Received an order of eggs from Ebay seller, poorly packaged and several broken eggs

[Airyaman]

I've actually ordered a few different sets of eggs from Ebay sellers over the last few weeks, and until now, most have been packaged decently with zero broken or cracked eggs. In fact, all had intact air cells but a small number have been saddled.

Today that changed. I received a set of eggs that were very poorly packaged. I knew there was trouble when I saw the box and there was zero indication of eggs inside, not even the word "fragile" anywhere on the package. When I opened the box, I saw yolk in a couple of places.

The seller had two different cartons (dozen and 1/2 dozen) of eggs in the box. None of the eggs were individually wrapped and all were inside of egg cartons. The seller just wrapped the outside of the cartons with bubble wrap. The larger of the two cartons was actually packed sideways!

Luckily, of the 15 eggs shipped, only 4 were shattered. Since these are all from various breeds of Marans (black, blue, and splash) not sure if I will be able to candle them to see how much internal damage there is (detached air cells). However, almost all of the eggs were covered in yolk and several have shredded newspaper stuck to them.

Should I go ahead and wash the remaining eggs to remove the yolk? I would assume so.

I have zero expectations that any of these eggs will be viable. I have contacted the seller to tell them of my poor experience and even sent them a link from this forum on how to properly package eggs for shipping.

Some other questions:
1) Since these were very poorly packaged, and I probably can't file a claim with USPS, should I demand a refund from the seller?
2) Since the eggs are very dark and candling is difficult, should I even attempt to waste 21 days trying to incubate and hatch them?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[nuthatched]

Eggs do not fall under the money back garrantee, however the seller can do something about refunding for poor packaging if they so choose.
Most sellers avoid marking eggs as fragile to avoid attention by malicious postal workers.
You can gently rinse the eggs in cool water and a peroxide dip and give them a shot.

 

[Airyaman]

Eggs do not fall under the money back garrantee, however the seller can do something about refunding for poor packaging if they so choose.
Most sellers avoid marking eggs as fragile to avoid attention by malicious postal workers.
You can gently rinse the eggs in cool water and a peroxide dip and give them a shot.

Thanks. Since I just opened these an hour or so ago, should I rinse now? It will be 24 hours before I would attempt to put them in the incubator.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Sorry to hear about your bad shipment and hope your hatch goes as best as possible.
@nuthatched gave you great advise so I'll just say I'd try to hatch them out.

Best of luck and post updates.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I'm sorry you had a terrible experience with that seller, I went through the same thing last year. I would go ahead and try to hatch what you can. You've got all the tools you need. Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[FAVEROLLES LOVER]

I've actually ordered a few different sets of eggs from Ebay sellers over the last few weeks, and until now, most have been packaged decently with zero broken or cracked eggs. In fact, all had intact air cells but a small number have been saddled.

Today that changed. I received a set of eggs that were very poorly packaged. I knew there was trouble when I saw the box and there was zero indication of eggs inside, not even the word "fragile" anywhere on the package. When I opened the box, I saw yolk in a couple of places.

The seller had two different cartons (dozen and 1/2 dozen) of eggs in the box. None of the eggs were individually wrapped and all were inside of egg cartons. The seller just wrapped the outside of the cartons with bubble wrap. The larger of the two cartons was actually packed sideways!

Luckily, of the 15 eggs shipped, only 4 were shattered. Since these are all from various breeds of Marans (black, blue, and splash) not sure if I will be able to candle them to see how much internal damage there is (detached air cells). However, almost all of the eggs were covered in yolk and several have shredded newspaper stuck to them.

Should I go ahead and wash the remaining eggs to remove the yolk? I would assume so.

I have zero expectations that any of these eggs will be viable. I have contacted the seller to tell them of my poor experience and even sent them a link from this forum on how to properly package eggs for shipping.

Some other questions:
1) Since these were very poorly packaged, and I probably can't file a claim with USPS, should I demand a refund from the seller?
2) Since the eggs are very dark and candling is difficult, should I even attempt to waste 21 days trying to incubate and hatch them?

Thanks for any feedback!

Post a picture if you took one on their review site. I would notify the seller and tell them how unprofessional the packing was. That will make buyers beware of this seller. They usually post no refunds when the box leaves their hands and into USPS possession. Ebay has a money back guarantee but you need to send the product back. How crazy that would be. Many people this happens to will post a picture of the shattered eggs and horrible packing. It hurts the seller in the pocket with further orders. As for hatching, I wouldn't chance bacteria growing in a perfect environment of warm, humid and dark from the egg yolk. Make a fuss and yes ask for a refund from Ebay personally and the seller. Good luck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should I go ahead and wash the remaining eggs to remove the yolk? I would assume so.

I would if I incubated them. I'd use water slightly warmer than the eggs. If you use colder water the eggs can cool off and the material inside shrink. That can suck dirty water into the egg. If you use warmer water the egg does not suck in dirty water. By the time it starts to cool it should be dry or the water clean.

The yolk on the outside has probably compromised the bloom. The bloom is what helps keep bacteria out. The yolk on the egg is a perfect food for bacteria to eat and grow. Incubation temperature is a perfect temperature for bacteria to multiply. I'd remove that yolk.

I'd also make sure my hands were clean and I'd sterilize the incubator before I started. Do all you can to not introduce bacteria.

During incubation sniff each egg. Remove any that smell like rotten eggs. If you don't remove them they can infect the others.

1) Since these were very poorly packaged, and I probably can't file a claim with USPS, should I demand a refund from the seller?

You can ask but it is up to them.

2) Since the eggs are very dark and candling is difficult, should I even attempt to waste 21 days trying to incubate and hatch them?

Candling would not be my concern, the bacteria growing inside would. Candling does not affect if they hatch or not but bacteria sure do.

Whether you try or not is up to you. It is risky but you won't get any to hatch if you don't try. I've never been faced with that so I'm not sure what I would do.

 

[Airyaman]

Post a picture if you took one on their review site. I would notify the seller and tell them how unprofessional the packing was. That will make buyers beware of this seller. They usually post no refunds when the box leaves their hands and into USPS possession. Ebay has a money back guarantee but you need to send the product back. How crazy that would be. Many people this happens to will post a picture of the shattered eggs and horrible packing. It hurts the seller in the pocket with further orders. As for hatching, I wouldn't chance bacteria growing in a perfect environment of warm, humid and dark from the egg yolk. Make a fuss and yes ask for a refund from Ebay personally and the seller. Good luck.

Took several actually. Right now I'm going to see how the seller responds to my comments. Seller did have one recent bad review complaining of poor packaging and seller tried to blame USPS for damage in response. However, I can confirm very poor packaging, it was truly horrible.

 

[Airyaman]

Yeah, seller was nasty when I pointed out the problems with the way the eggs were packaged. Guess a refund is out of the question!

 

[nuthatched]

Thanks. Since I just opened these an hour or so ago, should I rinse now? It will be 24 hours before I would attempt to put them in the incubator.

Yeah, seller was nasty when I pointed out the problems with the way the eggs were packaged. Guess a refund is out of the question!

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Yes rinse now.
I'd leave a poor review, bad packaging is one problem, being nasty is another.