Norman Orchids, orchids.com

[gmdiaz]

Grrrrrr! I would be on the phone lickity split, demanding satisfaction. I can NOT believe the spike was cut off. . .for $50 you should receive a premium specimen.

I am so sorry. I know you are soooo disappointed. Dang them.

[tbentl]

I've ordered from Norman's Orchids about three or four times -- no problems. Although I did have B. Nodosa get held up at the FedEx terminal in Memphis several years ago when almost the entire U.S. was going through a winter storm, the plant was dying from cold. Called and they shipped a replacement the next week.

[solo1979]

I think they cut it to make it fit in the box. When ordering I actually put a note saying please send me a good specimen, I had a seedling given to me as a gift but it died on me. I just take this as a lesson learned. The actual plant itself is quite healthy and in the end, I guess that's what should matter most to me. I ordered a few cheapies from that one guy on ebay that most don't seem to thing very highly of, but aside from that, I'm done with ordering. If they don't have it locally, I just won't get it. I just don't have great experiences with ordering. Last time I ordered was about 3 years ago, a bunch of seedlings from Camp Lot A Noise. They were horrible too. Leaves were all pitted, black holes in them (what is that?), etc.

Solana

[solo1979]

Here's a pic of the actual plant. I think I will call and ask for some sort of refund. I have pics as proof of the way the plant looks.

[solo1979]

Update: Just called. The guy was saying what do you mean cut, we don't cut them. I said well this has clearly been cut or broken. He said well ma'am, you do know this is a miniature, is it around 18 inches tall? I said yes, but this is not my first orchid, I know how spikes look and this one has clearly been damaged. So, he told me to email a pic and he'll have the growers look at it and we'll see what we can do. His tone was rather condescending, which has really put me in a sour mood. I told him I expected a partial refund and now because of the mood he's left me in, if I don't get it, I might seriously consider doing a charge back with the credit card company (I've only done that before ONCE in my life when I ordered something that was never delivered.)

Solana

Last Update: They got back to me promptly. I am being refunded $10, which is the difference in price between a mature plant and one in bloom. Well, I guess that's a happy ending.

[quiltergal]

I wonder if the new guy in shipping still has his job today! How disappointing! But at least they did credit you the difference between a blooming plant and a mature plant.

[Cookiemonster]

good thing they gave you a refund, partial...
I just think in the future purchase from sellers others have bought from in the past and have had wonderful experiences, im glad you mentioned camp a lot noise I was possibly interested in ordering from them but I'll pass now, its good to pass along beneficial info

I just dont understand how normans orchids could be so inconsistent with their plants/shipping ect....
It doesnt make sense... owell

[gmdiaz]

Yep, I'd be OK with that discount. . .the rest of the plant looks great.

That is a wonderful variety to add to your collection. It's super hard to find it anyplace BUT online, at least around here! You'll soon have a great bloom showing, despite that "shipping snipper's great idea to snip".

[Phantasm]

I ordered some plants from them about a year ago, and was happy with the quality of the plants that I received. One plant had mealybug which was promptly dealt with. The plants were good size, in fact larger than I had expected. They were all potted in moss which doesn't work well for me and I repotted everything in my standard bark mixtures. They responded well and grew quite well this growing season...

[Grandma M]

About, Camp Lot A Noise. I ordered some bulbos from them and they were #$%##$. I repotted them and possibly they will come out of it, but the bulbos I ordered from other growers were great, and responded very well to my growing conditions.