ComplaintsforSchotthofer's Sunny Creek Farm LLC

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In June of 2022 we put down $1250.00 deposit on heifer calf and as per the contract, milk protein result were to be provided by the seller to determine final sale price. Milk protein results were to be excepted approximately 30 days after the deposit was secure. We reached out multiple time uncured about the milk protein results. The seller continued to defer and make excuses for not providing them and after that I contacted him this previous Friday asking for alternative solutions since it has been almost ten months with no milk protein results. at which time he became aggressive and started making threats to violate the contract. Additionally he stated that he was going to charge us an arbitrary fee that had not been discussed or agreed upon. Seller continued to make threats and will not uphold the terms of our contract or provide a satisfactory resolution. I would like to be refunded in the amount of $1250.00

  Business response

  04/28/2023

  To whom it may concern:

     The plan of action to address Ms. ****** complaint will be further addressed next week.  I have consulted multiple times with the AG office of Missouri regarding this matter and the agent handling this claim is as bewildered as I am in addressing the situation that Ms. ****** has created.  The problem is not with her request, it is with her ongoing liabelous threats that she made towards myself and business -- that is the entire problem.  This is what has complicated the entire matter.  There will be no resolution to this matter outside of the courtroom if Ms. ****** does not wholly and completely withdraw, retract, and retrieve any and all blaspehmous and damaging remarks and or communications that she has initiated against myself or my business to any and all sources that she has communicated with in that regard.  Her release and retraction will have to include the BBB and the AG office as well as any other agencies or persons that she has contacted in this regard.  Ms. ****** claim is highly falsified and created out of half truths, all of which can easily be fleshed out in the courtroom, if she so desires that to be.  The monetary return is not an issue with me, as I would be most pleased to close out this matter in it's entirety.  I will research an Affidavit/Release and if it passes the muster of our business counsel,I will be most happy to pass it on for Ms. ****** signature and certification by a Notary.  That is all that I require to issue a monetary return of Ms. ****** deposit.  This leaves me with 11 months of cost on her purchase, of which I am willing to forego in exchange for her signed and notarized affidavit and release which will include the terms of retraction referred to above.

  ***** *********** ************

  Customer response

  04/28/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The seller has yet to address or acknowledge the lack of milk protein results promised as a contingency of the sale, directly related to the final sale price and release of the heifer. 
  

  We have tried to resolve this matter respectfully and directly with the seller. Per our email on April 24th:

  “I am simply wanting to address the current situation and options. Communication has been substantially lacking through this process and it is my goal to be as clear as possible so that everyone may feel heard.
  
  “As of last Friday, you were unwilling to let ****** come home with us due to lack of milk protein results, is that correct? Do you expect to have those results by May 16th when you have given us a deadline to pick her up? If not, how will you determine the price she is to be sold?”
  
  “My goal is for us to reach a resolution that feels good for everyone. If you have some thoughts on what that may look like I would greatly appreciate your input.”

  Per our email on the 25th:

  “Just to be clear, have you ever sent ******’s {heifer} samples in for testing? Have you ever received those results? Have you ever attempted to share them with us?” 

  Rather than addressing any of our questions the seller responded by retracting the offer to release the heifer to us, instead offering $500 of our deposit back and threatening to sue for slander.

  It is my position that if the seller was truly not at fault he would feel confident in answering these direct questions. I decline to sign an affidavit to retract my statements because I feel it is my right and obligation to share what  my family has experienced. In a free market it is of utmost importance for consumers to exercise their right to free speech. If the seller has abundant positive experiences with other customers they will surely trump one bad review. I feel that I have given the seller adequate chances to offer equitable solutions addressing my concerns. I am not satisfied with a partial refund nor an offer to sue me for expenses he previously took responsibility for without request to do so.  
  

  If the seller refuses to give a full refund with no further conditions I will procede to small claims court.

  Again, I ask the seller four direct questions pertinent to our contract:

  1. Are milk protein results a contingency of final sale price as per your contact? 
  

  2. Did you assume responsibility for collecting, submitting, and reaching out to us with results of said sample? If so, in what approximate time frame? 

  3. Have you ever submitted sample for said heifer? If so, what lab and when?

  4. Have you ever attempted to reach out to us regarding the sample results?

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

  Business response

  05/01/2023

   

  BBB of SW Missouri:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           5-1-2023
  
   I will be sending on (to Ms. ******) a return of her deposit in full as was written last week. It will be sent by certified mail and will require signatures of both parties involved.  Since Ms. ****** is unwilling to agree to retracting her libelous remarks and inaccurate claims and offer her assurance of doing so, that will become a separate matter in and of its own and will be dealt with by my Counsel as is seen fit to do so.  This action (return of said deposit in the amount of $1,250.00) on my part will release Ms. Grave's claim with the AG office and the BBB in its entirety. There was never a desire or intention to retain the deposit of Ms. ******. I will also be weighing as to whether or not my Counsel will be released to pursue feed and care costs that have been extended towards Ms. ****** abandoned purchase.  As of this point forward the Purchase agreement entered into between Ms. ******, Her husband and my business is considered to be Null and void and cancelled as of 4-25-2023.  The deposit return will be in tomorrow's mail stream (5-2-2023). See attached.
  
  ***** ***********

  Customer response

  05/02/2023

  I wish for the record to show that none of my direct questions to the seller regarding the terms of the contract have been directly addressed. I also wish to address the seller's statement:

  "There was never a desire or intention to retain the deposit of Ms. ******. I will also be weighing as to whether or not my Counsel will be released to pursue feed and care costs that have been extended towards Ms. ****** abandoned purchase."

  I find this statement to be blatantly untruthful and contradictory to direct email correspondence received directly from the seller because: 1. The seller has repeatedly refused to give us a full refund. 2. The seller has acknowledged that he has willingly taken responsibility for the care and feed costs multiple times. 3. We never expressed to abandon the purchase of the heifer, we simply wanted to discuss options due to the seller's inability to fufill his responsibilities to finalize the sale. See below for direct quotes from seller:

  4/23/23: "I have foregone passing on a sizable feed and care bill to help you folks get started.  My charity has reached an end."

  4/24/23: "I have (at my expense) continued to cover all of her expenses regarding her feed and care, beyond a reasonable amount of time."

  4/24/23: "Reasonably I agreed to continue her care on your behalf.  The free care should have ended by the end of January 2023.  We currently charge $15 per head per day for livestock feed and care.  As of tomorrow you have technically exceeded your down payment that you have made on the calf ($1,250.00 downpayment).  To somewhat appease your situation I will offer you a refund of $500 for complete release of your purchase agreement from 2022."

  4/24/24: "Your calf will not be released from our farm to you, without full payment plus feed and care expenses as per the terms of the purchase agreement, those expenses will continue to accumulate."

  The seller has made multiple offers including releasing the heifer into our custody by 5/16/23, refunding $500, and giving us a full refund IF we sign an affidavitwaiving our right to share our experience with others. When I inquired about how we would satisfy or amend the original contract in order to finalize the sale and take custody of the heifer by 5/16/23 the seller responded by offering $500 instead. Despite our best efforts to finalize the sale, the seller has made it impossible. Additionally, the seller states multiple times that he has knowingly and willingly forgone collecting feed and care charges for the heifer as "charity." It was agreed  upon by both parties that he would be responsible for such expenses. It wasn't until 4/23/23 when I reached out to him asking for an update that he decided he thought they should be our responsible. He simply wished to renege his commitment in retaliation to me asking direct questions relating to the contract. At no time have we taken responsibility or entered a contract to be responsible for the expenses related to the heifer's care and its preposterous and unethical for the seller to arbitrarily charge us such fees without proper agreement and acknowledgment. 

  Furthermore, we have never slandered or libeled the seller or his business. After it was clear no reasonable resolution could be reached directly the seller we decided to pursue other avenues to recover our deposit. We consulted the Missouri Small Claims Court handbook which directly advises reaching out to BBB and the Missouri Attorney General for assistance prior to filing in small claims court. Our intention has solely been to recover our full deposit while publicly defending ourselves with direct evidence of the contract and prior correspondence with the seller. At no point have we shared anything nonfactual, nor have we slandered or libeled the seller. Those claims are solely to distract from his unwillingness to fulfill his obligations. The seller attempted to have us sign an non-disclosure agreement affidavit as a condition of receiving our deposit because he is clearly concerned with the public having access to facts relating to this transaction. Let the record show that the seller has still not addressed my questions relating to the contract publicly nor privately. Let the record show the seller wishes to dismiss this issue by returning our full deposit while still threatening to sue us. 

   

   

  Business response

  05/04/2023

  Dear BBB:

     I have been in small business for better than 45 years and have never once had a complaint filled against our businesses or our practices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois or Missouri.  I guess there is a first time for everything!  Ms. ****** obviously has nothing more than a war to wage on anyone that falls within her gunsites and that happens to be our business at the present time.  I answered all of Ms. ****** questions on the phone call that her husband placed with me on 4-21-2023.  That phone call was for an hour and 31 minutes in length.  Her husband and I had worked out a plan of action and that he was most appreciative of, at that point in time. The plan was in regard to finalizing the purchase and pick up of the heifer calf that Ms. ****** and her husband engaged my business to raise on their behalf.  Ms. ****** repeatedly has endeavored to engage me in a hair pulling contest per se and I have no  interest in engaging her in a tit for tat exchange.  With the exception of her husbands 2 phone calls requesting more time before they took possession of their calf, I retain an archive of all communications.  I do not sound bite my communications as does Ms. ******.  The fact is that Ms. ****** has accepted receipt of a full refund as she was demanding. Quite frankly after I had forgone billing the buyers for months of care and feed expenses for their purchase (all of which was to end (ProBono) as of 12-31-2022), and after Ms. ****** threw a fit via texting to her husband while he and I were figuring our their dilemna, she started to demand that I exchange her down payment on a calf for a mature cow that was in milk.  We have no such policy in that regard and do not make a practice of doing any such exchange, especially after I had already invested 11 months of feed and care expense into the said heifer.  Upon her husband relaying her demands to me via the phone call that he placed to me, he quite frankly told me that she didn't have a leg to stand on with her demand of switching animals and that he thought that she was off base and being unreasonable (this was his statement to me after Ms. ****** finally quit texting him with questions during that phone call).  I am only to assume that he is in the dog house per se over his remarks to me, as I have not heard a thing from him ever since that phone call on 4-21-2023.  It was after that phone call that Ms. ****** sent me a flaming email with a plethora of insults and degrading remarks AND with a promise to slander our business.  I have merely chosen to take the higher road, return Ms. ****** full deposit as she demanded in her initial complaint filing and call it quits.  I will not be exchanging any further communication with Ms. ****** as she has openly slandered our business and our good name and after refunding her 100% of all monies involved, I Voided out her purchase agreement and closed out the issue.  I have not defamed Ms. ****** publicly and I have filed no complaints against her and I have to date not filled any claims with any of the Credit Bureaus in regards to the monies that we invested in her now voided transaction (which included processing fees on her credit card and all of the costs regarding the care of the animal that she had been under agreement to purchase).  This entire situation has been a monetary loss to me and I have returned Ms. ****** deposit and closed out the purchase agreement.  There is nothing more that a business owner can do in my opinion.  I have confirmation that the U.S. Post office delivered the check to Ms. ****** as of earlier today.  If Ms. ****** does not cash the check, then it is her loss, as I have fulfilled her initial demand that she has made to the AG office and to BBB. Continuing to refuse closure of her complaint just further substantiates my opening statements regarding Ms. ****** appetite to fight with businesses that fall within her gunsites.

  Sincerely,

  ***** ***********

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