Birdtricks.com marketing

I am posting this here as it is more of a rant than a parrot problem. As some know I have a bit of an Eclectus problem and I thought I'd look for answers so Google brought me to birdtricks.com (and this nice forum too)

I bought their booklet and DVD in the first place in February after reading several pages of sales hype and listening to sales spiel. I was sure it said if I bought it within so many hours I could have it all for the low price of $57. Free this, free that blah blah blah. So I bought it.
Anyway, I checked my card statement when it arrived a while ago they had take a further $197 !!! I contacted them and they said it was in the agreement.......but as far as I am concerned it wasn't as we both here checked before I paid but if it was it was well buried after a long sales pitch.
It just so happens that the 30 days from receiving it weren't up but regardless of that I wasn't about to accept paying over $200 for a book, clicker and DVD!
To be fair they said send it back and they would refund me but it has cost me $40 to send it back. Grrrrr. Plus I have paid fees for converting GBP into USD!!

The book soon went into training the bird by weighing and keeping it hungry. As I wanted the book to deal with a biting problem, it quickly became irrelevant and handling the bird on to a set of scales was going to take some doing. I also don't particularly like that approach personally.

For me, who just wanted help with biting, their advertisement about dealing with biting seemed to offer the solution. Bearing that in mind it wasn't really worth the money even with a DVD and a clicker and postage.

Since I bought the book I have been inundated with more pressure sales and the whole situation reminds me of the Readers Digest sales approach. The pressure selling is over the top and makes almost impossible to know exactly what you are getting and how much they are taking.

I suggest to any others who go the route I did to be very circumspect.

Thanks for the heads up.
I would be Mad. They should make it VERY clear that they were going to make these charges. Especially if they are at such a high price.
Hope you worked it all out, and good luck with your ekky!

OH! I hate it when that happens.

I have ordered from them before and was quite satisfied with what I received and for the amount stated.

I would have preferred more videos, rather than audio, but I suppose it's all in what u order.

sorry your not happy with them, I wouldn't be either,They have very good training techniques, and it is unfortunate that their customer service isn't as good!

That is awful. I hope your credit card company can refund the money.

It seems to me that there was a recent discussion similar to this and someone who purchases their products said they no longer say you should starve them for training. Your report is certainly proof that they are continuing to advocate hunger training.

I am so tired of people defending these charlatans!

I intend to repost your "rant" other places.

Well I have never heard to much good about them sadly. I'll talk to new bird owners that come to the rescue to buy food and so on And they say similar things ether about having a extra charge or being unsatisified with what they ended up getting. So I suppose I'd take this post as a warning to be cautious about ordering or buying from them, just be careful of what occurs and keep records of everything.

Jtbirds said:

Well I have never heard to much good about them sadly. I'll talk to new bird owners that come to the rescue to buy food and so on And they say similar things ether about having a extra charge or being unsatisified with what they ended up getting. So I suppose I'd take this post as a warning to be cautious about ordering or buying from them, just be careful of what occurs and keep records of everything.

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I only wish I had taken a screen shot of it just for my own peace of mind. It's not so much that as the feeling it is all about sell, sell and sell.

They forget the main principal about what they were going for in the first place is to help others with bird issues and they turned it into money making marketing system which is quite sad. They do have it listed full money back guarantee for 30 days if your not satisfied. Use that against them!

I really like bird tricks, but a lot of what they sell is their older products and it is so cheesy too XD I got their training, taming, and tricks and I really didn't learn anything which was very disappointing.

I would really like to buy their cookbook, and their one day miracles. But other than that not too much I love their blog post and always read them.

One of my 8 Eclectus is a bit of a biter. I do NOT like being bit.

When I hand her treats I either offer them in a small bowl with my hand under the bowl, so she has to put her head in the bowl to pick up treat, or give her something large where my fingers can stay away from her beak (like an apple slice for example). When I hand her an item like this I always hold it above her and in front of her head so she has to reach up a bit to take it. It is more difficult for her to bite in this position. I NEVER give treats through the bars because I dont' want to provide her with the opportunity to snap. When in her cage, she gets treats put in her dish.

I also use a folded rope perch when I have to transport her.

We get along much better if she hasn't bit me in a long time!

sodakat said:

One of my 8 Eclectus is a bit of a biter.

We get along much better if she hasn't bit me in a long time!

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I always thought it would be possible to get any bird tractable - not so much necessarily completely handleable but able to be managed without biting. However, I confess I have had a few birds where it was not possible, one was a very ferocious and aggressive very adult (when I got it) cockatoo. Maybe given twenty years or more it might have been manageable. But to this day I always naively think it is still possible.