Mann Lake Alert

10998 Views 42 Replies 29 Participants Last post by William Bagwell, Sep 20, 2020

rick54

Discussion Starter · Jun 13, 2020

I recently placed an order with the Hackensack MN branch of Mann Lake which arrived with more than half the items missing from the shipment. I tried calling them only to receive an answering service who took my name, phone number and email address and said they'd pass my contact information on to the branch. I then emailed Mann Lake through their "contact us" email information on their web page without any reply. I tried to contact them by phone again today only to be put on hold waiting for the next available representative. After a couple of minutes on hold my connection was disconnected. This happened twice. I then turned to their Face Book page only to find several other people voicing their complaints about the same type of service that I've received. Up to this point I have not received any correspondence from Mann Lake. I did send a PM message through FB to them which was answered on my second message to them with a canned reply that they sent to all those who voiced a concern about their delayed or incomplete orders which starts off, "Thank you for reaching out to us!" and that they'd pass my concerns onto a representative for review.
So my biggest beef now is that Mann Lake uses the Chinese virus like everyone else as an excuse for not getting orders shipped and for being short handed on employees. Well it sure is funny that they have 100% staff to put up their summer sale advertisements on their FB page looking for new orders that they cannot fill. Their accounts receivable department seems to be fully staffed as they have no problem on banging your credit card when you place and order on line with them. And for all the folks who placed orders thinking they're going to receive a complete order, wouldn't it be nice if when placing the order an "out of stock" flag would appear on those orders that cannot be completed? It also seems to me that accepting orders knowing darn well that your not going to be able to fill them is a little fraudulent. So I just wanted to relate my experience that I'm currently having with Mann Lake at the moment and to remind everyone buyer beware! This virus does not in any way effect the taking of money, it only seems to effects the refund of money or shipment of product! Perhaps Mann Lake should suspend temporarily their summer sale and the taking of any new orders, and concentrate on taking care of the orders they currently have that they cannot fill or complete. I think that would be the most fair thing to do for their customers!

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1 - 20 of 43 Posts

William Bagwell

· #2 · Jun 13, 2020

Placed a small order on 4-20 and received four of five items fairly quickly. Fifth item shipped from a Kellybee location. Very confused to receive a ship notice from a company I had not ordered from. They did send a corrected notice a day or two later.

But yes, out of stock items should be flagged as such. Other vendors both bee and non bee alike do this. Would prefer to know before putting it in the cart since I am often juggling items between vendors to get free shipping

But letting you know at checkout is still better than not knowing at all.

LAlldredge

· #3 · Jun 13, 2020

Your idea to flag out of stock items is a good one and has been mentioned. It is for sure frustrating to need something and waste time waiting. They also have a lot of new beekeepers and orders to boot I learned on my last call. If you can call and get a Mannlake person they can go over their inventory. Such a weird challenging year for suppliers.

Also using Pierco and Dadant. Dadant has it’s own set of inventory control issues but love their products. Pierco was fast on shipping triple wax. Highly advise stocking up early and anticipating what you may need. Unassembled boxes, frames and foundation especially. Will likely place my fall order in July.

AHudd

· #4 · Jun 13, 2020

I have seen some seed co. that will even notify you by E-Mail when an "out of stock" item becomes available. It seems to me it would be easier to flag something as to try to keep up with back orders and/or refunds and then shipping orders in multiple shipments, but what do I know.

Alex

Michael Bush

· #5 · Jun 13, 2020

I ordered a few items from Mann Lake (online) a few days ago and got them yesterday. They arrived just fine.

Meghues

· #6 · Jun 14, 2020

I ordered some supers which came in a reasonable amount of time, but were cut and drilled wrong. My husband managed to adapt them to get them together, but I emailed the Minnesota branch. It’s the first problem like this I’ve had. Usually their quality is fine.
Anyway, they graciously sent out replacements which arrived within a couple days. Their phones are not working well, but their service is still good.
I think we all need to be kind to each other and our businesses during this weird situation. Mistakes get made, especially during a busy season. If a company makes good on the errors, what else do you want?

Akademee

· #7 · Jun 14, 2020

Its a strange time, and perhaps a lot of beekeepers out there are thinking that this is a great time to start working on stuff since we are all stuck inside! Mann Lake is probably understaffed and people supplying them are understaffed and it just goes down the line. I had some issues with Mann Lake orders too, but I have noticed that they don't seem to ever have an "out of stock" listing anywhere. It would help if they did, especially when I have to get one more nick knack to qualify for free shipping!

rick54

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 14, 2020

"Thank you for reaching out to us! We have forwarded this information on to one of our representatives and they will be looking into this." This was my most recent message from Mann Lake. And who was the representative (name) you supplied the information to in case I'd like to follow-up with them, and when do you anticipate he/she will be getting back with me? In the meantime I see Mann Lake has not taken down their summer time sales ads off Face Book. Instead of making things right immediately, and notifying folks of their awareness to their problems and how they intend on fixing them, Mann Lake has continued to advertise their sales specials looking for more orders rather than making the ones they already have right by their customers. It just goes to show the power of greed. I'm pretty disappointed in how Mann Lake is handling this problem with all the bee keepers who have ordered from them in good faith anticipating on receiving their full orders in reasonable time.

roundfrog

· #9 · Jun 16, 2020

I too have had the same issue. I placed an order on MAY 9th for a few supers and frames, and have received ZERO communication from them regarding when it will ship (it still hasn't). The numerous times I have called, I have either been placed on hold and subsequently disconnected or had someone tell me "they are working on it". All of my emails have gone unanswered. This is pretty unacceptable for a large company like Mann Lake.

Clayton Huestis

· #10 · Jun 16, 2020

I'm glad I've been dealing with betterbee. The lady that answers the phone is nice. Even told me when stuff is out of stock and when it would be in. Might not be as cheap as mann lake but the stuff is a bit higher quality anyways. Only thing mann lake has that I really like is ultrabee sub. But maybe I need to try betterbee's sub to see how it measures up.

CliveW

· #11 · Jun 17, 2020

As I mentioned in a separate post, check out PerfectBee.com. They are a much smaller company than Mann Lake but I have been buying from them for a couple of years and they have been transparent and honest all the time. They have a COVID19 page on their site which is pretty open about all that has gone happened, if any delays exist and so on. They have never let me down, their stuff is top notch and they communicate very well. Highly recommended.

rick54

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jun 18, 2020

To be fair to Mann Lake, I'd like to report that they did come through with delivery of the items that were missing from my order after my post on this forum and also a comment on PayPal. I'd like to make a suggestion to Mann Lake in case they do read these posts. First, get rid of your summer sales ads and your greedy attempts to secure more orders, and concentrate on getting the orders filled that you already have! Second, get a real person to answer the phones and not an answering service who takes information that doesn't seem to be passed on to the company. These two problems along are enough to alienate yourself from the beekeepers across the country.

For you bee keepers who would like to order from Mann Lake in the future, assuming they get their phone answering problem resolved, I'd suggest you call and confirm that the items you'd like to order are in stock. Second I'd ask how far behind they're at in getting orders out. And of course the name of the person you talked with. Maybe this bit of information will keep things honest.

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marksmith

· #13 · Jun 18, 2020

Couldn’t get them to respond to the phone. Sent them an email wanting to cancel my order as I bought elsewhere. Two days later I get a ups label created ticket with tracking. Sure enough it shipped and I can see its progress.

Kinda chicken pucky to do it that way if you ask me. I’ll be ordering elsewhere from now on.

mem

· #14 · Jun 19, 2020

Placed an web order with Mann Lake on Wednesday 17th, shipped from Kelley on the 18th, Scheduled Delivery Friday 19th.

Mike B1

· #15 · Jun 25, 2020

It appears many if not most of the suppliers we use are either out of stock or backordered. I experienced some problems with placing orders and not being notified they were not in stock, yet my card was billed and I was put on a waiting list for shipment. Since then I have made sure to speak to a live person and verify my order would be filled and when it would be shipped.

KellyW

· #16 · Jun 26, 2020

On 6/23 I placed an order with Mann Lake and all 3 boxes (complete order) arrived today, 6/26. That is excellent turn-around time. My items were shipped from the Woodland, CA location so that may be a totally different situation for many of you. I only ordered one deep box, frames, bottom board and cover plus 10# of pollen patties so small quantities may not be a problem. Or maybe they are getting back to semi normal operations.

Vectorjet

· #17 · Jun 29, 2020

Tried to call Mann lake to place order today. Listened to music for over an hour then disconnected, called back, again listen to music for hour then gave up. Guess I will have to order somewhere else.

odfrank

· #18 · Jun 30, 2020

Vectorjet said:
Tried to call Mann lake to place order today. Listened to music for over an hour then disconnected, called back, again listen to music for hour then gave up. Guess I will have to order somewhere else.

Join the 21st century...order online.

Vectorjet

· #19 · Jun 30, 2020

odfrank said:
Join the 21st century...order online.

While I'll admit to not being up to speed on all this 21st century stuff, I do know how to order online. However not all items Mann Lake sells are on the web site and its hard to negotiate special pricing. Plus they haven't replied to e-mail in over a week. I am not trying to hate on Mann Lake, just pointing out that like some others, I have had problems ordering from Mann Lake recently.

aran

· #20 · Jun 30, 2020

if you look at the shipping slip it will say what is on backorder on it.
I have had several shipments from Mannlak this year with the same issue. They have sent the remaining items as they get off back order

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