Dealing with a vendor about items damaged from cold

[AnonYMouse]

I think you are expecting too much from a small business. Since you haven't named the vendor, I'm going to generalize, but many growers do this as a side business. Unless a grower sells NoIDs to big box stores, they aren't making much money.

Originally Posted by SJF

...was willing to have the order held until the weather was warmer...the order shouldn't have been sent yet.

Did you give them a specific date to ship? Perhaps they shipped on a nice day in WI. Could you have reserved the plant to be shipped in May?

Originally Posted by SJF

The initial response I got from the one owner was basically I am sorry and we will replace anything that was damaged.

Why didn't you take this offer?

And maybe the vendor has a rep for bad service for a good reason. I'm playing devil's advocate and saying, step back to see what could have be going on, what could be better done next time.

[SJF]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

I think you are expecting too much from a small business. Since you haven't named the vendor, I'm going to generalize, but many growers do this as a side business. Unless a grower sells NoIDs to big box stores, they aren't making much money.

Did you give them a specific date to ship? Perhaps they shipped on a nice day in WI. Could you have reserved the plant to be shipped in May?

Why didn't you take this offer?

And maybe the vendor has a rep for bad service for a good reason. I'm playing devil's advocate and saying, step back to see what could have be going on, what could be better done next time.

I was going to take that offer and the other owner then e-mailed me and said to "baby" them and if they don't make it he would "throw in a free plant with my next order". That is why I said one is better with customer service

[Leafmite]

Did the plants sit outside once delivered? If not, complain to whoever delivered your plants. Most vendors mark the boxes as 'live plants' and they should not have been left on a truck in the cold. What if they had been birds?
As for sending the plants back...I think it is reasonable if their policy states this. If you buy a dog from a kennel and it dies of distemper, you typically need to have the vet certify its death. Petstores have you bring the creature in before they will replace or refund. Unfortunately, some vendors have been burned in the past so they are ultra careful now. I have had plants affected by unpredicted cold weather (welcome to Ohio where the forecast can change hourly!) and I have saved them...a few times. Often I find that my plants do bounce back with babying. The orchids often need some isopropyl alcohol treatments to prevent rot (vanilla seems to be really temperature sensitive for me). Read the policy and if it doesn't state that they plants may need to be returned for a refund, you might want to argue that.

---------- Post added at 12:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

I see you recieved the package directly. I am surprised, then, that the vendor isn't more interested in learning why the plants didn't get better care while being shipped. I have recieved lowland equator rainforest plants in the dead of winter with no damage (no heat pack, either, regular post)! That package sat out somewhere in the cold, likely on a truck or loading dock. Your vendor should be happy to be notified of such service!

[SJF]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Did the plants sit outside once delivered? If not, complain to whoever delivered your plants. Most vendors mark the boxes as 'live plants' and they should not have been left on a truck in the cold. What if they had been birds?
As for sending the plants back...I think it is reasonable if their policy states this. If you buy a dog from a kennel and it dies of distemper, you typically need to have the vet certify its death. Petstores have you bring the creature in before they will replace or refund. Unfortunately, some vendors have been burned in the past so they are ultra careful now. I have had plants affected by unpredicted cold weather (welcome to Ohio where the forecast can change hourly!) and I have saved them...a few times. Often I find that my plants do bounce back with babying. The orchids often need some isopropyl alcohol treatments to prevent rot (vanilla seems to be really temperature sensitive for me). Read the policy and if it doesn't state that they plants may need to be returned for a refund, you might want to argue that.

---------- Post added at 12:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

I see you recieved the package directly. I am surprised, then, that the vendor isn't more interested in learning why the plants didn't get better care while being shipped. I have recieved lowland equator rainforest plants in the dead of winter with no damage (no heat pack, either, regular post)! That package sat out somewhere in the cold, likely on a truck or loading dock. Your vendor should be happy to be notified of such service!

You would think they would be happy, especially since I notified them so quickly.

I am sure they are a pleasure to work with when there are no issues. As I mentioned the bark was fresh, plants would have been great if not cold damaged from being shipped too early. As a result of the way they are handling this situation I am "unliking" them on Facebook and will never order from them again. They lost a good customer. I don't know how they could reasonably think this is an appropriate way to treat someone. They never even responded to the e-mail I sent yesterday. They can have their dead plants, hopefully they send me nice ones in return, if not, I think it will be time for a refund. They already told me that they don't have nay more jewel orchids, so I can't have that one re-placed with the same plant.

---------- Post added at 01:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------

I just noticed on a Facebook post that Waldor orchids is not currently shipping orchids. They are waiting until the weather warms up. It isn't even as cold now as it was when they shipped my plants and the snow storm was headline news. As someone mentioned in this thread, that is whta you look for in an orchid grower. I now know better. Expensive lesson to learn.

[orchidsarefun]

I try not to buy anything in colder weather because of issues such as yours.

However I have discovered - though never tried it personally - that you can request the package be held at the post office/ facility. That saves it being driven around most of the day in a mostly unheated truck.
Also - another trick, you can call the delivery service ( I did with UPS ) and ask them to have the item delivered ASAP. I got something in the morning instead of the late evening that way.....they do try and oblige.

[SJF]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

I try not to buy anything in colder weather because of issues such as yours.

However I have discovered - though never tried it personally - that you can request the package be held at the post office/ facility. That saves it being driven around most of the day in a mostly unheated truck.
Also - another trick, you can call the delivery service ( I did with UPS ) and ask them to have the item delivered ASAP. I got something in the morning instead of the late evening that way.....they do try and oblige.

I have learned my lesson and won't order in cold weather again. The funny part is that a friend sent me an orchid from Hawaii a few days before V-day, it arrived fine and blooming. It suffered no ill effects.

Those are great suggestions if I were to order in cold weather. Thank you

---------- Post added at 03:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 PM ----------

Originally Posted by quiltergal

When you send the dead plants back I would not bother with careful packaging. Shove them in an envelope and send them back the cheapest way possible. Or ask them to pay for return shipping if they want them back. The error was not yours so you should not have to pay one more penny to have the problem fixed.

Thank you for the suggestion. I agree. I am thinking I may send them back bareroot. They did e-mail me again and again say that I need to send the plants back