Paynesbeefarm Reviews 2

On 28th March 2018 I ordered a nucleus of bees from Paynes.

The web page referring to the bees I wished to order stated that the nucleus would be ready for "DISPATCH" in June.

I live 200 miles from Paynes. Consequently, it was important to me that the nucleus would be delivered. I therefore rang Paynes before placing my order to seek conformation of delivery and I was told that the bees would be delivered and that delivery would cost £50.00.

I placed my order for the nuc after Paynes confirmed that the bees would be delivered and received an e-mail from them stating "You'll receive an email when your items are SHIPPED".

The bees were due to be delivered in June but I received no e-mail from Paynes.

On 5th July I e-mailed Paynes to ask when they were to be delivered to be told that "Unfortunately we are unable to post bees and they are collection only".

I then e-mailed Paynes to tell them that I live 200 miles from them and, when I ordered the bees, their web site said they would be despatched and this was confirmed when I rang Paynes.

In response to this e-mail, I received the rant "Yes, I can tell you. It is because there are customers out there that although read the disclaimer saying bees are sent at their Risk and then chose to accept that risk but it goes wrong for them and they lose their bees and blame us, the couriers and pretty much everyone else in the world, except themselves, calling in trading standards and animal welfare, animal rights groups etc etc. We’ve always said that collecting is sent at your risk and we’ve always recommended collection and to be frank – we only posted nucs out as a favour to help those far away, we never liked doing it and certainly not going to posting bees out at our risk when we have so many beekeepers willing to collect so we’ve stopped deliveries. So, if you want your bees, let me know what date you would like to collect, otherwise I will arrange a refund".

Regrettably, I have received no reply from Paynes in response to my requests for them to explain why they never sent an e-mail telling me of their changed terms and conditions on deliveries or, indeed, an e-mail telling me that the bees were ready.

At 16.40 on Saturday 21st July, their web page relating to overwintered nucs states "All are checked before DISPATCH by the National Bee Unit to ensure colonies are of good health and disease free".

Paynes have refunded the money I paid to them.

The entire e-mail chain is available for inspection.

I've ordered a number of items from Paynes, and their responses to questions sent via email has been first class. On the one occasion that I ordered for delivery I received it the day before the earliest date I'd expected it. My only reservation is that their website doesn't seem to live stock levels. For my first order there was no indication that the items weren't in stock, and that I'd end up waiting a couple of weeks for them to become available. Aside from that they're first rate.