they tell me they will fax over the form when they get home. I get a fax last night -- two blank pages, short of their name and the fax information that the fax machine automatically puts on the pages. Now, I know my fax line works, because I have other faxes that come through just fine. I emailed them back, told them I didn't get the fax. I looked up their number through my facebook messages and called them and told them I need it re-sent correctly. I even messaged them through facebook. Now, they have til tonight to get a completed adoption form to me. They know this. If they can't get the fax to work, and they can't scan it (maybe they can), it's too late to mail it, they're too far to drive it over.... they're out of luck. And maybe that sounds mean, but they had 5 days to mess with it, and they waited until the night before the last day. This is why they always say, don't wait until the last minute.
After all this, I have an order for someone for a custom hidey house and a birthday cake... that I am waiting on drying... I sure hope they want it. I mean, not like this stuff can't be sold just as a custom one-of-a-kind piece anyway, but it kills me when people want something custom and then they back out. So hopefully that won't happen here.
And I had an order get lost in the mail.
Now, all this said, our sales / hold policy is changing. Too many people are backing out at the end of of 14 days and wasting too much time for these animals that are trying to find homes. So, our new policy is that you can hold a chin for 7 days without a deposit. Anything over 7 days requires a non-refundable deposit. Once the deposit is received, you have 30 days to pick up your chin. If you do not pick up your chin in 30 days, you don't get your deposit back, and you don't get to adopt. We have wasted enough time already.
One last thing. Does no one know of someone who would like to welcome some senior rats into their life? We have two pairs of senior female rats. Very sweet girls. Just... they're seniors. The one pair is nearing 2 years old, the other pair is 1.5 and 2.5 years old. The first pair was a trio when they came in, but.... you get the picture. I'd rather these rats not die here at the rescue. I do my best to handle all the critters and care for them well, but it's not the same as these guys being in someone's house where they can be handled and loved on as either the only pets, or a pair out of a few (instead of large numbers, like here). I want these girls to live out their retirement days as part of a family. If you know of anyone who may want to adopt these sweeties, please send them this way.
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