Rspb Reviews

160 00 Camera Bird Box

As an RSPB member for some years I decided when visiting the reserve in Conway in the spring of 2023 to purchase their new Camera Bird BOX 160 00 It looked good and was going to replace a very old one that I bought over 15 years ago from a private company During the summer of 2023 I set it up I did it all via its instructions The picture was extremely good but the so called magic box that was supposed to do magic things at night was no good at all After much dicussions with the manufacture via rspb there was nothing could be done save to just use the old fashion AV line on the TV It worked fine during daylight hours but at night useless A lot of trying to overcome this issue failed now a year later not only after the breeding season has almost finished whereby nothing even investigated the box but the box looks worn on the outside from all this years rain but the complete reception has failed I consider this purchase to be a total failure albeit I will attempt to modify it myself First I will remove the so called skylight vents they are two pieces of clear plastic that is suposed to let more light in birds like darkness I will then paint it with proper non toxic paint to preserve it and some try and use my old 15 year camera set up to replace the useless one Good luck

Staff do not like the public and bite the hand that feeds them

Arrived in the Warren near Tunbridge Wells after many years away and was keen to walk the reserve while I had some spare time and see how recent work had progressed Some decent signage and mapping etc at some entrance points to the location Unfortunately it would seem some of the staff can show elitism and passive aggressive confrontationalism and rather than politley directing members of the public to areas they are allowed seem to assume they know your mind if you have diverged from their desired routes Unfortunately their lack of decent signage on the bounders of the reserve often funnels you to places they don t want you And then they walk up to you with accusations and implications of intended foul play Very strange and disconcerting to be frank Luckily I m not interested in being intimidated and insisted on being told the most direct route back to the boundary of the Warren Young people or the elderly would doubtless have been more upset by such treatment however I m less bothered by people on a power trip I have now cancelled my membership It would appear there is a culture at the RSPB of biting the hand that feeds them How can you protect natural spaces if the public doesn t care about them which is something this organisation fosters with such a poor concept of public relations People don t expect to be interrogated to such an extent just because they inadvertently went to wrong way whilst still being on what was an acceptable path I have seen this before at other sites the RSPB would appear to have a militant agenda in regards to access to natural places often denying the existence of historic footpaths bridleways and byways Therefore I would recommend registering these accessways by the 2026 deadline with proof of 20yrs continuing use historic evidence etc Otherwise they will limit people as much as possible while being happy to take your money Protect nature do not deliberately stray into excluded areas but the RSPB needs to dump the elitism or they will have no membership the public do not appreciate the assumption of malicious intent and this bizarre form of soft oppression of people out to enjoy a sunny day

Sunflower hearts

I ordered highest standard sunflower hearts They were expensive When they arrived I was so disappointed with the quality especially given who they were purchased from Mostly chips of hearts a few whole ones I won t be buying from them again

Truly awful customer service

Truly awful customer service long waits on phone multiple phone calls ignoring requests and a month later still no replacement item Cannot be relied on to do what they say they are going to do Will not order online again and considering my membership too

RSPB Minsmere

RSPB Minsmere Dispute promises in May 2024 that they would reinstate the discount on hot drinks if disposable cups which RSPB head office said they should have been doing are used to encourage this environmental issue This is still not the case I would understand if this was a RSPB comersial decision in the best interest of bird conservation but as this has not been communicated it s very disappointing

An absolute waste of time

An absolute waste of time You phone them up if you spot an injured Animal and have to talk and have to deal with some dumb idiot and they do absolutely nothing but ask a load of Stupid questions and waste you re time Not only that you have to wait hours on end for them to even come out even if they actually do Funny how their on the ball if a donation is given or you pay them as a member yeah that says it all Don t bother ringing or getting in contact with this Useless Company or the RSPCA their Tossers We ll rescue the Animals ourselves

Saw 3 swans with fishing wire wrapped

Saw 3 swans with fishing wire wrapped around them at Cardiff Bay drove to Penarth 1 Mile away where there was a chap manning a RSPB stall and reported the swans told to ring The RSPCA because rescue wasn t their thing keen on selling me a membership though poor swans

Protection of birds - just not any that are injured or need help

Title of the charity is a misnomer Found a seagull with a broken and bloodied wing in Cardiff who couldn t fly and was in distress it was so sad RSPB apparently don t have the expertise or facilities to rescue birds or to provide advice or help with the welfare of individual wild animals or pets Not even advice Wow the birds are lucky to have you