Home Depot throws all orchids away once flowers drop?

[Jo Ann]

I had an annoying experience a couple days ago with my local HD usually they are willing to give you a 10 % percent discount if you ask but on that day the nursery lady manager was acting like a b*%*h or maybe she had reached her discount quota of the month. She informs me as a few of you mentioned that what doesn’t sell the vendors take back... so what! Then she tells me do you want it or not?..At that point I felt like to tell her where she could put it..!..What about customer service ..? I have bought a lot of plants in this store not just orchids…so I took it anyway I left fuming and a lot disappointed with them. I’m sorry I didn’t turn around and go straight to find supervisor of sorts and put in a complaint...

[moogiemama]

I really think that it depends on the HD and their supplier. On another forum I belong to, this has been discussed and the store uses a contractor to care for the plants. They are responsible for the condition of them and whether or not they are returned to the grower or discarded for credit. Dumpster diving is not allowed for a number of reasons: the store has liability if someone is injured while rescuing plants from the trash and there are some people who would take a discarded plant and try to return it. HD has a one year guarantee on all their plants and if you return something with their sticker on it but no receipt, they have to give you store credit. The dishonest have made it bad for those of us with good intentions. One of the Home Depots near me will actually mark some of their plants, including orchids, with a bright orange paint on the pot to indicate that it is an "as is" sale. I've picked up some wonderful specimens that they would normally have discarded simply because they were done blooming. It might help to talk to the plant department manager to see what the policy is. Lowe's will sometimes discount and other times send the plants back. Again, no dumpster diving. Besides, many of the plants being discarded are terribly stressed and occasionally diseased. I'd be a little reluctant to add an unknown, non-returnable plant to my healthy collection! Just what I have learned with respect to this issue.

-Lynn

[BikerDoc5968]

While I agree with all above, you have to see this through a business "eye"...profit/loss. If they buy the plant at wholesale for $10 and their price point is 50%,i.e., sell at $20, then it is to their advantage to write off the loss against profit. It costs too much to hold on to a plant that they can only sell to a specicalized group like us orchid people....most non-orchid savvy people won't purchase what they aren't sure of. Stuff that is out of flower takes up "room" and requires attention from someone and this becomes costly. I see this all the time at my local garden center. They hold flowerless orchids for weeks and no one buys them. They get very little to no care and within weeks are whimped out and head for the dumpster. I used to be able to purchace these for $1 or $2 but somebody realized they were losing money so my sweet deal came to an abrupt halt! Yes, it is a real crime that any plant gets tossed in the name of profit, but that's business....

[moogiemama]

That's my understanding, BikerDoc. We have a local farm store that carries magnificent plants of all varieties and has a table in the back where they'll place some specimens out of flower at a reasonable price and those of us in the know can pick up a real treasure, although you may not know the color of the bloom for a year! I'm OK with that and find it to be a win-win situation. I know I can't return the plant and they at least have found someone who will take a chance on it. This store may actually purchase the plant outright and not have to deal with an outside contractor.

[princessbydezine]

Hello all... Just wanted to fill ya in on some things. I currently work for Home Depot, so know the way these things work. More so then often a grower will send us the orchids, whatever we sell we get profit for, whatever we don't we toss, it really makes no difference to the company since we dont pay for them. There for we will never mark them down and they will always be full price, I have tried to talk to people at my store about this, I just feel that if they arnt blooming that dosn't mean that no one will want them, if we mark them down someone will buy them. But like i said they don't belong to HD so they won't . I don't like this fact and don't understand why the growers will not take the plants back after they have lost all their flowers, Its just a sad thing.

[Ross]

My local H.D. doesn't carry much in the way of plants and no orchids. Another large store does and the plant section person knows what she is doing and keeps them in pretty fair condition. They return the old ones to the supplier on a routine basis and bring in new stuff. The day they put out the new, is the best day to be there.

[moogiemama]

Maybe the grower doesn't want any plants back that might have been stressed or exposed to disease? The cost to rehabilitate a plant may be more than the cost of the plant itself! Wouldn't it benefit the store, the grower and those of us willing to take a chance on a plant knowing it is sold "as is" with no return/no refund? Then only the truly sick and dead plants would end up in the trash and eliminate the need for dumpster diving. Just the thought of that makes my stomach turn!

[Sylvia]

You would think some enlightened store manager would creat some positive PR by "donating" to Elderly Care homes, etc..
I wonder if Lowes also does this, next time I'm there...

[moogiemama]

I have found that the same store will change its policy form time to time. For instance, the local Lowe's will sometimes discount the plants and other times will refuse to sell them when done blooming. It may have something to do with the grower. I've also noticed that any new plants that arrive with broken flower stems won't be discounted but returned to the grower. Those probably don't need rehab. Of course, those are the ones I'd like to get at a discount! Too often, the staff at the big box stores don't know that you need to water orchids differently than a ficus, and you only find out after bringing your newest acquisition home that the roots are all rotted! Same with the local HD.

[(..._...)]

Well if they were done blooming and healthy, I would consider buying them with a reduced price, but I think a lot of large- chain stores kill the plants. I've seen lots of full- priced plants that are practically dead, and beyond saving! Nevertheless, its a shame that they don't find out how to take better care fo them!!