Received moldy strawberries

I ordered strawberries from daisy farms a couple months ago, and I couldn't believe how they came to me in the mail. Right out of the freezer, which I gathered, but all sealed up in a bag, and they were stinky , moldy and mushy, I contacted them, and all they said was sorry, I planted them and I have maybe l0 out of 50 that lived.

I just contacted them, again, telling them how many did survive. we'll see what happens.

but I don't feel like they'll refund anymoney to me. they should have the first time I emailed.

But I wanted folks to know of my bad experience with them.

I also received l0 gooseberries from raintree and 7 were dead, or not showing any signs of life after 3 weeks of planting, I can't believe it's something i've done, I planted them right away , and 3 are healthy and showing great growth. I've also contacted them to about this. not sure if they'll do anything either. But i've had some bad luck with purchasing fruit bushes/berries etc... off the net.

Do you think raintree should be held accountable for these gooseberries? or is it too late? I didn't realize they were dead upon arrival, as they were all dormant with only a few showing some new growth, but I didn't think anything of it.

sorry for venting, i've wasted alot of money , and I'm just tired of it.

kathy

Kathy,

It seems like I order from Raintree every year, going back 10 years or more. This year, I did an order and also had a problem with a plant that arrived DOA. I've been in contact with them asking for a replacement. The plant appeared dormant, but was actually dead. Like you, I planted it, and then checked after about 10 days to find it was completely dead. Dormant plants from cold storage can take weeks to break dormancy. Also, a dormant plant can be dying when you receive it, so your request of Raintree is reasonable. One dead plant from about 7 plants from this year's order for me. I always check the dormants every few days, and if there is no sign of life after a reasonalbe time, check under the bark for "green".

Raintree has always made good for me when there was a problem, which occurred a few times over the years. They do seem to go thru cycles, difficult a few times, but mostily pretty understanding. I have not heard back from them regarding my request for a replacement this year after about a week. The seem to be running behind on the email.

If you want gooseberries, and want some of the more unusual or better varieties, then there is little choice but to order online or mailorder. Companies like Raintree or OneGreenWorld (or several others for gooseberries) know that their buisness depends on having a good reputation and that requires taking care of the customers. Give Raintree a chance to make things good and remember that they cannot always tell if a dormant plant will make it at they time they pack it. Their gooseberries plants have been a bit smaller the past couple of years than other companies or what they sold before, but gooseberries grow fast and usually produce fruit starting the next year.

Krowten
PS - Feel free to d-mail me if you want to discuss in more detail.

I've always had very good luck with RainTree even with berries and shrubs. A few deaths, but not many. I must admit I buy mostly trees because small barerooted plants tend to dry out so much quicker than trees. I try to order like items together. I usually have small items shipped priority because of that. They also tend to suffer more during mailing if they are exposed to cold or freezing weather and we did have a lot of that this year. Could the shipment have been exposed to freezing weather during transit? In that case, it won't be RainTree's fault. But do get in touch with them again. It can't hurt.

Thanks for the words. I have bought from raintree several times and was pleased in the past,

the berries came from somewhere else though , not raintree. I didn't pay alot for them like I did the gooseberries.

I'll post here whenI hear back from these two companies.

Kathy Ann, I also had many gooseberries and currants from Raintree die this year. I called and they were out of those varieties for this year so they refunded my credit card. I have had good luck with many things from Raintree, but not the gooseberries or currants.

Scott

thanks scott, I hope they refund some of my money as well. or send some more. I got these on a special email deal, so I doubt they'll have more.

I just heard from daisy farms and they are sending me 50 more strawberries, wow! totally unbelieveable.

and to my disbelief, some of those gooseberries I thought were dead showed life today. and I couldn't believe it, and DH said he's been watching and watering, and thinks they all will come out of it.

so I guess i'll have to email raintree and let them know.

Not all have showed life. 2 out of the seven have life on them, we're still watching the other 5 though , hoping they'll do the same thing.