Strictly for the birds
In the first week of June I signed up for an online account with CJ Bird food and the products they sell.
They have a range of feeders that seemed quite well designed compared with other offerings from other makers.
I had gone in search of better bird feeding products after buying a "squirrel resistant" feeder made by Nature's Feast and discovering that resistant means it will break in one day given an attack from and average squirrel. £8 or so per day is quite expensive for feeding wild birds in my (perhaps) slightly old fashioned view, especially given there's no food involved at that price point. Using their lesser models means feeder replacement twice to three times a day, or even more and they run out at about £1.50. Seems to me that spending almost six times the amount should get you more time, but it did not in reality.
Actually I found out that the bar which bears the entire weight of the product is not able to support any more than the combined weight of itself and the peanuts it's supposed to contain. One more thing being added, a squirrel for example, is enough to demonstrate the mechanical failure that is designed into this item, mostly on grounds of cheapness. It's abundantly clear that no one at the company has actually tested the claims it has put on the sales label, as it simply does not do what it says on the pack. It can not even resist itself very well, never mind the attentions from a squirrel
Anyway, I chanced my arm at CJ and purchased one small defender seed feeder and a guardian cage to wrap around it. 2 days later it was with me, which is not bad service it must be said, well and truly on par with those suppliers I consider adequate.
I noted however that the base of this feeder is cast zinc and has been powder coated inside and out, sadly that inside includes the thread in the base which is supposed to hold the guardian to it via a plastic wing nut (one can only wonder why it's plastic). Due to the powder being where it was not needed or wanted it meant the wing nut had to have lubrication applied and considerable force to get it close to being fully home in the base. After a few days it was of course observed to have seized solid. This prevents cleaning of the feeder which is poor in a bird feeder, where cleanliness is the only way to prevent disease in the creatures you feed. Bear in mind we have had all those avian flu scares in the news and you'll see why one would be concerned if one was remotely interested in seeing birds fed properly and safely.
About a week after the first purchase I made another, another 2 day delivery again, (so they can do that reliably if that is what they choose to do) I went with a small peanut feeder with guardian cage this time as my local bird population are as smitten with peanuts as most squirrels are, and this time the powder coating problem was not witnessed, so it looked hopeful that this was just a one off. However this time the feeder itself was damaged. It showed damage straight from the box in the form of two broken areas in the mesh. In general I'd not normally worry over something like this, but the squirrels we get here are extremely taxing, and would have been "in like Flint" if this were to be left unattended to. The guardian cage wrapped around it being the only thing preventing that to date. I'm bothered that a small squirrel will make it through in time and destroy this feeder exactly like it happened to all the other feeders that have gone before it.
I've been in touch with a number of people at CJ and so far I have had an offer to send spare parts, which have not materialised in over a week despite the order being reported as having been processed, and another offer to replace outright, which is also yet to happen after a substantial part of a week has passed. All this has taken up most of the month of June. I leave it to you to decide if that is acceptable for you. I'm already certain it is not terribly acceptable for me.
The guardian cages are pretty good though, so I may be forced to end up seeking other feeders to put in there as it looks less than likely I shall ever see working ones from CJ based on the experience as witnessed so far.
What a great shame, I really thought I'd found a good company to deal with until this rather lacking performance in customer support emerged. The offers they have made have been good, and friendly in nature, but not actually delivering them makes them about as useful as any other hearsay in the reality.
In this century, you might reasonably imagine that spending £60 on two bird feeders, and waiting most of a month, would actually see you feeding birds in some style, without any hassles at all, but this has not been the experience so far with CJ. I offered to help shoulder some of the cost regarding the first offer (I had delivery in mind) but this was rejected by the company in the name of good customer relations. I'm not sure what one can say at that point, there does not appear to be any excuse that I can see, perhaps it is obscure and that is why I can't see it. Who can possibly say?
They have a range of feeders that seemed quite well designed compared with other offerings from other makers.
I had gone in search of better bird feeding products after buying a "squirrel resistant" feeder made by Nature's Feast and discovering that resistant means it will break in one day given an attack from and average squirrel. £8 or so per day is quite expensive for feeding wild birds in my (perhaps) slightly old fashioned view, especially given there's no food involved at that price point. Using their lesser models means feeder replacement twice to three times a day, or even more and they run out at about £1.50. Seems to me that spending almost six times the amount should get you more time, but it did not in reality.
Actually I found out that the bar which bears the entire weight of the product is not able to support any more than the combined weight of itself and the peanuts it's supposed to contain. One more thing being added, a squirrel for example, is enough to demonstrate the mechanical failure that is designed into this item, mostly on grounds of cheapness. It's abundantly clear that no one at the company has actually tested the claims it has put on the sales label, as it simply does not do what it says on the pack. It can not even resist itself very well, never mind the attentions from a squirrel
Anyway, I chanced my arm at CJ and purchased one small defender seed feeder and a guardian cage to wrap around it. 2 days later it was with me, which is not bad service it must be said, well and truly on par with those suppliers I consider adequate.
I noted however that the base of this feeder is cast zinc and has been powder coated inside and out, sadly that inside includes the thread in the base which is supposed to hold the guardian to it via a plastic wing nut (one can only wonder why it's plastic). Due to the powder being where it was not needed or wanted it meant the wing nut had to have lubrication applied and considerable force to get it close to being fully home in the base. After a few days it was of course observed to have seized solid. This prevents cleaning of the feeder which is poor in a bird feeder, where cleanliness is the only way to prevent disease in the creatures you feed. Bear in mind we have had all those avian flu scares in the news and you'll see why one would be concerned if one was remotely interested in seeing birds fed properly and safely.
About a week after the first purchase I made another, another 2 day delivery again, (so they can do that reliably if that is what they choose to do) I went with a small peanut feeder with guardian cage this time as my local bird population are as smitten with peanuts as most squirrels are, and this time the powder coating problem was not witnessed, so it looked hopeful that this was just a one off. However this time the feeder itself was damaged. It showed damage straight from the box in the form of two broken areas in the mesh. In general I'd not normally worry over something like this, but the squirrels we get here are extremely taxing, and would have been "in like Flint" if this were to be left unattended to. The guardian cage wrapped around it being the only thing preventing that to date. I'm bothered that a small squirrel will make it through in time and destroy this feeder exactly like it happened to all the other feeders that have gone before it.
I've been in touch with a number of people at CJ and so far I have had an offer to send spare parts, which have not materialised in over a week despite the order being reported as having been processed, and another offer to replace outright, which is also yet to happen after a substantial part of a week has passed. All this has taken up most of the month of June. I leave it to you to decide if that is acceptable for you. I'm already certain it is not terribly acceptable for me.
The guardian cages are pretty good though, so I may be forced to end up seeking other feeders to put in there as it looks less than likely I shall ever see working ones from CJ based on the experience as witnessed so far.
What a great shame, I really thought I'd found a good company to deal with until this rather lacking performance in customer support emerged. The offers they have made have been good, and friendly in nature, but not actually delivering them makes them about as useful as any other hearsay in the reality.
In this century, you might reasonably imagine that spending £60 on two bird feeders, and waiting most of a month, would actually see you feeding birds in some style, without any hassles at all, but this has not been the experience so far with CJ. I offered to help shoulder some of the cost regarding the first offer (I had delivery in mind) but this was rejected by the company in the name of good customer relations. I'm not sure what one can say at that point, there does not appear to be any excuse that I can see, perhaps it is obscure and that is why I can't see it. Who can possibly say?
posted by iFly at 15:28
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