Results of ORSV and CymMV testing

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by escualida

Thanks guys, well they emailed me back and are getting UPS to pick up the plants next week and say they'll give me a refund so that's good.

At this point though I would rather just have them send me healthy replacement plants than refund my money, they were really pretty and I was really looking forward to having them flower. I haven't seen ones that I like as much as these. Figures that the ones I like the most are the ones that turn out to be sick. I told them as much so we'll see if they're willing to send out healthy replacements.

NYCorchidman, none of the plants were oncidiums, they are all phals.

I would get the money back, not replacement plants. I'm sure most of their plants are fine and this was an accident, but I just wouldn't feel so great getting plants from the same place.

Yeah, some virused plants look perfectly fine and nice. For a small home collection, I would keep nicely performing plants whether they are virused or not, but that's just me.

Out of curiosity, I will send samples of all the oncidiums leaves to a lab. It just drives me crazy.

[escualida]

You guys are right, there is just one of the plants that I haven't seen anywhere else and I really wanted one but I guess it's not worth the risk.

They have gotten worse at the responses they've sent me, honestly I think after I get my refund I'm going to post my email exchange with them so you guys can see exactly how terrible they've been. I also think you won't be surprised when I reveal who they are.

[Leafmite]

So sorry to hear. I have never tested my orchids but they have not given me any reason to do so. The only possibly virused one was exposed to a suspicious looking orchid and I kept it isolated ever after. It might have been a fungus but I eventually pitched it and, yes, it was a beautiful orchid and I could have forever kept it isolated but I just did not feel comfortable having it around. Sorry about your experience.

[NYCorchidman]

sorry to hear that.
some people are just not nice.

I would love to know so I can avoid them, but be careful and do it as Private messaging in case you get sued.

You have no idea what can happen these days.

A woman in Virginia got sued for her negative reviews on business who did service on her property.

I know, crazy world, right?

[DavidCampen]

To date I have now tested 65 of my plants for ORSV and CymMV using the Agdia Immunostrips and found 8 plants that were positive for either or both.

About 90 more plants left to test.

[escualida]

Wow David that's quite an undertaking.

NYCorchidman, I think they can only sue if I lie about what they did, I don't think I could get sued just for talking about a bad experience I had with them. Plus if they did I think that would make them look even worse and bring them even more negative attention.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by escualida

Wow David that's quite an undertaking.

NYCorchidman, I think they can only sue if I lie about what they did, I don't think I could get sued just for talking about a bad experience I had with them. Plus if they did I think that would make them look even worse and bring them even more negative attention.

IANAL, but making a statement of fact is not libel. If you truthfully state that you tested a plant purchased from a vendor using an Agdia Immunostrip and it tested positive for ORSV that is not libel.

Still though the vendor could sue you for libel and you would have to defend yourself but the vendor would not prevail and you would probably be able to successfully counter sue to recover your court costs. But who wants to go through all this.

I am going to be very circumspect about naming any vendors because most all of the vendors I do business with are nice people who sell orchids because they love orchids. Also wrt the testing that I have been doing, most of the plants have been in my collection for 6 months or more and I couldn't guarantee that the plants did not get infected while in my care.

I am thinking of doing the opposite and naming a vendor or two from whom I have purchased many plants where none tested positive for virus.

I have tested 5 more plants this morning and got another positive. It is interesting that of the 8 virused plants I have found, 4 have been catasetinae even though I have tested a much greater number of cattleya family plants.

[escualida]

Hi all, I wanted to give you an update on this as I finally received a refund for my plants. The vendor in question is Norman's Orchids aka orchids.com

They were EXTREMELY rude throughout the whole process and when I went to check my account on their website to see my history they had disabled it. So apparently I'm not allowed to purchase from them anymore.

When I asked them to exchange the plants instead of just refunding me they said that that was not an option, which makes me wonder why? Wouldn't they rather keep my money and send me healthy plants? Do they have healthy plants? The plants in question are the following:

- Dtps. Sinica Sunday 'Brilliant' (P. Tiny Roseheart x Dtps. Taisuco Firebird) came back positive for ORSV.

- Dtps. Happy Cat 'Hello Kitty' HCC/AOS (Phal Safe x Dtps. Happy UFO OX' AM/AOS) came back positive for BOTH ORSV and CymMV.

- Dtps. Sin Yaun Golden Beauty 'Rocket Gold' (James Hall x Tsuel You Beauty) came back postive for BOTH ORSV and CymMV.

Also, they had me return the infected plants to them. Why? Are they going to resell them? I honestly don't understand why they would want to get their sick plants back.

I really was looking forward to the Happy Cat but oh well, I'll have to find a similar one somewhere else, any suggestions?

I also want to state that this has not been my first issue with this vendor. A while back I ordered a phal in spike - which costs more than one that is not. And when I received the package not only was it not in spike, but they had crossed off the "in spike" part on the receipt by hand and charged me the same amount! I had to call in order to get them to correct this.

So all I have to say is beware of this vendor, and if you're going to buy plants from them anyway, have them tested as soon as you get them.

[Leafmite]

Before trying a vendor, check Dave's Garden's reviews. Then, in google, type in the name of your vendor and either the name of a virus or 'virus' and see what comes up. I like to vet out vendors this way. If you belong to an orchid society, you can become familiar with the names and quality of vendors, too. Speakers often talk very highly of some vendors. When vendors want the plants back, it might be to test/examine them, to destroy the evidence, to weed out frivolous complaints, or, yes, not to take a total loss on the plant.

[NYCorchidman]

David, I like your idea of positive reinforcemnet of vendors.
although nothing is 100% virus free. still useful I think.

Adriana, thank you for sharing the name. Well, I'm actually not surprised because I had a bad experience with them in the past as well. not about virused plants but overall rudeness.

It's a shame because they have so many interesting phal hybrids. I almost ordered a few fragrant mini phal hybrids from them, but I will not support them in any way.

Many of the latest phals are imported from Taiwan, and they are having lots of problems with orchid virueses over there. They are now taking actions to make things better, but still, in the process of mericloning, deflasking, potting, transporting of orchids, who knows how many will be infected with viruses? sad reality.

By the way, Golden Beauty is one of the things I wanted to order from them, but I got one at a local grocery store in October. Flowers didn't last long, but the old spike is branching with 5 buds on it. I'm happy!
I plant to test all my orchids for viruese soon.
gotta take a deep breath I guess for a possible big surprise.