Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Cheesman and BeeBabys.com

52K views 89 replies 39 participants last post by  delber 
#1 · (Edited)
For a very long time I've designed and built most of my own bee equipment, especially bottom boards, supers and covers, but only a few frames. Recently I considered how much it was costing me for lumber and then the time and effort to turn lumber into equipment. I saw a posting about Mr. Cheesman and his BeeBabys.com website in Manchester, Ohio. Their prices for ready to assemble supers was very attractive, as well as their offer of free shipping on every order.

So my wife Diane and I made some inquiries:
We wanted to know if they could make a few customizations to our order, in particular we wanted our 8-frame supers to be cut 14 inches wide (creating 12-1/2" inside width), and without any handholds (we prefer our own end cleats). They readily agreed to our specs, and without any additional cost to us.

Then we heard that they were considering changing their prices and shipping policy, beginning in 2012. So we searched our budget and managed to place an order for six supers (enough, I thought, to get a good idea of their product quality). They arrived by FedEx in about three days. Most impressive - they were cut, with our custom requirements, exactly as requested (no problems trying to straighten out order shortcomings).

The end boards were nearly "select" quality, and the side pieces, even though some of them had a few tight knots (I pre-coat all knots with TiteBond III, inside and out), were straight and true. All box joints fit together very snugly (I assemble using bar clamps, with TiteBond III and coated deck screws). The box joint fingers were each drilled with pilot holes for fasteners - very precisely positioned, each and every one.

After checking the updated BeeBabys.com, the prices are a little more than they were, pre-2012, but they still seem quite attractive, especially since I have an idea as to the quality of their product. I am hoping my revised budget will permit taking advantage of one of the volume price breaks, when I am able to place my next order.
 
See less See more
#54 ·
Anyone still dealing with Beebabys?

I placed a order for a complete hive long ago and have yet to here anything. They were slow on my lasy order but, the quality was great and with free shipping all in all a really good deal. Justin said they were backed up on orders,this is understandable. Since then he is now taking new orders on the website. I like buying from the little guy but, my bees will arrive on Monday and no hive to place them in! This is for sure all my fault never place your eggs in one basket. Money is hard where we live and buying more than needed simply is no longer acceptable. My orders are small but, should anyone be treated differently because of the size of a order?
 
#58 ·
Re: Anyone still dealing with Beebabys?

How did you get in contact with the new owner? I am at the point of threatening legal proceedings with this company as it has now been over three months without completion of my order and almost a month with no contact from them despite all avenues of trying to communicate with them. I have legal counsel available to me through my day job who is willing to assist me with this pro bono, but am trying to give them one more chance. I really hate to do this towards any company, especially one in a world as small as ours, but there is only so much good will, forgiveness, and understanding you can give before being ready to pursue these options.
 
#59 ·
Re: Anyone still dealing with Beebabys?

The new owner promised good service and also to take care of all the backorders
justin promised and recieved payment on. I got him on the address posted on the updated website. Off the top of my head it was randy@beebabys.com. The person you need to contact is Randy Shoup. I have been getting regular email since he has taken over. The quality is great plus free shipping but,how long are you willing to wait on even a very small order? $105 bucks is a consideral amount with the problems we all have.I hope we all get better service with the new guy? Like to help the small business people out. I'm almost ready to give it up and go with Kelly's or Dadant as the do get me my products and do it professionally.
 
#60 ·
Re: Anyone still dealing with Beebabys?

Hello to all, MY name is Randy and I am the new owner of BeeBaby's. I have been in contact with some of you about your orders that some are having issues with. It is my intention to complete your orders that were taken and paid for by BeeBaby's before I bought it. I want to thank the ones I have spoke to for having patients with me as the new owner. I can be reached at; randy@beebabys.com or at 419-520-5591. I was hoping to be all caught up and shipped by tomorrow, but I received 3 more orders last night and today that were not filled totally. I am working very hard to set things straight with everyone, but I maybe looking at finishing everything by this weekend. I wanted to let everyone know that they will be taken care of. Thank you to who ever suggested I come on here to let everyone know.
 
#63 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Hi Nmace: Any feedback? Looks to me like a company that bit off a bit more than they can chew and sold out to new ownership. Their pricing is quite attractive, though. Thinking about next year's order.
 
#64 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Randy called me about two weeks ago and promised he would take care of my small order within the week. Well still no hive? I personally will not risk doing business with these guys in the future. The prices are good,but I could sell things at any price if I did not have to actually send the product to the customer. This order has been over three months and $105.00 is a lot of money for nothing.
 
#66 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Still no hive?? He did try to contact by phone,but I can't sit by the phone. He talks alot why not just refund or ship? He will talk about his problems on the phone when work should be getting done. I mean come on 4 months on a 1 hive order never again will I deal with a unproven company like beebabys. Risk your money if you choose,you will be rolling the dice at best.
 
#67 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Still no hives here, been about a months since I talked with the new owner, he did not respond to my email a week ago. Original order placed back in March. Will be pursing legal action at this point and filing with the Ohio state attorney general which can be done online for anyone who is interested, just google it. My personal attorney is also sending me information on how to file small claims against the company, which since the costs of doing so is less then what is owed to me (over $300) I will be doing so.
 
#70 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

I too can report that I finally received my complete order two days ago in the mail. The original order was placed in February (4 months ago). The quality was up to standard for this company. The communication however has once again gone to none existent the new owner is no longer responding to emails or answering phone calls or returning them. I really would love to see this company flourish as they do produce a good product for a good price, but I cannot recommend them based on the current way the business is running. Feel free to contact me guys when you get your act together.
 
#72 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

It looks like 4 months is the standard ship time, I wish I would have been told that when
My order was placed and paid for six weeks ago.
Communication seems to be the main problem with these companies if they would just respond to messages and emails once in awhile I think it would make a difference.
 
#73 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Finally received my order last week, almost two months waiting.
I was sure I'd burned another $300 bucks but not this time.
The quality is very good and so is the price.
Maybe this company will come around.
 
#74 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

I ordered from Beebabys in the past and received a good product at a great price. So, I placed a small order in July 2012. Never heard anything. October I sent an email and no response. I saw that the website was down. I figured I was out the product and the money. Fast forward to last week. I was doing my usual window shopping and equipment planning that I do every winter and I came across the new beebabys site. I saw the email address changed and figured I'd send an email seeing about my order. I received a prompt email back from Randy asking for my telephone number. He called and I spoke to him for about 20 minutes. He seemed like a stand up guy, apologizing for the mistake. He said that he was going to refund my money and send me the product. I told him that he didn't need to do both but insisted to make things right. I'll wait and see if this comes true and I'll keep everyone abreast of the situation.
 
#75 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

I hope it works out better for you than it did for me... Justin tried to make it right with me, but he never did send all the replacement parts that were damaged in shipping (shipped with no packing, boxes were damaged in shipment). Several months later some of the boxes that I bought from him have cracked through the paint and most of the joints are still so loose that the bees had to fill them with propolis. I wish I would have just bought Mann Lake or Country Rubes boxes like I have in the past. These aren't going to last very long.
 
#76 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

What I had ordered in the past was very good quality. My joints were tight enough(didn't need a 5lb sledge :) ) and the boxes are still solid. I see what you mean about the packing. I did have one finger break off a joint in shipping but it was easily repaired.
 
#77 ·
Re: Avoid Cheeseman and BeeBabys.com

Hello to everyone, I see there are people who where unhappy with the time it took to get there orders. Like I said when I bought the company in May, I would correct all the issues that everyone had. Yes when i bought the business it was in trouble, but I made a commitment to take care of all the issues at hand. As I did speak to some of you personally and give you a time frame when you could expect your orders. But as luck would have it the amount of issues that first showed up only compounded until it grew out of control. Yes i did cut communication as it seemed to only hurt matters worse because people was getting false hope from me on timing, which was due to the issues growing beyond my control. I tried to explain what was happening to a few and they turned it on me saying I should have spent time working in the shop. Well, I guess they should have been in my shop working with me til 3-5 am some nights. I am not saying you don't have the right to be upset with what happened to your orders, I would feel the same as you do. But I did continue to fix the problems one at a time. I did keep my word even though it has cost me all the customers we had. I did not give up on anyone nor will I to to make a profit and leave you all hang in limbo. I could have changed the name when I bought it and started fresh, but I didn't. I took the long hard road to make sure you all got what you paid for. Sure it has taken longer than expected by far from what I thought, but I am still committed rather I have any customers or not. I won't be satisfied until all the issues are resolved. As you can see by signalten post I am making it right no matter what. I am not making excuses for anything but my first commitment was making sure you all were made right. It has been difficult due to the amount of issues and because some orders were place by phone which left me no record of what you were missing or things that might have been damaged in shipping. Those of you that have received your orders after I bought the business got even better quality then when you ordered it. I did use my time to better some quality issues as well. It has been a long road to recover from and I don't know where I will go from here because I now have a business without any business which is fine by me as long as everything is made right with each and everyone of you. But rest assured I won't let anyone down no matter what. I guess a time frame went out the window but it will be made right. You have the right to your opinion, but at least I didn't give up on anyone no matter how hard or long it takes and you were placed as my #1 priority. I am speaking up as an honest business man not one seeking to gain from profit or to have a successful business, so I will have to start from ground up from no customers if I choose to ever continue. So I do want to take this time and apologize for the heart ache and inconvenience this may have caused everyone and anyone who was affected by it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top