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Cages by Design

Cages by Design review: Scam and cheating 15

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5:27 am EDT
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I saw that someone else had complained about Cages by Design located in Wisconsin and I would like to support the consumer. I, too, was a consumer of Cages by Design and bought a cage from them approximately 2 years ago for $2, 000. Here is the short version of what they did:

1. They lie about the quality of their cage. It's flimsy and the parts don't fit well together, including things like screws that just fall off randomly.
2. They are way overpriced for the crap they sell. I've bought $35.00 cages that weren't as big, but that held up better.
3. They lie about how easy it is to put together. It isn't and that's assuming they send you all the parts. Adam told me that a 90 year old woman put their cage together, the kind i bought. I'd love to meet the lady...she's my hero. I had 4 young, strong men and 2 days worth of work at 6-8 hours each day and they barely got it together. Two pieces cracked because they are so flimsy. Ultimately, we had to drill into the only steel part to try and secure the cage - this included using duck tape. All this yours for $2, 000.
4. The cage "instructions" are written by someone who has never put one of those overpriced cages together.
5. They don't send you all the parts and then claim they will give you a refund, which never comes.
6. They are plain and simple about scamming and any lies they have to tell, they wil do it for your cash.
7. The BBB of WI has several complaints on them, including mine, and I believe it is the consumer's responsibility to warn others from being suckered by this horrible company.
8. They don't return your calls and when they do, don't believe anything they say.
9. When the owner feels overwhelmed by complaints, he blames the customer - yeah, we deserve the blame because we freakin gave up our hard earned money for your scam
10. RUN, don't walk, from Cages By Design; they suck at customer service and more importantly, their products are horrible.

If anyone wants further details or verification, email me and I'll give you proof of their scamming. I was had and yes, I want to make sure they don't get others.

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15 comments
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Nick417
, US
Dec 07, 2014 11:39 pm EST

Same just happend to me spent 4500 parts looked used many parts missing. The instructions SUPER CONFUSING.

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William crist
Springfield, US
Oct 13, 2014 12:45 pm EDT

I couldn't agree more, I have purchased the indoor double macaw cage, it fell apart in a matter of months. They wanted to give me a 30% discount for the parts to repair. They should back up their cages for the price the customer is paying.

I also bought the outdoor suncatcher aviary for my macaws. This rusted out within 6 months. I tried and tried to get this resolved! Everyone should get together and file a lawsuit against this fraud, they have been taking advantage of customers for many years.

Bird talk magazine should not alone them to advertise their cages. Their cages are complete junk!

Call freedom cages, the guy who purchased this business will respond and he builds really nice cages.

William Crist

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BA Wise
, US
Sep 25, 2013 4:10 pm EDT

Please do not buy from this company. Paid 2500.00 for a cage . Took 6 weeks to get it, though they advertise expedited shipping. Arrived without tube from window to cage and without metal braces for roof. Calling just sends you to voice mail. I had to pay 120.00 for a length of tube to finish the cage and my contractor had to fabricate the metal roof connectors - more money I didn't need to spend. I will let you all know if they reimburse me for their shoddy shipping and product control.

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BA Wise
, US
Sep 25, 2013 4:05 pm EDT

Please do not buy from this company. You can never get anyone on the phone ; it always goes into an answer machine . if you leave a message, you will be lucky if you hear back the same day.

I bought a cage for 2500.00 about 4 months ago . I thought it would be shipped within a couple of weeks; I thought I paid for expedited shipping . After 5 weeks, I called and was told they no longer had expedited shipping, and I had not been charged for that. Unfortunately, no one made that clear.
It finally arrived and I left it for my contractor to put together. He was delayed for 8 weeks, but he finally arrived with his partner and worked on it today. First they discovered the tube from the window to the cage has not been sent. I had to find and buy 20 feet of 12 inch drain tile which cost 120.00. I called Cages by Design and went right to voicemail. Having no confidence that they would be able to get the tube to me ASAP, I bought it myself (better than paying my contractor for another day) - however, once I got the tube, they discovered the brackets holding the roof had also not been shipped. Tonight, my contractor is fabricating the metal parts needed to finish the job. I will post again to let you all know if Cages by design makes good on the cost to rectify their shoddy product control and shipping. I am not hopeful.

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cristism
, US
Dec 08, 2011 3:58 pm EST

BUYERS BEWARE! Wish I would have read some of these reviews BEFORE purchasing. It may have saved me a lot of heartache and a LOT OF MONEY. I purchased a large corner bird cage that was more than 100 lbs when assembled. Since I don't weigh much more than that it was a beast to assemble. And basically you must assemble it intuitively since the one-page schematic is absolutely worthless. It is obvious by the few words on the sheet that the instructions were written by a non-English speaker in another country. You are given a variety of nuts, screws and washers but there is no indication whatsoever as to where to use them on the diagram. I ended up with a rather large extra part and had absolutely no idea where it belonged on the finished product. After all my aggravation I decided I didn't like it (my fault) and requested to return it. It took 2 weeks for them to return my partial refund due to their very unfriendly return policy. The cage cost just under $500 delivered to me but after I paid the return postage (about $150) and they kept $120 for their restocking fee and $60 for shipping and handling (whatever that means since I paid for the return postage) I'm out $330 with no cage. I would have been better off keeping the #$$# cage and selling it on Craig's List.

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birdman_jr.
city, US
Nov 02, 2011 12:44 am EDT

you should have read instruction #1. 1- be smarter than a fifth grader

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tele_mark
Leominster, US
Sep 14, 2011 2:47 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I bought one of their Cedar Outdoor Cat Trees from them. It cost $400 plus shipping, and is an overpriced POS. It arrived with one of tthe houses cracked in two, and two of the supoirt posts were cut to the wrong length. Company refuses to refund shipping ($80.00!), and won't pay return shipping in order to get a refund.

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Dana Smith
South Mills, US
May 12, 2011 3:11 pm EDT

I have also been taken advantage of by CBD. I paid $3500 for a SS outdoor aviary for my birds. It came w/ a 1 YR guarantee. It started RUSTING less than 30 days after set up and after 90 days was unuseable. CBD promised to replace it w/ a new one in 20 wks. They even advised me they KNEW they had a problem w/ this particular SS aviary & that is why they were no longer selling them from this manufacturer, and in fact getting them made by another company @ 2x the price. We thought we were getting a good deal. Had they bothered to say, “Hey you will have a problem w/ this one” I could have had the opportunity to either buy a powder coated one that I am sure I could still use, or pay $6000 for a REAL SS ONE! 2 yrs later, my rusty aviary is still on my porch unuseable. They NEVER replaced it. They no longer return my phone calls & ignore my emails.
I have pictures of both the before & the progression of the RUST!

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CalifSusie
Petaluma, US
Jan 06, 2011 8:39 pm EST

I have had good experiences with Cages by Design since April 2007. I got a large hybrid for my Moluccan cockatoo Cosmo with cabinet at the bottom. He loves his cage and has not been able to damage it with his strong beak. It is holding up very well, and graphic on the back panel looks just great and protects the wall from flying food. Yes, it arrived in a 1000 little pieces with less than stellar assembly instructions, but my hydrologist/engineer friend and I got it put together in 7 hours from start to finish. Not easy to assemble given the number of parts involved but worth it because Cosmo loves his cage and looks great in it. I have purchased additional perches and cage liners and have had good customer service.

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D L RN
Mount, US
Jul 26, 2010 2:47 pm EDT

I bought a Cages by design h2 bird housing. Honestly I was shocked at all the parts but if you read the instructions it goes together pretty quickly. I managed to put mine together in 2 days. That sounds pretty bad but you have to consider I'm an RN and I did it during a 6 day stretch and I work 12hr shifts. I would say it went together in 4 hours. The only problem I had was related to not reading the instructions.

Customer service was very good, and the instructions were pretty easy to follow.

I received tracking numbers for the 2 boxes and the items arrived in excellent shape as promised.

Sure you can make a similar cage at home cheaper but I doubt it would look as nice unless you are very good at woodworking.

I did skip the stand and made one myself for about 45 dollars including the tools.

I'm sorry some of you had bad experiences with Cages By Design. I did not.

Thanks D L

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ceegeeque
Concord, US
Jun 29, 2010 6:26 pm EDT

I orderd a 60 x48 x 24 Deluxe H3 cage for our iguana. I am moving from one coast to the other. My son had built a beautiful cage that was too big and too heavy to move. My daughter in OR agreed to foster Iggy while the house is being refurbished and sold. I needed to have a cage for her to keep it in. It was modular and so shipping was considerably cheaper than freight (I was going to buy from glass cages.com). I paid for "priority" shipping because I needed to get the animal shipped to her before they started sanding and refinishing the floors because of noxious fumes. They want us and all animals out.

It arrived late because someone had given FedEx the wrong zip code. I checked my order form. I had given them the correct zip code so I am of the belief that Cages by Design typed in the wrong zip code. This caused me no end of hassle. The cage is not there and so cannot be assembled. I just shipped off my red-tail boa to another daughter out there and Iggy was supposed to go today. I am leaving with dogs and bearded tomorrow to stay with a daughter in RI. I have two very large German shepherds. My car barely handles this load. I am left to try and work something out for Iggy. Not sure what we are going to do.

I could have dealt with this if they had not reacted the way they did when I informed them of the mishap and requested a refund of the difference between priority and standard (it arrived even later than their standard time frame. They are not responding to me. I am left with no recourse but to complain publicly.

I hadn't thought of WI BBB but when I get back, I will definitely do that.

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thunderboldt
Temecula, US
May 30, 2010 9:50 pm EDT

I as well bought Two outdoor cages from them and I found them to be very easy to deal with. I did have a handy man put them together and he is no Genious in assembly of them as they were his first. I am sorry for those of you who have had problems I would go back and just give them a call and they have allways responded

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Chris111
Hills, US
Dec 18, 2009 9:54 pm EST

Cages By Design promotional material are full of Womach/birdtrick.com promotional adds. Womachs are scammers big time. I would never do business with anyone who promotes birdtricks/womachs. It seems Cages By Design promotes Womachs crap material because they are of like kind and quality.

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richardgere
doylestown, US
Sep 22, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

I actually like my cage but it was a royal pain to build, horrible instructions and their customer service and response time sucks to get even a friendly call answered! whats with this? learn to be a class business and respond to your customer base.

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LoneWolfAP
Commack, US
Aug 30, 2009 6:55 pm EDT

I second that completely, only mine cost $5k and I still haven't figured out how the stupid divider between the two sections of the cage goes in. Four days in and counting. The sales rep said I would have it built in a nhour. It took longer than that just to figure out there were parts missing, and longer still to establish that the instructions were just plain wrong and depicted the parts going in out of sequence and in the wrong direction. After two days, I started buidling the thing based solely on the picture on their website and got much better results than from their manual. Still feel like I'm missing parts for the divider and by the way, the instructions give you a web address to where "complete" instructions can be downloaded. That address does not exist... If you're looking to spend that kind of money on a cage, hire a master welder and have them custom build one for you. You'll be much happier and it will actually be a cage when he's done...

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