This is a desperate cry for help!

[snooky17]

Originally Posted by saucie

Sorry, but no damage, no compensation. Since there would be no way for them to honor the contract, their only requirement would be to make you whole again, which they did.

As for the comment above.- I would agree with you except for the fact that if I couldnt honor the contract, and decided I wanted my money back (or that I wouldn't pay the other $500) they made it clear that they would keep that $500.00. Fair enough if that were the case--but it is not, they need to be held accountable, in my opinion, because they didn't follow through with their end of the bargain (they didn't even look for a timneh...Pardon my French, but that is B.S.).

[Bagsjr]

Stake the place out. Park nearby in your car with a camera. Spend ALOT of time in the store. So much time that the owners give you a decent price on a bird just to get you out of there. You probably will catch her. Don't confront her but show pics to cops. Good luck. Sorry to hear about this.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by snooky17

Oh goodness, thank you all for responding! I recently got a phone call from the pet store saying that they were getting in some african grey congos (two babies) and that I could get first pick. Then, she casually mentioned that they each cost $1500.00!! I plan to ask for a discount...but I don't want to be unreasonable...any ideas? I just feel insulted that they haven't offered to help me at all...furthermore, I haven't been able to get hold of the owner. For such a small pet shop, I think she should have called.

Get your money back from that store and do not go back there again.

[mrssittingduck]

as it stands now you can t actually go after the store, you gave up all rights when you accepted the deposits back,
however
if the bird was been hand reared in store the chances are that the bird should be close rung, the store could get into touch with somebody from the theft register, we have on in the uk that deals with birds and publicity made in the cage birds magazines,
the bird should have been identifiable by a ring if home reared as you say as most breeders or rearers nowadays ring the birds,
the only thing the store is negligable of doing is the lack of security... at their own cost, you lost nothing as you got your deposit back,
at the end of the day lesson is learnt and they may buck their security up and also the way they id their birds, be it microchip or ring number,
a press appeal asking if anybody had purchased a new bird of the description and the ring number given out to on the press would have helped get the bird back....
if you go to private breeders chances are you are more likely to get a well suited bird and at half the price than from the shop in the first place....
if you dont trust the store then go elsewhere, dont mean to sound so blunt but their is nothing you can do to sue the petshop, it isnt their fault somebody stole a bird, shops get busy, confusion happens, the shop lost $1200 you lost nothing.... that should be their lesson, not to be sued from more money, that is money that could buy them more security....
if its a bird you want then you can buy another.... a bit of hear ache for you and a lot of heart ache from the shop, they reared the chick from day 1 grew to bond with the bird only to have it snatched away, them sitting their worrying about weather or not the person who stole it would have the capabilities of rearing it, weather it was dead or alive or been treated properly... if you keep pushing the shop they could infact start an order against you, harrassment, emotional blackmail, etc etc,
i personally cant see what the point would be or what would be achieved from taking action on the shop,
this is my personal oppinion, and exactly that, all i know is if it was me i wouldnt be bothered about trying to get a discount.. i would either go elsewhere, or buy another from the store....more importantly all should be done to find the bird, money in doing that would be far more beneficial than giving you the money that they could have used for advertisement of the fact..

[snooky17]

Originally Posted by mrssittingduck

a bit of hear ache for you and a lot of heart ache from the shop, they reared the chick from day 1 grew to bond with the bird only to have it snatched away, them sitting their worrying about weather or not the person who stole it would have the capabilities of rearing it, weather it was dead or alive or been treated properly... if you keep pushing the shop they could infact start an order against you, harrassment, emotional blackmail, etc etc,
i personally cant see what the point would be or what would be achieved from taking action on the shop,
this is my personal oppinion, and exactly that, all i know is if it was me i wouldnt be bothered about trying to get a discount.. i would either go elsewhere, or buy another from the store....more importantly all should be done to find the bird, money in doing that would be far more beneficial than giving you the money that they could have used for advertisement of the fact..

With all do respect, Miss Sitting Duck, I am a bit confused about your comment. 1) I have been super nice to the pet shop owners/employees...I was merely disgruntled when they contacted me a few days ago and told me that I would be charged 500 dollars more for a bird, if i still wanted one. 2. It is because of me that Gallery of Pets received so much publicity--positive publicity, mind you, as I merely criticized the person who stole my bird. 3. As I was not contacted when my baby bird was stolen, I consider the ordeal a form of deceptive trade practice. 4. They made a minimal effort to find the bird. I got the story on the news; I contacted vets and pet shops; and, yes, I called the police to see what could be done. Please understand that I am in no way trying to be rude. I just think that as a pet shop, they have the responsibility to be fair to their customers. Not contacting me, trying to make me pay more for a bird (even when it was their fault that mine was stolen), and allowing strangers to handle my baby bird (who is definitely prone to disease) is neither fair nor just in any way, shape, or form. All that to say, I agree that an effort to find the bird is a better use of monetary resources, than most any alternative. I am not out to nickel and dime a pet shop, especially when I love all of the employees there. I am merely disheartened by the apathy with which they "handled" (for lack of a better word...) the situation. Bad, Bad, Bad--But then again, that is just my opinion. Good day to you, Sitting Duck. Thank you for your opinion and the time you took to read my post!!

[snooky17]

Originally Posted by Bagsjr

Stake the place out. Park nearby in your car with a camera. Spend ALOT of time in the store. So much time that the owners give you a decent price on a bird just to get you out of there. You probably will catch her. Don't confront her but show pics to cops. Good luck. Sorry to hear about this.

Oh my goodness! This made my day! Haha, if I had time to do that, I would raise Hell, =)! Oh well, I think I might just concentrate on preparing for my new bird. If, however, another bird gets stolen from that shop--watch out because it's no more Mr. Nice Guy (rather, Ms. Nice Girl!)!! Thanks Bagsjr!!

[mrssittingduck]

if the shop has a lack of security cameras or operational ones in working order, i wouldnt want to advertise the fact is all i am saying, they may not have wanted that information put out to the public so they could come back and do it again,

they are not trying to charge you more for the same bird,
the original bird you chose out was a timnah grey which are smaller than the congo greys and also a lot cheaper to buy,
the bird shops around here buy from proper breeders and pay decent money for them from the breeders, it depends on how much they pay for the birds on how much they are selling at,
and i do agree that the shop should have contacted you straight away the incident happened, they may have thought they could get the bird back before your next visit was anticipated,
however and this is my oppinion again, i do happen to think that the shop found somebody who was prepared to offer more money for the bird and they readily accepted... as it does seem dodgy by them not contacting you,
a pet shop does have the responsibilty of notifying you should anything happen to your bird once a deposit has been put down and they should have done so straight away,
if it was me it happened to i would take my custom elsewhere as if they havnt got the common sense to ring you up and report the theft to you in the first place, they would not be worthy of my money,
the petshops should either have offered you the same species of bird for the same price, offered you the different species for a slight discount as it was their fault or refunded all of your money , this should have happened from the get go and not however long later on,
unfortunatly now their is nothing that can be done as you accepted the money back, this nulled and voided all rights you had :(

i wish you the best of luck with the new grey you are having, you didnt mention when you get him or her, but from a breeders you are a lot better off and a bit more money in your pocket to be able to buy more toys and stuff with for your new baby :D and the bird will probibly be a lot more sociable than one reared in a store :)

good luck with him and dont forget the pics ;)

[Eliza]

Originally Posted by snooky17

As for the comment above.- I would agree with you except for the fact that if I couldnt honor the contract, and decided I wanted my money back (or that I wouldn't pay the other $500) they made it clear that they would keep that $500.00. Fair enough if that were the case--but it is not, they need to be held accountable, in my opinion, because they didn't follow through with their end of the bargain (they didn't even look for a timneh...Pardon my French, but that is B.S.).

Snooky17, I'm sorry that this happened. Whether the timneh was stolen from the store OR the store is covering up an accidental sale, the situation sucks.

As others have said, the store is no longer accountable b/c you asked for your money back and got it. At this point, it doesn't matter if the store didn't "deliver" on their end of the contract. If I were you, I'd cease to do any sort of business that this particular store altogether.

Best of luck with your new grey,

-e-

[prettybird3]

I agree with what others have said about the contract being null and void since you accepted your $500.00 back. Even if you had gone to court and it was revealed the pet shop had offered you the $500.00 and you had not taken it, I think you would have lost the case. Or they would have just made you take the money and been done with it.

And I know you thought of this baby as "your bird", but in reality, all you had done was put a deposit on it. Technically it was still the pet shop`s bird. They still could have handled the whole thing better, though, and I`m still not convinced they told the truth about the whole thing to begin with just to sell another bird for more $$. Just my 2 cents.