Marblekg orchid vendor in Florida

[JScott]

I was recently browsing eBay to see if anything interesting was on there, and I came across RLC George King 'Southern Cross', a plant I have coveted relentlessly, but have been unable to find. It is much less popular than the 'Serendipity' clone, which you can find anywhere (and which I of course already have). I got excited. The plant was near blooming size for 30 dollars, which is on the high end, but not outrageous, and I want it bad enough that I would pay 30 dollars for it.

But then, I realized the seller was Marblekg. I was crushed. I sent him a message saying that every plant I have ever bought from him turned out to be the wrong plant entirely, and is there any way he could assure me that this plant was definitely George King 'Southern Cross'. This is the response he sent me:

"I am sorry the plants bloomed out something else. Please remember I buy 1000s of plants. Sometimes the tags are wrong and I do not know until the plants bloom. My supplier is aware of this and says there is nothing he can do. I can only list plants as they are tagged. Once again I apologize. As far as I know they are what they are tagged. Thank you"

"As far as I know, they are what they are tagged." What a line. The fact is that he has no idea whether the plants are what they are tagged or not.

So basically no, he cannot assure me that it is the right plant, and he seems to feel no sense of remorse over this. He actually said that there's nothing he can do. Maybe he ought to find a different supplier of plants if the guy he's buying from can't keep his tags straight. At any rate, I won't be buying the plant. I'll keep looking, and I'm sure one will turn up eventually.

[Jmworchid]

That is the EXACT same reply I got from him word for word when I contacted him about my plant that bloomed out to be something other than what it was labeled. I replied back to him that his supplier was dishonest and he sent me back a stinging response telling me basically what a crumby person I am for insinuating such a thing about himself and his supplier. Personally I believe his supplier is imaginary and an excuse he has used for years which for some reason makes him think ripping people off is OK. If he was worth a shit he would refund our money. He is the ONLY seller I have ever had a problem with in 43 years. Thank goodness there are reputable growers and vendors out there to deal with. Stay away from this crook.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Jmworchid

That is the EXACT same reply I got from him word for word when I contacted him about my plant that bloomed out to be something other than what it was labeled. I replied back to him that his supplier was dishonest and he sent me back a stinging response telling me basically what a crumby person I am for insinuating such a thing about himself and his supplier. Personally I believe his supplier is imaginary and an excuse he has used for years which for some reason makes him think ripping people off is OK. If he was worth a shit he would refund our money. He is the ONLY seller I have ever had a problem with in 43 years. Thank goodness there are reputable growers and vendors out there to deal with. Stay away from this crook.

"Crook" is exactly the correct word to describe him. He's just a crook looking to take advantage of people, and he's got a nice scam going here, because by the time people realize they've been scammed, it is much too late to file a grievance with either eBay or PayPal. He knows this and he takes advantage of it. He's just a crook.

---------- Post added at 08:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 PM ----------

If anybody sees an RLC George King 'Southern Cross', if you think of it, please feel free to let me know,

[Fairorchids]

[/COLOR]If anybody sees an RLC George King 'Southern Cross', if you think of it, please feel free to let me know,[/QUOTE]

Try contacting Waldor Orchids in NJ. Make sure to specify whether you are looking for a mother division, or whether a meristem is OK.

[aliceinwl]

For what it’s worth, LinkedIn lists a Gary Bienemann
Business Owner at Gary's Orchids Sarasota, Florida. If you search Gary Bienemann, multiple articles turn up about him being fined for misdemeanor orchid poaching.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

[/COLOR]If anybody sees an RLC George King 'Southern Cross', if you think of it, please feel free to let me know,

Try contacting Waldor Orchids in NJ. Make sure to specify whether you are looking for a mother division, or whether a meristem is OK.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip. They don't have it listed on the website, but often these big nurseries have too few of a single plant to put on the website, so I think I will give them a call and see if maybe they have one hiding around there somewhere that they would be willing to part with. They do however have 'Serendipity' for sale on the website, and it seems like they use it for breeding a lot. They have a lot of seedlings of crosses for sale with 'Serendipity' as a parent. So I'll give them a call and see if that gets me anywhere. Thanks so much for your help.

---------- Post added at 11:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 AM ----------

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

For what it’s worth, LinkedIn lists a Gary Bienemann
Business Owner at Gary's Orchids Sarasota, Florida. If you search Gary Bienemann, multiple articles turn up about him being fined for misdemeanor orchid poaching.

Well if he's poaching orchids, we shouldn't be buying from him, whether we get the right plant or not. They ought to shut his orchid business down if he's poaching plants from the wild.

[JWJ]

I recently came to the realization that I have been completely defrauded by Ebay orchid seller (marblekg) after spending hundreds of dollars over the years. I had always assumed if I was buying a plant whose nomenclature indicated that it was a meristem, that is what I was really getting. However, I recently asked him to confirm that the plant I had bought, C. gaskelliana 'Blue Dragon,' was a meristem. He responded that it was not. I told him that I was now wondering how many of the plants I had bought from him were actually self-crosses and not clones. His response: "Some are and probably some aren't." Please join me in trying to put a stop to this criminal activity.