Comments regarding Central Florida Farms

Ordered about a $100 worth of seedlings in Oct. 09. They never responded to a single communication attempt. I did file a Paypal dispute, but they could not recover any money from the seller. Couldn't recover any money because I transferred from my bank account - always use credit card with Paypal!

Posted on June 17, 2007, updated January 14, 2010
I have joined the group of people who have ordered from this company and haven’t heard anything from them since. I’ve had no response to any attempted inquiry except an automated response saying they would get right back to me (or an error message saying their mailbox was full). I have filed a dispute with PayPal. An interesting point about their policy (click on “terms & agreements” at the bottom of their homepage, then see the section “PayPal claims & buyer disputes”) is that they state that if a dispute is filed with PayPal, they will not ship unless the claim is canceled. However, once a dispute is canceled, it cannot be re-filed.

More contact info can be found by Googling "Florida Nursery and Growers Association” "central florida farms" .

The owner of the company, David, says in his website that medical problems with his wife and child have interfered with his business. That is certainly understandable. But, according to him, this has been going on for at least a year and a half and he does not appear to have done anything of consequence to let buyers know what will happen (or not happen) after they order.

I ordered from Central Florida Farms in June 2009. The payment was received by them through PayPal. As of December 14, 2009 I have not received delivery, many promises and excuses, but no plant. Emails and phone calls were unsuccessful. Today I finally notified PayPal of this scam. Obviously my experience with Central Florida Farms is NEGATIVE. Save your money and get your plants elsewhere.

I also got scammed. Ordered a banana plant on 10/20. I emailed them on 11/9 and received a reply from Angel Mattocks that plant would be shipped in 3-5 weeks. Tried to call them, but mail box was was full. On 11/23 I notified Paypal. Paypal needs to terminate Central Florida Farms contract! I was able to locate them. Angel Dawn Mattocks, 1528 State Rd 40 West, Astor, Fl. 32102-7903. Personal phone unlisted.

I wish I had found this site before ordering from CFF 2 months ago! It would have saved me a lot of hassle. She states her husband was "under the impression he had closed the buy links down", yet here we almost a year later and he still hasn't done it! No, I haven't received any plants either. No reply to my emails to various addresses or to voice-mail.

Posted on October 08, 2009, updated October 23, 2009
Regardless of the last report, which I suspect to be from someone affiliated (look at the address), this company is still at it's scamming. I ordered two kiwi plants and am continuing to get the story that they have been shipped. I'm dubious that I will ever receive them. I've paid through paypal and will be checking my alternatives there, given that the 45 days has expired. I'll also be looking into the Florida Attorney General suggestion. Also, since this shipment is in interstate commerce, the U.S. attorney general is a possibility, as well as the Office of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission. Chalk it up to bad judgment on my part in not checking them out beforehand.

I was excited about ordering plants and waited anxiously for the arrival. Ha what a joke they have never arrived and from reading these comments I will never receive them. I should have checked them out first. A linch mob would be too good for these crooks. If you can not deliver then stop letting people place orders. You are fully aware of what you are doing. My claim is in and the attorney general is next as well as the BBB.

I bought some product from Central florida farms. It gave a statment that it woudl take 3 to 5 weeks.
In the end I received the product and commmunicated with the owners.I am neutral on them as a buisness, they in the end fulfilled the tranfer of product and had legitimate excuse as for the time span going over, and are honest people.
Thank you,

R.

I ordered 2 banana plants in march and now it is July and I haven't
received anything but Lies.
I Don't like to be told, IT IS ON ITS WAY and find out they never shipped it,
time and time again.
SAVE YOUR SELF DON'T BUY FROM THEM!!!!!!!!!!!

JWA Auburn AL

I too have ordered plants from Central Florida Farms and have not received the product as promised. My correspondence with the seller was answered only when I threatened to complain to PayPal. I have now filed a dispute through PayPal and the bank that issued the credit card that I used.

I just completed a formal complaint with the Attorney General of Florida. However it was lacking an address since it was not listed anywhere. I was in told in March(2009) that a horrible freeze had occured there and the Borneo elephant ears were not large enough to ship yet. She would contact me in May and ship them then(over 45 days so I couldn't get a refund from Pay Pal). I tried to get through to them for the last three days with email and no answer. I called them and the answering machine is full. If you try to order plants they say they are not taking orders now, but they will be back soon. I say only if they can take orders from prison! There are so many good companies out there like Eldon's for instance that I guess I trusted the wrong people without doing due diligence. My bad!

I ordered from this (company) and paid for a Musa Basa through paypal and wrote an email to them to confirm they had recieved it. Angel emailed my back stating that they were running behind but that they would get my order sent later that week with an extra plant for my trouble...It's been 3 weeks since then and still NO PLANTS! Can't get a reply from them now and wish I'd never heard of Central Florida Farms. Do Not Do Business with these Scam Artists!!!!!!

I ordered 6 Borneo Alocasia Giant Bulbs and 2 Red Siam banana trees on 3-22-09. I've received nothing. Rec'd an e'mail from Angel promising shipment the next week, that was 3 weeks ago. Filed a complaint with PayPal, then rec'd another e-mail from Angel that my order was shipped she would give me a tracking # the next day. Still have no tracking # and still no plants. I may have lost my 300.00, but I gained a lot of experience. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH CENTRAL FLORIDA FARMS. TOO BAD I WOULD HAVE BEEN A REPEAT CUSTOMER.

CAUTION "VERY BAD WEBSITE"

I ordered 2 Hua Moa banana plants on 3/14/09 for 59.00 and paid through pay pal. I still have not recieved my plants. I emailed Angel on 4/09/09 she said she would mail them out the following Monday. She said she delayed shipping do to freezing tempertures. That I know is B.S. Because I live in Louisiana and we had no freezes since the first week of March and she is located further south. After about 1 week I emailed her again on 4/17/09 stating I knew I only had 45 days to file a complaint with pay pal so please send my order or refund my money. Well I did not get my plants or a refund from Angel. I filed a complaint with pay pal this morning. I Just want my money back now.

DO NOT DO BUISNESS WITH THIS WEBSITE!!!

i orderd from this company,email them first if they had the items, they email back yes, the plants arrive sm,ok,even gave a free extra, the delivery was a little slow, but recieved ,hopefully better change for the future,

My experience was positive, my banana plant arrived in good condition, was well packed and within the time-frame promised. I did not have to email or call them, it just arrived as expected.

In view of all of the negative feedback, hopefully things are back in working order for CFF. My experience might be an indication of that change.

I ordered my plants on July 3rd and just got them today (oct 1st). They claim to have email trouble. Do they live in Iraq? Come on! Give me a break. My plants showed up totally thrashed too. I'm betting they don't survive. Never do business with them! You will regret it!

I am just the latest person to be taken advantage of in exactly the same way as described in other comments. Even got the same email response buying time and then nothing... I am quite upset that they have been getting away with this for so long and paypal or BBB or anyone has done nothing...

Scam artists. I find Angels's rebuttal to be beyond bold! My order never arrived, I have left many phone messages and emails, now their paypal accounts have been closed. I did find an address for them but an arial view reveals that it is not a nursery, just a small building, no plants to be found.

** DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS RIP-OFF SCAM **

I have put this off as long as I can... I tried to give Central Florida Farms the benefit of the doubt and I waited patiently for them to do the right thing. However, like everyone else here, I've been taken advantage of by these people!

On June 10th (my birthday), I ordered a couple of plants for my courtyard. Immediately after I placed the order, I sent them an e-mail wanting to confirm what I had ordered and I never got a response. And while **normally** I check out a business before I buy from them on the web, I chose (subconsciously) to forgo that process due to the elaborate website and so many plant offerings. I noted they also had some really cool palms that I was also planning to purchase in the future!! These people COULD HAVE had my business over & over!

NOW I KNOW IT'S A COMPLETE SCAM! AND, THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES... THEY TALK ABOUT CHURCH & GOD AND THE PROBLEMS WITH THEIR SON CORBIN... yes, I read it all. I would say it's the PERFECT set up.

I too wrote to Angel who "promised to send the plants and an additional plant for my inconvenience"... HOWEVER, I know now that that was just to buy time in hopes that the 45 days would elapse before I had the chance to dispute the charges through PayPal. I have now done just that (thanks to this website!! and all the derogatory comments) and am currently awaiting a response from Dave Mattocks by July 30th. I am not holding my breath!

Another member here, 'flionti', mentions that people should file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's website (scroll down for the link in their post of July 16, 2008). I suggest everyone do just that! Afterall, if they're having problems filling orders, then WHY NOT TAKE THE WEBSITE DOWN? WHY CONTINUE TO TAKE INNOCENT PEOPLE'S MONEY?

** DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS RIP-OFF SCAM **

DO NOT ORDER FROM CENTRAL FLORIDA FARMS!!!!

DAVID AND ANGEL MATTOCKS ARE THIEVES AND SCAMMERS!!!!!!

They will not answer any emails or phone calls.

Call them 1-386-299-3605 and God will bless you in the form of Angels voice saying they can't take your calls :ONLY your MONEY!!I

We ordered from them a month ago via paypal thinking that they were a legitimate business WHAT a mistake!!
They have scammed everyone they have dealt with.

I too placed an order from this company, waited the 14 business days and nothing. I contacted them, they promised to ship it out the next week and nothing. They now won't return my phone calls or emails. I was attracted by the beautiful plants and free shipping. (Easy to offer free shipping when you aren't shipping anything out.) All you have to do is visit the Better Business Bureau for Central Florida to see that these complaints are not isolated incidents and that this company has a significant history of taking people's money without providing the service that was paid for. This is a standard mode of operation for them.

Unfortunately I can confirm the negative comments of the members below. I was attracted by the rare palm trees they had on their web page and I ordered 3 of them on July 3rd via PayPal, but I heard nothing back from them. I tried several times to contact under the different e-mails and via phone, but nothing; no reply, no confirmation. I am out $123 and I fear about my funds now.

I should have read the comments on this page before I made the order.

I had three orders over a short time. I continued to order plants before I received first shipment. My stupidity in getting excited about the different plants they had available. I never received any plants. They claimed they shipped my plants but they were lost. They continued to claim they would send my plants. I asked for a refund and never received a reply. I asked for a refund from Paypal. But only received 2 of 3 payments back due to the timeline. They said I would receive my plants even though I was asking for a refund. But of course I received nothing and I am out $187.

*** ATTN: DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!! ***

*** THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND YOU GET NOTHING IN RETURN!! ***

*** FRAUD ALERT!! ***

I sent them a paypal payment on April 27 2008 of this year for two large Alocasia Bulbs and still have never received anything from them! I asked several times for a refund and got nothing, not even a response. I waited too long to file a dispute with paypal and now I am at a loss.

*** AVOID THIS SELLER LIKE THE PLAGUE !!! ***
My paypal payment was in total of $59.90, transaction ID 7HH73604BN7672533 and still has never been refunded!!! I am posting here in hopes they will do the right thing and refund my money!! If they do i will gladly post here stating they have done so. If not then flame on!

*** DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!! ***

I ordered a Blue Java/Ice Cream banana from Central Florida Farms in mid-May. After the promised 14 day shipping period had elapsed with no plant in my mailbox, I contacted Angel. It took two emails and a phonecall to get a response, and another phonecall and two emails to get my plant. I did, however, get three extra, different plants (if I'd ordered these on my own, I would have spent about $90). All three are highly desirable, suitable for my climate zone, and in great condition. I wouldn't rule CFF out for future transactions, just know that it may take some patience and time to get your order, so plan and order well in advance.

I recently ordered a Red Banana plant from these people. It was paid for through Paypal. They sent me a confirmation of my order, and claimed it would be shipped out in a few days. Never happened. I emailed. No response. I called and left a message. No response. I contacted Paypal, and Paypal tried to get them to respond. They never responded to Paypal so, hopefully, I will now get a refund. DO NOT ORDER FROM THESE PEOPLE!! Read all the negative comments, and save your money.

The bananas are fantastic. There was a delay with the order because of a miscommunication. They actually sent me an extra 2 plants as an apology and were extremely kind. Give them a chance, the plants are great!

I am happy to say that I received my plant order from Central Florida Farms this past weekend. I had placed an order and sent a follow-up e-mail and they were slow to respond. After reading the info on this website I was afraid I was not going to get my order or my money back. However, they did respond to the next e-mail and I also got a phone call from Angel Mattocks offering a refund. My plants arrived healthy and they even sent two free plants as gifts because the order was slow in being processed. I hope everyone else is able to work out their complaints as the plants I received were nice specimens.

I ordered a plant from this company in Feb 08 and after not receiving it in the time period stated of 2 weeks I contacted them. They sent an email saying that they had marked it as sent and would correct the error and send it. I waited and have not received anything after the prescribed time which unfortunately puts me over the 45 day limit with Pay Pal.
I now get no response from there email address.
DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY and IF YOU USE PAY PAL YOU ARE ONLY PROTECTED for 45 days.

On about 6/20/07, I ordered online $104 of elephant ears and paid with pay pal. After 2months I tried to get a refund but Pay Pal had a 45 day limit. Since I had missed this, I tried to get in contact with Central Florida Farms. I happened to see angels reply on Dave's Garden website in January, 2008. So I tried the email. I got an answer that said they were going to send my order--nine months late. They said I would get my order by that Friday. Three weeks later, nothing. She even called and told me I would get the order. Still nothing---save your money. Mike Bookwalter

July 12, 2007 I paid for two ginger plants via PayPal; the plants have never arrived. I have had no response from my emails and have now begun the process of filing a report with PayPal in hopes of recovering my cost. This is a company that is scamming buyers.

Buyers Beware!!
Bought two Black Magic plants for my personal collection. Plants were NEVER received though. Thankfully I paid via PayPal and got my money back after a short wait. They didn't respond to any emails in regards to order. I wouldn't buy from this company again, that's for sure!!!

Placed an order 4 weeks ago, and they don't reply to their emails . There is definitely some trouble with this nursery. From all the other negative comments. I gave them my credit card info, they haven't charged my account but I did call my credit card company and had them block any charges from this company.

I should have read here first before I ordered.

kathy_ann

David Mattocks is a rip-off artist. I sent him money for plants, and PayPal took the money immediately. I paid for the plants in April 2007. It is now August 2007, and I have not received any plants. He has no phone number or address on his website, so you cannot contact him. I've sent a dozen emails requesting my plants with no response except an automatic reply. Don't buy from Central Florida Farms! I filed a complaint with the Florida Consumer Affairs. You can do that online at://myfloridalegal.com/ In his bio he mentions that he lived in Daytona Beach near his grandmother.

I ordered $85.00 of plants from Central Florida Farms in January and have not received them as of August. I also e-mailed them to request a refund (four times) and they will not even acknowledge my mail. I recommend that you DO NOT order from these people.

Does anyone know how to reach this company?

Thank you.

ordered from dave a few years ago, and my banana plant arrived fine. a friend ordered recently, and his never showed up. i guess the company's having some problems. i'd wait to order from them until they either fix their issues or refund peoples money.

I ordered two banana trees from CFF and the paypal account cleared May 17, 2007. CFF's site says to allow 7-10 business days for the order to arrive.

As I had not received anything by June 6, I e-mailed "info@centralfloridafarms.com" asking for an update on my order status and got an automated reply which essentially promised a personal response, which had not materialized by June 16th. So, today, the 17th, I sent a second request, along with a message to "paypal@centralfloridafarms.com" outlining the above as well as giving my paypal receipt number. However, that e-mail bounced, which prompted me to Google the company, and that is how I found this site, which, upon reading the reviews, made me a little more concerned to say the least.

I rated CFF "Neutral" here because in my mind there may well be a reasonable explanation for the delay and I am not yet ready to denounce the owner(s) or the company. I represent many small businesses in my practice and can understand the many problems that can come up that can cause delays. I am willing to give CFF more time to either deliver the banana trees, or otherwise refund my money.

However, if after allowing a reasonable time to pass I still hear nothing, I will have to assume that CFF is a fraudulent operation and will proceed accordingly, and I will make every effort to recover my paypal payment as well as my fees and costs.

Ted A. Avellone, Esq.
Tallahassee, Fla.
(850) 519-0785
Florida Bar No.: 0093106

On May 11, 2007 I ordered an aroid from CFF and as of June 16 I haven't received anything. I went through paypal and I have esculated my account to a claim. I do not think that CFF is in business any more. Hopefully I can get some of my money back.