Bulb Crate Orders

Did anybody else order from Alice? Have you gotten it yet?

I ordered Anastasia.... think I will send her a email. I want that one soooo bad!!

Have you ordered from her before and had good luck?

Another great place to get Anastasia is the Lily Garden.

Yes, I ordered from her last year. I tried calling the Lily Garden but no one returned my call.

I emailed her and she said she was digging yesterday and should be sending out next monday. She prefers to mail on moday so they most likely will be delivered that week.


edited to say that Alice eamiled me again & it is on it's way!!!

This message was edited Oct 31, 2007 9:50 AM

I have not recieved my bulb yet. Saturday she emailed me that her car had broken down. She did not state one way or the other if she had sent it. She ships Fed Ex. Sunday she emails me saying that she will check her beds and see if she has any left. That this will all be straightened out monday and she will let me know.

I have not heard from her yet and she has already taken the $15 out of my account. I ordered this back during the summer. I am not a happy camper.

This message was edited Nov 5, 2007 10:15 PM

I have not had good luck with her.

Well, I got my pkg today. I paid $15 for this. I don't think I will be ordering from her again. That is a Susan B. Anthony Silver Dollar on top of the bulb.

Sitting next to a Heinz Ketchup Bottle 46 oz. size.

Oh no. I have a catalog from this company and was going to order in the spring. Not now. Please post your experiences in Watchdog. There hasn't been a review of this company since 2006.

man I would be so disapointed may be it will suprise you and be the best ever!!!! fingers crossed
Gloria

Sometimes the type of bulb matters with the size. What type is it that you got from her that you have posted?

With that said, I will say that I have not only had a bad experience with her, but a horrible one. The feedback of Garden Watchdog is something I will be doing, but only after the entire transaction is complete. I have not received all of my bulbs yet from her.

It is Anastasia which is an Orienpet. Last year I got 1 Oriental and 2 Trumpets. Only Arena the Oriental bloomed this year.

I am sorry to hear you are having a bad deal too. I did put my rating in this evening. I probably wouldn't have order from her but I kept missing out on this one and I really, really want it. When I ordered it I called because I did not want to risk slow mail or something and then have it be sold out....that said I have only gotten it to lilies the last 2 yrs. so I have not learned who are the good vendors for bulbs. Watchdog is great but if there is no information or nothing recent it is a crap shoot.

Just have to know when to fold 'em!! lol

Hope you get the rest of your bulbs magnolialover!

Nanny you still have time left, check out what Buggycrazy has for sale... You will not ever be disappointed with Lisa Hunt's bulbs..

I simply ordered some that she said she had the I was unable to find anywhere else. Some things, I should learn, are not worth the trouble. Most of what her catalog said she had, she did not, so after changing my order 3 or 4 times, because of her outdated catalog, I didn't even get 100% of what I was after.

If you read the communication I had with her, you would be astonished at her attitude towards a customer. To say the least, it was very disappointing. Honestly, I haven't ever been treated this way by a company, much less by a lily bulb vendor. It really saddened me for a few days...

Things I have learned (again). Buy from reputable growers. I have my list of reliable favorites and if they don't have it, I don't need it.

Bulb Crate buys from the Lily Garden and then sells to you. She (the owner) told me this. So why not just buy from Judith at the Lily Garden. If you do a mail order, then you just get the bulbs you order at the proper planting time for your area...or you pick the time you want to get the bulbs. It's a whole lot less hassle than begging someone for bulbs you already paid for.

I included a quote from one of her emails to me in my rating.....

I had wondered if she didn't buy from them, being how Anastasia is one of their introductions. I will not be repeatin this mistake again. The catalogs are in the recycle box now.

Very nice Garden Watchdog comment, nanny. I always struggle with how to put negative ratings. In fact this particular one has been spinning around in my head for a while.

The facts stand by themselves. Bad things can happen, like radiator problems and whatever. I get that (regarding your comment), it's the part where she fails to properly tend to the customer. Words like "don't worry" are simply inappropriate words to use when dealing customers.

I not only have been told not to worry, but much worse.

Thanks. I struggled with it. Like I said when I spoke on the phome with her in August she seemed like very nice person. My dh has suggested that may be there is something going on with in some way.

Those kind of catch phrases turn my radar on immediately!

Based on my conversations via email and via phone lead me to believe something is wrong as well. She did seem nice at times, very pushy though. Her catalog says that orders placed before Sept. 28th over $40, qualify for free bulbs. So even though her catalog was two years out of date (which, mind you, she had JUST sent me, with absolutely NO corrections). She was pressing me to order in order to get my bulbs "in time". It is very easy to do that in an efficient manner when everything is current and you don't have to keep going through the listings and asking her if this or that is still available.

She was none to pleased with me for suggesting that placing an order could be made easier if either her website was up to date or her catalog listings. And that perhaps it might help to have a "place order by..." for the fall season if she had dealines from bulb brokers. Honestly, I understand the cost of running a business, but even going through and manually crossing out what is not available would have worked for me, sure it isn't the most professional, but it would do. In the least, you would be aware of what was available so that you could promptly place an order, if you chose to do so. You know?

Nanny, thank you for posting your experience here. At least I know that I am not alone, and judging by the last post in Garden Watchdog from last year, it has been going on this way for some time now. I just don't have the time nor the energy for places like Bulb Crate. If only I would get the rest of my order now, that would be nice.

Finally got my bulbs today, snow on the ground and ground frozen.

Added Watchdog rating and comments.
Glad to be done with this.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/883/

magnolialover I'm so glade you finaly got them hope thay grow to be even better then you hoped after all the trouble!!
Gloria

Wow LOL what a trip, magnolia. Lots of contridictions in her actions. Good review you wrote.

Glad to hear your ordeal is over. Good, honest review and she has lost at least 2 customers here due to her actions.

Hope it warms up and you can get your bulbs planted!!

Thanks for the kind words of support, I appreciate it.

Ummm, you must have really wanted those bulbs to order from some one like that. Rude even before she had your money! What are we addicts to do?

It is those words "Free Shipping" that suck me in. When I have to make every penny count and stretch it as far as I can those words have a lot of power!! Will be much more attentive & careful in the future though.

Never again. Even addicts have a learning curve ;)

I really appreciate your posting your experiences---you've saved me from going through what you did. After talking with her on the phone, she sent me a catalog (outdated) but wrote in "free shipping" so I was thinking about ordering. Not now. I just wanted you to know how grateful that I am to have learned from your experience. Thanks so much. Maybe someday, I can return the favor.