Very upset with Floralia, Brazil - Orchid Board

Nico · #1 05-21-2010, 01:35 PM

I've payed for 15 catt species and hybrids on 29th of March. Mrs. Sandra from Floralia told me that is possible to order from them because they have a show in Germany in May and they can ship the plants from there.

I wait patiently for my plants until 15th of May and then I wrote to Mrs. Sandra and ask about my order, about the shipment, etc. She writes back to me this:

"Hi Nicoleta,
the plants were mailed from Germany on the 11th of
May.
regards,
Sandra"

No word about how the shipment will be made, no tracking number for my parcel, nothing...

I asked her nicely to tell me the tracking number. No answer... I must go every day to my postal office and ask for my parcel and I am not even sure if it's already in Romania or not, if it's coming by Romanian Postal Service or a courier company....

I don't understand why they are so unprofessional... I payed 300$ for my orchids and I don't want them dead. They are coming (hopefully) bare roots and there are some rare seedlings among them...

stefpix · #2 05-21-2010, 11:36 PM

Sounds bad. Didn't they tell you the shipping method before you placed the order? $300 is a lot of money. I would probably get insurance with a private carrier

Nico · #3 05-22-2010, 05:59 AM

They only tell me about mail shipping and I asked them if there is any option to send me the plants by courier. They didn't say a word.

I am sure they've mailed the parcel and I trusted them, but not sending me the tracking number and the bad communication after I payed the money is not ok from my point of view. I had much better communication with German vendors.

If the parcel is lost or has problem at the custom I can't even do anything.

My real name, as is requested by the rules for this negative feedback: Nicoleta Brusalis

Nico · #4 05-29-2010, 02:45 AM

My parcel arrived 3 days ago, finally. And Floralia sent me the tracking number yesterday

I am very happy with my plants, although many roots have died because of the 16 days long shipment. I can't blame Floralia for the long shipment, but a better communication and some flexibility is needed. I know it is a reputable vendor and they have exceptional plants, but they have to adjust a little bit to European shipment standards. Sorry, this is only my experience with Floralia and my opinion.

Luckily, the most valuable orchid, Catt Velutina, arrived in good condition. I was sure it is lost, but it's alive and well. I am so, so happy...

stefpix · #5 05-29-2010, 04:06 AM

Good for you... Happy it worked out. But what do you mean by "European shipment standards"? Floralia should have sent you the tracking number right away. But would you have been willing to pay more for a private carrier?

Anyway my green card had been lost while sent from Vermont to New York. I received after a month when usually takes 3 days. It had been sent to my PO Box when Official Documents are not suposed to be delivered to a PO Box. If I had not received I would have had to pay 300$ for a replacement.

I did a trade this winter and the Den laevifolium was stuck in New Jersey for 5 days and I received it frozen and the person I did the trade received my Pinguiculas frozen. Usually it would take 3 days and never received a frozen plant but some town in NJ must have kept packages outside or somewhere unheated.

Stuff happen.
I would file a complaint for the post office. If you have a tracking # you can possibly see where was the bottleneck, where the package got stuck. Filing a complaint will help stuff like this happen less frequently.

All is well what ends well, maybe the neglect will make your orchids bloom more profusely!

trdyl · #6 05-29-2010, 04:24 AM

Nico,

I am glad to hear that it work out for you.

Nico · #7 05-29-2010, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefpix

Good for you... Happy it worked out. But what do you mean by "European shipment standards"? Floralia should have sent you the tracking number right away. But would you have been willing to pay more for a private carrier?

I wrote to Floralia I would like to pay extra money for a private carrier (I wrote courier, in fact, but I hope is the same thing), and I explained to Mrs Sandra how worried I am with the postal services, but I got no answer to my email... I don't know how the shipment is made in Brazil, but in Europe the vendors send the tracking number right away and a message like "your parcel have been sent on 11th of May 2010". Is not a big deal. Otherwise the package was ok.

Anyway, I am not upset anymore with Floralia.

But I suspect they are with me

Thank you Stepfix!

Trdyl, I hope you'll be glad also in the future for my next 100 questions about species

trdyl · #8 05-29-2010, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nico

Trdyl, I hope you'll be glad also in the future for my next 100 question about species

Ready whenever you need assistance.

Ray · #9 05-29-2010, 11:46 AM

I don't know if the timing is right for this, but the lack of communications may have been a factor of their preparation for the Spring Redlands sale. It's a BIG deal for orchid vendors - I have heard some say that it will tell them if they make or lose money for the year.

stefpix · #10 05-29-2010, 11:55 AM

Yes but sending a tracking # via email is a very good policy, at the same time traveling with a bunch of plants for sale, shipping from a foreign country where you are not familiar with details etc etc may create inconvenient siutuations. It could be also the internet is not always available. When you are traveling things are more complicated. But would have been sufficient to take a clear photo of the shipping label with recipient name and tracking # and email it . Well at least it did not happen in the winter!