RE: [AlpacaTalk] shearing experience gone bad
Janice,
Your intentions have been very good, and I am glad that you have emailed your complaint to the shearer, for they need to know what they have done wrong. I suppose it is too late to stop payment on the check, but I would attempt that right away and then if you are able to accomplish that, rewrite a check for the corrected amount.
In retrospect, the check should have been written after vet bills, fecals etc were done, or perhaps 2 checks, one for shearing, and one later when the fecals were reported. Sometimes we have bad experiences, and we are angriest when we know we should have taken a different course, in this case, you probably shouldn't have had her back a second time. But your intentions were good and you have learned a lesson, and a stressful and expensive one at that. Hind sight is always 20 : 20 isn't it!
Going to small claims will just aggravate you more. My advice would be to make one more attempt at letting them know you want your fecal results, and if nothing happens, chalk it up to that good ol' school of hard knocks. While $140 is a chunk of money, I don't think it is worth the aggravation of going to small claims court and reliving the whole event again, nor the worry and angst of anticipating meeting up with them again.
Sorry about this bad experience, just try to minimize it for yourself and move on.
Laurel
PS It would be good for you to pass along your bad experience to anyone who might be considering using this person. I have handled this by saying, "I have some great folks to recomment to you for _________ , and I also have names of folks you should avoid. These are the names I recommend, and if you are considering using someone I have not mentioned, tell me who they are and I will tell you if I would steer clear or not." It's a nicer way of handling things without trashing a specific individual.
The Shouvlins
Bluebird Hills Farm
Springfield, Ohio
937-206-3936
www.bluebirdhills.
bluebirdhills@
>
> Hi Janice, I don't know about what recourse you have available but I have
> also had a similar experience with a shearer. She came with a chute, was
> rude and after having several of my alpacas go wild in the chute and both
> my husband and I were knocked down, I stopped her. Told her enough was
> enough. One of my girls was only half shorn but I was fearful of both my
> animals and our safety. I was lucky enough to find someone else to come
> out and shear the rest of my animals after putting out an SOS on several
> alpaca groups. I'm sure you have now learned that you must be more
> assertive as far as your animals are concerned. The shearer that rescued
> me told me he also had other breeders that called him after they stopped
> this same person. I am sorry you have had such a bad experience.
>
> Flossie
>
> Flossie and Joe Carmichael
> GentleGrangeAlpacas
> Jamison,Pa.
> Home-215-918-
> Cell-267-614-
> http://www.alpacana
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
>
From: jelizabethfarms1@
> Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 12:51:10 -0400
> Subject: [AlpacaTalk] shearing experience gone bad
>
>
>
>
>
> I have had an experience that I don't even have words to describe and do
> not know how to deal with, so I bring it here for any input any of you
> may have.
>
> I had the person that sheared for me last year return. She did not do
> a super job last year and in fact I lost a baby (aborted) and 2 of my
> alpacas nearly dropped dead from the stress. She was using a llama
> chute and it was not adequate to contain them. It was a very stressful
> experience. But I liked her, knew she was just getting started and she
> went the extra mile to make everyone as comfortable as possible. She
> was also willing to trim teeth which my former shearer was not. I made
> arrangements with her back in Nov for this spring shearing and repeated
> what I had said last spring, that this year she would have to be able to
> shear these 2 high strung ones on the ground. She said that would not
> be a problem. I wanted to support her business and so we made the appt.
>
> The misunderstandings started immediately.
> starting with her long delays in responding to my email requests for
> confirmation of our appt (since it had been made long ago) and the fact
> that she would be able to shear on the ground. She was very short and
> curt in her eventual replies. In retrospect, I should have called a
> halt right then and there. But again, I liked her and wanted to support
> her, and appreciated her herd health approach; plus I consider her
> sister a good friend who has been an invaluable support to me whenever I
> have had an alpaca emergency the past few years. So I overlooked her
> curtness.
>
> But her curtness/rudeness continued upon her arrival at my farm. She
> brought several people with her which added to the chaos and confusion
> (one was her boyfriend who she said she never got to spend any time with
> laugh laugh). She was non communicative with me and I tried on several
> occasions to have a conversation with her about what cut, etc. But she
> was too busy talking with her boyfriend and the person she brought along
> to assist that had equipment for shearing on the ground. Everything
> was a rush.
>
> Long story short - instead of the least expensive cut, she gave the
> "nudie", the most expensive cut. I tried during the first shear to
> remind her that that was not the cut I desired. She continued. Again
> in retrospect I should have been more assertive, but there was so much
> going on, plus she cut that first boy really badly and there was so much
> blood and nothing she did would stop it. She went thru a whole tube of
> super glue or whatever she was using to try and close the skin and it
> did not work. It was so bad that she told me to call a vet out to
> stitch it up and she would pay the bill. I called my vet who was out of
> town for the week-end and unable to come. Thanks to the calm and quick
> thinking of the woman she brought with her, we got him up and the
> gushing stopped.
>
> So we moved on. She also cut the last one, but not as badly. It had
> started to rain at that point and I was busy trying to help her by
> getting her stuff out of the rain. She never mentioned that last cut to
> me but I saw her trying to get more super glue out of the tube and saw
> the bloody wipes. All was chaos.
>
> The bill was much higher than I expected and I was shocked. But by that
> time it was late, my 3yo was cranky and we were all hot, hungry, and
> miserable. Again, my mistake, I did not go over the bill in detail. I
> just wrote her a check. Part of that check was for fecals.
>
> After going over the bill and the day in my mind, I wrote her a detailed
> email describing what had happened and how I had been overcharged and
> given a cut I had not requested and that I was due a refund. It has
> now been over 2 weeks and not only has she not responded to that email
> but she also has not sent me the results of the fecals. I am really
> angry. I told her in my post that I liked her and wanted to continue
> working with her but was upset about her demeanor and her not discussing
> the cut with me before hand and in fact even ignoring me when I tried to
> talk to her about it......and then charging me for it! I have spoken
> with the other woman who has an alpaca farm and was a very calm and
> appreciated presence that day. She confirmed that she heard what I
> requested. I know these 2 women work together on occasion and I don't
> want to drag her into the middle of unpleasantness. I also don't want
> to drag the sister into this. But I am getting angrier by the day.
> Not only did she rip me off, ignore me, injure my alpaca,but she moved
> full steam ahead with the cut that was on *her* mind, giving no regard
> whatsoever to my requests. And now it appears she is a thief and
> vindictive as well. It is bad enough that I paid her for a cut I did
> not request and in fact was in direct contradiction to what I *did*
> request, but I have paid her $140 for fecals that she is not giving me
> the results from. At this point I wouldn't even trust the results, not
> knowing if she did them properly or in a timely manner.
>
> So needless to say I have very negative thoughts about this woman and
> her integrity and professionalism. She is on the board of a llama
> rescue group and shears a lot of llamas in this area.
>
> What can/should I do at this point? I am angry enough now that she is
> compromising my animals health as I was waiting to worm everyone,
> including the horses, until we got the fecal results back, that I feel I
> want to expose her to the community she serves. It was bad enough that
> I had to spend a week doctoring the cut boy and worrying about infection
> and fly larvae getting in the wound. Her actions are despicable and
> have cost me money I could ill afford and left me hanging not knowing
> whether to worm or not. Is there a licensing board, or anyone
> overseeing authority for shearing, for doing fecals, etc that I can
> report her to?
>
> If there is not I guess I will have to take her to small claims court.
> I do have the other woman as a witness, but really would hate to have to
> take it to that level. But I will if there is no other recourse.
>
> What say you?
> JaniceElizabeth in NW GA
>
>
>
>
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posted by Chaddo at 11:06 AM
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