I am really bothered by this, so please hang in there with me.
I placed a large order with Hirt's Greenhouse. The order consisted of about half Amaryllis (hippeastrum) and half Tricyrtis to add ot my collection.
Most of the Amaryllis bulbs were healthy, some larger than expected, some much smaller. The Tricyrtis were in small pots and were for the most part dormant. There were weed seedlings growing in each pot as well as what appears to be peat growing. Still, they were okay, just dormant, and mine aren't dormant yet.
The roots of the Amaryllis appeared to be healthy, but one of the bulbs was rotting at the neck of the bulb. I scooped out some of the rot with my thumbnail. The upper half of the bulb was shriveled and shrunken. I wrote to them. They said to return the bulb for replacement. This is an inconvenience. I sent a picture. They said that could not view the attachment. I uploaded to my website, they viewed a few of the pictures.
This is the response that I received:
"i see nothing wrong with the bulb. send it back so I can resell it."
I had already boxed the bulb for return, but decided that I couldn't stand the thought of their selling a diseased bulb that was returned to someone else. Besides, it will cost me $4 to return it, and they may send me another returned 'rotten' bulb.
Sorry, but I had to vent.
Receipt of Purchased Rotting Amaryllis Bulb
I've never done this before, but I'm going to try.
Here are the pics...
Another...
And the other...
Hello HSTeacher. If those bulbs you are showing were at the local nursery, likely nobody would select them. So from that standpoint, I think your disappointment is valid. However, I would be willing to bet that if you plant that bulb, it will grow fine. Won't do as well or as quickly as your firmer bulbs, but I bet it will eventually catch up, especially if you're planting inground.
I bought some double lilies from this seller and was terribly disappointed in the size and quality. I didn't want to spend money on returning, so I planted them, and those didn't come back. After reading your story I checked the garden watch dog and notice they have a low rating. Too late for you and me, but perhaps this info. will be useful to future buyers.
Regardless of anything else, I hope your bulbs turn out great next spring. BTW I lived in Mobile, loved every minute of it.
Mmmmhhh! I bet you know where Palacios, Tx is located and Victoria. Half of my family is from Palacios. I lived in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas as well as Palacios, so Texas is part of my heart. Mobile is my home, and I love it too.
I have propagated Amaryllis from cuttings, and nursed several back to health, so I know that I can make it grow. Like I said, the roots are healthy, and that makes it easier.
I am simply disappointed that they would ship a bulb that looks like this, and not only that, tell me to return it so they can resell it.
I have never posted to GardenWatchdog, but I will on this one.
HS stands for High School. I teach High School math to struggling students. Right now, I am working overtime to replace a teacher who quit, so I don't have time to send back a rotting bulb just for it to be resold to someone else. I try to teach my students to do what is right. I believe in that.
Thanks!
They weren't going to pay for return postage?! Did you pay with a credit card? If so, call them and get your money back. Was this an auction purchase?
It wasn't an auction purchase. It wasn't paid via credit card (paypal). When I asked regarding the policy, they said to send it back for a replacement.
Mistakes can be made. Bad plant products can be shipped, but to intentially say that they would resell it after seeing the pictures really disappoints me. The bulb is in bad shape and had to have been prior to packaging and shipping.
I guess that some companies do not desire repeat business. I tend to be a repeat customer, but obviously will not be in this case.