Dealings with Long Creek Apiaries

[A2 Bee Man]

I ordered from LONG CREEK APIARIES in January of 2010. My bees were scheduled to arrive the first week of May, but as of the second week of June, they have not been shipped. Since then, I have looked into Long Creek Apiaries, and have found a long history of dissatisfied customers, late or non-existent shipping, and poor communications. After constant delays and complaints to the Better Business Bureau, the "new" shipping date in June 14, which is very late to start a new package of bees in Michigan. If the bees do not arrive that week, I'll let all of you know . . . . and, unfortunately, will also be starting the litigation process. I'm filing a mail fraud complaints with the feds tomorrow.

[bhfury]

Maybe someday we will all learn

[honeybeekeeper]

Someone needs to put a stop to it!!! I know several that it has happened to and if that person knew that he didnt have bees or doesnt have the money to pay back what he owes then he needs to stop trying to sell something that he doesnt have! He must be running a scam outfit cause i know of someone that was suppose to get his bees yesterday and they never arrived!

[greengecko]

Last year after getting the run around and too many excuses I tracked the man down and brought my two packages back. Both Long Creek queens were superseded within a year.

[baldwinbees]

shipped the package just as he said.communicated with me as to shipping,couple delays,but understandable with the weather we've been having

[baldwinbees]

oh yeah...mine was an order he couldn't fill from last year

[A2 Bee Man]

Well, after threatening litigation and filing a complaint with the US Postal Service, I finally received my bees today, June 12. I learned a HUGE lesson through all this: ALWAYS look up a potential seller online FIRST, before sending in a check. Doing a bit of homework would have saved all of us a big headache dealing with Long Creek Apiaries.

[beemaster01]

Sorry to burst your bubble but we ship in order of receipt and it was just a coincidence.

[wolfpenfarm]

I learned a HUGE lesson through all this: ALWAYS look up a potential seller online FIRST, before sending in a check. Doing a bit of homework would have saved all of us a big headache dealing with Long Creek Apiaries.

You know i can understand your frustrations. But what happens if you find nothing negative or even positive. You can and will miss out on good product and service as well as price.
I know when I am slow on production, i stay in touch with the folks. I work on the FIFO method. It is slower yeah i know but hey i am only one guy. I also make sure to let folks know its going to be x number of days before i can get to their order.

I have learned the hard way with a lot of stress and worrying to always figure in tracking and insurance on shipments. Not fun when you cannot locate a package that is late because the shipper has set it aside to deliver on the last possible date.

[BeeHappy7775]

I too am awaiting an explanation for where my packages are. They were ordered in Jan 2010 and scheduled for shipment third week of May. I have left emails and messages with personal contact info. I farm flowers for a living and work long hours as well as take care of my retail and wholesale customers. As a farmer with an unpredictable crop I am very understanding of delays. It is apparent that if you have time to be on the this bee blog, you have time to adress your customers.

[OrionBee]

Mr. beemaster01:

in what way has the weather been a factor this year. This region has a minimum of 6 plus inch deficient of rain this year... So, reading between the lines you are saying we had lots of rain which is not the case this year.

If you could, please elaborate on how the weather is affecting your operation this year.

[wolfpenfarm]

No, you are wrong. When you call a customer to tell them their order has been shipped and they call you a thief, a liar, and many other things that I can't say here,

Thats what trackign numbers are for. Thats proof they shipped. If they decide to call you names then so be it. Thats their perogative. Now you don't have to deal with them any longer after the sale, but the goal here is to keep customers happy so they don't destroy what reputation you have.

it makes you wonder why you are in this business.

why am i in this business? to make money with something i enjoy. I have had problems with people but have yet to have any of them come on here and trash me. Why? I communicate constantly. When i am not working on stuff, I am emailing with updates. That keeps them informed and keeps them from wondering if they got screwed.

When I must deal with the worst bee weather since you started 35 years ago and customers do not understand the role that weather plays in mating queens and producing packages the urge is to let someone else deal with them.

You know i understand. Might help if you explain it. Its a risk for the customer to send in money in the hopes of bees being ready. I'd have to say if I had ordered bees in january and didn't get them until may or june, i would be asking for my money back too. Reason is by time june rolls around, your hives are basically screwed in winter because they will barely have time enough to draw comb, build up and store honey for next winter.

You do not answer the phone and list to the most unreasonable people on the planet ever day so you have no idea.

Then why are you in it? If its that awful, then seems to me its time for a change.

Maybe the new policy should be when you call to complain about an order, that order is canceled at that point and ship those bees to someone who understands.

That would be a solution, but then you would end up over time pissing off the ones who understand when they have a legitimate complaint and you would be out of business.

You sir are in no position to lecture me about customer relations.

You know something, The customer is always right. Doesn't matter if he's wrong, he's always right. As far as my being position to lecture, you do not know my position or anything about me, and that kind of attitude is what the customers have a problem with. Arrogance does not work in beekeeping or in any other venture. I have run multiple businesses, dealt with million dollar budgets and dealt with vendors, customers, and business owners. The first thing that happened when i got an attitude from a vendor, in any form, is to eliminate them from my vending list, and then call every friend i had in the business, and had them cut the vendor off. It doesn't take long to blackball a business into bankruptcy.

Secondly running my own business's, Yes plural not singular, i have run into every possible customer on the planet and then some. Yet every single one of them, i went the extra 10 miles to make them happy even to the point of giving their orders to them free. Once you do that, they have no complaint. Now did i take their future orders? sometimes. I can tell you one thing, it is far better to give a product away, than to recieve the negative comments from said customer. The damage is far worse by not making that customer happy. This is true in bee keeping as well as IT industry, farming, and every other business on the planet.

You can't come away from a dispute especially on a board, or internet, smelling like a rose. The buisness will always be the loser.

[wolfpenfarm]

Mr. beemaster01:

in what way has the weather been a factor this year. This region has a minimum of 6 plus inch deficient of rain this year... So, reading between the lines you are saying we had lots of rain which is not the case this year.

If you could, please elaborate on how the weather is affecting your operation this year.

Well hasn't he had some serious rain there this year. they got nailed last month with 13" of rainfall around nashville. Being near NC border they have also had a higher rainfall average for the last 2 or 3 years than normal so yeah it can affect his operation.

[G3farms]

Nashville is three plus hours west of him, the mountains play with the weather around here something terrible.

G3

[wolfpenfarm]

Nashville is three plus hours west of him, the mountains play with the weather around here something terrible.

G3

well yeah i know, I used to live in blairsville/murphy nc area. Weird weather all the time.

[beemaster01]

You know i understand. Might help if you explain it. Its a risk for the customer to send in money in the hopes of bees being ready. I'd have to say if I had ordered bees in january and didn't get them until may or june, i would be asking for my money back too. Reason is by time june rolls around, your hives are basically screwed in winter because they will barely have time enough to draw comb, build up and store honey for next winter.

In my part of the country, you can not mate queens properly in time to ship in April. We do not start shipping until May 1st, if it is a normal year. It is all posted on my website.

You know something, The customer is always right. Doesn't matter if he's wrong, he's always right. As far as my being position to lecture, you do not know my position or anything about me, and that kind of attitude is what the customers have a problem with. Arrogance does not work in beekeeping or in any other venture. I have run multiple businesses, dealt with million dollar budgets and dealt with vendors, customers, and business owners. The first thing that happened when i got an attitude from a vendor, in any form, is to eliminate them from my vending list, and then call every friend i had in the business, and had them cut the vendor off. It doesn't take long to blackball a business into bankruptcy.

Secondly running my own business's, Yes plural not singular, i have run into every possible customer on the planet and then some. Yet every single one of them, i went the extra 10 miles to make them happy even to the point of giving their orders to them free. Once you do that, they have no complaint. Now did i take their future orders? sometimes. I can tell you one thing, it is far better to give a product away, than to recieve the negative comments from said customer. The damage is far worse by not making that customer happy. This is true in bee keeping as well as IT industry, farming, and every other business on the planet.

All that is well and good, but all these things are types of business have inventory on the shelf or services that can provided when needed. It does not qualify you to coment on the queen breeder and package producer business where so many things are beyond your control.

As far as weather, this year the major problem was not in Aptril and May, it was the two months before that. The Russian stock WILL NOT build up unless NATURAL pollen is available, It was so cold in February and March that nothing was blooming. The colonies just sit there maintaining their strength until the pollen came in. That put the colony strength at least 30 days late. However, for those of you that are in the north, a cold region is ideal place to obtain bees. It is a trade off from getting bees early and not be winter hardy, or later and get bees that will survive the winter.

You can't come away from a dispute especially on a board, or internet, smelling like a rose. The buisness will always be the loser.

And those that believe every thing they read on these boards as gospel. Just like the character that took claim for expediting his order. It doesn't happen that way. I will not move orders just because someone complains. Won't happen.

[A2 Bee Man]

The fact is, Long Creek Apiaries failed to keep the customer informed. Phone calls, emails made to your business go unanswered. Think about it . . . . I ordered 10 packages from various apiaries in Tennessee and Georgia, and received 8 within two weeks of their promised delivery date. The ones that were late communicated with me and informed me about shipping issues, so I had absolutely no problem with them. However, Long Creek Apiary was the only business which was completely uncommunicative. If wanting communication and information on two packages that were 6 weeks late makes me "one of the most unreasonable people on the planet," then you really shouldn't be in business. But don't take my word for it . . . Google Long Creek Apiaries and see for yourself the ever-growing list of very dissatisfied ex-customers you, yourself, have created. Next Spring, I'll be ordering 10-15 more packages . . . but not from Long Creek Apiaries.

[beemaster01]

Again, what other apiaries in Tennessee? We are the only registered inspected package bee producer in Tennessee. You take a big risk of disease by buying bees from unregistered producers. Since there are no other apiaries that shake packages out of their own apiaries in Tennessee, then you must have bought those bees from a reseller, bees probably out of Georgia. I don't expect you to post the info here, a PM will do the job. Even Georgia breeders were 3-4 weeks behind with their orders this year.

PS We reserve the right to refuse any and all orders!

[devdog108]

Actually, I got my Nucs 2 weeks early this year from S. Ga, BUT, most here were, as you said, behind. FBM...AKA Don...was behind this year as well. Most of your problem IMHO Beemaster01 is CS, customer Service.....

[Dean]

This is the second year in a row that I have ordered from Long Creek. I have to say that I am totally satisfied. I received my package last week, the previous year was about the same time. My package from last year had no problems making it through the record breaking winter we had. The package built up quickly in the spring and was ready to split the end of April. As I said last year in response to this thread I will continue to give Long Creek my business.

"You catch more flies with honey then with vinegar"