GHW?

Well, I'm still sitting here the middle of May without my order from Glasshouse Works. I know Sidney has received her order, but has anyone else? I emailed them last Friday for a shipping update and haven't heard anything from them and my requested shipping date was April 17th. That sure doesn't make me happy at all. I'm thinking that I may have to be pretty desperate next year to order from them. I know they must be busy, but if nothing else.....they should have decent customer service.

How are you cuttings from them now Sidney?

If you really do end up having a problem, please post it on the Garden Watchdog forum. I hope not, for I love their site.

Hap

Well, Brinda and Hap I am just trying to calm down before I explode. I will NEVER order from them again and will carefully make sturdy labels to see if what they sent even remotely resembles the pictures I ordered by.
Lets all see if we can't find a more reliable source for next year.
Also as you all probably know I travel for my work. Can never tell when I have to go waaaaay out of town. I talked to Tom personally and he said they would e-mail me when they shipped so I could get Jeremy to unpack and nurse them.
Well NO e-mail!
Sidney

That's really bad, Sugar. They have such a neat web-site you just figure that they would be responsible. But, Brinda, if they come in within the next 2 wks, you are still OK for this year. I never planted my stuff until 5/30. (That's because I lost all my begonia, etc when I tried to jump the gun. After all, it was so beautiful out. So I planted and then WHAM)

After I started this thread I got a bit peaved! So I called GHW and a man answered, don't know who....I didn't ask and he didn't offer. I asked him if he could help me with an internet order. And he said, "Oh did you place it today?" I said Nope...back in February! Then he said "Oh, did you email me about it?" Yes, I said. (Why do you think he would even say that? Kinda made me wonder how many other people had emailed him.) He took my order number and said...."Oh coleus, yes they will go out next week or the week after."

Anyway, he went on to do a little huffing and puffing like he was really tired and overworked, and explained to me that they have had one massive cold front after another there. And that he would put a rush on my order to try to get it out next week.

Of course, being the nosy person that I am, I had to go to www.accuweather.com to look up Stewart, Ohio. I was trying to invision all these cold fronts. And thinking of Badseed living in Ohio and how pretty her weather has been. LOL

Something that does bother me is that I've ordered from many companies this year, all of them being in the same general locatioin of the US and have received all my orders except the one from GHW. Here are the companies:

Mischels-Michigan
RDG-Michigan
LazyS's-Virginia

I'm not real smart, but I'd almost think that the Michigan weather would be colder than Ohio.

I did email Mischel's Greenhouse today. I placed my first order with them this year and I'm still amazed at the plants they sent me. I told them in my email that I wished they would get more varieties of coleus because their website will be the first that I visit and purchase from next year. (Chris, would you contact them and send them some coleus so I can buy it next year?)

Hap, our last frost date is April 15 (actually earlier, but I try to be a good girl and go by the almanac) so I would have loved to have these before the end of April. The problem around here if you wait too late to put things out, is they will fry in the heat. Normally, if I don't have things out by the middle of May it will be too hot for them to get a good start. And if GHW sends me cuttings like Sidney's, those poor babies won't have a chance. I'm seriously thinking of contacting them and telling them to cancel my order and refund the money they have had of mine since February 14th.

I wanted to say something about Lazy S's! This year is the second year I've ordered from them. And I have to say that I'm even more pleased this year than last.

Brinda,

In that case, I think that you would be better cancelling your order and cut your losses for this year. Of couse, you probably have the luck of a snowball in...........for a refund.

Hap

Ya know Hap, I just have a feeling that my order will land here next week. I was thinking about Sidney calling them a few weeks ago and them telling her that they would not ship anything for another two weeks. And then she gets hers.....and wasn't it before the two weeks were up? I'll have to go back and find that thread. So I went over the Garden Watchdog and did some reading on GHW.....I bet the ship my order the first part of the week. I'm sure that is their normal practice! "Oil the wheel that squeeks the loudest" LOL

That's no way to do business!!! But I bet that you are right. I sure wouldn't order from them now, even if they offered, "Sidney"......

Hap

I was doing a little research. Here is the thread where Sidney called GHW on April 24th. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/594571/

And here is where she posted on May 5th when she received them. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/595121/

Certainly by looking at this, they shipped within a week of Sidney's phone call, even though they said they wouldn't ship any coleus for another 2 weeks. I'd bet they only ship when someone calls them. Otherwise you'll probably be lucky to get them by June! Geez!!!!

Sidney....in the first link I posted, you mentioned tobee and a greenhouse close by. Where is this greenhouse???? Which on is it? And where in the world is tobee???

I'm just glad I did'nt order from them..I was getting ready to then I saw Sidney's plants and changed my mind in a hurry..I think she should get a total refund or dispute it on her charge card..Brinda can't you cancel your order??Have you tried the ProvenWinners site?I bought some at my local greenhouse and they had a nice vatiety of coleus from them..!!

Loretta...

Brinda, here's the scoop "Sidney..I have ordered my largest amount from FloridaSun Farms in Hawthorne Fl. This is the first time I'm using them. I don't know them but they were so kind and gave me really good pricing because I needed to much. Of course they probably think me crazy, but my charge carded worked!! I had contacted them back in Sept and they said call in Jan so they can begin the order in time for shipping in May. This way I can do my designs using the colors hopfully with no surprises! I have a posting on the Fl forum to see if anyone knows of them. I'm thinking positive though. "
and her thread is. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/586819/
Maybe she'll give us an up-date.
;)

Thanks Sugar!

I too have ordered from Glasshouse and never will again. I placed orders in Dec and Jan and sent email, called etc. They are always politely lame. I am not sure how to proceed. I am thinking it is time to ask for my money back. It's seems that their plants are so rare that even they don't have any :-}

I am going to give them a negative on Watchdog. I went through and read others comments. If you are an old customer and have name recognition you get service, most of the time. If you have a small order of things they got around to growing you will get them. But if it is a big order and they don't have everything you ordered you will wait until they have all the items requested. They are the most thoughtless bunch I have ever dealt with.

I am going to try one more time on Monday. I will call demand that they send what they can and refund my balance with 7 working days. If I don't get something I will complain to Visa, their internet provider and the local authorities. Enough is enough.

And now to calm myself down I will go outside....

Good luck dale! I hope you get your order in good condition. But I do understand how you feel. I'm starting to wonder about my order and feel as though I should cancel it....but there are a few on my order that I REALLY need. I have a total of 22 on my order, and 5 of them are very important to me. (Or at least.....I think they are....LOL DH doesn't) Please let us know how it goes!

Well, last night I posted my review of the GlassHouseWorks coleus and as I expected Tom called and wanted me to change it.
I am so torn over what to do. Here is my response to his please change your review e-mail;


Tom
After talking to you a few minutes ago I came straight home and opened my Yahoo mail and here this e-mail was that you sent last night. It was not in the Spam, trash, or junk. It was right here where one should have been 2 weeks ago when you shipped. You sent NO e-mail!!!
Now I will go out with a list of the plants I ordered and take individual pictures of the plants I have in my garden. Then I'll go through the list on your site and compare them with what I got.
At that point I will post a comparisom of the pictures in our Coleus forum. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/601332/#top As to a resolution I haven't decided what to do yet.
Sidney

Any suggestions would be appreciated. After reading the reviews in the Gardenwatchdog, I wonder who these folks are that seem so happy with what they got?

Sugar, seeing that you posted it, it should stay. If you were not upset and disappointed, you would not have posted it to begin with.

So, Mr. Tom. Sugar just told the truth..... Like it or lump it and next time do better!!!!!!

I think I'm a little confused here!

We have an internet site that sells and ships the plants that we love. We shop there and then we order and spend our hard earned money to get what we want. For my eyes.....it looks like I'm doing my part and holding up my end of the bargain!

But we have this site that isn't capable or willing to fulfill their end of the bargain in the way of customer service nor timely shipping.

Now to me....after looking at the Garden Watchdog, it seems that many people that left a 'negative' rating were contacted by the owner and asked to change it to neutral or positive. What kind of business ethics are those? It almost reminds me of a child......begging to get ungrounded!

I have owned three different businesses in my 47 years and I know the one thing that I worked the hardest at was customer service/satisfaction. And I also know that someone in business can NOT please everyone, no matter how hard they try. But I will have to say that their lack of customer service leaves much to be desired.

I've been told by more than one person (and I have no idea if this is the truth or not) that GHW does not have these plants ready to go on their website. They only propogate them when they receive an order. If that is the case, I can see why things take so long. But on the other hand (not understanding why it takes GHW so long)......I have coleus cuttings that I took 5 days ago that have already rooted. They will be ready to go in the garden this weekend and should do fine.

Sidney, I'm not out to hurt anyone or their business, but I certainly feel that any company should provide quality service and the products they sell in a timely manner. And Garden Watchdog is there for a reason. We are all hard working people that deserve this tool, to make our own decisions where we want to spend our money. GW is important to me as I do a lot of internet shopping for plants, especially coleus. Personally, if I were you, I would not change my rating. When I read about a company on GW, I hope that the people that have rated them are truthful about the company in every way.

I've decided not to cancel my order with GHW. I will wait and hope that things are good. If it weren't for the fact that I really need (want) about 5 of them I would proabably cancel after speaking to this gentleman last week. I'll sit here holding my breathe and hoping things go well when I get my order.

dale....what are you going to do?????

Oh a lighter note....I ordered from Lazy S's http://www.lazyssfarm.com/ this year and I have to say that their customer service is outstanding!!!! I received the majority of my order back in April with a note that a few items were backordered and they would ship May 15th. Debby is one of the owners and I have been in contact with her thru email as one of the backordered items (Ruellia Elegans) isn't going to make it. She has been most helpful and I am very pleased with their customer service. She has done everything possible to please me in every way. I would recommend them to anyone. And they ship very large, top quality plants.

Very well said, Brinda....

Thanks Brinda, you expressed my feelings as well. My order for (5) "Halloween Bonfires" is only $39.50 which is not like breaking the bank at Monte Carlo, but they accepted my order, I got a confirmation and I WANT MY PLANTS!!

Granted, they have tried to talk me out of them with offers of substitutions. In fact, the last communication was a copy of my verification that Tom had made a handwritten note (in pencil) reminding me how fragil these plants are, and "Gulf Coast customers have found they need greenhouse protection as your outdoor exposures will tatter it badly"

Well, I paid my money, I want my plants and how does he know I don't have a greenhouse? I have dug my old stubborn heels in and will fight till heck freezes over to get my way! Of course you realize my family doesn't think this is any different than the way I handle most obstacles! LOL
Pati

Go Girl............


Sic 'em

As you might have noticed I pointed out this Thread to Tom in my reply to this, his communication to me;

I was just notified by garden watchdog that you gave us a bad review. We are trying out best to make our customers happy and would like to know what we can do for you to change this review to positive or at least neutral. We try out best and we have had a terrible cold spring here and the coleus have not grown fast. If you think, you will know that coleus grow very fast in your climate and in three to four weeks you will have big nice plants. We worked our best to get these to look as good as possible for you, but we failed I guess. We did you some bonuses and I am surprised that you were insulted that we sent you free plants. I would be glad to give you a refund for the credit (of course we would do this); and we DID email you. it is automatic. You must have a spam filter that takes our emails out. I used the address we went over. I know we did!!!! This is just one of the ways we keep in contact with you. I wish that you would take a couple weeks before making your mind up about us. It disturbs me (because I am a sensitive person also) that you cried about the order. I want to do something to make up for this. Let me know. I will try to call you in the next day or two to talk this over. We have a good reputation overall and I want to change your opinion of us. Tom I will call. When would be the best time. If you wish call me at 1-800-837-2142

As for the
"Tom had made a handwritten note (in pencil) reminding me how fragil these plants are, and "Gulf Coast customers have found they need greenhouse protection as your outdoor exposures will tatter it badly"

Give me a break. Does this man realize I have roughly 500 coleus in my yard???
I too wanted the Halloween Bonfire and Fishnet Stockings.

The only "too fragile" I've found is Kong Mosaic.

I'm still torn.
Sidney

You girls really know how to stir up trouble.

So sorry you are having this problem. Coleus are suppose to be fun.

So true Hap! But getting what I ordered is funner!!!!! :)

You go Pati! I totally understand you. I also ordered Halloween Bonfire, but got a note telling me that they have been discontinued. Actually here is what the note said:

Now when I look at my original order....I ordered Florida Sunshine and Florida Sunrise. And even though the above quote tells me that Florida Sunshine has been discontinued, the order confirmation I received shows that they have deleted the Florida Sunrise and I'm getting the Florida Sunshine! Maybe they just want that extra 25 cents as Florida Sunrise was $4.00 and Florida Sunshine was $4.25! LOL But I do wonder now which plant I will get.

I guess we all live and learn. I will know later how pleased I am when my order arrives. But now (hind sight is always better) as I go back and look at my orders from RDG and GHW, the amount of shipping is pretty outrageous. RDG does not charge shipping as the shipping is figured in the price of each coleus, but they do charge an $8.00 handling fee with each order. I can live with that. When I look at my confirmation from GHW, they have changed my shipping to air freight and it is a whopping $33.20! Wow....kinda makes me wonder why they wouldn't ship flat rate USPS Priority Mail ($8.10 and even 2 boxes would be cheaper) as it would arrive in the same amount of time as the air freight.

Well, I got a little off track....as my intent was to talk about Halloween Bonfire. I really like that coleus and would love to try it. But what I would most love to know is what the 'better clones are available' are.

Sidney, you mention Fishnet Stockings? Did Tom tell you that it was too fragile? I had it last year and I wouldn't think someone would call it fragile. It did wonderful here. I just don't remember where I got it, either GHW or RDG.

I think I'm gonna head on over to RDG and see what they still have available. My trigger finger is itchy and I'm needing more! LOL I did tell Debby at Lazy S's that she needed a larger variety of coleus. And I emailed Mischel's Greenhouse to tell them the same, as I was very pleased with them also.

Fishnet Stockings

I have never received such nice plants as the ones I got from "Firmley Planted". Well grown, 3"pots, wrapped and packed with care and ready to take off!.

Am glad to read of your experience with GHW - and regret your experiences with them.

I have a $200 order with GHW's that was placed in January and has not yet arrived.....I called in April and they told me it would be shipped in one week....again, nothing.....I will NEVER do business with them again. My sister LIVES in Ohio and has been planting things in her yard for quite some time now.
Never again, my patience is long gone....Buyer beware with GHW!

MM
May I copy and paste that post in an e-mail to Tom. He called again. GHW is the very reason Chris Baker is a coleus pro according to Tom.
Sidney

Sid....I certainly do not care if you cut and paste my post.....and if you can get them to send me the plants they charged me for, I'll even high 5 you.....I think they took my cash and ran...
I left negative feedback for them. I donate money to charities, GHW's is not one of them...when I hand over 100-200 dollars, I expect something in return....I have ZERO, not even a partial order, but ZERO....

I got another e-mail and sent these post to him in reply. He is going to refund $50. and still wants me to change my rating. I just wouldn't want yall to do that to me and I'll not remove the negative.
Sidney

Sid....recieved an email from Tom at GH this morning, just as everyone said I would. It's sad that I get a response NOW, after the many months of patience and phone calls, that make ME sound like I did something wrong by leaving negative, but honest reviews. If the plants are available to send to me now, because I wrote a negative review, why weren't they available last week without one?

I just pulled up the GHW positive/negative comments to read through them. It seems like there is a definite pattern going on there. E-mailing and calling them doesn't seem to have much effect, but posting a negative comment gets their immediate attention........like, "Please change your rating, we'll do better or give you a free plant".

I don't think ratings should be changed. DG'ers that depend on these comments as a guide for ordering should know there are problems up front. Adding a footnote explaining how the problem was solved should be sufficient, and would not change the % of positive/negative votes. Not everyone reads all the comments, just look at the rating next to the company and if enough people change, they could come up with a 99% positive!

Just my opinion...for what it's worth.
Pati

MM, I was writing before and didn't see your post. You are so right!! I'm beginning to think these people may can grow plants, but have NO business sense. If I had a potential customer list as large as Dave's Garden, I would be doing back-flips to make sure ALL DG'ers were happy!

They need to spend more time planting, growing, packing, shipping, etc. instead of reading reviews and trying to "spin" their way out of the dog house.
Pati

I totally agree with you guys. I depend on GardenWatchdog to let me know thepro's and con's of the seller I am wanting to deal with. GHW was a bit pricey for me anyway, but still... I would be so steamed if they did to me waht they did to you guys. Totally unprofessional.

huggers
Janis

Hi Woofy!
Pati

Hiya Pati!

Been lurking here in the coleus forum.... don't have any planted... need to start some seeds. We are looking at moving, so I don't want to do anything but containers this year. Its only 50 degrees and rainy here today been like this for almost a week :((

Janis

I have all my plants in containers too. My goal is to get the large ones (Cannas, Plumerias, ferns) in the ground before June when the hurricane season starts. My DIL is going to hire a person to dig for me this weekend. She's VERY good to me.

We finally got some rain yesterday...none for almost a month....and the temps are climbing towards the 90's. My plants are loving it!
Pati

We had a few day of abnormally hot weather ( I was begging for the air conditioner!) but the furnace has been turned back up for the past week.

I have some stuff blooming, my Cheddar Pinks (boy do they smell good!) my white Bleeding heart, and I have Irises that are ready to bloom. My azalea is an explosion of color.

So at least I have some color now that it is all dreary and cold!!
Huggers
Janis

I agree with correct and accurate feedback being left for vendors. I think if you first attempt to deal with the companies directly, you are being fair and doing the right thing. After that takes place, proper feedback, pro or con, can be left. My order with GHW is all coleus varieties. Here in Florida, if I wait months before I can even get them in the ground, it will be far too hot to plant anything. It's very simple to put "not available" or "out of stock" next to a picture on a website, if you don't have it. To offer it, accept money for it, and then not deliver it, is poor business practice.
My yard is up and out of the ground. I wanted to put these coleus in the ground last month, while it was only mid 80s. Now we're starting the 90s.

I agree that the rating should stay. But what I have seen is a added comment(something about their taking care of the matter) to the bad rating if things are rectified. But the bad rating still stands. I think that's the way to go.

Hap

Amen!

When I INSISTED I only wanted my "Halloween Bonfires", as their confirmation stated they were shipping, no refunds, no substitutes, just my plants ASAP, they E-mailed me and said the first plants were not good and they were re-starting them and it would be June before they shipped.

"O.K.", says I, "I can grow them anytime of the year here. I'm very patient because I know what I want".. That's when I got the handwritten notes about how fragile they were. Now, $40.00 is probably chump change to them, but it's a chunk out of my SS check and they can sit on it even if I have to wait until next year for my plants!

If anybody sees my nose rolling around where I cut it of to spite my face, please return it. LOL
Pati