Whimgrinder |
12-22-2015 08:50 PM |
I recently bought two Cattleyas from Orchids.com (Norman's Orchids) and there will NOT be a second purchase. Here's how my transaction went...
I ordered two large "in bud" Cattleyas and I was emailed two days after the purchase to have them tell me that one of my selections wasn't available "in bud" as they had all bloomed out weeks ago (why, you may wonder, was it still listed on the web site as available "in bud"?). So I asked them if another variety was available as a substitute and they said yes, they could sell me the other one as a substitute. What they did NOT tell me (my fault for not investigating on my own behalf) was that the substitute they offered me was TWICE the price! So they gladly shipped my plants and I found I had paid far more than I had budgeted. The other plant was chosen as a bit of an afterthought, mainly because the shipping cost was quite high and in such cases I don't like to buy just one plant and pay $30 or more to ship it.
Both plants arrived in promptly, and both were badly in need of repotting. The Plant that was my "add-on" was in a 5 inch clear plastic liner pot stuffed with badly decomposed Sphagnum and obviously had a lot of root loss. It had two leads before they selected it for shipping but had one lead very carelessly hacked off, and all of the roots on the other lead (which had two growths hanging over the pot edge) had been chopped to mere nubs. The surviving lead did indeed have buds in the sheath, but they have failed to develop and something tells me they ain't gonna. I'm praying the poor thing starts some new roots so I can rescue it from its sad pot of decayed Sphagnum.
I contacted these people to express my displeasure for 1) sending me the $$$ plant as a substitute without clearly stating the fact that it was twice the price of the one I had originally ordered and 2) for sending me the second plant in such a sad state with roots hacked off and one lead removed. (no, nobody promised me there'd be two growing leads, but the removal of one lead suggested someone didn't care what the plant looked like when I got it, or perhaps a diseased lead growth had been removed to disguise how stressed the plant was?)
The response I got was very lackadaisical at best. They wanted a photo of the hacked-up plant before they would discuss a replacement (I didn't bother, since it seemed like it was likely to be an exercise in futility) and told me it was my responsibility to determine the price of the substitute plant - which in principle I agree with - but the attitude written into their response was uncaring and made me feel like all of these complaints were unfounded and not something they wanted to deal with.
Its one thing to ship an order that doesn't meet a customer's expectations, but something else entirely to send a message after the fact that shows they just don't care once they've got your money. I'm glad I didn't spend more than I did.
Now, Hausermann's on the other hand, has been exemplary to deal with and I will go back to them again and again. Nice people, responsive when asked questions, enthusiastic to have me shop with them, and they send large, impressive plants that exceeded my expectations every time. (For under $20 I got a massive plant of LC. Irene Finney with six leads and a leafspan of two and a half feet!)
I remember Hausermann's from when I was a teenager buying my first Orchids in the 1970s, and they are clearly still in business because they do things right. Five stars for Hausermann's. No stars for orchids.com
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