Very bad experience with online seller www.orchidee-diffusion.com

[Alternaria]

I know this is an orchid enthusiasts forum and I have ordered other plants, but I still wanted to share my bad experience so you know what to expect.
I have recently ordered 3 plants from online shop Livraison d'Orchidees fleuries. Achat - Vente Orchidee-Diffusion. I received only 2 plants and was refunded for third one, without consent to the changed order. One plant I received was not the one I ordered and the other one was much smaller and the soil was drenched! After contacting CS they responded:
"Hello we have money back on plants missed
hoya is great, peperomia is nice, sometime we can give similar plants it s normal, it s write on our policy"
After replying that this is unacceptable and I will open a case on Paypal, I received next messages:
"We are the only one to sell this hoya in europ now!
Sent us back plants!
No plants for free!
Hoya growing super fast! And pot is 14cm!
Peperomia IS same pot as describ!!!
Sent us plants back in same condition or paypal don t give you anything!
I m going to police!
Peperomia IS 6cm pot! Hoya 14cm pot! You receive what you buy!!!! Don t loose my time!!!"
Hoya came in 12 cm pot, Peperomia was 6cm but wrong species. The one I ordered is hard to get, I have never seen it sold anywhere I could buy it and it is why I decided to order from this site in the first place. Hoya had to be repotted, it had some rotten roots and has lost some leaves because of all the shock.
I just wanted to warn you not to order from this seller as they obviously do not care about their customers.

[JScott]

Open the case with PapPal. They almost always side with the buyer. If he wants his plants back, PayPal will probably make him pay return shipping.

---------- Post added at 05:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:59 PM ----------

Just tell them that the seller misrepresented the condition of the plants, and that one of the plants was the wrong plant entirely.

---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------

And show them the rude, aggressive, threatening messages he sent you . `

[Alternaria]

I have contacted Paypal and they said I need to send plants back in the same condition as I have received them and after the seller receives them in the exact same condition they will issue a refund. As these are living plants I really don't see how that can be done as they would probably rot and die after so much shipping back and forth (4 days to me and prob 4 days back). I have also already repotted one plant as it was absolutely needed to prevent further root rot. It looks better now so at least there's that.
Just wanted to let you know to better buy plants elsewhere. Any reputable shop would have handled this in a more civil way.

[JScott]

Did you inform them that one of the plants is suffering bacterial rot, and it will continue to progress, and it will be impossible to return the plant in the same condition, because it was diseased to begin with?

[Alternaria]

Yes I have written back, saying it was drencehd and that causes root rot and so on... They replied that refunds are only possible if the items are returned as they were recieved and that it is not possible for buyer to keep an item and receive a refund. I will ask for a contact of a head of CS, because these rules obviously cannot apply to living things and perishables.

[JScott]

Keep at it. Don't give up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. This aggression cannot stand. Did they have any comment on how rude the seller was to you?

[Alternaria]

No, even though I have attached screenshots of the conversation, their Terms of sale (they breached 2 clauses-description of items and change of orders), photos of plants and links to original listings and have written more than a page long explanation.
I have even send all of this to EU comission and they just replied today the same as Paypal. I have to send items back in the condition I received them in. If I send them back I have a pretty strong feeling the seller would say they are not in the same condition and refused to refund, so I'd rather not risk that.
I can at least share my negative experience so people know who they are dealing with and stay away. 🙂

[JScott]

I am really shocked that PapPal isn't helping you out more. I ordered an Oncidium once on eBay and paid with PayPal. The picture on the listing showed a healthy plant with plump, round, smooth pseudobulbs. When I got the plant, it had been shipped bare root, so I could easily see that all the roots were dead, and the pseudobulbs were shriveled to the point of being practically flat. I contacted the seller, and she wasn't interested in making it right, so I opened a dispute with PayPal. I told them that her listing had misrepresented the condition of the plant, and I showed them the picture from the listing of the healthy plant, and I sent them a picture of the plant I received it. I believe it was the same plant, I just think the picture used on the listing had been taken a long time ago, before whatever happened that killed the roots. PayPal agreed with me that she had misrepresented the condition of the plant, and they just reversed the charge, and that was the end of it.

They said that if she wanted the plant back, I had to return it to her, but at her expense. She didn't want the plant back, because she knew when she sent it to me that it was already beyond being saved.

[Alternaria]

I know, I was surprised as well, but I think they just follow these strict guidelines they have in place. I could send it back and I believe I could ask Paypal to cover return shipping, but judging from previous correspondence with the seller I think he would just refuse to refund me for the plants. I would expect, in case of perishables, to resolve a dispute with a partial refund. But they explained to me that is not an option unless seller agrees to that, which he did not.
I will definitely write to them about how these strict guidelines cannot apply to every case and to review the dispute again. So at least in the future I can feel more protected buying plants online.

[JScott]

I wouldn't give up. Keep bothering them long enough and maybe they'll do something for you just to get you to leave them alone haha