This is my review regarding The Birdhouse Barn and owner Fred Heartley. I have included a detailed description of everything that happened regarding the custom bird house that I ordered. When I first contacted the Birdhouse Barn in June, Fred responded quickly and answered all my questions. I emailed him pictures of my house. I then placed an order on July 6th on my credit card. I paid $670 for the custom bird house in advance and in full. After waiting a month and not hearing from Fred, I realized I made the mistake when I started reading negative reviews on YELP about the Birdhouse Barn. I grew concerned because I already placed an order and paid for it. Several of the reviews cited not receiving a birdhouse, missed deadlines, no progress pictures or poorly made birdhouses. I noticed many reviewers were frustrated with the long delays and Fred not communicating with them. I emailed him and he stated the bird house is coming along fine and promised an end of September deadline that he missed. I emailed him that I would contact Paypal and VISA to get a refund if I did not receive the birdhouse. Fred replied that it takes at least 16 weeks to complete a custom birdhouse. He stated that he will finish the birdhouse by the end of October. I agreed to wait until then but Fred also missed the October deadline. In early November, I contacted Paypal and VISA to file a complaint regarding not receiving the birdhouse. A few days later, Fred sent me an email letting me know he finished the birdhouse. He stated after the paint dries he would ship it to me. He also sent me an email when he shipped the birdhouse with FedEx. I received the birdhouse on November 12th. FedEx delivered the bird house inside a large, used box with paper wrapping all around it. It came completely covered in plastic for extra protection. It did not have any damage. I can truthfully say that I am very happy with the bird house. It looks just like my house (see pictures). My wife loves it! The paint colors match my house and it's a nice size (although smaller than I thought). The paint is good quality. It's made with sturdy wood. It had no defects or flaws like some reviewers have complained about with their birdhouses. One major problem with the birdhouse, however, is that there is no way to access the inside to clean it. It is completely closed. It should have had a latch or section for easy removal or to open for easy access. I may hire a carpenter to remove the back roof section and attach a latch so I can open it. Overall, I love the birdhouse and give it five stars. I gave Fred five stars because even though he frustrated me with his lack of communication and long delays, the finished product made up for everything. I believe that Fred sincerely wants to deliver a good product to his customers. He can improve his ratings, reviews and customer satisfaction if he follows these suggestions: (1) Only ask for a 50% down payment on the initial order. Tell the customer the birdhouse estimated size. Let the customer know up front that it will take a minimum of 16 weeks to finish the birdhouse. Give the customer an estimated but realistic completion date. Then stick to it. (2). Communicate with the customer. Once a month, email customers progress pictures to keep them informed of the work status. That way, it will allay any fears due to the 16 week waiting time. It will also allow additions or corrections to be made before the bird house is completed. Furthermore, It will avoid any mix ups with sending customers the wrong bird house. (3) Provide a way for the customer to access the inside of the birdhouse, either with a latch or easily removable section. The birdhouse will need cleaning and should have an opening to get inside. (4) Once the birdhouse is finished, email the customer for final payment. When Fred receives the balance, he then would ship the birdhouse. (5) Include in the shipping box a list of suggestions on how to mount the bird house and tips on how to clean and maintain it. Provide paint color samples that the customer can use to buy paint and touch up the bird house. The birdhouse paint will fade over time due to it being outside in all kinds of weather. I received my bird house in a little over four months. It was worth the wait. I believe that if Fred provides a good product in a timely manner he will get positive reviews and his ratings will raise. He needs to accept the criticisms and seek to improve his service rather than reply sarcastically to comments. Fred is a true craftsman. He delivered on his promise to me with my birdhouse. Whether he can deliver for you is another matter. If Fred follows the suggestions above, then I recommend using the Birdhouse Barn if you are looking to buy a custom bird house. Mark Williams read more

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I placed an order for an expensive custom cabinet, November 23, 2025. As of today, March 12, 2026 I still have not received my cabinet. no communication. Do not order from this business ever. Lorie read more

I order and paid for a hall tree from the same man under the company name The Country Cupboard. The order was made in November of 2025. With lots of promises that my furniture was coming it still hasn't happened as of April of 2026. Dont work with Fred Heartley, lots of promises and no product read more

Ordered a set of benches and a lighted salt box house in October. They were supposed to ship in 3-4 weeks. After they didn't, I sent numerous emails which went unanswered for weeks. Finally received an email saying that they would ship the first week of December. They didn't. I again sent several emails, a text, and called and they didn't return those messages until I opened a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and disputed the charge with my credit card. Within hours of the BBB complaint, they responded and said that they wouldn't be able to send the order before Christmas and offered a refund, which I accepted. They responded almost immediately that they processed the refund. It was unfortunately a lie and they never refunded my money, which was confirmed by my credit card company. So I'm still waiting for my dispute to go through the proper channels before I get my money back. Had I known enough to check the BBB reviews prior to purchasing, I would have seen that they have an F rating and 10 complaints in the last three years. Take my advice and steer clear! read more

Update - 2024 Here was the "negotiation" email that didn't include anything on the details or the brick comment from owner posted below- Hi Jon, Thanks so much for the email. The house is amazing. This will make a really nice sentimental gift or your Mom. I'm sure there are a ton of memories in this home. The price would be $595. Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to proceed. After this I basically was told to pay via PayPal. Nothing about a discontinued model. Sounds like the owner is great at not holding himself accountable for anything. read more

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The Birdhouse Barn has exceeded my expectations! Fred built a wonderful custom Birdhouse for us after the first one (purchased on that "other" Find anything-Find everything website) rotted to pcs in just 5-months. I called Fred directly, sent him photos of the first "disaster" and he actually spec'd the materials during that first call and used his skill and craftsmanship to build my "Perfect Birdhouse". The end date was met right on schedule and Fred was happy to answer any and all questions! If you are looking for a quality custom build that will last--don't waste a lot of time shopping around; the Birdhouse Barn has the ANSWER! Michael P. Matthews, NC read more

Months later and still no custom birdhouse. 9 date changes from original December date to April. No photos. Barely any communication without pestering. Requested refund but no response. More than do not recommend -- This appears to be a scam. read more

My grandmother's house was a very special place for my family and considered a second home. From holidays to a safe haven, it hold a place of wam memories for all of us. I thought having a birdhouse made of the home we all loved so much would be a wonderful and sentimental gift for my mom. It took a lot longer to receive than I anticipated but when I received it I was so impressed how Fred captured the house beautifully and so intricately. read more

The Birdhouse Barn - Home Decor Near Me - Falling Waters, West Virginia

Total Scam!!!! Avoid at all costs. I paid him a year ago for a birdhouse, which has still not arrived. I'd give negative stars. What a crook. read more

If I could ZERO stars I would. DO NOT USE THIS MAN. I paid him $645 in November 2023 for a product that I never received. COMPLETE FRAUD! This WAS your customer. You had no problem accepting my payment in November. This is a TRUE review. HORRIBLE SERVICE and a COMPLETE LIAR! DO NOT SEND THIS MAN ANY MONEY. He will keep making false promises and NO DELIVERY! The review was under my daughter's name as she had set up this account. When I realized that, I changed to my name. Everything I have said is true. Birdhouse promised in December. No delivery. Promised to send photo of progress . No photo. Promised to be delivered 2/1-2/15 - no delivery. Promised photos . No photo. Fred doesn't want me to say this to be fraud or scam . Now he is claimimg to hire a lawyer to sue me for defamation of character. .....do what you need to do Fred. I will gladly take on a lawsuit with you. Look at all your reviews. I wish I had done my homework and read all your reviews before I paid you $645 in November 2023. read more

My birdhouse arrived at the end of May. It's very nice, well built and birdmirrors my own somewhat odd shaped real house. So in the end, it worked out. read more

The Birdhouse Barn - Home Decor Near Me - Falling Waters, West Virginia

Horrible service and lousy job. My mother ordered a bird feeder replica of a clock tower from him as a gift to me. He said it would be ready by Christmas. I didn't receive it until MARCH, and when I did finally open the box, I was hugely disappointed. This was not a bird feeder, it was a block of wood with some pieces of wood nailed on to look like windows. There was no place to put the seeds and no way to hang it. Save yourself some time and money and don't ever buy anything from this person. read more

Fred Heartley of The Birdhouse Barn specializes in birdhouses that match your home. I asked, instead of a birdhouse, whether he could modify the design to function as a Little Free Library that matched my home. He said yes and I was thrilled! I'm not usually a compulsive person. I'm usually very thorough and, quite frankly, exhaustive in my research. I pore over any and every review I can find. I comparison shop. I mull things over for a while. But, with this project, I was so excited that I plowed straight into it and, as a result, made two huge errors that I don't typically make. First, I proceeded without checking reviews. Second, I paid for the library up front and in full (which I should never have done -- I know it's an incredibly stupid move, no matter what). It wasn't until after my payment was made that I saw Fred's reviews. To say they were less-than-flattering is an understatement. I panicked! There was no backing out. There was no chance of getting my money back. So I moved forward. I stayed in close contact with Fred -- we were in touch every few days. We talked through every aspect. We laid out a production timeline, expectations, exact specifications and each type of material that would be used, down to the exact brand and color of paint on my home. True to his word, Fred provided regular updates for me. He allowed me to make changes and upgrades along the way. He went above and beyond on little touches -- like finding a door that matched my front door perfectly. He was kind and courteous and professional. He told me which of my requests he could accommodate and which he could not and why. My Little Free Library shipped right when he promised it would ship. It was well packaged and arrived without damage or delay. There are a few things I wish had been different -- the bookshelves should have probably been taller to accommodate taller books on both the top and the bottom. The shelf could have used an extra coat of paint. And, for structural reasons, I never did get the lighting in the windows that I wanted ... But, in the end, I'm thrilled to report that I am very happy with how it turned out. My friend and I added some extra touches -- like the windows and the metal garage door, painted and etched to replicate the real thing. We even put it on a swivel so people could more easily access the books in the back. I love it and will always be grateful to Fred for being a part of the story of The Monroe Family's Purple Blossom Little Free Library! read more

The Birdhouse Barn - The Monroe Family's Purple Blossom Little Free Library - Home Decor Near Me - Falling Waters, West Virginia

I ordered a birdhouse in November 2023. My garden had been chosen to be on a large garden walk July 14th 2024. I paid a deposit of $500. He said no problem there was enough time. In February I ordered a small sign and paid for it. As of today July 15th 2024, neither item has been delivered. He said it would be here in June then in July, then by July 11. My repeated emails were ignored and never was there a shipping company listed or a tracking number. The event has come and gone...more than 600 people visited my garden. I still have not heard from him with the truth as to what happened. The sign was around 80$ and my birdhouse deposit 500$......I did not do my homework and read up about Fred. He definitely has issues and I am now out about $600. read more

Nice work Fred. I ordered a beautiful birdhouse. I added some little craft shingles to the roof because I will be keeping this indoors. It is a replica of my grandparents' home and I want it for my Train set at Christmas time. read more

The Birdhouse Barn - Home Decor Near Me - Falling Waters, West Virginia

****SCAM WARNING**** Based on my experience with Fred at The Birdhouse Barn and by reading through others' reviews, I suspect this guy is running a scam or, at the very least, is of poor integrity. The warning signs: (1) He misses the deadline(s) (2) He won't provide progress photos (3) He doesn't communicate delays/issues unless you contact him first (4) He delivers a "less than" product (5) He threatens to ship the package so you can't file a claim What to do if you've been scammed: (1) Contact Paypal within 180 days. As other clients have pointed out here, Fred regularly misses the "up to 16 week" deadline advertised on his website (https://www.thebirdhousebarn.com/custom-replica-birdhouse.htm). In my case, he took 8 months. If you PayPaled him, you only have 180 days to submit a claim for reimbursement. Not sure if it can be credited to brains, but possibly Fred knows this and has made it part of his scam tactic. *NOTE: I have notified PayPal about Fred's shady business practices - they have opened an investigation on him. (2) Contact your financial institution. Explain the situation and open a claim to try to recoup your money. Try to do this before you receive the package. My bank would only process the claim if the package was either not delivered or the shipment was refused. (3) Refuse shipment. If he does ship it to you, you can refuse the shipment. Do not open the package. Even if the package gets delivered while you aren't home, you can take it to the shipping company and have it returned to Fred - no charge to you. See directions here for UPS, FedEx and USPS (https://bizfluent.com/how-7531725-refuse-package-sent-ups.html). Go luck everybody! Hopefully, you'll see the posts on this guy before you order anything from him. What a waste of money. read more

If you are considering placing an order with the Birdhouse Barn I hope you will read this so you can understand what the process was like for me and what you might expect if you place an order In my initial correspondence with Fred I was told the estimated delivery would be late January or earlier February. I then placed my order. Each time the delivery date passed I was given a new date such as late March or early April, early May, mid June. Each email said that my birdhouse was looking great and just about done. Then in early June I was notified that my data had gotten lost and I was asked to resend it. I requested a refund which Fred refused saying it was a custom product. There is a lot more detail I could go into, but in the end my last course of action was to send a certified demand letter threatening legal action for a refund. A month after me sending the letter he sent my birdhouse on 8/26/2022. These are all facts. I challenge you Fred to dispute anything I just said. You can't. You know and I know I have a pile of documentation showing my repeated attempts to get updates and new estimated delivery dates. And Fred don't use the excuse of the pandemic. You knew the effects of the pandemic before you took my money. Why keep telling me my birdhouse is almost finished since February and then in June tell me you lost my data and want me to resend it?? If you are thinking or ordering from The Birdhouse Barn please remember my review and how it lead me to threating legal action before I got my product. read more

Update: I did finally receive my birdhouse, 19 months after I ordered it. It is very poor quality and and was not worth near the $800 I paid, in my opinion. Will include pictures. read more

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Avoid at all costs. In fact if you are deciding between two price quotes and contact me I will pay you the difference to use someone else. No one should ever again send this business money. Like so many of the other stories I was quoted a delivery date, then nothing, when in inquired I got the "almost done", then when we got a month past the delivery date and based the date I needed the item for as a gift. I opened a PayPal dispute, magically I heard from him the next day. Too late. If you see this and are a victim, feel free to contact me, I would be more than happy to assist you in getting your money back. read more

Buyer beware This is a terrible place to deal with. Fred keeps telling you he sending,but never does!!! It took forever to finally get the salt,box houses and then they were crap and cheaply made!!!! Will never do business with them again!!!! read more

I did finally receive my bird house after opening a claim with PayPal to receive a refund. It was not finished and not what I asked for at all. Very disappointed. Not worth almost 14 weeks of waiting and 400$. Stay away from this company. It was crooked and not finished at all. I asked for the bushes in the front the number 16 on the side and some other small details which he claimed would be no problem and not one of them were added. Looks nothing like my grandmothers house I'm not even going to give it to her. Complete waste of time and money. read more

The Birdhouse Barn - Bird house - Home Decor Near Me - Falling Waters, West Virginia

This man, Fred, is a scammer!! He took over $500 from my kids 2 years ago to build a bird house of our family home. My son and daughter had communicated time and time again with Fred, even asking for refunds. His response was always, "I am almost done, or shipping it soon." They even asked for pictures, which he had never responded to. Last month my son demanded a refund or he was having his lawyer contact him, and then all of a sudden my son received a tracking #. The bird house arrived the other day and OMG what a piece of garbage!! My 11 year old grand daughter could make a better birdhouse!!!! Unfortunately, paypal said it has been too long to file a complaint. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this "business." read more

Don'y buy from this site!! I ordered a non-custom house in November for a Christmas gift which I did not get. I have been getting the standard response of that he is working on it like I have seen others post. Every time I hear from him "it is almost ready". I ca't believe anyone would feel ok scamming people and never filling an order. 8 months later and I still don't have the order. read more

Over 22 months later, to my surprise, the birdhouse arrived. Unfortunately, I still have nothing positive to say about the experience, communication, and endless excuses... but the birdhouse itself is lovely and my parents will be thrilled. read more

Updated review- bird house was finally delivered. Unfortunately it took one year to complete and deliver but Fred did deliver a bird house

Fred's bird house was not only timely, but very well done. I bought the house as a gift for my mom's birthday and she was so surprised and impressed. Fred does a good job communicating and working with requests. It is sad to see some of the one star reviews on here because that was not my experience at all! read more

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It is shocking that paypal still provides it's services to the Birdhouse Barn and Fred Heartley. Not only is the product delayed well beyond what is initially mentioned, but Fred also feels the need to be rude and insulting when people ask follow up questions about the delays. It is incredibly sad that this company still receives any business, as it is practically criminal the way they treat their customers. And BTW, Fred claims on reviews he offers a full refund........ Disputing the charges through your credit card company is Fred's way of providing this refund....... read more

The Birdhouse Barn and Fred Heartley are a poor choice to do business with. I ordered a birdhouse that he had on his website and his estimate for deliver was 8 weeks but could take up to 16 weeks. At 17 Weeks I contacted him to see how long it would be before I received my order, he replied back a week later. "I will have tracking as soon as it ships". 5 weeks later I asked again when it would ship and Fred replied, "I sent you a pamphlet showing color images of our products while you wait for your order to arrive. Along with a note explaining our items are handcrafted and cannot be cancelled". At this point I had created a claim with Paypal which I had used to to pay for my item. Fred had sent the pamphlet to me in a cardboard sleeve so he could prove that he had sent something to me with a tracking number and used this to show Paypal that he had sent my item. Paypal denied my claim because he showed something had been delivered to me. I then contested with paypal that he had tried to falsify that he had shipped the item I paid for. Paypal then agreed that he had not sent what I had ordered and I believe he did this fraudulently. Paypal is crediting my account and now Fred is threatening to still charge me for my item when it is finished. This was his comment to me 25 weeks after my initial order. "I hope you can understand that these items are made to order and handcrafted. We cannot get back the time and materials used. And yes, a little longer than 2-4 hours to build and paint. But we build a large volume of orders at one time and finish them in steps so that we can make multiples of each product. We are making 6 of the same birdhouses you ordered for many customers." If he is making 6 of these items at a time then obviously they are not custom made to order and 25 weeks at this point to receive an item that I should have had 2 months ago is ridiculous. I should have done my homework on this company before I ordered, I have now looked up this guy and 25 weeks and waiting is nothing compared to others that have ordered from him. There are other complaints that 1 year has gone by for $500 plus items that have not been delivered and the customer keeps getting pushed off. read more

I'm only giving 1 star because there isn't an option to give zero. I paid over 500$ and waited 6 months for a bird house not remotely the quality or caliber shown on the website or in the pamphlet. This was ordered as a Christmas gift and arrived by father's day. I cannot give it to the recipient because I am too embarrassed. I'd never order anything from here again, nor would I recommended it to anyone I cared about. read more

Same issue that other people are reporting, paid my invoice on September 6th as soon as he sent it. Tried to get progress updates along the way (1 email every 6 weeks or so). After week 12 I asked for proof that he actually had began working on the order, he claimed he was too busy to send photos but it is coming along great. I'm now on week 20+ of waiting and opened a dispute with Paypal. If you are going to take this long, I can understand but the lack of communication and working with customers after the fact is unacceptable. If you are this busy, stop taking orders and you won't have to deal with everyone requesting a refund or responding to these reviews on yelp / google. read more

I should've read the reviews here (or at the Better Business Bureau) before sending my money to the Birdhouse Barn for a custom birdhouse for my wife's birthday. Fred took my money, told me it would take 8-16 weeks to ship, and then gave me the runaround for 27 weeks before he sent a birdhouse which looked like it had been built by a remedial middle school woodshop class. To top it off, it was damaged in shipping. I asked for a refund of the shipping costs and that was the last I heard from Fred. Now, I'm going to hang on to my pathetic birdhouse as a monument to my own stupidity and a reminder to always, always check for reviews before sending my hard-earned money to some joker with a website. read more

As everyone else is already noting, this place is a total and utter scam. Please do not send him any money/business. I now have the Attorney General for the State of WV involved as well as the local court. I placed an order in June of 2022...it's now August of 2023. After 18 months of "it's almost done", "it's drying", "it's shipping out next week" with no tracking number or photos, it was "magically" done as soon as I got the Attorney General's office involved. This guy is a real POS. I am in the process of suing him as he should not be able to operate a business this way. I know he will get on here and comment "it's done" like he has everyone else but I refuse to accept an $800 poor quality birdhouse after months of no contact. Clearly he waits until someone makes a fuss and then whips a piece of garbage together to say he actually did something. Please contact the WV State Attorney's Office and file complaints to get this guy shut down: https://ago.wv.gov/consumerprotection/pages/default.aspx read more

Don't waist your money on a custom birdhouse. Paid $700+ for custom birdhouse of my daughter's home. About $500 too much....

Ok after months, we received our birdhouse. We ordered the second week of October 2020 & received June 2021. I was 90% sure I had been scammed, however it did arrive. His communication is low & shipment promises did go infilled and I'm not sure what the issue was. Do not plan on getting the birdhouse by a certain date. Here are pictures so you can judge the quality for yourself. read more

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I would NOT recommend Birdhouse Barn! The owner Fred takes your money and indicates he will have it done in 8 weeks then when you inquire he says his website indicates he can take up to 12 weeks, further communication via email for update and picture of progress go ignored or he gives you lip service (cold weather, he's working on it, blah blah blah.) After 24 weeks, I finally received my birdhouse and only after I contacted West Virginia's Attorney General and Better Business Burea to intervene on my behalf. The detail on the birdhouse was so terrible (it looked like a toddler painted it) that I spent additional $ to have someone else improve it! read more

Coworkers and I ordered a replica birdhouse for our boss for Christmas 2019, ordered in early November. We paid more than $700 because it "was extremely detailed and a 360 degree birdhouse"...we just received the "extremely detailed birdhouse" last week and it's May 2020. There are many things wrong with the birdhouse, uneven, jagged pieces of wood, visible nails and screws, the "detailed" paintwork is juvenile at best, but I think the worst part is this man berates everyone that gives him a bad review, and threatens legal action for people who's names weren't on the order. I assure you, Fred you took $126 of MY money, and delivered, 7 months later, a birdhouse that my 5 yr old niece could've done. This is after months of asking for a progress report to hear "it's coming along, it's very detailed, I'll be finished by the end of feb, march, april..." when progress pictures were requested that took a month to get, then we got a link to his website for pics. You should be ashamed of yourself taking hundreds of dollars from people for painting blocks of wood. Absolutely everyone except ONE review, here and the BBB site can't all be lying. Stay away from the Birdhouse Barn. read more

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I would not order from Fred Heartly with Birdhouse Barn. Although I received my customs birdhouse, I waited 11 months after being quoted a 1-month lead time. I originally inquired about the house on 5/4/21 , paid in full on 5/6/21, and received the house on 4/14/22. Fred required that I pay up front but went long periods without responding once my money was received. After following up on numerous occasions for updates, I would receive replies such as "I will have image asap", "It'll be ready by August 30th", "It'll be going out in 1 week". These replies were never backed up by action. On February 1, 2022, prior to receiving the birdhouse, I posted my initial Yelp review. Now that the birdhouse has been received, Fred is threatening legal action against me for defamation if I don't update my review. As stated above, I would advise doing your research before ordering from Fred Heartly as many of the comments have similar experiences. I've attached images of the house received from Fred that cost me $395.00 read more

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I ordered this saltbox house back in January, and just received. It was the wrong item. I ordered the 4 story primitive house which measures 35 inches high. The house I received measures 22 inches high. I've tried to call/email, Fred several times and no response. This man is very unethical, a liar, and a thief. Do not order anything from him! read more

Please do not order from Birdhouse Barn! The item you get is not a birdhouse, but a hastily tacked together elementary model of a house. I am sure that my purchase was only built once I disputed the charge through PayPal. I ordered in October for a Christmas delivery, which Fred was very aware of due to our emails before I purchased. After purchase, there was no contact until I reached out to check in for shipping info a few weeks before Christmas. I repeatedly asked for a photo, which I never received. If this would have been 1/3 of the price and arrived for Christmas, I would be okay, but for the price and the anticipation, I expected so much more. On top of it all, you can't use it as a birdhouse, there is only a single hole in the back and no way to access the inside for cleaning. read more

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This business is a scam. They will ask for your money up front and keep promising delivery but the product never arrives. Please do not be scammed by this company. I have filed a complaint with the Attorney General of West Virginia so that they will shut down this business. read more