Comments regarding Growquest Growers (also dba Olive-Trees.net and Surf & Sierra Wholesale Nurseries, LLC)

I ordered two avocado trees in summer 2006. They arrived that October, late but in good shape. Despite reading all the negative comments here, I decided about a week ago to try ordering again, this time a single Nabal avo tree. After ordering I noticed the address in Santa Paula, not too far from my home, and decided to pay them a visit, get my tree, and save the shipping charge. I went there today, and found an empty office converted from an old residence. It had the name "Fernandez" on the front. Yahoo maps lists the address as "Medical Claims and Billing Specialist". Nowhere was "Surf and Sierra Nursery, LLC" nor any part of that name. I walked around to the back of the building to see if there were any trees. Just an empty parking lot. Something's fishy!

"On Oct 14, 2009 12:11 PM, Growquest Growers (also dba Olive-Trees.net and Surf & Sierra Wholesale Nurseries, LLC) responded with:

The "office" is converted from a large Ranch Office, this person must be blind and stupid.There are two signs Hernandez Realtor and another business sign.

And the web site makes it clear office is the office and nursery is at the NURSERY down the street.

Chris"

May 12th 2007 I placed 2 orders for several citrus trees with http://www.growquest.com also known as ABP Nurseries or Surf and Sierra. This online business states that they pack and ship product to my door with-in 10-15 days and that their product is superior to their competitors in quality and size for the price. I placed my order in full faith of receiving such product and service and paid immediately upon receiving their invoices via Paypal totalling $218.08 which included the price of the trees and FedEx shipping charges to my door. After a few weeks w/out being contacted after receiving my money I started contacting them via email and phone. Per Growquest they have undergone the following issues causing faulty customer service response and lack of shipments: Bad phone service, personal health problems, family problems, replacing customer service personnel, moving offices from Visalia to Ventura, Accounts payable person vacation. On the occasions when I was actually able to reach someone they told me that my order would be shipping the next week or in a couple days with the next truck to Arizona, every time but never did they actually ship.
I finally requested a refund on 7/18 and was told I would have it in 14 business days 'worst case scenario'. On 8/14 I still had no refund - I spoke with Chris Gilcrest (owner of the company) on 2 separate occasions and he promised to have the refund in my account by that night. No refund. Subsequent promises fell thorugh and I remain w/out my total refund.
3 months ago they stated that the fastest way to fix this mess was to put the refund on a payment plan in installments. They have never told me when this will be complete (despite my requests) and to date I have receive approx 30% of the total refund.
I have never had a customer service experience come close to how dismal this has been. In hind sight I will never buy off a website's advertisement of service and product without first researching them on the internet and through the BBB.
Right now I am more upset over the feeling of being scammed without conscience (though the refund would be nice too).

We received an order of citrus trees on April 27, 2007. Three of the trees were damaged in delivery and Chris (who personally delivered on that date) promised to replace them in a week and he even noted this on my invoice. After a month went by and many excuses were made, we made a request for a refund as we had already filled our clients needs through another vendor. A refund has been promised by Chris (on numerous occassions) and Leah but I am writing this on Nov. 29, 2007 and have not seen a dime of the money which we paid in advance of the delivery. We share the frustration that many apparently are having dealing with this company. The excuses and run-around babble are endless but the fact remains that seven months later we have not received our money. Our final attempt to collect our money was to propose a payment plan with installments. The first installment date came and went and the second date is in three days and we have heard or seen nothing from Chris. We have no choice now but to alert the authorities.

I placed my order in APRIL 2007. I finally received part of my order (3 rose bushes) in July 07 after many excuses. It is now almost DECEMBER 07 and I still have not received the rest of my order. I had PAID for this order in full in April. So they have my money and my product! I have a folder of email trails with the company that simply makes continual excuses as to why they "couldn't find my invoice, my name, my order info", etc. I would send an email w/ ALL of the info needed and they would still reply back (a week later) asking for information that is already in the email. I got to the point where I would email every week asking for an update. They kept telling me "it will be sent next week." Now they are saying that it was sent in July. But only part of it was sent. I notified them immediately that it was a partial shipment. They acknowledged it and said they would fix it.

I spoke to Chris (supposedly the owner) several times. He said it will ship ASAP, he'd take the bush out of his own yard if he has to, etc. Then I wouldn't hear back for 2 months! I would send him an email directly, then he would just forward it to a sales rep that knows nothing of the history of this order. Apparently, no one there knows how to handle orders.

I have NEVER had such a HORRIBLE experience as I have had with this "company." I have asked for a credit and I have asked for my product. I would take either one at this point. But they will NOT respond anymore. And when they do, it's the same thing, "what's the invoice #? what is the name on the order? that was shipped in July."

It is EXTREMELY frustrating. I have many emails showing that the product was going to be shipped to me, the owner saying he would take it out of his own yard, but none of that matters when it doesn't actually happen.

I HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS "COMPANY." They still have both my money and product. And it has been almost EIGHT MONTHS. I was never rude in my emails to them, so I do not understand how they can run a business that way.

I placed an online order around 6/18/2007 for a total of 113.59 for a shipment of lady bugs. I never received the order or a refund of my money.

I ordered on-line. Ordered a #15 Little Cado Avacado Tree. It has been a month, no tree.........I sent an e-mail today, we will see what happens. Of course I found this site after I sent the e-mail and after ordering.....after reading the issues here, I just notified AMEX to dispute the charges.
Luckily I used the AMEX card and not a check or pay-pal. I know Amex will not mess around and I will get the tree I am supposed to get, in good order, or they will credit me the charge.
Good luck to everyone who is dealing with similar issues.

These people are BAD. Run, do not order from them. I ordered a Dwarf Lemon tree on May 17th (before I found this website!) They cashed my check immediately, but I've never gotten the tree. There have been a lot of promises from owner Chris, including the the promise of a "free" second tree to accomodate me for my trouble and patience. I've gotten notices 3 times that my tree was being "shipped next week" but 4 months later, still no tree. I reported them to my State's Attorney General today.

NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY ..Wow, I finally found a forum to share the worst experience I've ever had with an online nursery. After reading other comments , our buddy (NOT) Chris sent us the most pathic Avocado & Cherimoya tree, it was WAY smaller than advertised and all the foilage was burnt. We complained and he sent a new one (Avocado)and it was as bad as the first one. BUT before he would send us a new one we had to send pictures to him to show him how bad the tree was. My husband & I are gardners and have been growing tropicals /trees , a little bit of everthing for years. We used to own a nusery. Chris accused us of killing the trees. (Even though we contacted him the day we got the trees, we didn't have time to kill them) He also told me to quit my bitching. in a e-mail. As a business person, I have never encountered anyone so rude to me, I was blown away. I made a complaint to the BBB. and found I wasn't alone . I usually let stuff go as I'm so busy ,but this guy was so rude and we totally got screwed that I complained. His wife left him I read .... Karma dude..

Now "SURF AND SIERRA NURSERY, LLC.., of Ventura CA

On 24 May 2007 I sent $131.19 to Growquest for 2 advocado trees.
After many emails and phone calls it is now Sep 7th, 2007 and no trees. I have told them to cancel and return my money - they cashed my check May 26th - they completely ignored me.
My neighbor ordered a week after I did. In July, after threatening to report them to pay pal and get her money back, they sent her 2 cheaper trees, nearly dead.
Now they say they can't ship to New Mexico because of the heat. I don't know what the excuse was all summer when it was really hot and they shipped my neighbor's trees. Temperature is a good 10-15 degrees cooler here now.
I am afraid if I tell them to cancel again they will send me cheap and/or dead trees.
I don't care what their excuses are - family, phones, etc. This is just a bad company to do business with. I have never dealt with anyone that is so conniving and crooked. How many times have they changed their company name?
If you just want what you order within an reasonable time and with reasonable service DO NOT order from this company !!!

DO NOT ORDER FROM GROWQUEST. This company stole over 300$ for a few trees I ordered, with no return calls and no possibility of contacting people. This is what I recommend to other customers: 1) Report the company to the local Better Business Burea; 2) Register a complaint with the National Fraud Information Center by calling 1-800-876-7060; 3) Contact your state attorney general's office. If it gets sufficient complaints about this company, it may take some actions. Of course, if I were in California I would have found the thief by myself and taken care of this problem personally.
Giampaolo Talamo, Harrisburg, PA

I ordered and paid for 4,500 ladybugs the first part of July '07 and they "supposedly" were shipped on July 17th. They never arrived and I have been trying to e-mail, phone them many times and the two times I have talked to someone they said they were shipped but if I didn't get them they would send a new shipment. It is now around Sept. 1,'07 and they are finding new reasons, but basically will not ship them and will continue to ignore me. Daves girlfriend did a great job herself in TRYING to defend him, but no-go. He is supposed to be a business person but he has no clue what that means. In business work does come 1st and he should always have another person to take care of his job if he can't work. I will be reporting to the BBB and hope they shut him down instead of letting him SCAM people. Jill P.

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS PLACE. I ordered a single bergamot tree for my mother as a gift. It didn't come for three months, and after being ignored and lied to several times by the Growquest staff, I asked for a refund. After my refund didn't materialize I made a formal complaint to the San Joaquin County Better Business Bureau which then contacted Chris.
That finally was enough to have Chris send me annoying email saying that he had plenty of bergamot trees if I still wanted one. I thought , "Lord if you have my tree then why aren't you sending it to me". I rejected his offer and insisted on a refund. One week later the tree came in the mail, obviously he had ignored my refund request. Shady. If you are having Growquest pains, I recommend contacting the San Joaquin County BBB to file a formal complaint, they did a wonderful job of greasing the wheels.

I ordered from GrowQuest on July 6th, however Paypal has the date as July 9th as the date that payment actually went through. I thought, well I used to live close to where they are, so I wrongly thought they would be a great company to order from.

I ordered Ladybugs from GrowQuest. I had already been in touch with the company with regard to the Praying Mantis'. I had wanted to order them also, but they said they were out of season. However, every time I emailed the company they would only send back a one sentence email and they just kept telling me to call if I had any more questions.

Everytime I tried to call, the message said they were busy and that they couldn't come to the phone. SINCE WHEN CAN'T A COMPANY COME TO THE PHONE??? OR, RETURN A CALL??

I then realized that I hadn't heard anything about my Ladybugs. So, I then wrote them and asked them about the order. I didn't get any email back. I didn't get any call back. I told them in an email that they were going to get in trouble because my Credit Union will see it as fraud. So, a week later, now on the 27th(?) of July, I wrote Paypal and told them what happened and that I wanted my money back.

Without any email through Paypal telling their point of view or anything, I was refunded my money.

Just like that they gave my money back and they did not even defend themselves.

This is what I think about GrowQuest. I believe him (Chris) about all of his family problems that I have read here. I think that he maybe using family to help him get his company off the ground and this is a mistake. Because unless his family takes their job seriously, well then, you will get the type of servie that we have been getting. I really feel sorry for Chris because apparently he doesn't have the heart to let them go and to hire people who will take him seriously when it comes to business.

Just my opinion. Because so people are having great service ONLY if they deal with Chris himself. However, when we do not hear that the person has dealt with Chris himself, well then... No one gets their order. Or, it is some one from his organisation that is posting the positive ratings. And, in that case then this company is a fraudulent company and you should never do any business with thm.

IndigloBlues

I've made three orders from Growquest in the last four months. The first order arrived within one day of my receiving the email conformation. The plants were very healthy and bloomed within six weeks as his website stated. I did however have one tree rose to die. I called Chris and informed him of this. I expected to get some kind of run around about this. I had only had them three weeks. Didn't happen! He stated that he did not have that particular rose in stock but he was willing to replace it with a comparable one at on cost to me. He left me in shock. Three days later I received a 36" tree rose that had several blooms on it right out of the box. To say that I was pleased is an understatement.

I again ordered more roses in late June, to arrive just before the forth of July. I received part of the order. Chris called the day before the fourth to inform me of what had happen. He stated that he had sent the part of the order that I had received from another location where he stores plants. His staff was to send the remainder of my order from the home location. He was three hundred miles away in Anaheim. He was very upset about this and very apologetic.

I just placed another order to arrive in mid Aug. Chris call me to let me know that he was in the meddle of re-organizing and replacing some staff. But my order will be filled and sent on time. I have nothing but good things to say about him and his business ethic. Any future plants needs that I may have, he will get my order.

It was good to find this site and now I understand that I am not the only one experiencing the worst service I have ever had from an Internet-contacted company. My story is just a repeat of everyone else's. An order, followed by no word and no idea of when the rose would be shipped. Correspondence was met by excuses and requests to be patient since it was the busiest time of the year. I was patient but to no avail. I finally demanded they cancel the order and send a refund. they promised immediate shipping. Two weeks passed and shipping was never initiated. I finally said July was too hot in Denver to plant new roses. I said their service was awful and I was through doing business with them. They promised to return the money within ten days. I just got a notice from FedEx about a shipment coming from this company. They ignored my request to cancel the order. I imagine the next step is to receive a low-grade token of a pathetically wrapped plant in distress as others have reported. What a horrendous company. Don't do business with them. they are totally disorganized or unethical, I am not sure which.

We ordered 2 packages of 1,500 ladybugs from ABP-Growquest on June 6th. When the ladybugs hadn’t arrived by June 13th and we were unable to contact Growquest either by email or phone, we bought them from a competitor and left a message on Growquest's answering machine asking that our order be cancelled. They responded: “Your order has been cancelled.” (We live in Northern California, about 350 miles from Growquest).

Suddenly last week a single order of 1,500 baked Growquest ladybugs arrived not by UPS, which we'd paid for, but by mail. We put them in our cool basement overnight thinking a few might still be alive. Not a single one was!

Today we received our Visa bill and found our payment to Growquest in the amount of $24.86 has not been refunded.

In short, we paid ABP-Growquest $24.86 for a single order of 1,500 dead ladybugs.
This is obviously a scam operation.
Ted Keller

I ordered two citrus trees from GrowQuest, including a hard-to-find Clementine Mandarin, to grow near the northern California coast. I know it may be hard to grow citrus in redwood country, but I spoke to the GrowQuest horticuluralist first, and he helped me choose the right trees for our climate.

I had some problems with the first trees I received and, instead of getting the ecommerce run-a-round that's all too common, Chris Gilcrest personally answered the phone and said he would correct the problem right away.

Well, if actions speak louder than words, than his actions were like rock concert loud! Within 48 hours following the call with Chris, I received two very healthy, vigorous trees with thick trunks for their size and full canopies! It blew me away that he responded so quickly and so completely. I know some eBay-based nurseries that sure could use some lessons in customer service from Chris and GrowQuest. Wow!

While I had some issues with my first delivery from GrowQuest, the horticuluralist service they offered before I bought and the service I received after I bought were both absolutely great. The owner was willing to immediately take action and solve a problem without argument or questioning. I will absolutely buy again from GrowQuest and, compared to other experiences buying plants on the web, GrowQuest rocked!

From my new southern exposure, semi-dwarf citrus orchard here in Half Moon Bay, CA.

I recently placed an order with GrowQuest; I will post a review on that order soon.
For now, I want to post their phone number.
It is 1-559-553-0524.

On April 26, 2007, I ordered 2 Black Magic Tree roses from Growquest. The strange way that their web site worked for ordering should have been a clue. I paid with my AMEX, after having to get in touch with the company since their site doesn't accept payment at the time of ordering. My card was charged right away. I was told that I would receive a tracking number within 10 days. 2 weeks passed, and no tracking number. I called Growquest and was told that they would ship next week. I waited another week and no tracking number. I called again and was told that they don't ship out roses on a Wednesday, even though the site says they ship all week, because they don't want the roses sitting around for 2 days. I was told they would ship the first of the next week. The following Wednesday, when no tracking number was received still, I called again and was told to call the Ventura shipping location. I called there and was told that he was sorry, but the roses would ship this last Friday. Friday came and went with no shipping notice. I called and cancelled my order and placed a dispute with AMEX. I will follow up with a post when my account is credited and report if it was in a timely manner.

DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.

Growquest (Chris Gilcrest) took my order for some roses for my wife for valentines day - that was in January 2007. They were not supposed to charge my card until the order shipped. I got various excuses etc as to why I did not get the shipment on time ( family crisis, trouble with kids, busy catching up on emails - you name it) in a whole series of emails. I was understanding and said "ok ship it now." Nothing happened. I wrote asking what was going on etc. I mentioned it to my wife about a month ago (April 2007)even though it was going to be a surprise (since it was so late) and she said " oh I meantto ask you about that charge." "What charge???" I say. Turns out they charged the amex back in January even though they shipped nothing and despite emails saying they did not and would not untilt they shipped. Hmmmm - I started to smell a rat. I contacted them to complain and have gotten nothing but the run around. I finaly got an email telling me my $131 order of four roses (including a 36 inch standard) had shipped so I figured ok at least this will be over. What arrived was a joke . One ripped box with one largely dead rose about 10 inches high that I could buy at Home Depot for $9. Not even close to what I ordered . I called that day and said give me my money back. Of course, I got the ever present answering machine.

I left messages and sent emails saying to refund my money . Now all the phones appear to be disconnected. I wrote again today to Mr Gilcrest to give him one more chance to give my money backand I will let you know what happens. I just want my money back. If he does not take care of it right away, I am going to sue him personally and also swear out a criminal complaint . I will check back here first as it seems some of you had similar experiences and may wish to get involved. You cannot let people like this just take your money - go to the cops or go to a lawyer.

I personally have not had a good experience with ABP-Growquest Nursery.I did not know about Watchdog, until after I had placed my order with Growquest or I would have never ordered from them. I placed my order on 3/5/07 for ladybugs, fertilizer, 2 persimmon trees(which was what I wanted the most) and 1 pomegranate.

I called and talked with them and a guy told me they had persimmons and that they were 5 to 6 ft. tall and then when I decided to place my order, the girl told me I could send a check in the mail because they didn't take credit cards over the phone. They used PayPal and I didn't know anything about that, so I just sent a check. Well, the ladybugs were sent out right away, so I was happy with that.

Then I kept waiting for the rest of my order, which they gave me the runaround about. They would tell me if I was having problems to just call and every time I would call the mailbox would be full, the line would be disconnected or the answering machine would pick up. I eventually got a girl to pick up the phone and she said they would make sure they had my whole order and get it out on 4/13/07. I made sure that she new if the rest of my order was not shipped that day, then I wanted it cancelled and for them to send me a refund check. She emailed me telling me that my order had shipped and I should be receiving it soon.

Well, I received the pomegranate first and then the fertilizer, but still no persimmons. By this time, I am very ill with them for giving me such a run around about this whole deal and I email them so many times and no they were not all nice emails either, but what do they expect when you send someone $176.83 and you don't think you will ever get your order. At first, I thought it was a total scam, but I know it's not because they have sent some of my order. I just don't understand why they are doing there customers like this because anyone that has had an experience with them like me, would never want to purchase from them again.

Chris even emailed me on different occasions, blaming his wife moving off with the kids and then again just recently saying that he had been waiting for the persimmons to bloom and he would have them out within 48 hours but that was just another lie because to this day, I still have not received my 2 persimmons. There stories don't ever match up, that's why I think that they are just telling me something, so I will leave them alone. The girl that had emailed me before, told me she thought my whole order had went out on 4/13/07 and that she was sorry about that and she would make sure I got a refund within a week or so. Well , that's when Chris emailed me out of the blue and said he had gotten behind. 5/3/07 in the morning he claimed my 2 persimmons would be sent out within 48 hours. I told him that would be fine as long as they would be sent out as he said, but otherwise I would be expecting a refund. Well, I never received a tracking number, so I emailed and emailed.

Finally someone sent an email back saying I should have a tracking number in my email box. I did not have a tracking number in my email, so I got to thinking maybe they just lied about sending them out. I called Fedex to see if they had a package in my name and she said nothing was coming up in my name. So I'm assuming that they are just telling me that they sent them out, so I will stop bothering them. I have emailed every email box that I know they have and called every number I know they have and now they are not responding to any emails I send and will not answer any numbers I call. It's like they just don't care whether they get in trouble with the law or not. I think they have been getting away with doing this so long that they don't think anything about it.

I know I will be doing everything I can to get a refund. I did not want to leave a negative report, but they need to be stopped. I tried very hard to work things out with these people. I told them if they did not have the persimmons to just send me a refund check and if they had the persimmons then get them shipped out to me. I don't know what there deal is, but if you do order from them, I hope you have better luck than I've had.

I placed an order for bareroot roses. I was contacted that I could purchase potted roses instead (at an increased price of course). Payment was promptly made. I then heard nothing for over a month. I tried to contact Growquest numerous times by email and phone. Emails were unanswered. Phone calls were not returned. I was eventually able to get a refund for the undelivered plants by filing a claim through PayPal. I will steer clear of Growquest in the future.

I ordered a Trachycarpus Wangerianus from Grow Quest.
There are three things I will not take away from Chris.
1. They are the only one that I know who ship larger size trees with experience at lower cost.
2. The size and quality of the plant matches what they advertised.
3. Althought the other negative ratings concerned me and the shipping did tak longer than I expected. I still able to see the effort that Chris made.

Since I love the plant so much the amout of researches I made made me became an expert on this plant. Unlike some other people playing expert, Chris was not afraid to admit he was confused this Wagner Palm with Takil. He did his own researches and cleared out the confusion and sent me the correct authentic Wagner palm.

I will still order from Chris for the next season.

these guys are the best,i owned them cash,i didnt understand the pay method,they sent me another order after that.keep up the faith!america is still alive.customer for life,kurt.

I wonder what the state attorney in California is doing if this company is still in business.

My experience with Growquest was wonderful. I needed some very large olive trees and I needed them quickly. After seeing them at the Visalia, CA home show, I knew I wanted them. Chris kindly set up a delivery within a few days, they were delivered and I love them. After my experience with Chris and Growquest I would recommend this company to anyone.

I received a big box full of beautiful, healthy, well rootedl roses from Growquest yesterday, Nov 23, 2006. They were ordered on the 21st & arrived on the 23rd, I am a very happy camper. The cost was considerably less than I expected. The owner, Chris, advised me before I settled on my order, that he was written up in the Plant Watchdog and, in view of what was written, that he would fully understand if I'd rather not do business with Growquest. He had the roses I wanted and he would ship, and the majority of other growers will not ship until 'spring'. 'Fall is for planting' here and waiting until spring would means months of extra care, without blooms. So, I decided to give Growquest a chance. I hit the jackpot and will order again, just as soon as I decide what I want. I hope this might be a turning point for Growquest & I wish them the best. Sherry Gibson

I ordered two tree roses from them early this past August '06 via their internet site. They sent me a bill and requested payment in full, plus delivery charges to be paid by check. I sent them a check for $122.42. They cashed my check and never sent my roses. I have sent them several emails which they ignore, and they do not answer their phone. Then I saw all the negative postings on this website. Does anyone know if there is a fraud investigation against Growquest? I'm not sure where to turn from here, but you can be darn sure that I'm going to pursue it. Anyone else with a similar experience?

I have a friend of 20+ years who had a niece on Flight 93 back on 9/11/01. I have been trying to obtain a rose that was created and named exclusively for this brave hero. I located ABP-Growquest online and followed their directions when I placed my order for two (2) of the potted Nicole Carol Miller rosebushes. I followed their instructions about using my American Express for payment and received a call from their company employee asking for my card number to finalize the transaction. A couple of days later, another employee called me to again ask for my American Express credit card number as they were not aware the first employee had called and she at this time could not locate the piece of paper she took my number down on. On October 3, 2006 I received an invoice by email from Growquest for my order and it showed a shipping date of 10/3/06. I have been trying to contact someone with this company to find out what is the problem with my order since I still have not received it. All I am able to get is a mailbox that is full for their salesperson, a phone number that does nothing but give information about ladybugs and a fax number that no one seems to answer questions back from. I tried the phone number on Dave's Gardening page for this establishment and it belongs to a Travelers Insurance company. Does anyone have any contact information for this company that is correct or maybe I should just cut my losses and try some where else to obtain these pieces of beauty. As loving, kind and generous as Nicole was in her life, she would be embarrased by the lack of customer service this company seems to show someone who WAS very interesed in doing business with them. They should not even be able to have this honored hero's plant for their financial gain as the respect factor for the purpose her life was cut short extends to this company also. I believe the word would be Freedom.

After failing to get any local nursery to order citrus trees, and because Growquest was the only place I could find which sold full size trees, I ordered two orange trees from the website. After a day I got an email informing me of the total cost, including shipping and payment options. I paid by PayPal. After a few days I called customer service to check on the delivery schedule. I was told that shipping would be delayed until the weather in California was cooler. About two week later I have two healthy orange trees in my greenhouse. No problems.

Well after not shipping for over 2 months, i disputed the deal
the snails did come but not complete, he keeps asking if everything is alright, and I say no. He's got his money Paypal is looking into him now, but look at this email from him a different story daily. He has never called, e-mailed etc. Now he's asking to be paid again.

"my assistant was going through old orders, she did not know that she had run accross cheap hustler, who got his product and then ditch his bill and ANY communications.

The orer was shipped, it arrived March 6th, late yes, but accepted and returned."(Not true) I amde calls from cell phone and my digiatal land line to your home confirming as much, asking if you had questions, I sent a couple emails.
None were answered.( not true)
You got a refund from your credit card company,(not true) not becuase of quality issues but because for an oversight it took longer than desired to ship.
None the less there was no advance cancellation, you just cancelled the order through the credit card company, with asking for a refund and waiting a few days for it to be posted to your account, that is $30.00 fee in of itself.
//www.growquest.com/shipping_schedule.htm
There is the cost of invoice $130.95
and the small claimes fees another $35.00

and the time to come down here."

All not true except I paid he shipped half, never called and if you notice its the same story from everyone.
I have paid records from paypal, my bank, and Paypal will be checking him out.
Once a theif always a theif. Is there a lawsuit on him/company should we band together and rid the net of this company.
e-mail me if you like
pgoeltz@yahoo.com

On April 10, 2005 I placed an order for six rose bushes and my credit card was charged $108.62, since then I have contacted this business at least 10 times, by phone, by fax and by e-mail, I have spoken directly to Chris Gilbert, and he reasurred me several times that the rose bushes would be delivered. I am sorry Mr. Gilcrest has problems, we all have problems and I have been more than patient and understanding, however, Mr. Gilcrest has abused this privilege and I am still out my money or rose bushes.
Bambi Robinson

I ordered some snail destroyers and other predators for my garden almost a month ago. I got tired of waiting on my order status to change and decided to go with someone faster. After over a week of emails and phone calls, I've still not had any confirmation that they recieved my order and were going to cancel it. It's really starting to upset me. On the site it still says my order is being processed.
I wish I'd looked them up here before placing an order.

placed order for preditor mites on a monday chris said would send out wendsday 2 day fed ex called 6 times each time recieved recording stating mailbox full cant leave messagge in same time period sent as many emails with no reply finnally got chris on phone following monday 11pm est i firmly asked what is going on why no phone or email replys he quickly made a several sarcastic remarks eventually offering to correct problem(ship order)as all inside growers know you dont have that kind of grace period when dealing with a severe mite infestation.i would strongly discourage anyone from using this company dropping the ball on order was bad enough,dealing with this smart and cocky chris to fix is is the ultimate in bad experences.

I placed an order for a large quantity of ladybugs (36,000) ladybugs from this company because their web site had good info, the price was good, and a neighbor reported good experiences ordering from them in the past. I didn't check GardenWatchdog first, as I usually do; however, after I placed the order, I happened to check the postings and saw all this messy history. If I had seen this first, I probably would have ordered elsewhere. However, I'm not sorry: the ladybugs arrived just fine, and quite quickly. I didn't try to count them all, but I've never seen so many bugs in one place as in the shipping bag, and I'm certain I got my money's worth. The only surprise was that the shipping cost somewhat more than I expected because they send them Overnight Express instead of Ground due to the time of year (heat) and the need to keep the ladybugs healthy. Since this was not done for extra profit, I was ok with it. In addition, although they take your credit card info when you order, they actually only use it for verification and don't charge it; you pay after the order has arrived.
I think the owner is trying to restore the reputation of his company and I have no concerns about posting a positive review.

I placed an order with Growquest the end of December 2005. After multiple calls and emails begging for my order, finally in February half of the order was shipped. Since then, Chris has converted his phone number to an answering machine only.

I have tried to email him to kindly ask to send the rest of my order or to refund the money on it. ( half of the first shipment died...this was a $367.00 order with shipping) He has blocked my email as now they all come back to me. I still do not have the rest of my order, or my refund.

There are far too many complaints of a near identical nature on several websites and I'm sure many problems that have not been reported. NO ONE should do business with this company unless you are prepared to beg for your order, accept a very late shipment, a partial shipment and NO CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I ordered 1500 ladybugs about 14 days ago; didn't get any confirmation that the order was successful and thought that the company wasn’t up to scratch. Today, however, I received the bugs and they were in excellent shape – unlike the ladybugs that I had orders in previous years from other companies.
Payment is a bit cumbersome – but hey, the aphids are being eaten alive, as I’m writing this.

I ordered from Growquest without knowing anything of the the "history" that the other comments refer to. I ordered 2 potted leonidas roses for my wife. I paid through Paypal and my plants shipped in a reasonably quickly. They were well packed - alive and seem to be in great shape. Growquest responded quickly to my emails and helped me fix a problem I had with paypal (I paid using a closed account the first time and they very quickly returned that payment.). So - all in all I had a very positive experience with none of the drama other folks seem to have experienced. I'd buy from them again.

Reading through the negative comments left by others, I regret the impersonal and insensitive nature posting on an internet message board provides. We have all had negative experiences with a particular business from time to time, its just a fact of life. But your frustration, your lack of patience and understanding, is not validation enough to immediately jump to slandering a person's name or publicly commenting on his personal affairs. I think we all need to take a moment to chill out and acknowledge that Chris Gilcrest is just a man, he's capable of making mistakes, and he is also doing his best to make things right. Yes, you have a right to be frustrated about the order delays and credit card jumbles, but you must also understand that he has to be having a heck of a more frustrating and painful time trying to make all this right in light of everything else that's been going on in his life (which we are all now much more aware of then we need be, and -unless youre a heartless [profanity removed by the Dave's Garden administrators] wouldn't wish upon anyone).

My experience with Growquest this past weekend was quite a positive one. I was in search of 100,000 ladybugs and the only place I could find online that was both affordable and could verify having such a large amount this time of season was Growquest. Yet the website's online ordering had been shut-off and I could not make the transaction or even the order (at the time I did not know about all the events and issues this message board reveals). Because I desperately needed the ladybugs and Growquest was also the closest provider to my area, I decided to take the chance and drive out to the nursery to make my purchase in person. Meeting him face to face, I found Chris to be a passionate -though troubled- horticulturalist, just trying to get his business back up and running. Besides just packaging up my ladybugs and sending me on my way, Chris spent a good part of an hour showing my friends and myself around his nursery, educating us on ladybugs, sharing hiking trails, and even inviting us to go harvesting with him later in the season. Chris is a good and honest man (if he was really a 'fraud,' why would he still be hanging around these sites trying to complete the orders from the old company out of his own wallet?), and the picture of him painted on this site hardly seems true once you have met him in person. He cares deeply about his business and what people think of it. I ask that you all calm down a bit, give him the dignity of a little more patience as he gets things back in order, and the benefit of a second chance.