They messed up my order

[cecilsgarden1958]

They messed up my order, daggone it. I have been waiting for my Cuor Di Bue, Barlo, 2 Sweet Baby Girls, Yellow Brandywine and Bonny Best, but the nursery farm sent me substitutions.
Would you believe hey sent plain ol' Beefsteak that I could have got at Walmart for 1/4 of the price instead of my BARLO, They sent 2 Sun Gold which I hate and also could have got cheap instead of my SWEET BABY GIRLS and a Giant Pink Oxheart, (that I can't get to fruit around here) instead of COUR DI BUE. Hey atleast they got two right. I can see my season shaping up wrong already :-(
Anyway, I was so mad. I got in the car and went 20 miles to check out Lowe's, Mile High Road Side Stand, A fruit market, and a local grocery and fond nothing of note. On the way home I went way out of my way to where I grew up as a kid to check out a greenhouse I have heard about. I replaced all 6 plants, even though two in the order were right. I found my 2 Sweet Baby Girls, 2 Champions, 1 Carmello and something called Chanti Rose(Brandywine crossed with Italian Heirloom. At only $1.25 for a potted plant.

I gave away all the mistakes, plus Yellow B and Bonny Best, along with about 8 leftovers I had after planting.

Now I guess I'm happy again. Will never order from those guys again. Same people messed me up last year.

CECIL

[Suze]

Cecil, couldn't figure it out from your post, so who is "they"?

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by Suze

Cecil, couldn't figure it out from your post, so who is "they"?

Suzie, I didn't want to run down a company by name in a post, but they are a nursey farm that does mail order shipping. If you want to know the name for future reference, I can send you a PM.

CECIL

[feldon30]

if they made a mistake TWICE, why not mention their name?

[Suze]

Originally Posted by cecilsgarden1958

Suzie, I didn't want to run down a company by name in a post, but they are a nursey farm that does mail order shipping. If you want to know the name for future reference, I can send you a PM.

Thanks, Cecil - but I rarely order plants, and so don't need to know who it is for my own personal edification. I was mainly thinking that other members would want to know. If I were ever in a situation where I needed or wanted to order plants for whatever reason, it would likely either be from Darrel or SSE (just based on previous successful experience ordering plants from both of them in the past). I do agree with Morgan's point, though:

Originally Posted by feldon30

if they made a mistake TWICE, why not mention their name?

However (and don't mean to put you on the spot), if you don't want to say who it is, totally up to you.

IMO, merely mentioning/sharing your experience with a vendor is not "running them down" -- especially if one is careful to stick to the facts/points and not go on too much of a tirade. I do recognize and realize that threads about vendors can at times have the potential to turn a bit meanspirited and unkind.

[carolyn137]

Cecil, most reputable places that sell plants online ask if you'll accept substitutes.

Did you tell them no substitutes?

At the very least you could have listed some substitutes that would have been acceptable to you.

When asked about places to buy plants online I give the same sources as did Suze above, and that's Darrel Jones at selectedplants. com and SSE at seedsavers.org or from the public SSE catalog.

To send you so many varieties that you hadn't ordered without even informing you of the change is so very hard to believe, but I believe you.

And I agree that it would be beneficial for others to know the name of the place. No, I'm not going to PM you b'c I'm thinking of others not plants for myself.

And if you look at the Seed Source Forum you'll see some places that are not recommended and I'd like to see this place listed with those as well in terms of plants.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Cecil, most reputable places that sell plants online ask if you'll accept substitutes.

Did you tell them no substitutes?

At the very least you could have listed some substitutes that would have been acceptable to you.

When asked about places to buy plants online I give the same sources as did Suze above, and that's Darrel Jones at selectedplants. com and SSE at seedsavers.org or from the public SSE catalog.

To send you so many varieties that you hadn't ordered without even informing you of the change is so very hard to believe, but I believe you.

And I agree that it would be beneficial for others to know the name of the place. No, I'm not going to PM you b'c I'm thinking of others not plants for myself.

And if you look at the Seed Source Forum you'll see some places that are not recommended and I'd like to see this place listed with those as well in terms of plants.

Carolyn: I assumed that they were out and that's why they substututed and no I did not tell them not to. I don't recall if there was a box to uncheck or not, but that was 2/3 of my order and I was disappointed and I thought they could have gotten closer with their choices. I will list them in the proper forum, although relunctantly, as it is partially my fault. I will mention now, that the site is http://www.bcfarm.com
Nice plants, but 2 ears running they messed me up. Last year they only sent 1/2 of my order and by the time I got them to understand what happened they were out of the choices, which were matched to my other 1/2. So instead of 4 of each, I only had 2 of each and some only 1. Oh well. Live & learn

CECIL-off to find that seed forum.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by Suze

..... If I were ever in a situation where I needed or wanted to order plants for whatever reason, it would likely either be from Darrel or SSE (just based on previous successful experience ordering plants from both of them in the past)...

I checked out Selected Plants-looks good, but failed to find any tomato plants available at SSE

Thanks

CECIL

[Dukerdawg]

My question is: Why did you give away Yellow Brandywine! ?? Yikes!...

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by Dukerdawg

My question is: Why did you give away Yellow Brandywine! ?? Yikes!...

Well, I had never tried it before and had no reference point, so when I found those 6 really nice looking plants at the greenhouse I just sort of edited it out of the works. The plants I found were $1.25 each and were twice the size & beautiful, so......

On second guess and upon referencing Chianti Rose, after planting and giving away the others; I would have planted the Yellow Brandywine. The site I checked says Chianti Rose is a poor producer and subject to cracking. WOW, what a selling point :-)

CECIL

[carolyn137]

Cecil, I just browsed thru that web site.

It says satisfaction 100% guaranteed.

You aren't satisfied, so contact them and give them the statistics for two years running as to what you oredered and what you were sent.

it sounds to me like they possibly are more interested in the money than client satisfaction to have sent so many varieties not initially requested.

I've never heard of this source and so wandered around a bit to look at the tomato blurbs. Some errors here and there but not all that bad.

My fave comment was where it was said that fruits of such and such variety grow on vigorous green plants.

Well I hope the plants are green.

I note $4/plant and then add shipping and that's quite a bit of money.

In the future if you buy plants please do consider the two places that many have used and been very satisfied with; links in a post above.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Carolyn, I will never again use that website and was intending on not ordering thru the mail again, but I will make note of the two recommendations.

CECIL

[feldon30]

Hopefully next year you'll just grow plants yourself.

[stratcat1]

http://www.seedsavers.org/products.asp?dept=68

Cecil-I ordered plants from SSE a few years ago and they arrived in great shape and grew. Hate to see you wait another year to start your own.

Am eagerly awaiting an order from Darrel at Selected Plants this month.

Good luck!

john

[carolyn137]

My 2008 SSE catalog is out in the living room and I don['t feel like wheeling out there to fetch it but I have a feeling that the last deadline for shipping plants has gone by.

Cecil, when one orders plants from SSE there are several shipping dates and deadline to oprder for each shipping date.

But from the comments you've made I wonder if the rather restricted list of varieties they sell as plants would meet your needs.

Darrel will also custom grow plants for folks but you have to give him some lead time if you don't send him the seeds and he doesn't have them b/c he then has to find and buy the seeds.

Since there are always some F1 hybrids you desire, why not grow just those yourself, I know you've done it before, and then order your OP wants as plants if you wish.