Opinions requested on this aerangis fastuosa, please

[hhilgen2]

Ordered this plant, was advertised as in bloom with a picture of the flower. Got the shipment today, and the plant had completely fallen out of the pot (fine, it happens). No flower in sight, but a spike. All roots but two are rotted. I just want to make sure my expectations aren't too high before I contacted the seller.

[campchi]

Well, the seller didnt lied about the bloom part, since it does have a spike. However, the rotted roots will set the plant back for a while.

[hhilgen2]

I'm a little miffed that the picture of the plant was shown with a fully developed flower and listed as the actual plant I was buying. The flower isn't in the box or anything, so it isn't like it fell off in transit. I'm more upset about the roots, though.

What would be a reasonable resolution here? This is my first ebay item to ever be not as described.

[Leafmite]

It is always very disappointing when that happens. I don't buy on eBay as I have seen far too many examples like this.

[rbarata]

I guess you've found yourself an opportunity to learn how to recover a plant like this one.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by hhilgen2

What would be a reasonable resolution here? This is my first ebay item to ever be not as described.

1. Get a printout of the auction--and the vendor's description. Get a copy of the photo that stated this was the plant you bought and photograph the pot--you already did that part.

2. Contact vendor and advise them point by point where the actual plant was NOT what they advertised.

3. Be clear with them as to what they need to do to satisfy your purchase. If they prove non-responsive, advised them that you will leave a less than desirable feedback.

4. Escalate to eBay problem resolution after you reached an impasse or are not satisfied with the vendor's response.

EBay is my #one source for orchids and orchid supplies. I have had only one disappointing experience with two plants I bought from a vendor in Florida. The plants were dehydrated and several leaves fell off when I watered them. I contacted the vendor, did what I listed (above) and got a pretty good resolution. They sent me replacement plants. Told me to keep the bad plants. The replacement plants were great. The bad plants, I learned from them how to recover them. The bad plants, are much better (a year later) but that was a lot of effort.

[u bada]

I'm just gonna add that I'm not sure why growers grow aerangis potted, I've bought in person potted aerangis and they've always had roots like those. I know some grow them ok potted but they must not water them at all because they rot roots so easy... In fact my own fastuosa looked like that when I depotted it and repotted with open tree fern and eventually had to mount it and finally got new roots... Still waiting for more but at least I got good leaves growing...

[Optimist]

I was thinking about the same thing with a different plant I got recently from a very respected well known orchid vendor. So, it is an ascofinita, and it did have one very nice root, but the roots in the pots were completely rotted and totally gone. I took it out, mounted it just hovering above a bed of bark and sphag. It is blooming, but still waiting to see if I get new roots.

About the Ebay thing, I would tell the vender before giving bad review because maybe they will send another or refund. I have only ever gotten one purchase that was not as pictured. This vendor always sent the plant purchased, and I have gotten something like 10 plants from him previously, have been really satisfied, so I just figured it was an error.

[hhilgen2]

Well, I contacted the seller and got a less-than-awesome response. He said that because they run a large greenhouse and are "too busy" to update listings on flowering orchids, that that's a risk I would just have to take. Also said they had no indication of a bad root system and would offer a 50% discount on the purchase price.

I feel that this isn't sufficient as the plant:
1. Wasn't as described. Was specifically listed and pictured in bloom. It was purchased as a Mother's Day gift specifically for this reason
2. Has a rotted root system to boot.

I feel that a refund of the purchase price, but not shipping, would be more fair. I've bought an OBSCENE number of orchids on ebay and never had an issue. Guess we were past due :/

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by hhilgen2

Well, I contacted the seller and got a less-than-awesome response. He said that because they run a large greenhouse and are "too busy" to update listings on flowering orchids, that that's a risk I would just have to take. Also said they had no indication of a bad root system and would offer a 50% discount on the purchase price.



I feel that this isn't sufficient as the plant:

1. Wasn't as described. Was specifically listed and pictured in bloom. It was purchased as a Mother's Day gift specifically for this reason

2. Has a rotted root system to boot.



I feel that a refund of the purchase price, but not shipping, would be more fair. I've bought an OBSCENE number of orchids on ebay and never had an issue. Guess we were past due :/

This is not an acceptable response from the vendor. I would escalate this to eBay and request a full refund. I would advise the vendor that is your next step. You did pay via PayPal?, you can set up a dispute for a refund with PayPal.

Tell vendor you are leaving a negative feedback using his words "too busy" and "that is the risk you take" implying that eBay vendors cannot be responsible for their product to be as they described.

Accepting anything less than a full refund implies that you shared the risk and you have joint responsibility for the plant they sold you. I would request a refund on shipping (but you can give that up as a sign of your foregiveness).

This vendor is the reason people are reluctant to buy plants on eBay.