Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms

[Daniel Y]

Hey, Jerry Mattiaccio is the same character posting on Long Creek Apiaries thread. Doesn't that tell everyone something?

And how many people are really surprised that this guys methods of ripping people off has not ended. I posted in that thread that his latest posts where just one more way to convince people to part with their money Leopards do not change their spots.

[NDnewbeek]

From the UPS page on live animals:

"Any package containing a live animal shall be considered a perishable commodity and will be accepted for transportation solely at the shipper´s risk for any damage or loss arising from the perishable nature of the item. UPS shall not be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages."

This is the single biggest reason I NEVER use UPS for deliveries to my location anymore. My location is considered an 'outpost' by USPS and UPS. I have had problems getting queens and bees delivered by both USPS and UPS - but have had far more problems with UPS. Priority Mail is most reliable to my location - queens and packages (almost) always arrive in 3 days (this is the first year that I have had any problems with USPS Priority).

I learned that with UPS - they will let you pay for the insurance, but then refer to the above policy when you have to make a claim.

I have to accept some risk when I order bees (either packages or queens) because of my location - USPS Priority has consistently been the lowest risk option. My only other option is to not ever order bees.

[millerwb]

04-15-2012, 10:19 AM#352

matt1954

Join Date: Sep 2010Location: Stafford, VirginiaPosts: 86

Re: Dealings with Long Creek Apiaries

Perhaps the state of TN doesnt give a hoot, but the Federal Authorities will. I am retired federal and given the volume of posts, his misconduct must be above $50,000.00 which is the threshold. He is using the internet, mail, taking checks and credit cards, that is mail and wire fraud all federal crimes. What we need is one person to put this collectively together and take it to a United States Attorney. I know who to take this to so here is what I am willing to do. If you have paid and not received your money or your products, send me your name, dollar amount, email and phone number, and I will put a spreadsheet together. If we can get over the 50k, I will forward it to the appropriate federal authorities. Here is my email address: jmattiaccio@richmondgroupintl.com Put Long Creek in the subject line. If 350 people post with a majority of them having negative views, coupled with an F rating at the BBB, then this is not someone down on his luck, this is done with malice and he should be stopped because his predatory ways on new and unsuspecting beekeepers will cause the rest of us trying hard to do it right to pay a hefty price. Lord knows this work is tough enough without wondering whether you are going to receive what you paid for.

Jerry Mattiaccio

Interesting.......

[millerwb]

And how many people are really surprised that this guys methods of ripping people off has not ended.

Long Creek is/was in TN, Jerry is in VA. Different people, similar customer service. Looks like Jerry just might know the $$ threshold to keep himself out of really hot water....

[matt1954]

Wow. We have had an issue with packages being shipped out of Blackshear GA that went through jacksonville Florida with several damaged and several dying in shipment. We are refunding our customers. This happened from April 27 to now. Our customers are being contacted and we have been addressing these issues with UPS. About 85 packages were involved in damage, die offs. No one from my company sent dead bees, or stole from anyone. An error has happened, and we are fixing it. This is indeed regrettable. We have sent packages for five years and it is the first time we have ever had a situation like this occur. However, it is also the first time we ever used UPS as well. Thank you.

Jerry Mattiaccio

[wolfpenfarm]

I don't know why anyone uses UPS. or Fed ex. They rarely cover loss of bees. I use the USPS at least i can get my money back if they arrive dead.
Why didn't the buyer pay the extra for insurance? I would have insisted on it. OR at least figured in the cost of insurance into the price of my bees.

[Lorren]

Okay I need to add my two cents worth. I ordered my package and was part of the shipment UPS managed to mess up. In defense of Rock Hill they have sent out an email to all effected customers on filing a claim for a refund and have regularly updated by email. I had two packages ordered and one was fine the other was not. Jerry was very responsive to inquires with a reply usually within 24 hours. I went with Rock Hill on the suggestion of a fellow beekeeper in my area. He actually got an earlier shipment this year and was extremely pleased so I decided to try Rock Hill. I spoke with my local UPS guy and he said the reason for the customer to file a claim is because UPS will many times ask for the damaged (dead) package as proof for refund. According to my local UPS rep its actually common for it to be done this way as it makes it a quicker process then the shipper having to coordinate between UPS and the customer. I have never met Jerry but I have spoken with his wife when I was ordering and I thought she was very nice and extremely helpful. I think everyone is jumping to conclusions about this situation based on upset customer. I speaks volumes to me that a customer would go so far as to post the mans home phone but neglect to report the mans effort to email everyone and resolve the situation. I have no personal connection to Jerry or Rock Hill, but I think everyone should know the rest of the story that is conveniently being left out. They even sent out pictures of the damaged dead package received from UPS.

BClemens-I would venture a guess that you were part of the emails that went out as soon as the problem was discovered. The email came before I even knew there was a problem. Patience to allow the business to try to resolve the problem may have benefited you more then going on a rant. If you deny these facts, I will gladly post the emails sent to everyone by Rock Hill. It seems to me you just weren't getting the resolution as you deemed acceptable. Understand that with that many orders messed up by UPS if they were to call you and every other customer individually they would probably not have time to resolve the issue with UPS.

[wolfpenfarm]

n going on a rant. If you deny these facts, I will gladly post the emails sent to everyone by Rock Hill. It seems to me you just weren't getting the resolution as you deemed acceptable. Understand that with that many orders messed up by UPS if they were to call you and every other customer individually they would probably not have time to resolve the issue with UPS.

Ok, its like this, i have used UPS to ship before, and the rules are that if you have a damage claim, the recipient or shipper can file the claim. The problem comes when UPS decides that they don't want to pay. That is why i refuse to use them and request anyone shipping to me not to use them.

Fed ex i think requires the shipper to file the claim. The post office i think requires the shipper to file the claim.
AND all of them will deny the claim if you do not notify them upon pickup or delivery that there is damage or the bees are dead.

[Serenity Farm]

Two months ago I purchased two nucs from Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms and I have yet to receive them. I did receive an email two weeks ago about weather issues, but thought that they were to ship out the following week. I still have not received them, I have left messages, and emailed but no bees. I trust that the bees will come soon and hopefully in good condition as I paid for overnight shipping. If you see this post Jerry please respond.

[matt1954]

Okay, I am happy to report that all affected customers have been refunded and we are in the process of resolving this issue with UPS. I am pleased that my customers have been taken care of, but they did not receive their bees and that makes them, and me, unsatisfied. We have shipped bees for several years. Bees die in shipment, but never to this extent. We have used the postal system each and every time except this year. When a UPS rep approached us and said we can get your bees to your customers faster we were all ears. Our customers want their bees soooner and pay handsomely for the service. But, as we now know, things went wrong. UPS is looking at thier policies and procedures and we will also take a lessons learned from this. One of them being, no shipping bees UPS next year. To my customers and everyone here on Beesource, I cannot apologize enough for what happened. I have provided the photos that UPS sent to my customers. UPS placed the bees in a glassed in building outside, closed the door for the weekend putting the bees together with no spacing. The temperature must have soared in that room, killing the bees. We were told the bees would be shipped out via truck that Friday and apparently were misinformed.

Now, here is where I am displeased. Mr. Clemens emailed me today and believes that the moderator (Barry) here and I have conspired to have him banned from Beesource (his words) and as a result, he no longer wishes to have anything to do with bees. That is an absolute fallacy. I have had no contact with Barry throughout this whole process. I dont know him, nor would I ask him to have someone banned unless there was threatening behavior. This is an area that Mr. Clemons and I will have to disagree on along with his statement that we knowingly sent dead bees. I personally looked at every box of bees before they shipped along with J & J Honey and they were in excellent shaped when they shipped.

What has upset me is the gentleman from Pennsylvania who posted our home phone number and encouraged people to call it. Whether such activity is a crime is still a matter for our prosecutor to resolve. Two people left death threats on our home phone. The Stafford County Sherrifs office is investigating and to my surprise, neither of the two who left the threats are customers! They didn't lose anything out of this deal, but now are going to endure legal fees and become "guests of the county for a short stay" for their actions. It defies logic. Among everything else we were faced with trying to resolve these issues, attempting to respond to a myriad of phone calls, emails, and coordinating with UPS, I had to deal with our local sherriff because two people saw our home phone number posted here and thought they would call as a prank and threaten us. As a retired federal law enforcement officer, this surprises even me.

I truly am sorry that my customers endured these losses and I have made them financially whole. I cant bring the bees back to them, but we as a business did the next best thing. Wishing you all the best,

Jerry Mattiaccio

[buckrube]

I would like to thank Jerry, for saying he was going to refund my money, I recieved a refund check in the mail sat for the the three packages that died in shipping. Thanks again.

Gene Johnson

[flyingbrass]

I got my check on Saturday for all the nucs. Thanks.

[Barry]

Mr. Clemens emailed me today and believes that the moderator (Barry) here and I have conspired to have him banned from Beesource (his words) and as a result, he no longer wishes to have anything to do with bees. That is an absolute fallacy. I have had no contact with Barry throughout this whole process. I dont know him, nor would I ask him to have someone banned unless there was threatening behavior. This is an area that Mr. Clemons and I will have to disagree on along with his statement that we knowingly sent dead bees.

Jerry -

Thanks for the updates. Sorry this happened to you. I confirm that we have had no correspondence except for what is posted here in this thread. Mr. Clemens was banned due to his unwillingness to work within the guidelines of this forum by making false allegations and being disrespectful in correspondence. Glad to hear UPS is active in helping you resolve the delivery issue(s).

[matt1954]

I wanted to update everyone and to provide some information that UPS passed on to us. UPS paid all claims and we received three checks to settle the claims made to them for the dead bees. In total, a little over $11, 000.00. However, UPS made it clear, that they have a policy that bees are considered persihable items and therefore not reimbursable as part of the claims process. As such, they made an exception this time due to the clear and unmistakable error made by UPS in the Jacksonville office in placing the bees in the glass building which resulted in the bees dieing. We also had made it clear, that we were prepared to take this to court if needed. All of our customers were refunded well before we recieved the UPS refund. We will not utilize UPS in the future for shipping bees, queens, or Nucs. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience to all our customers, and thank each and everyone of you who filed the claims with UPS. It really did make a difference!

[Barry]

That's good to hear, Jerry! It's refreshing to see a problem handled right and followed up on.