I Feel Ripped-off!!!!!

I rec'd an order today of 3 tiny plants from a well-known "southeastern area" nursery. They explain in their catalog they lose money on shipping and so they have to charge a lot for it . I expected to see a huge box with the most elaborate packaging system ever inside. Instead, it was a small box with the heavy tissue-like paper and some saran wrap around my plants!!!! If it had taken a few more days to get to me, or if the weather was a bit hotter, the hosta would have croaked, b/c it was beginning to look wilted.
I CANNOT BELIEVE they charged me 20.00 for this!!!!!
It says on the box that the weight was 5 lbs. but there is no way it is that much!!!! They need to calibrate their scales.
My DH is furious and having worked in shipping and receiving for many years, he said the packing job "wasn't all that"!!
Suffice it to say that I will NOT be ordering from this Co. again, no matter if they are the only place where I can find a particular item or how CUTE their catalog cover is!!!!!
Anyone else ever feel this way after receiving their order????
Sorry folks, just had to vent a little!

be sure to add you experience to the Garden Watchdog....

Yep..I'd encourage you to do the same. And do it soon. Perhaps we'll get a response from that "southeastern area" company stating (again) the whole sh-moley (reason/excuse).

And, GEEZ, don't be afraid to mention the name!! Give us a warning!!

I have just added my comments on the GW if anyone wants to know. I just didn't feel right "outing" them here! My original intent was to vent and to ask if anyone else feels ripped by high s&h!!
I had to cool down a bit as I was mad when I posted this.
Hope I don't get sued!

As long as it is true, you're okay! And I know it is! I refuse to order from anywhere that makes a huge profit from shipping and "handling". We all know what it costs to mail a few plants. It is not very delightful to spend too much.

Dear Pardancanda, are you speaking from personal experience, too? And you are really good with a pun!!

I'd weigh it first, before posting. The boxes themselves weigh quite a bit. I sent a gift to Larkie a couple months ago, and couldn't believe how It actually weighed, and barely missed the mark of the lb. (went over). I could have sworn it was feather weight! But a good packaging company should have their own scales and have them pre-prepared, ready for shipment, and know that extra tissue is unnecessary, when going over a certain mark. They should be charging for the product, and charge as minimal as possible for shipping.

Shipping and "handling" as they call it. I admire you for not saying "which" company it was, and biting your tongue.

The cost of shipping things is only going to go up my friends. As is everything right now, as long as fuel costs are as high as they are. Unfortunately, I doubt any of us will be getting raises in our incomes to cover the differences. We're living in some pretty scary times.

Karrie, this is a SMALL box with 2 tiny plants in real little pots and the 1 hosta was wrapped only in paper. Not a lot of weight there.
I work in a store and get lots of boxes of merchandise each week. I am a pretty good judge of what things weigh and how they are supposed to be packed.
I TOTALLY agree with the last part of your post!!!

{Please don't think I'm being rude to you in this post b/c I'm not, ok??? Sometimes I don't know how to express myself well on the BB.
It's much easier to communicate when you can hear someones voice tone and their facial expressions. Sorry I went off on this tangent- just felt it was important to say this!!}

This is an interesting thread commenting on the cost of shipping. I now live in a very rural area and do more of my shopping online than before.

I was VERY surprised and impressed when a recent order online for some exotic food products totaling over $90 only had a shipping charge of $6.75!

I guess there are still some good companies out there who only make money on their products, and not shipping!

Shipping charges are VERY important to me. Shopping online is sometimes worth paying more than you would if you went to the store to buy it, but not always. If there was something I wanted that had a 20 dollar shipping charge, I'd have to pass it up, but that is just me.

I got burnt on Ebay once, someone didn't have their shipping charges displayed on the auction, and they charged me 39.99 shipping for a 5 dollar item.

I've had items in my online "cart" before, and then the final page, the shipping charges come up to some outrageous amount, I just close the window down and look elsewhere.

I feel for you berrygirl, I really do. I would have been just as disappointed as you are.

Darius, you'll have to share that link with me!

Melissa, it was http://www.chefshop.com

I found some rice paper wrappers for spring rolls, plus some REAL artisan pastas and a few other goodies!

Did you contact the company to ask them about this situation?

Dear smiln,I have read on the watchdog about others' problems with this co. and basically, you have to order more plants to get a credit with them, and the min. is 30.00, I think! Since the plants aren't dead, there isn't a whole lot of recourse I have. I would basically just be fussing at them about how I feel ripped-off!
As I had stated earlier, I was very upset when I first posted, so I feel the best thing is to cool- off a few days,then e-mail the co.

This message was edited Apr 17, 2004 1:05 PM

I understand that you want to wait a few days to cool off, but it's best to not let it sit for more than a day or so. The company needs to know how you feel about the shipping. If the plants arrived in good condition and/or will survive, I'm not sure there's much that they can or should do.

The cost of shipping was clearly stated "up front" and you ordered the plants knowing what the cost was. The fact that they didn't arrive in an elaborate fashion is based on your expectation of how they'd arrive. It has nothing to do with what the company said it would provide. Does that make sense?

The company, in fact, fulfilled it's end of the purchase agreement, just as you did. Your frustration seems to stem from the fact that you spent a lot on shipping and expected to receive something beyond an ordinary box with basic packaging.

I understand why you are upset and I can sympathize with you. I learned this lesson myself with an ebay purchase. I expected one thing and received another. In fact, the seller did what they said they'd do, but I felt that they should have done more. It's all about perception.

I hope I have worded this well. I'm not trying to upset you, just give you a little perspective before you contact the company.

Baa, as I stated above, I went here to DG to "vent" b/c I was sooo mad. I WILL be contacting the co. via email prob. Sun. or Mon. I really want to be calm when I do this b/c I tend to have foot-in-mouth disease!

berrygirl, when I read what the charges were in the catalogue, I just decided not to order- they were so far out of line. btw, I guessed who you meant before I went to Garden Watchdog to check out recent posts!

There was a long thread here once about this very thing, and there was very little satisfaction. Just let them know how you feel!

There was a computer program that I wanted very much...could only get it online. They wanted to charge $8.00 S & H on a CD! No way...I still don't have the program...and they don't have my $8.00!!! LOL Jo

I feel for you berrygirl. Good luck, I'd fight it. I was recently charged $9 for shipping a plant to me but when I got it, it was the best packing job I'd ever seen. It looked like I just took it off of a shelf in a green house. I know what you mean about expecting a little more for $20.

LOL roadrunner, $8 shipping for a cd?!? People are nuts!

I figured out who it was beforehand, too (the cute catalog comment tipped the scales - up to that point I was guessing either ... or PDN.)

PDN does seem to have a fairly cavalier attitude toward customers. I guess they feel they can afford to, and by the same token, I feel I can afford to read their catalog and then go elsewhere for my plants ;o)

Forestfarm also charges a fairly steep shipping fee, relative to the cost of their plants. But I would have to say that they arrive SUPERBLY packaged, in an extremely sturdy (and heavy) cardboard box that does indeed weigh more than the USPS priority boxes. That plus their staggering array of plants will keep me buying from them, but I do wait until I have enough plants to "max out" my order without hitting the next tier of shipping fees.

In fairness to mail order companies, we do need to keep in mind that S&H takes more than a box and some tissue paper, even if that's the only materials involved. A company has to pay for:

1) someone to fetch the right plants from hundreds or thousands of cultivars in their inventory
2) someone else to double-check the order to make sure it's right;
3) greenhouses, temperature controlled warehouse, and a staging facility for packaging the plants (these facilities easily run six or seven figures - ouch!)
4) all the utilities and insurance necessary to run the facility; and of course,
5) boxes, tape, packing materials, etc. (paid upfront, so there are carrying costs involved because their $$ are tied up in inventory.)

On top of that, there's inventory shrinkage and waste from broken plants, wasted boxes and tape because something malfunctioned, etc.

Most of these overhead costs are invisible to us, nor do we consider the value of our time to gather the materials, gather the plant, put it all together and take it to the P.O.

(I'm not defending PDN, just pointing out that in general, there can be a pretty good chunk of change wrapped up in sending out an order, whether it's for one plant or one hundred ;o)

Agreed, Terry! It just seems to me that many other nurseries manage to do what one or two find themselves incapable of. I would just rather they charge whatever they feel they must for the plants, and keep the shipping closer to actual costs.

I thank you all for your comments.
Yes, I DID KNOW it was gonna cost me 20.00 before I placed my order so I guess I am just a little disappointed in the packaging of my plants.
I do order from FOREST FARM a lot and they have the best packaging I have EVER seen!!!!
It takes forever and a lot of sweat to get the plants out of the box, but it is so worth it!!! I recently got a big box from them, and the s&h was nowhere near the same price and got 3 times as many plants. Plus, they shipped to me all the way from Oregon, not a neighboring state.
I am thru griping now as I have learned my lesson the hard way and unless I marry a rich man, I'll not be ordering from them again!!!!
I'll just bug you guys when I want a plant that I can't find anywhere else- I know you won't charge me that much to ship it.
Thanks and GOD BLESS all the fine nurseries out there who really appreciate {and don't condescend to} their customers!!!

OK you guys, I went and sent what I thought was a rather nice email to the co.
I'll let you know if and when I get a response and the content of it. I told them the truth in how I felt and kept it short and sweet.
Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations here!!!

Good Attitude, berrygirl! Post your "wants" on the plant trading forum. Your most desired plant might be just waiting for you there. :)

berrygirl, This sure is frustrating, I've had it happen more than once too, I do buy alot on ebay, melissa_ohio, I would have died, had I been charged that outragious shipping price, they were waiting to take advantage of someone there. I try to always ask what the shipping is if it's not listed.

did someone ever mention the website, berrygirl was upset with, I missed it.

kathy

Kathyann, go to the watchdog :)

oky dokey

kathy