As some of you may know, another member here and myself have purchased a dometop HQ 90040D cage and we are very unhappy with it. Well, today was a bird fair up in North Atlanta and there was no way I was going to miss it because I wanted to inspect cages with every wrought iron cage vendor. When I arrived, the first booth I saw was the company who sold me my cage. We chatted cordially a bit and then I went and inspected different models which she had on display. Well as it turns out, EVERY ONE OF THEM have burrs and some of the burrs actually extended outwards away from the weld just like the ones on my cage. I was very disappointed with my findings.
I moved on to another vendor, who sells HQ and happened to be the same man who Karen spoke to over the phone. He sold me my current Kings cage when I purchased Merlin 12 years ago so that broke the ice. We chatted a bit and learned why he stopped selling the Kings line. He pointed to the price tag at the nearest cage. He said it was about the money. He could sell more HQ cages which were less expensive than the Kings cages and could sell more HQ. I admitted to him that is exactly why I purchased a HQ, but I also explained to him why I was unhappy with it which was the lack of binding at the top and the large amount of burrs throughout the cage. His cages also had burrs on them. He said he was going to China to visit HQ soon and would discuss my concerns with them.
I had one more person to visit while at the bird fair. This person was John Torkington aka Birdtoyman on e-bay. I wanted to meet him because I have done business with him before and have spoken with him over the phone regarding a Kings playstand which I had purchased. He sells both Kings and HQ cages on e-bay and I asked him point blank what the difference was between the two brands. He said that the metal panels by Kings are dipped 10 times in paint. We chatted a bit and he said if I ever have any questions about any product, please call him. In hindsight, I should not have purchased any cage before talking to him because he is very knowledgable about his products. I looked over his booth which was exclusively toys and have to say his prices were reasonable and had a great selection.
Now that I have looked at a variety of cages by different manufacturers over the past 3 months, I have found they all have sharp edges of some sort. At this point, I know I will never purchase another HQ cage again because of the many burrs and customer service received by the vendor who sold me the cage. She refused to give me a refund and passed me on to the importer which is the same as passing the buck even though there was no financial transaction between the importer and myself. I informed her that I wish she had informed me that all sales were final because I would not have purchased the cage if I had known. I am still waiting for a response to my e-mail, which included pictures of my cage, from the importer. After learning what I did today, I believe the importer will say that the burrs and the design of the dometop, which allows a gap, are standard and are not considered defective. I am hoping I am wrong, but I have already resigned myself to the fact that I am stuck with this cage. John Torkington said my alternative was to sell the cage on Craigslist. If I were to do so that would make me no better than the importer and vendor by passing on an unsafe cage to an unsuspecting buyer. Can I have a redo of the past 3 months? lol. Oh live and learn -- THE HARD WAY.
I moved on to another vendor, who sells HQ and happened to be the same man who Karen spoke to over the phone. He sold me my current Kings cage when I purchased Merlin 12 years ago so that broke the ice. We chatted a bit and learned why he stopped selling the Kings line. He pointed to the price tag at the nearest cage. He said it was about the money. He could sell more HQ cages which were less expensive than the Kings cages and could sell more HQ. I admitted to him that is exactly why I purchased a HQ, but I also explained to him why I was unhappy with it which was the lack of binding at the top and the large amount of burrs throughout the cage. His cages also had burrs on them. He said he was going to China to visit HQ soon and would discuss my concerns with them.
I had one more person to visit while at the bird fair. This person was John Torkington aka Birdtoyman on e-bay. I wanted to meet him because I have done business with him before and have spoken with him over the phone regarding a Kings playstand which I had purchased. He sells both Kings and HQ cages on e-bay and I asked him point blank what the difference was between the two brands. He said that the metal panels by Kings are dipped 10 times in paint. We chatted a bit and he said if I ever have any questions about any product, please call him. In hindsight, I should not have purchased any cage before talking to him because he is very knowledgable about his products. I looked over his booth which was exclusively toys and have to say his prices were reasonable and had a great selection.
Now that I have looked at a variety of cages by different manufacturers over the past 3 months, I have found they all have sharp edges of some sort. At this point, I know I will never purchase another HQ cage again because of the many burrs and customer service received by the vendor who sold me the cage. She refused to give me a refund and passed me on to the importer which is the same as passing the buck even though there was no financial transaction between the importer and myself. I informed her that I wish she had informed me that all sales were final because I would not have purchased the cage if I had known. I am still waiting for a response to my e-mail, which included pictures of my cage, from the importer. After learning what I did today, I believe the importer will say that the burrs and the design of the dometop, which allows a gap, are standard and are not considered defective. I am hoping I am wrong, but I have already resigned myself to the fact that I am stuck with this cage. John Torkington said my alternative was to sell the cage on Craigslist. If I were to do so that would make me no better than the importer and vendor by passing on an unsafe cage to an unsuspecting buyer. Can I have a redo of the past 3 months? lol. Oh live and learn -- THE HARD WAY.
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