breeder/seller responsibilities

[Woodland Farms Show Cattl]

very earlythis spring (March) i purchased a bull on an online sale hosted by cwcattlesales.com. I purchased the bull as a purebred AND registered maine anjou. I checked with the seller on shipping, (from nebraska to michigan), won the bid, sent in my check, got the receipt, and then called and called and called and left voicemail after voicemail until finally a whole week later he calls me back and has no clue who i am or cares.  (argue) and then finally after 6 weeks YES SIX weeks of fighting tooth an nail to get the bull i finally get him to put the bull on a truck headed east that wont even come into michigan. So i drive down into indiana(5 hours each way) and meet the guy in the middle of the night and get the bull that has now been on the trailer for 4 days. get him home turn him out with the cows and let him do his cean up work. he is currently on lease to the neighbors for summer born calves, and i still dont have the papers on him. and yes i have been clling and calling and calling and leaving voicemail after voicemail and text after text for the last 6 months and all i keep getting is the same sob story that hes too busy but he will get it done. well im sorry but ive sent him the information 3 times and he still will not sit down for 2 minutes and fill out the form and send it in.
Im a firm beleiver that when you sell something you had better follow through with it. the shipping didnt cost him a dime so why couldnt he put him on the first 7 trucks coming my way half empty. the papers arent gonna cost him a dime so why cant he take 2 minutes after dinner and fill out the transfer for me?
basically if you want to sell cattle dont ever treat a customer this way because work will get out and the customer will tell his buddies, so this is me telling all of you on steer planet that I will NEVER do business with Tim Burke again! 

 

[frostback]

Have you called the CW guys? Maybe even the Maine Association? I had a similar thing happen but was fortunate enough to have gone through a sale that the Secretary just bypassed the seller and went to the asso. for me and I got them within a week.

 

[leanbeef]

I agree...you definitely need to pursue other avenues and see if somebody else can help you put some pressure on this guy to take five minutes & finish what he started. I'm sure there are lots of stories like this one, but there's no excuse for that type of piss-poor customer service. My advice is try to know where your seedstock is coming from and don't just buy cattle...buy a program. There are PLENTY of seed stock producers out there who appreciate and respect their customers and will bend over backwards to make sure you're taken care of AFTER they have your money!

So frustrating... I would talk to the association and see if there's anything you can do about putting a hold on his membership. If he's current with them, you probably won't get very far, but surely somebody there would figure out a way they can help you.

Good luck!

 

[Woodland Farms Show Cattl]

Thanks for the advice, i had a similar run in with shothorn cattle before and they wouldnt/couldnt do anything so it hadnt even crossed my mind to go that route, but ill give it a shot.
Normally i wouldnt buy from anyone i didnt know the reputation of but i was in a pinch last year and needed a bull, Tim sounded real convincing and trustworthy on the phone. Hopefully i can get the papers on this bull but more than anything i was hopeing to make other buyers aware of this breeders rep. probably should have done this before his last two sales.