Comments regarding Greenearth Publishing Inc. (bananaplants.net, greenhouse.net)

I, too, had the same problem as others. My order status for weeks was 'will ship in 2-3 days'. While all that time my plants were sitting in the PO, and because of a mistake there I wasn't notified. Future customers--don't believe your 'order status'.

"On Sep 9, 2014 2:07 PM, Greenearth Publishing Inc. (bananaplants.net, greenhouse.net) responded with:

I was so busy i never got time for updating the server. How about a free plant Josephine5? Anyone else buy 4 banana plants get one FREE if you read this. thanks!"

Posted on June 1, 2012, updated June 6, 2013
I ordered 2 banana's during their sale, I got the email saying shipping would be delayed 2-3 days - with a link to check the status of my order. I checked this most days, but it never changed. Nevertheless my order arrived today with 2 nice 12" plants after just over a week.

I ordered one banana tree in June. I did not receive it and contacted the seller 3 months later. My invoice stated that it would ship in 2-3 days the whole 3 month period. I sent a follow up email and I got an email in all caps that said my tree shipped in June. Then another that said sorry for the delay, they were busy with a sale. My invoice now says "shipped",but no tree. It is now the end of September! I am contacting PayPal for a refund and trying to figure out how to leave negative feedback on a few sites so this won't happen to others.

"On Sep 9, 2014 2:02 PM, Greenearth Publishing Inc. (bananaplants.net, greenhouse.net) responded with:

Hello hbtraveler,
Just saw your feedback sorry for your disappointment and would like to send a free plant and ask if you ever received a refund. sorry i checked and I didn't get your emails. i'm at ted@greenhouse.net p.s. anyone reading this gets a free plant with purchase of 2. "

Posted on June 8, 2012, updated August 12, 2012
Hi everyone out there :)
I have been checking out the Garden Watchdog for years and was always too lazy to join the membership. But, I finally did so to give a honest and true opinion of the few companies I deal with mail order. Anyways, I have been dealing with Ted at Greenhouse.net for a couple of years now and am here to tell everyone out there that he truly works hard to keep you happy and satisfied. He is a great person with excellent customer service skills and will go out of his way to offer you the best of the best. This comment is NOT about one particular order, but over 40 or so orders. He doesnt argue you with about any issues you may have and often will ALWAYS send free plants if something goes wrong. Things are taken care of promptly, usually within minutes. Emails are returned almost as fast as I can type it and send it to him. He does not make and break promises or give you the run around like many of the other online nurseries. I only deal with a few others out there, like Four Winds Growers (citrus trees), Florida Hill Nursery (different tropical plants, and Wellsprings Gardens (other different tropical plants) from many other bad experiences with other mail order nurseries. I wont name any of them, as it is not fair to them because I would never order from any of them again and it has been a long time since I did order, and hopefully they have fixed things for future customers. But, once is enough for me!!!! So, as an Electrical and Landscaping contractor with a fairly large company it is nice to have Ted as a reliable and easy to deal with mail order nursery. As a matter of fact, I dont even deal with any other company for banana plants. They are always large, healthy and almost always thrive. That is a big plus in my business because I too have to keep my customers happy. But, as far as good points about Ted and his company this is what you can HONESTLY expect:

*Great prices

*Cheap shipping (I see the shipping labels and the costs of them, and I usually order 15 to 40 banana plants at a time and I wonder how he even makes any money sending that many plants with shipping over $80.00 on average for that size of an order. I actually feel guilty about it that I am going to split up the shipments so he dont get ripped off like that)

*Fast shipping (usually within 2 to 3 days at the very most, and many times within 24 hours)

*Friendly customer service

*Quick response times on any email or phone call (usually within minutes)

*Most importantly, big, healthy and disease free banana plants)

But, I am not going to keep on going on and on, and I just felt it necessary to share my experience with Ted so maybe he can gain even more satisfied customers, of which he deserves. Give him a try, and rest assured you will be happy and hopefully add another good review for him. Thanks Ted if you ever do read this and am glad to call you a friend. Take care everyone out there and happy gardening!!!!

Jeff D.

i am very pleased with this company. My order was accurate, arrived fast and as promised and they took good care in packaging my bannana plant so it arrived undamaged from across the country. Great experience and product as my tree is doing very well thanks to the enlosed instructions/tip sheet. Thank you!!!!

I ordered two banana trees from Ted and one of these did not make it,. spoke with him on the phone and mentioned that my husband was going through Cancer treatment right now. Ted has sent me info on cancer treatment through papaya leaves etc. I feel as if I have made a new best friend and he did replace my banana tree .. 2 of them .. Wonderful experience and wanted to share with everyone. Thanks Ted

Posted on April 25, 2012, updated April 26, 2012
"Greenearth has a 95% positive feedback on yahoo and ebay and free plants to nice people always is our motto. WE are the only company that will try to send banana plants with leaves threw the mail. I try to please everyone but do make mistakes, also free plants when i do". ALL FALSE! Buyer BEWARE! Ebay? I found no such store under this name. I researched (should have done before buying from him) reviews and EVERY review site has bad comments. His site shows only "Excellent" feedback that is posted by him. He does not back his plants, my mom bought 2 banana plants from him one is doing great and the other one is struggling. After 3 weeks she sent him an email (a kind one, have proof) and he was rude and told her she did it all wrong and told her good luck. Which we followed HIS directions to a T. She paid a ridiculous amount for the 2 tiny trees and then to be treated this way. Michigan Bulb has beautiful plants and they guarantee their plants up to 30 days, I have ordered from them for over 3 years and for the 1st time I had a bad plant and with out hesitation they are sending me a new one. Go anywhere but here!!

My banana plant came within two weeks, I thought it would come later... I was surprised when I went outside to get my mail and there was a long tube in my front door, and I knew what it was right away!! I opened the package before I even went to get my mail.. It was my banana plant!!! It was packed very well!! I'm doing a tropical garden on my deck this year, so I can't wait for the banana plant to start growing.. FAST,QUICK, AND GREAT SERVICE!!! Thanks Greenearth!!! I will be telling all my friends about you!!!

My banana plants arrived safe and sound exactly when I was told they would arrive. The package was missing one plant and I contacted Ted who was very nice and immediately shipped the other one to me. They are now planted in pots as suggested and placed in the sun only part of the day to acclimate them. They are doing great so far and I will plant them in the ground as soon as they are ready. I will definitely be using this place again!

Greenearth is a fantastic seller! I ordered some Basjoo banana plants, and they were shipped promptly and healthy. Couldn't be happier! I will definitely order from them in the future. Especially since we had such a horrible winter and all my bananas seem to be a lost cause. Order with confidence from Greenearth and stock up! :)

I placed an order for 12 fresh cut papaya leaves on November 14th 2010. They sent me an email apologising for the short delay in having the order delivered. I took delivery the next day and found everything fresh and perfect. Prior to the delivery by priority mail, I spoke with one Ted Taylor who was very helpful and courteous.
Yes I will not hesitate to recommend Greenearth Publishing Inc to a friend.

sonnie001, NJ

I ordered two banana trees from this company and they took there time getting to me. I thought it was the company,well it was not. It was the post office. They lost them and then found them and sent them to me. It was a good thing that Ted at greenearth publishing company had packed them well,because that is the only reason they were in great shape when I got them. The box was all crushed and the plants were in good shape! I have sense bought more banana plants from them and they have come to me in record time and in great shape. I really do recommend this company to buy your banana plants from. They take great care of you as a customer and they really care for you as a customer after the sale! I will be back.. Frank L.

I ordered banana plants on line nov 21, a busy holiday week for shipping. Received three beautiful, healthy plants, well packaged, this morning, the 29th. Very pleased with the service.

I placed an order for 3 banana plants with this company and then read the reviews......Basically had mentally written off the $30 plus dollars I had sent......but to my surprise, 4 days later, I received 3 Beautiful banana trees packed great, labeled correctly and a concise informational sheet. I am sorry I pre-judged them on the reviews I had read. I am very happy with the service, the response to my email (short and curt, but to the point) and most of all the healthy plants that I received. I will definitely order from them again!!

Posted on September 1, 2010, updated September 16, 2010
On July 6, I ordered 4 different banana plants from Greenearth Publishing. At the time, they were having a special and had a note on their website stating that, due to the special, they were running behind on the shipping by a few days. So I was pleasantly surprised when my order arrived within a week.

My pleasure turned to disappointment when I opened the package and saw the first plant was bent in several places. There was no damage to the outer packaging and the plant was wedged in tightly, so it appears this damage occurred due to the way it was packed. The other 3 plants were fine. I wrote to Ted to tell him the lady finger banana I ordered was damaged and sent attached a picture of the plant. He sent a reply saying he'd reimburse me for this plant. After waiting several days and not seeing the credit show up, I emailed again. Once again, Ted replied and sent what he said was a 'receipt' and said he just took care of the refund. Again, I waited and checked with my bank - no such refund was ever received.

I'm very disappointed by my experience. It's a shame this company does not have better business ethics. I am happy with the other 3 plants but the lady finger banana died within days and has not come back as Ted said it would. I had hoped to find a good place to do business but it's not worth having to worry if I'm just throwing away my money.

On June 21st, I ordered 5 different banana plants from Greenearth Publishing. At the time, they were having a special and I received and email stating that due to the special, they were running behind on the shipping. As I wasn’t in any hurry that was fine. I received my order around July 20th or 21st.

I was disappointment when I opened the package and saw smaller plants than expected with the smallest one looking dead. It was the ICE CREAM (Blue Java) variety. I also received 2 of one kind and was missing one which I had ordered (I assumed it was an honest mistake that would be taken care of but it wasn’t). The others looked OK so I planted them all per the enclosed directions. I called Ted to tell him about the missing plant and dead looking plant but he didn’t return my phone call. After a month went by all the plants look great except for the ICE CREAM (Blue Java) plant which never grew back. Therefore I called Ted again and this time followed it up with an email knowing he hadn’t returned 2 previous phone calls.

My email not only addressed the missing & dead plant but I asked some other questions regards to other veriaties and planting questions. He did respond by email in a timely fashion but with a very unpleasant attitude. He never answered any of my questions.

Here is a cut & paste of his entire response; [deleted due to assertion of copyright on contents of email.]

I responded back trying to clarify a few item but only received another evasive email with a statement “no refund”. I never asked for a refund, I just want the correct product paid for supplied and a replacement for the dead one. I am disappointed with my experience. It's a shame this company does not treat the customer any better than this.

Posted on June 11, 2010, updated June 14, 2010
On May 21 I ordered the book, "Secrets to a Successful Greenhouse and Business:. Received it within just a few days and am very happy with it; HOWEVER, I ALSO ORDERED 3 BANANA PLANTS AT THE SAME TIME. THEY HAVE NOT ARRIVED. I EMAILED ASKING ABOUT STATUS OF ORDER. EMAIL WAS ANSWERED ON JUNE 5, STATING PLANTS SHOULD ARRIVE ON MONDAY. HOWEVER, TODAY IS FRIDAY AND NO PLANTS HAVE ARRIVED.
i HAVE EMAILED TWICE AND LEFT PHONE MESSAGES SEVERAL TIMES. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ANSWERED. STILL DO NOT KNOW STATUS OF PLANTS. WHEN AND IF PLANTS DO ARRIVE IN GOOD CONDITION, I WILL MODIFY REMARKS TO SO STATE AS I REALIZE SOMETIMES PACKAGES CAN ARRIVE LATE.

This was the second time I ordered from this company. I have had a great experience both times. This first order my banana trees were little but in good shape but they did grow. this second order my banana trees were bigger and in great health. I am very satisfied with GreenEarth. and will use them in the future.

Posted on June 3, 2010, updated June 3, 2010
My first order was in July 09 the 3 banana's showed up in fine shape. I planted them in the sun and all was great :^)

A couple of weeks ago (May 19th), I ordered a Dwarf Puerto Rican Plantain and a Dwarf Orinoco from Ted at GreenEarth. The shipping status of my order stated "Will ship in 4-7 days". I checked back in, expecting the order status to change to "shipped" at some point, but 9 days after I ordered, it still showed "Will ship in 4-7 days".

I wrote to them, asking if the order has been shipped - and if not, when will it ship.

The response I got was brief, saying only "allow 3 or more days for priority mail..." from Ted... but it said nothing about whether it's been shipped or not.

So, I write again and say:

"Hello and thanks for responding.

I do not understand your answer. My question is for the status of the order, meaning has it been sent out yet? Or are you saying it will be sent out in 3 or more days? It is very confusing. I'm sorry."

His response surprised me:

"it means just what it says... i am busy wait and see"

I wrote back and let him know his rude response was not appreciated. All he could've said was a simple "Yes, your order was shipped already. Give it a few days to arrive."

I ended up receiving the plants that same evening. While they looked in great shape, the customer service experience was enough for me to refuse to give them any of my money ever again.

I ordered 3 Banana Plants in April. Their web site stated they wouldnt be shipped until May. I went to the local nursery and they had some beautiful Basjoo plants that had huge corms and were very healthy. I bought several and contacted Ted about canceling my order. I paid a little bit more at the nursery but figured it would be worth it since the plants from Greenearth Publishing wouldnt be shipped for several weeks.

So I sent the email requesting cancellation of my order and the reply I received was: YES I WILL LATER TODAY. THANKS, TED

Last week I received a box from Greenearth Publishing that contained 3 sickly Basjoo. I've been babying them and it looks like 3 of them will make it. The root systems were in bad shape and they looked like tiny water suckers. On the other hand, the 4 I bought from the nursery are now triple the size of the ones received from Ted.

I have 16 banana plants growing here and I would never send out plants that frail.

I will never purchase from there again.

first off my order of pepper plants were supposed to ship on 325. when i checked the order status on the website, it said the order had been shipped. The tracking number was blank so i was not able to track the order. a week later i sent an email to see where my order was since it was supposed to ship priority mail. i received no response. 2 days later i received my plants. the newspaper used to pack my plants in was dated 3/28. i was not able to make out the acutal ship date on the box. i recieved 2 plants that were put in plastic bags with some dirt and wrapped in news paper. one of the plants was just a dried up stick. no leaves, just a stick. the other just had a couple of crunchy leaves. i sent an email to explain the quality of my order and this is the response i recieved.... "To: "Don Margetson" YOU ARE A IDIOT IF YOU THINK I SHIP PLANTS LIKE THAT.. DID YOU READ MY FEED BACK? LETS TRY TO USE OUR HEAD A MINUTE, DUH.. CHECK THE POSTMARK, YOU WILL SE THEY WILL HAVEE BEEN LEFT IN THE BOX FOR A WEEKS.. TOO LOOK LIKE THAT.. IF YOU JUST GOT THEM.THATS NOT OUR FAULT...... ITS ALWAYS MY FAULT HUGH, WELL TAKE IT UP WITH YTOUR CARD COMPANY I SHIPED NICE HEALTHY PLANTS ITS BEEN TOO LONG TO GET A REFUND.. CALL THEM I WILL TALK WITH THEM NOT YOU ."

great customer service. i plan on taking his advice and taking it up with my credit card company. hopefully if you make a purchase from him you may have better luck

I ordered 2 plants from this company and never received them. Ever. Ted kept saying, "oh yeah, I sent them out, I'll resend them if you want". I requested package tracking, which he refused, and finally, when I just asked for my money back, he wouldn't do that either. As far as I can tell, he might be running a business with no product... just sucking up money via paypal.

Beautiful looking plant arrived today. Much better than some companies I have dealt with. Packaging was a little overboard but I did enjoy reading the paper ( I think it was the whole paper ) as was the packaging on the plant itself. Postage was more than their stated cost on their web site so it just goes to show they are interested in their customers. Will deal with them again.

I bought four bananas from this business, and two of them keeled over and died within a day of being planted. Two of them survived and are doing fine. What no one told me until I found out later is that these are tissue-cultured tiny plants that have been in the cushy environment of a greenhouse and that they aren't ready for ground planting until after they have been acclimated. They are also very thin, fragile starts.

When I wrote to Ted about the two that keeled over, he said that they might come back and that my soil wasn't good for bananas. Well, I have about a dozen bananas already planted in that soil, and there is nothing wrong with it. Furthermore, the root system died on the two, and there is no way for the two to come back. When I asked about replacements for the two, I never heard back from him again.

I won't buy from this business again and really wish I had checked Garden Watchdog before I bought.

Ted is very rude! Will not order from him again! Customer service and communication is lacking.

I emailed Ted checking on the status of my order since there was a link on my email to check the current status, several days had past and current status of my order was blank / empty on the website. Anyways, Ted replied to my email and said it was shipped out 2 days after i placed my order. On the website, it stated it would be processed and shipped within one day. Long story short, Ted told me to order from somewhere else next time.

On Aug 2nd my 2 boys ordered an ice cream and an apple banana banana plants. They arrived promptly in great condition and I have already had to re pot them as they are growing wonderfully! We will do business with them in the future as my kids are saving up and want to get as many varieties of banana plants as they can. haha

I ordered a banana plant from Ted. It took over 4 weeks to get it. When I finally got the plant it was half dead. Ted told me to water it, and it will come back. It did not. When I asked about a return I was curtly told it was within 4 days of recieving the plant. I reminded him of the first email, and I got another curt reply that I was not to blame him if the plant did not make it. I feel that this company lacks in customer support and concerns. Buyers be ware.

I placed an order on 5/1/09 with a check. I emailed Ted on 5/12/09 for the order status since the price had gone up. The reply was curt "Yes, I have it and we are behind on the order". I emailed Ted on 5/26/09 and asked if the Co. would honor the order or not (since the price has gone up again). Ted's reply was (1) rude, (2) he can either ship it out that week or tear off the order if I email him again with the negative comment like the one he received, (3) and stated the web site posted that they are 2 wks behind on order. I checked the web site right after his reply and it is still states that order will be shipped within 24 hours. What is wrong in this picture? I emailed Ted and requested to tear off the order because I do not care much for a company like that. I personally felt Ted was relief from saving a few dollars by agreeing to tear off my order from his reply. I wished that I could be positive about Greenearth attitude and culture like all others but this experience with Greenearth really left bad taste.

My order was not complete and when I emailed Ted about a refund, he did not even know it (invoice # provided) despite his (?) hand-written note on the invoice; I mailed him a copy as proof. Normally, I wouldn't give a company a negative for this, except that Ted's emails are very curt, unapologetic & rude. He needs someone else to handle customer relations. The plants look healthy and I hope they prove so. However, I won't order from Ted again, since there are so many other suppliers who probably have better correspondence manners.

I bought 3 banana plants from this company and the plants with free fertilizer were at my doorstep in 3-days. The plants were in excellent condition except for 1 which had been damaged by the cold Eastern weather. I sent an email to the company and it was answered within hours. I got a replacement plant of superior quality within 4 days of sending the email. This is an excellent mailorder company to buy from. They really are serious about pleasing their customers and are very knowledgeable about banana trees. I am definitely buying again!

I recently had the pleasant experience of ordering a Delonix regia from this nursery. The plant was large and reasonably priced. And most importantly, they shipped promptly!!

I ordered 2 Banana trees both in excellent shipping shape. Instructions for care were very helpful.

I ordered 3 Mysore bananas from this place about 5 months ago. I was very impressed with the quality of the plants, the packaging, and the price. My 3 little mysores are now 6 feet tall and have 8 little baby suckers coming up already! Of all the bananas I've purchased, these were surely the highest quality.

Defitely consider this company if you plan on buying bananas.

The prices on banana plants are about half of what many nurseries charge so I sort of worried that they would be tiny tissue culture thingies or near dead corms. But my plants arrived in full leaf and of very good size (unlike some near dead banana plants I got from other nurseries that charged much much more). There is a very good selection of bananas at this nursery and due to the price and condition of the plants on arrival I'd say shop here first and only go elsewhere if you can't find the variety you want here. Way to go Greenearth folks! Keep them 'nanners comin.

I ordered banana plants from Ted. Although they were expertly packaged, one arrived damaged from the mail handling. Ted not only replaced it. He sent an extra one. I now have a number of healthy thriving banana plants. Thanks, Ted. Wish all businesses operated like you operate yours. Customer service is not dead!

I ordered four banana plants, and they arrived looking healthy, except for one that was bent in half during shipping (this was clearly a problem with the shipping, not the original plant). I contacted the company by phone and they offered to replace the broken plant, and also gave me instructions for trying to grow the damaged original. I received the replacement today, and the damaged one is looking like it may survive. They also sent bonus plants along with the replacement. This company has very reasonable prices and shipping costs, and was very gracious when I called with a problem. They even use fast shipping so there were no problems due to exposure to the temperatures here in the north. I would not hesitate to order from them again and I would recommend them to others.

Ordered 3 banana trees from them. They arrived well packaged with easy to follow instructions.
Planted them right away and they are all growing well... you can almost watch them grow.
Great service, great plants. Have recommended them since.

Excellent customer service & product. The banana plant I ordered arrived promptly and was well packaged. Thank you, guys. =) Will likely purchase from again!