Wild Bill's Bird Feeder Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 view all 3 reviews

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starbuckscat
Milford, CT

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There are better alternatives

picking up after pets

Pros

large

Cons

poor quality

MAR

2008

We finally gave up on Wild Bill's after purchasing a feeder less than 6 months ago only to have the electronics stop working. We contacted customer support and after 5 days an RMA was issued. The company expected us to box the thing and pay for postage, but promised only to look at the product and not to do anything about it. The customer service person appears to be a techie who who doesn't seem to understand that it's a bird feeder not a calculator or a clock. When the feeder fails our birds don't eat, so having us go back and forth over days to check on specific technical features isn't what I would call good customer service. As to the product itself, we purchased several over the years and accumulated a lot of spare parts. Typically, the feeder's electronic mechanism would work for about 12 to 18 months, then stop functioning altogether. The recent experience was far worse. In retrospect, it seems that having loyalty to the product constituted poor judgment, not only because it's one-sided, but also because the product is so expensive both individually or cumulatively. Overall, there are three problems: First, the electronics are flaky and prone to failure. Second, customer service is not what it ougt to be. Third, the feeder is not well made and relies so much on the electronics that when they fail there's no effective backup. The plastic top is cheap and squirrels eat right through it once the electronics fail. The plastic chamber is thin and gets cloudy over time, even with regular cleaning. The 9 volt battery doesn't last long. Once the squirrels realize that the product's electric correction is a come and go proposition. They are willing to get shocked time and again once they have learned that eventually they'll succeed. The good part, and what kept us going back for years, is that the chamber is large and feeds so many birds at once. If you are willing to settle for a smaller feeder, there are much much better products on the market -- all of them better made and with far better customer service.

Wild Bill's Bird Feeder is not recommended by starbuckscat

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Comments about starbuckscat’s Review

ginakra wrote on Jul 12, 2008 at 6:59PM

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If there are better alternatives, can you list them? I'm seriously considering this bird feeder because I am at my wits end with the squirrels! :P The only shocking feeder I've found is Wild Bill's.

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