P.O. Box 426
Turners Falls, Massachusetts 01376 (United States)
1-800-268-1813

Reviews:

positives
neutrals
negatives

Displaying the 50 most recent reviews

RatingContent
Negative
On Jan 21, 2021, joeygarden (1 reviews) from Fort Lauderdale, FL

STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY! This guy is trying to ripoff customers by selling poor quality items through his website. I have had this experience twice - where the quality and condition of anything he sends is POOR!! There are much better places to buy from on the internet - and I have been in the plant and animal business for 20 years. Reputation is everything and from the other reviews posted you can see that many people agree that Black Jungle Exotics/Terrarium Supply is not the place to buy from online.

Negative
On Jun 16, 2020, stellabarnum (1 reviews) from Renton, WA (Zone 7b)

Ordered around $200+ worth of plants, and was shorted one, and the other was dead on arrival. Plants that did arrive were smaller than pictured or described. I cannot for the life of me get ahold of this company. Email, phone, ...nothing. I cannot recommend this company.

Negative
On Sep 11, 2019, Richruns (1 reviews) from Marietta, GA (Zone 7a)

My daughter-in-law bought a giant corpse flower from this vendor and they charged $149.00 for the plant which is a rip-off from the get go. Available at Plant Delights for almost half the price. https://www.plantdelights.com/products/amorphophallus-titanum-corpse-flower When the plant arrived it was wilted and bone dry. I watered it but was obviously dead in a couple days. I knew it was a bulb producing plant so I emptied the pot on some newspaper and sifted through the soil.No bulb, no roots . I let my daughter in-law know what was going on and she contacted Black Jungle and was told that they would only refund her money if she sent the bulb back. Catch-22 obviously. She contacted them again and was then told to mail the dead plant back to them which I have done. I also emailed the vendor but have not had the courtesy of the website promise of a 24 hour response. Looking at other reviews I get the impression that this is business as usual for Black Jungle. If you are lucky enough to get a healthy plant everything is great but if there is any issue they will make it as difficult as possible to resolve the problem. I would highly recommend that no one deal with this company. Mail order plants are especially prone to problems, often for issues the vendor has no control over such as weather or delivery delays. A reputable company understands that this is just the nature of the business and will quickly refund your money or send a replacement plant.

Negative
On Nov 16, 2018, carniflora (1 reviews) from Baltimore, MD

I've purchased several plants from this vendor over the years. All but one of them have died. Every single one of them was carrying both spider mites and mealybugs. Not lightly populated by them, but heavily infested. Many of the plants appeared healthy at point of purchase, but upon repotting I found that each plant had 3-5 roots. Every single Nepenthes died in a matter of months, one orchid never lingered for 3 years before dying, and the single surviving orchid took 5 years to grow properly. Then there's the owner. I've had the mispleasure of meeting him in person. He encouraged sexual assault at a bar and harassed me for the better part of an hour. Not a pleasant experience at all. Surely a company to avoid.

Negative
On Oct 30, 2018, sprookje_slaaf (1 reviews) from Los Angeles,
United States

Ordered a fern. It arrived with mostly damaged (holes) and deformed leaves, mealybugs, and huge pill bugs. I didn't mind the pill bugs, just was surprised. But the mealys? Very disappointed. After pruning off the yellow leaves, I am left with three warped leaves. I'm hoping I can get this plant back in shape, but I'm taking a risk at contaminating other plants. I would never think that a plant in such a poor state would be considered sufficient to sell and ship. Don't buy from this seller.

Negative
On Jun 5, 2017, Coffeenflowers (1 reviews) from San Francisco, CA

I pre-ordered 2 nepenthes plants. When they came, several lower leaves on both plants were rotted to mush and the areas underneath one plant had light webbing. They have about 5-6 small green leaves. The plant without visible webbing had a darkened growth point and it's hard to tell whether it should be that color, or whether there has been damage to the growth point. These plants have been in quarantine in 100% humidity since I received them 4 days ago. Since then, I have noticed more webbing--it was all over the surface of the pots. When I flexed the sides of the pots, the webbing stretched out. This is surely some kind of nasty mite or other pest. Thank goodness I quarantined these plants because I do NOT want them infecting everything else. I emailed the seller a day after receiving the plants with pictures of the rotted lower leaves and webbing and so far no reply. Not even an explanation. I noticed the website had a live plant guarantee, not a healthy plant guarantee. I've had plants travel 2 weeks in the mail from Germany (Wistuba) arrive in better health than these. I repotted these plants into fresh media and treated with miticide--maybe they will make it eventually. I noticed very limited root systems when I did the repot. And again, I do have pictures--the rotted leaves, the nasty webbing, and the small root systems. I am not happy with the price I paid for what I got. I might have left a neutral rating if there hadn't been any mites/pests.

Negative
On Jul 11, 2014, Booshful (1 reviews) from Dekalb, IL

Well I have purchased three orders or so with my experience toward this company. The first order I couldn't complain nor brag. I haven't asked much from them or got much out of then at this point. The plants were acceptable. Only thing I was pleased with was the mini pineapple. However the second order came along which had my oak leaf just dried up de-rooted and shriveled. I didn't care much because it was a cheap plant but I still emailed them and tried contacting them which I gained no response from both..therefore my rating would be slightly negative at this point. Finally, my third order did it. I order a few items which were all depleted of energy ( I asked to send better items under buyers comments upon purchasing) as well as having my micro gamma nitilda missing. Throughout the absence of my product this company failed to answer the phone more than 10 times, respond to their answering machine, website messaging within a reasonable time, and email within a reasonable timeframe. I will post emails below. The company finally got in contact with me when the missing item "supposedly" had been shipped. They said to contact post office which I had done. The post office had no recall of the item and told me to contact the company. I did again and pretty much got yelled at by the owner I believe and was told to look around my house or neighborhood for my package? I was at this point fed up with the company and wanted a refund. Which he then hung up on me without apologies. I had not revived my refund within the week and had to call again. Then right away I had been issued 30 dollars for just the missing product and not the damaged one. Hello, I received my shipment today however the oak leaf creeping fig was severely damaged and not rooted. It just looked shredded. I am wonder if it is possible to get reimbursed. -Colin --( had not got response from this)----- --- Hello, So I don't know how well you guys manage shipping because this is the second time I have had problems. First time I disregarded it because it was not that expensive. However, I received my package but this time I'm missing items. So please email back so I don't have to call because i never got an email from my last problem. Thanks, Colin ---- HI Colin, Can you elaborate? Thanks, Mike Black Jungle ----- Elaborate what? You guys sent me a dead plant before and this time you did not send me everything I ordered. AB-14427 was the order number. I am missing the microgramma nitilda. Before this order I receive another one which had a dead plant ( oak leaf creeping fig ) however it wasn't much of a problem to me at first. Since it seems that poor shipping in based on your end I would like to have these items shipped to me or my money back. -Colin ----- Please email me back because this is an issue. You owe me money or the item I have ordered. Thanks, Colin ------ Hello Colin, One of the owners will be in touch with you shortly. Nikki ---(owners had not contacted me, I had to once again try and get ahold of them)------ From here the rest was on the phone Worst company ever. The mike guy should be expelled from the company owner or not. Nikki I guess was slow on response but nice when came in contact. The company sucks. And this is the only review I had ever posted throughout my life. Don't believe the false positive ratings the company posts themselves. Other companies like Josh's frogs are such nice people and are a growing company that knows how to handle business. Black jungle just seems fund their little adventures with consumers money. POOR RATING!!!!


Company representative comment on July 11, 2014:
On Jul 11, 2014 5:55 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply responded with:

Hi Colin,

You seem to be leaving out some important details about your dealings with our company. True, you claimed that the fern was left out of your order and that the Ficus arrived in poor condition. However, replacement plants were sent to you and they were delivered by the USPS. Your claim that they have no record of it is false. They show it as being delivered. When you called back to tell us that you also did not receive that package it was I (Richard) that you spoke with. I did not tell you to contact the Post Office to fix the problem. I explained that if you spoke to the Post Office directly that you are better equipped to provide information about your home and possible areas that the delivery carrier may have left the missing package. It was then that you became really upset and started telling me that you should not have to deal with this "fu@%!ng" crap and that if we did our "fu@%!ng" job and had better "fu@%!ng" plants that we would not have a problem. It was at that point that I had to speak over your continued rant to tell you that I do not have to deal with treatment like this and was cancelling your order, was going to refund your money, and asked that you take your business elsewhere. While we certainly can make mistakes, we will not allow our staff to be treated in such a manner.

Regarding funding our "little adventures" with consumer's money, I invite you to educate yourself on what we have actually done. Those trips are integrally tied to funding conservation efforts around the world. Last August, Black Jungle raised over ten thousands dollars to donate to five different grass-roots conservation groups at SACAS, held in Costa Rica, most of which came from our own, personal, pockets. We work very closely with many zoos, museums and other institutions and enjoy those relationships due to the integrity that we have operated with for the past 20 years. You are obviously very upset to still be writing about this transaction weeks after it has happened but I suggest you provide all the details of what truly happened and also refrain from making false claims regarding the functions of our company.

Positive
On Jun 27, 2014, LupineNight (3 reviews) from Bethany, OK

I placed an order for 5 plants on 6/22. I received e-mail notification on 6/24 that it was being shipped. My order arrived 6/26. All 5 plants were correct (not substitutes etc) and appear very healthy. They were well-packed and individually marked. I am very happy with my purchase.

Negative
On Feb 24, 2014, BayAreaTropics (1 reviews) from Hayward, CA

They advertised "Order on Sunday,free shipping"..and I repeated that on My order. Sure enough,they charged for shipping,the day after I ordered. Now, more then two WEEKS later..NO plants. I emailed them,I called them..from on end of the country to the other mind you..no answers. And,I see that's how he does business. They just stole my $35. Companies like this that collect so fast and take so long to send are just ripping people off..or over their heads. Another caveat...something hard to find advertised rock bottom prices? Sure..because they don't have it! The worst experience I've EVER had ordering plants.

Positive
On May 4, 2013, shayrose (8 reviews) from Somerville, MA

I ordered an assortment of air plants recently. The package arrived quickly and all plants were individually wrapped and labeled. One of the plants I ordered was out of stock and they replaced it with 2 substitutions,both very nice plants. All the plants are doing well and look beautiful. I am very pleased, thank you Black Jungle:)

Negative
On Apr 1, 2013, KarenLR (1 reviews) from Franklin, TN

Black Jungle has a interesting selection of terrarium plants, many of which I couldn't find elsewhere. The plants are reasonably priced (although very small) but the postage is expensive. I figured that it was due to the expedited delivery needed to get live plants to me in good condition but unfortunately although the plants arrived on schedule, the enclosed heat pad was stone cold & so they had suffered badly during the journey. 2 plants have recovered well though they have yet to put on any growth, 3 are struggling but still alive. One has died despite my best attempt to nurture it back to life. I emailed Black Jungle to let them know but have had no response back from them. My low rating is because of this not because of the the condition of the plants. The weather was very cold & they had no control over that, but I would have expected better customer service from them once I had let them know about the problem. It's a shame as I am setting up several vivariums for my herps & had planned to order from them again.

Positive
On Oct 15, 2012, waterBear (2 reviews) from Middlefield, OH

Good service every time I deal with them. Plants are healthy and packed with care. Customer service is good if you can get a hold of someone, but hey its a green house thats alot of work and walking to be going back and forth to answer a phone. I guess the spam would explain why my message was never replied to, but I figured it out. Some of the negative comments are a joke. You need to know your plants before jumping into buying an expensive one. Its expensive for a reason. Its rare or slow growing or it needs proper growing care and time. And as for the listings of other complaints made on here you can clearly see the care in there replies. They are not covering there butts. They care and know their business.

Negative
On Aug 14, 2012, outofreach (1 reviews) from Santee, CA

9 days later and dry goods order didn't ship. Sent 2 emails asking about shipping status and no reply. Sent email asking to cancel order if it had not shipped and no reply. Called and asked about order and it still had not shipped, canceled original order and order I had placed since. If there was a problem or an item wasn't in stock an email to let me know would of been nice or at least a response to my emails. I went and picked everything up from a local shop, it was fairly basic stuff and actually cheaper. Not a good experience.

Positive
On Jan 21, 2012, Toni05 (61 reviews) from Brookfield, IL

Posted on December 11, 2011, updated January 21, 2012 I was quite impressed with a recent purchase from Black Jungle. Ficus salicifolia...potted in a 4" container. Stands 10.5" tall. Trunk is good-sized, semi-thick. Deep green foliage. Hoya curtisii...potted in 4" container. Each strand measures approximately 8" long. Vivid variegation. It's cold in my part of US, so I was skeptical ordering, but Black Jungle added a heating pad. In case you're reading this, Thanks Much, BJ. No hitch-hiking pest on plants. Plants were well-wrapped...Shipping, super-fast. I love BJ's plants. Even though the nursery focuses on terrarium plants 'and pets,' I wish they'd add more tropicals and succulents in addition to terrarium plants. A 5* Nursery. Toni


On January 21st, 2012, Toni05 added the following: Although it's icy cold, 'single digits' Black Jungle not only shipped my order with super-speed, but added a heating pad to boot. Thank You!!! I received four beautiful plants. Smithiantha cinnabarina Passiflora organensis Sinningia 'Periodoot's Darth Vader' Peperomia sp Ecuador Each have very pretty leaves..Smithiantha even sprouted a few blooms. Black Jungle is on my list of Favorite Nurseries.

Positive
On Dec 22, 2010, redscarf (3 reviews) from Evanston, IL

I was extremely impressed with my Black Jungle order. I ordered the plants to fill a terrarium I'm giving as a christmas gift, and the week I ordered, the forecast declared that temps would not rise above 20ºF until late in the week. It turned out that they barely even got up to 20º all that week, but my order shipped and I opened the box to discover ten perfect young tropical plants had weathered cross-country UPS travel in winter. The plants were excellently packed, disease and pest free and still thriving a week later, so Black Jungle gets a thumbs up in that department. Otherwise, the ordering process was easy, and contacting Black Jungle to ask that my order be shipped late to avoid the cold was not painful. The first two or three times I called no one picked up - apparently they field both ground store and online store business from the Massachusetts store front - but once they did, the guy I talked to was very pleasant and got my instructions through to the shipping department.

Positive
On Sep 16, 2010, Roger1322 (2 reviews) from Amarillo, TX

Posted on August 14, 2010, updated September 16, 2010 Ordered several tropical terrarium plants - received everything within a week with all plants packed very well and arrived healthy - great experience. I will definitely be ordering from Black Jungle again!


On September 16th, 2010, Roger1322 added the following: Following my initial review I have placed two orders with Black Jungle. The first order was perfect with very fast service. The second order was fast but the plant looked a little bit off so I emailed Black Jungle asking if the condition of the plant I described was normal and whether or not it would "green up" - Richard immediately responded that the plant I was questioning probably needed to be replaced - a replacement was sent the same day and received in superb condition a few days later. Kudos to Black Jungle and their customer service. I highly recommend this company.

Neutral
On Sep 9, 2010, LaraL (1 reviews) from Monrovia, CA

Posted on September 8, 2010, updated September 9, 2010 I placed an order online with Black Jungle (who I have had good experiences with before) on August 18th and my credit card was charged on August 20th. I received an email stating that my order was being processed on August 23rd. Since then I have not received the package and have tried to contact the company six times now. I emailed three times (once even through their website) and have called and only gotten their answering machine. I have left three messages with my order and contact info requesting an update, but have received no response. If the items were back-ordered that might be fine, but with no response I am not sure at this point if I need to cancel the charge with my credit card company.


On September 9th, 2010, LaraL changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following: At last I finally received a response from Richard at Black Jungle Supply. Apparently they were out of town at a trade show. I am glad that I did not have to go down the road of disputing the charge for my order, as I have had good luck with them in the past. I would suggest improving their communication system when they are out of town or super busy so as to avoid future misunderstandings.

Positive
On Mar 13, 2010, chris_himself (2 reviews) from San Jose, CA

My girlfriend ordered me a bunch of plants for Chinese New Year. So I waited patiently, til about the 2nd week when my order didn't come. Instead I e-mailed Richard and he promptly replied back telling me that their part of town was experiencing harsh weather all week. Completely understandable right? 3rd week, still no shipment? Well two of my plants, the rarer ones N. Densiflora and N. Macfarlanei weren't available. Kind of a deal breaker in most cases, but Richard stepped forward and told me he'd make it up to me on behalf of Black Jungle. He described my situation as being a victim of a "perfect storm of events" The guy's got a sense of humor to him. He said he'd personally pick out my plants and throw in some bonus ones. For my substitute plants, I got a very rare and very pretty N. Veitchii x Platychila (gorgeous foliage), and a very attractive N. Ventricosa x Spectibilis and on top of that he threw in an N. "Gentle" they had laying around plus the plants they did have in stock. The entire time communication was very concise and to the point. I took his word for it and boy did it reward me! Not only did I get the plants in a timely manner from the time he established communication with me, but I was very generously compensated for my patience, the plants arrived in excellent condition, and some of the size 3 (small) plants were easily a size 4+. Surprisingly I'm not experiencing any pitcher drop or leaf curl, so that tells me the plants were hardened off in a greenhouse prior to shipping! Black Jungle gets a stamp of approval from me, and I would be glad to order from them again once they restock. Thanks Richard!

Positive
On Mar 5, 2010, jgrady3 (1 reviews) from Searcy, AR

I was worried about the store because someone recently had a bad experience so I gave it a shot. My plants came in great shape and are doing good. If I know how to take care of them (which may be a problem since they are my first CP's) they will live for a long time. I recommend Black Jungle to anyone looking for carnivorous plants. Expect about 5 business days for the item to ship, even though the email says 1 -5. Good luck with your CP's.

Neutral
On Feb 19, 2010, jjhuang (1 reviews) from Chula Vista, CA

Posted on February 11, 2010, updated February 18, 2010 Posted on February 8, 2010, updated February 11, 2010 Posted on February 8, 2010, updated February 8, 2010 Ok lets see if the reviews are right. Im waiting for my order of tropical moss, Salvinia natans and Terra-Lite - 20 gal. size. Placed : 01/28/2010 21:50:45 PDT 28 is a Thursday and its been a full week. Today is the 8th "On average, orders are processed within 0-4 business days after receiving them" "After processing, plants will be shipped via UPS Second Day Air, or UPS Ground if you are within 2-3 days travel time" "Shipping time for ground services may take from 1-6 business days for delivery, depending on your zip code." all quotes from email. Now lets see if it arrives in a timely manor and if the quality is exceptional. According to the email it should take maybe another 1-2 weeks +/- after processing Ps I emailed them once about the order but no response. My thoughts - maybe they're busy or it went to spam so lets see how the order turns out. For Positive or Negative experience


On February 9th, 2010, jjhuang added the following: See they do care Sorry for the delay. Your order arrived while we were on vacation in Puerto Rico and our employees got a little backed up while we were away. It should be able to ship tomorrow via UPS 2nd Day Air. You should receive an email late in the day with the tracking info. Thanks for your order. We appreciate your business! Mike Black Jungle Completely understandable Now lets see quality turns out
On February 12th, 2010, jjhuang added the following: Alright just received my moss and salvinia natans. Quality on Salvinia natans came in a pouch looks like all are healthy. Now lets see if they survive. Moss is alittle patchy but looks pritty healthy 10" by 10" as stated.
On February 19th, 2010, jjhuang added the following: My rating is it will stay neutral. Quality could be better. No email replies back so customer service could be better. Joshfrogs instantly replaces orders if a mistake or quality control has been made. Rather have that kind of service.
Company representative comment on February 22, 2010:
On Feb 22, 2010 5:19 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply responded with:

Hi jjhuang,

We are really at a loss over what your intent is at this point. We replied to your only e-mail in a timely fashion and shipped your order out with a minimal delay. There was no problem with quality or service that we can see so we are confused about your latest comments. If you prefer to deal with Josh then please do so. Just so you are aware, we have been in business about 13 years longer than Josh, and, in addition to the many thousands of private individuals as customers, also are proud to work with the zoos, museums, botanic gardens and other institutions listed below. A company does not cultivate that type of following with marginal service.

Zoos:
Trevor Zoo
National Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Fort Worth Zoo
Clyde Peelings Reptiland Zoo
Columbus Zoo
Dickerson Park Zoo
Denver Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
St. Pauls Como Zoo
Santa Ana Zoo
Inidanapolis Zoo
Jacksonville Zoological Gardens
Potawatomi Zoological Society
San Diego Zoo
Quaker Zoological Gardens
Detroit Zoo
Utah's Hogle Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
The Bronx Zoo
Memphis Zoo
Miami Metro Zoo
Nevada Zoological Foundation
Red River Zoo
Rosevelt Park Zoo
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Rolling Hills Zoo
Houston Zoo
Bergen County Zoo
Cape May County Park Zoo
Cincinatti Zoo
Honolulu Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo
New York State Zoo
Oakland Zoo
Oglebay Zoo
Roger Williams Park Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
The Audubon Zoo
Knoxville Zoological Gardens
Blank Park Zoo
Como Zoo
Staten Island Zoo
*Chatattnooga Zoo
*Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
*Elmwood Park Zoo
*Forest Park Zoo
*Indianapolis Zoo
*Minnesota Zoo
*Nashville Zoo
*Niabi Zoo
*North Carolina Zoo
*Oklahoma City Zoo
*Palm Beach Zoo
*Philadelphia Zoo
*Sedgewick County Zoo
*St. Louis Zoo
*Sunset Zoo
*The Zoo Northwest Florida
*Toledo Zoo
*Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum
*Zoo New England
Gulf Breeze Zoo

Museums:
American Museum of Natural History
*Berkshire Museum
Fillmore Museum of Natural History
Brooklyn Children's Museum
Bruce Museum
*Cincinatti Museum Center
*Harvard Museum of Natural History
Huntington Museum of Art
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Junior Museum of Bay County
Long Island Reptile Museum
Museum of Discovery and Science
Museum of Science and History
Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Life and Science
*National Geographic Museum
*Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
North Carnolina Museum of Natural Sciences
*Palo Alto Museum and Zoo
*Petaluma Wildlife Museum
Science Museum of Western Virginia
South Florida Science Museum
Springfield Science Museum
Yale Peabody Museum
*California Acadamy of Natural Sciences

Aquariums:
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Georgia Aquarium
Sea World Texas
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
Aquarium of Nashville
Mystic Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium
South Carolina Aquarium
New England Aquarium
The National Aquarium
The Dallas World Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
Aquarium of the Pacific
Newport Aquarium
Columbus Aquarium
Long Beach Aquarium
Texas State Aquarium
The Adventure Aquarium
The Virginia Aquarium
Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center for Lake Champlain
*New York Aquarium
*North Carolina Aquarium
*Oklahoma Aquarium
*The Florida Aquarium
*Seaworld San Antonio
*Seaworld San Diego
*Seaworld Orlando

Botanical Gardens:
The US Botanic Garden
The Atlanta Botanical Garden
Krohn Conservatory
*Chicago Botanic Garden
*Buffalo & Erie Botanical Gardens
*Western Colorado Botanical Gardens
*State Botanical Garden of Georgia
*Olbrich Botanical Gardens
*Naples Botanical Garden
*Huntington Botanical Gardens
*Tower Hill Botanic Garden
*The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
*Smith College Conservatory

Nature Centers:
Cincinnati Nature Center
North Coast Nature Center
Calusa Nature Center
Woodcock Nature Center
Soaring Eagles Nature Center
Flat Rock Nature Center
Dagger Wing Nature Center
Minot Park District
Vermont Institute of Natural Science
Ontario Science Center
Liberty Science Center
The Acadamy of Natural Sciences
Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center
*River Legacy Living Science Center

Other Notable Institutions:
Disney World
Moody Gardens
Predator World - West Branson, MO
Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory - South Deerfield, MA
The Butterfly Place - Branson, MO
Butterfly Pavilion - Myrtle Beach, SC
Butterfly Corner - Lenoir, NC
*Downtown Aquarium - Houston, TX
*JL Popp Butterfly Conservatory
*Keywest Nature & Butterfly Conservatory

...and Many other Schools and Universities

Positive
On Jan 22, 2010, jerryhoran (1 reviews) from Bethel, OH

On Wednesday January 20, I ordered 1 hoffmannia and 1 citronella geranium. They arrived on Friday January 22. If you are not familiar with hoffmannia it is a tall slender tropical plant. Both plants arrived extremely well packaged, broken in no way. They also had the heat pack in with the plants. I read the negative reviews and decided to make a small order anyway. I am very pleased with the selection, prices, timeliness of delivery, packing, and the size and condition of the plants on arrival. I will be using this company again!

Negative
On Jan 22, 2010, jquipoloa (1 reviews) from Ypsilanti, MI

I can't even believe the experience I had with this company, it is hands down the most negative experience I've ever had with an online purchase of any kind. Since Black Jungle seems to be the main vivarium plant supply company online, I just assumed they were reputable. I placed my order for live plants on January 4. I received an automatic confirmation email and was charged right away. 10 days later, I still hadn't received a shipping confirmation for my plants, even though according to their site's listed processing and shipping policies, it should have been shipped out that week. I tried to contact them via their website's internal messaging system, and waited. Four days later I still hadn't received a reply, and so I tried emailing. Once again I received no reply. At this point I was just trying to check on the status of my order. By this time it had been about two and a half weeks since I placed my order, and I hadn't heard anything from them. I tried to call the phone number listed on their site, during the hours listed. I received an answering machine and left a message with all my contact info. I received no reply, and was getting pretty frustrated by this time, so the next day I called again during their hours, this time waiting till the hours listed for their store front (their site claims you can call them as early as 10 AM, but that the storefront doesn't open until 12, so I called after 12). I once again received an answering machine, and left a message stating that if they did not return my phone call during their business hours that day, I would file a payment dispute with Paypal to get my money back. They did not return my call, I filed the dispute, and the next morning found that they had refunded my money. I received no apology or any other communication from them at any time, even in response to the Paypal dispute. Ironically, I would have been willing to wait longer for my plants if only I had received some communication from my earlier contact attempts, to know that they had in fact received my order, or if there was some reason for the delay such as lack of a particular plant and so on. Refusal of communication is a horrible way to run a business, and I see from reading others' reviews here that my experience was not unique. In a way I'm glad things went the way they did, because I would rather have received my money back than received tiny plants. If I had read these reviews, I probably would not have ordered from them in the first place. I do not doubt that several people have had positive experiences with this business, but with the relatively large number of bad experiences reported here, I think it's safe to say that you order from this business at your own risk.

Negative
On Dec 6, 2009, TamerLee (4 reviews) from Moreno Valley, CA

Posted on November 17, 2009, updated December 06, 2009 Posted on November 17, 2009, updated November 17, 2009 Posted on November 16, 2009, updated November 17, 2009 Posted on November 06, 2009, updated November 16, 2009 Posted on November 06, 2009, updated November 06, 2009 I ordered two Nepenthes Ampullaria about a month ago from this company as they were going for really cheap. It took them 8 days to ship them out, and when they were shipped out they sent them via 2nd day air mail (shipping cost was around $8 I believe. I'm sure 2nd day air mail cost them more than this but I was literally on the other side of the US in California and the less time these plants stay in a box, the better). The packaging wasn't very good. They were each wrapped in 2-3 layers of newspaper and then sealed in plastic to prevent moisture from escaping. Other than that, there was nothing else. Nothing to prevent them from moving around in the box (which could fit 4 plants in it), nothing to protect the leaves from getting damage, etc. One plant had 3 pitchers on it (very colorful I might add) but they were all completely smashed to the consistency of two pieces of construction paper. Out of the 7 leaves, 3 of them had been "snapped" or broken at the base and had no support. The leaf span was slightly more than 3 inches in diameter. The growth point on top was black and dead. The base of the plant seemed very loose in the soil. As if a fair amount of it's roots in the soil were either very loose or broken. The other plant had a whopping 5 pitchers, which had also all been smashed minus one which was on the inside of the pot. Out of 8 leaves, 3 of them had also been "snapped". The leaf span was 3.5 inches in diameter. The growth point on top was greenish brown. The roots stuck out 3/4 of an inch above the soil (there was no soil that came loose, it was still all packed well in the pot). I filled in the void with some dead Sphagnum moss. The pots themselves were black and square (rectangular if you measure height x width). The media they came in seemed to be something like 2 parts peat moss 1 part perlite. The media was moist. I called them up the day I got them and I spoke with a man on the phone. I explained to him everything about the plants conditions, and he said they would probably survive and apologized for them getting so banged up during shipping. He also said there should of been packaging to prevent the pots from moving around during shipping, which was obviously forgotten in my box. I also had some questions for him about what kind of humidity/temperature he kept them in in the greenhouse. The conditions he explained were identical to that of my terrarium such as 80% humidity, except lighting as my terrarium has 4 T5 high-output fixtures (2x 3000k and 2x 6500k). He talked to me for a fair amount of time and had some good information to give. I can't remember his name though. At present, the plants look very sickly. Both have lost the healthy green color in their leaves and where green remains, it is a very light and sickly green compared to when it arrived and to my other Nepenthes. Also, both of the growth points are completely dead (though capable of coming back I believe at some point). All of the leaves that had snapped dried up and died, so I cut them off. All of the pitchers were well on their way to drying up and dieing, so I cut them all off as well (minus the one that did not get smashed). The one that does not have any pitchers looks very sickly. The ends of the leaves are dieing and they are becoming yellow and red. Just about the same thing is happening to the other plant. Though, it does look better than the other. The green isn't as light and there isn't as much yellow and red colorization on the leaves that survived. The pitcher's lid shriveled up a bit, and the pitcher itself lost some of it's color, but other than that it looks ok. I am still concerned about this plant, though. The only plus side is that these plants were fairly cheap compared to other sites offering N. Amp. They were also slightly bigger which is a plus (advertised as 2-3") If I had bought some of the more expensive plants they offer, and they had arrived in this condition, I would of been furious. I believe all of the damage would of been prevented if A) There was packaging to hold the pots/plants in place such as peanuts and B) If they had a clear plastic dome over the top of the plants like all of the other sites I get these plants from have. I would even pay extra to have these two things! At this point, I am just praying that the two plants survive. That is really all I want and can hope for. Hopefully Black Jungle will change their packaging methods. All of this can be prevented with a few pennies in materials! Maybe a cheap plastic cup and some newspaper/peanuts/bags of air/anything.


On November 7th, 2009, TamerLee added the following: I would also like to add that the leaves themselves are starting to curl under both from the tip and from the sides. While Nepenthes normally do this slightly, I've never seen any do it quite to this extent. I hope that this doesn't mean they are drying up and dieing.
On November 17th, 2009, TamerLee added the following: Update: One appears to be well on it's way to death. All leaves minus one have shriveled up and turned brown minus one which is still a sickly light green color with a bit of yellow to it. The other plant seems to of bounced back! Colorization has been restored to the leaves and it's looking a lot better. The remaining pitcher has started to turn brown and will be completely dead eventually, but this is normal due to the climate change from where it came from. It's hard to tell now, but if the plant does completely die off, I'll be calling the company back to ask about it.
On November 17th, 2009, TamerLee added the following: Hello Richard, I thank you for your response. While I do agree that the pitchers are aesthetic for the most part, the leaves that snapped reduce the amount of energy that the plant produces. The plants did appear to be in great condition when shipped, however, were still severely damaged during shipping which caused the decline in health and possible death of one plant. From all of the other sources I have used multiple times to purchase Nepenthes from, including other varieties of N. Amp and more difficult lowland species, none of them have been damaged and none of them have shown a decline in health aside from the pitchers dieing. While it is possible they need to be pampered after being shipped, they should acclimate well to an environment similar to what they were grown in for the duration of their life. The T5 lights they are under are suspended 2 feet above the plants. It is not any more intense at the leaf surface than the light in a tented greenhouse that uses 44% light transmission panels. All other Nepenthes I have gotten have thrived straight from the get-go minus a few very sensitive lowland species. None have had leaves or growth points turn brown. Again, I do believe that a good amount of the root system is severed just below the soil on the dieing plant from shipping. The plant is very loose in the soil. While all of my Nepenthes seem fairly loose in the soil due to the type of soil and short root system, this one is much much more so. I would check to confirm this, but do not want to risk damaging the plant any more than it already is. I do believe this has more to do with it than a lot of broken leaves. And I do disagree with not needing to use a plastic cup over the plant. All of this would of never happened if a protective plastic cup were present. Soft plastic simply isn't enough to protect the leaves and pitchers from banging against the sides of the box during shipping. This is pretty obvious when compared to the other sources I've ordered from which have always applied plastic cups over the leaves and pitchers. The reason this review is Negative is because the product was severely damaged upon arrival. Imagine ordering an animal and it having broken legs from shipping. Even if I was given instructions on how to bring the animal back to better health, I still would not leave positive feedback. Especially if one of the legs ended up being impossible to heal.
On November 17th, 2009, TamerLee added the following: I would also like to say that relative humidity in the terrarium at the plant level is 80% minimum. I mist them several times a day so there are spikes of up to 97% relative humidity. It drops down to ~82% within 2 hours. If relative humidity was kept above 90% at all times, there is no doubt that mold would start growing.
On December 6th, 2009, TamerLee added the following: I have filed a complaint with the BBB. I can't believe what kind of responses this company has given me. They have even gone as far as to of called my complaints "harassment". They even said I posted on their Facebook under a different name to "simply make them look bad". I no longer have any respect for this company. Their management is very immature and there is no way I will ever do business with them ever again. If you have issues such as mine with this company, I highly recommend complaining with the BBB. If you choose to be a customer of theirs, I wish you good luck. If you have a problem with your order, expect to be shown nothing but extreme disrespect on their part when trying to come to a resolution.
Company representative comment on November 17, 2009:
On Nov 16, 2009 11:27 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply responded with:

Hi Jonathan,

I was actually the person that you spoke with over the phone that day and I would like to address a few things. First, as I stated that day, the fact that little to no extra packing material was used is certainly a concern to us. I also explained to you that it was due to the fact that our normal plant packer was out that week (which also led to the short back-up in shipping). Second, the plants were shipped enclosed in plastic bags which serve to keep the plants moist during transit. We do not use plastic cups as we have found the plastic bags typically work very well. Now, specifically regarding the condition of the plants you received, while we always like to get the plants there in the best possible condition, the crushed traps and snapped leaves are really just a cosmetic flaw. As I explained, and you just reiterated, the traps will typically shrivel under the new conditions anyway. Again, we would like to see them arrive with no damage however we could trim off all of the traps before shipping and you could trim all of the traps off of the plant for the next year and it will have little overall effect to the health of the plant.

When we spoke that day I also suggested several important things to do in order to get the plants to acclimate to your conditions. These are the same steps we suggest taking whether any leaves are cracked or not. Humidity needs to be at least 80% but preferably 90% or even higher. This is because we grow these plants tented in our own greenhouses and they can quickly decline if the relative humidity drops too fast. Second, I do not recommend you mentioning that you are using 4 T-5 bulbs. Had you informed me of that I would certainly have suggested keeping the plant under much lower light at first. That amount of lighting places a great deal of moisture stress on the leaves and if the humidity is already compromised then the results can be disastrous to the plants.

You stated in your first comments you left that "At present, the plants look very sickly. Both have lost the healthy green color in their leaves and where green remains, it is a very light and sickly green compared to when it arrived and to my other Nepenthes. " As you indicated, the plants were a healthy green color when they first arrived but then quickly declined when placed with your other Nepenthes. It is important to realize that just because your existing plants are doing well under your conditions, it does not mean that every Nepenthes plant, even the same species, are going to immediately do as well. It is going to take some time for them to adjust to your conditions and you cannot just put them with your others and expect them to thrive immediately. N. ampullaria is a species with particularly thin leaves that will wilt if placed under too much moisture stress. The result is leaves that curl, brown out and take on a dull look. The only leaves and pitchers that will thrive under your conditions are those that are produced under them. Until that happens the plant may need additional protection, i.e. lower light and greater humidity, than your other plants, gradually hardening your plant off to your conditions. The amount of acclimation needed will vary quite a bit depending on what species you are working with and how much your conditons differ to those from where the plant originated. Considering the tremendous amount of time I spent with you on the phone providing a great deal of cultural information I am actually very disappointed that you would feel it is necessary to leave these comments as a negative experience. I thought that, although the plants could have arrived in better shape, the damage was aesthetic only and we did provide a great deal of customer support by spending the time with you to explain how to properly acclimate the plants to grow under your conditions. If this sort of follow-up is still considered poor customer service then I am not sure what else we could do to actually receive a positive.

Sincerely,
Richard Revis
Co-Owner Black Jungle

Negative
On Dec 4, 2009, msprouse8 (1 reviews) from Cooleemee, NC

Have been growing Neps and carnivorous plants for 7 years now. worst order I ever got. "large plant" that I paid $40 for was very abused with sunburn, 1/2 of all leaves cut in half and overall in very poor shape. I sent them an email with photo and they did not even have the curtesy to reply to it. the 2 small plants I got were the smallest I have ever gotton. one totally black and dead in 6 days. First nep. I have ever had to die on me. Absolutely fraudulent company as far as I am concerned.


Company representative comment on December 4, 2009:
On Dec 4, 2009 11:59 AM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply responded with:

Hi Michael,

I see that you have achieved your original goal, albeit with a selective memory. It is absolutely true that we decided to not pursue correspondence with you AFTER our original contact. You first e-mailed us on 11/05/09 to inform us that there was a problem with the large N. ampullaria upon arrival. You never asked us for a refund, replacement or other type of resolution, but only stated your intent to leave negative comments about us. I responded within 15 minutes to your e-mail apologizing for the condition of the plant and asking for an opportunity to correct the situation. The following day you responded with another message that was still filled with sarcasm and accusation of ill-intentions on our part. At that point it became obvious that you were more interested in playing the part of a victim rather than actually getting a healthy plant shipped to you. It was then that I decided to fulfill your wishes. By the way, you never made any mention of any problem or concern about the other two plants until now. Additionally, the "dust" you refer to on the plant's leaves is a coating that the species produces, not an artifact of poor culture. In case you have forgotten any of it, below is a transcript of our e-mail correspondence. I have processed a refund for the amount of the plant and shipping surcharge and hope that you can avoid being selectively abused by other companies in the future.

Sincerely,
Richard Revis
Black Jungle

---- Original Message -----
To:
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:40 PM
Subject: Form Submission


name: michael sprouse
email: msprXXXXXXX
phone_no: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Comments: must say I am very disappointed in the large spotted
ampullaria I received today. Only 2 traps with every other leaf previously broken
or diseased or sunburned. Of all the larger plants I have ordered from
various places, it is by far the worst. Count on a few negative comments
on some of the chat pages.

BLACK JUNGLES RESPONSE (Less than 15 min later):

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Revis [mailto:XXXXXXXXXX]
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:53 PM
To: mspXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Form Submission

Hi Michael,

I am sorry to hear about the condition of the plant you received. I can
assure you that the level of quality we send out is of great importance to
us. I would hope that you would actually give us a chance to actually do
something to rectify the situation before trying to publicly denounce us.
Would it be possible to send a photo to us so we can evaluate the type of
damage that occured to the plant? We take all of our customer's comments
seriously and would like to make sure each of them are satisfied.

Sincerely,
Richard Revis
Black Jungle

MR. SPROUSE'S FOLLOW-UP E-MAIL:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Sprouse" To: "Richard Revis"
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 6:17 PM
Subject: RE: Form Submission


please find attached photo. It would just be misleading to me to post a
photo of a large plant with so many traps on your website then sell anyone
a "large" plant about 16" high, no leaves at all the first 10 inches making
it rather unsightly to start with. 9 leaves total with 2 traps, 4 leaves of
which had been cut in half previously. newest leaf up top was the only one
broken in shipment, and all leaves being heavily spotted from too much sun
or whatever. Plus a lot of dust on the leaves which makes me think it was
stuck in a corner for quite a while. So why not ship it out to a first
time customer and see if he complains.

Positive
On Oct 28, 2009, julia654 (1 reviews) from Brooklyn, NY

Black Jungle is awesome! I've ordered several times from them and my plants always arrive quickly and in good shape. Sometimes they don't answer their phone, but if I call back a few times during business hours, I always get a hold of someone and when I do they're very knowledgeable and helpful!

Positive
On Jul 3, 2009, rmlawless (3 reviews) from Garner, NC (Zone 7b)

I've ordered from Black Jungle several times over the last few months. My plants have always arrived well-packed and in a reasonable amount of time. Their prices are quite good and they occasionally offer plants I've never seen for sale elsewhere.

Positive
On May 3, 2009, balberth (18 reviews) from (Zone 9a)

I have ordered from Black Jungle on many occasions, the last being a couple months ago. I get aroids, jewel orchids, some ferns and ant plants, and some nepenthes from them. Most recently, I ordered several highland nepenthes species. I know that others have posted that they've had various problems with Black Jungle, but that has not been my personal experience. I've always received extremely well packed boxes of nicely grown plants, at least as large as seems to be industry standard for their type. Admittedly, industry standards for some things like Nepenthes can be pretty tiny, but Black Jungle ships plants no smaller than anyone else I've dealt with from time to time. All the plants I've received from Black Jungle have been quite healthy when they arrived. I'd also note that Black Jungle's prices can be quite good on some items - especially when they put an item on sale. They ship relatively quickly, and always send me an e-mail with tracking information. I'd definitely buy from Black Jungle again.

Positive
On Sep 23, 2008, jskidchicagobot (1 reviews) from Chicago, IL

I am a professional horticulturist and taxonomic botanist in Chicago. I have ordered plants and dry goods from Black Jungle Terrarium Supply on approximately 10 occasions. I collect carnivorous plants and rare tropicals. I have never felt that I was misled by this company at any time. My shipments have always come promptly, securely packaged in new boxes, and with heat packs in the winter time. The shredded wax paper they use, although messy, is the perfect packaging material because it does not imbibe water like other materials and prevents rot. I have ordered over twenty different Nepenthes species, many Drosera, Darlingtonia, Cephalotus, Dionaea, Heliamphora, Philodendron, and various ferns and Bryophytes. Never once were these plants diseased, infected with insect pests, or damaged. About the small size of the plants: many insectivorous plants are small! One of my Drosera, purchased from another source, matures at a size with leaves about 5 millimeters long! Flytraps, sundews, Utricularia, Cephalotus...these are all very small plants. The Nepenthes I have purchased from this company have always been the size advertised. These are rare plants that are relatively slow growing and slow to propagate, not to mention incredibly finicky about their environment. They ARE expensive for their size at Black Jungle, but I have never felt misled, and ALL my plants are alive today (except one Darlingtonia and one Cephalotus who had a light fall on them and burn them, oops.) Most importantly, I have never had any of the plants come with pests. I once purchased several rare Passiflora species from a vendor, and when I opened the box, white flies flew everywhere and the plants were covered with scale. The easy to find plants are probably better purchased from another source - they will generally be larger and comparatively cheaper. But I have always been happy with Black Jungle plants. It surprises me to see so many negative reviews of this company. Kudos to Black Jungle! Thanks Fellas!

Positive
On Jun 6, 2008, Nuni (5 reviews) from Bronx, NY

I read the unfavorable comments on here about black jungle, but I decided to go with them anyway because I liked their selection. I also spoke with them & they were very well-informed and answered all the questions I had & were very nice on top of it. Shipping was incredibly fast, I ordered some dry goods along with a creeping fig & sinningia rio das padres. Altho the plants shipped separately, everything arrived at the same time. My plants were well-packed & are very healthy-looking and well developed. Only problem I had was that the substrate divider I ordered was not cut properly & was short by 2". A forgivable error though; I will order from them again.

Negative
On Feb 26, 2008, mwitthoft (4 reviews) from Austin, TX

Plants were very small for the price. They arrived listless and unhealthy-looking, with: very few leaves, yellowed leaves, damaged/brown leaf edges. After a month, two of three appear to be surviving. The third didn't make it. When I inquired about warranty on that one, I was told I should have complained earlier. As another user reported, although the plants are in 3 inch pots you can still see the soil holding the shape from the plug tray -- suggesting they were just recently potted up. Certainly the plants were the size you'd expect if you ordered plug trays from Agri-starts. Out of the three plants I ordered, they were unable to fulfill two and had to make substitutions. Email response is unreliable and slow. They blamed this on their spam filter.

Neutral
On Feb 7, 2008, kathy_ann (25 reviews) from Judsonia, AR (Zone 7b)

I posted neutral about this company, I liked their selection of jewel orchids and the prices they had on them but the size of the plants were so tiny, it wasn't worth the order. I still have my jewel orchids I bought from them the beginning of last summer but they are no bigger now than what they were when I bought them, and I have others that have tripled in size that I bought elsewhere. I think I can say I do a good enough job to know that these aren't healthy plants and still aren't.


Company representative comment on February 7, 2008:

On Feb 7, 2008 3:59 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply added:

Hi Kathy,

I'm sorry that you are having a problem with the plants. We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about them to help determine what might need to be done. Can you please contact us at 800-268-1813?

Thanks,
Richard Revis
Black Jungle

Negative
On Nov 22, 2007, adamsmarcia (1 reviews) from Tagaytay,
Philippines

I ordered plants from Black Jungle about second week of October and I got an electronic generated acknowledgement for my order. On October 25, my credit card was charged $483.45 but I haven't got any email from them telling me about the status of my order. I tried calling them several times but never got a chance to speak to anybody---all I got was their answering service. Emailed them 4 times but didn't get any reply. I just want to know what happened to the plants I ordered and have paid for almost a month ago. I'm giving black jungle a chance to make this neutral feedback into a positive feedback.


On November 24th, 2007, adamsmarcia changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following: After all efforts I made in contacting Black Jungle, I didn't get any attention or response about the status of the plants I ordered and paid for a month ago. That amount is $483.45. What a very traumatic experience for me in dealing with an online supplier. I don't know now what to do since I happen to live outside of the US. Traumatic and frustrating--- dealing with this company. They're quick to charge but no Customer Service at all!!!!!
Company representative comment on January 23, 2008:

On Jan 22, 2008 9:18 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply added:

Hi Marcia,

I am sorry to hear about the problems you have had reaching us but I do not show any record of your e-mails. I am not saying that you did not send them, however we were having a horrible time with SPAM during the last few months and it may have been filtered out. We were literally getting over 1000 emails a day and had to take drastic measures to cut them out. I did find the e-mail we sent to you regarding the status of your order which I have copied below. I did not see a response so we still have the order on hold for you. I am also e-mailing my personal e-mail address to you, along with the initial e-mail so we can get this resolved.

Thanks,
Richard Revis
Black Jungle Terrarium Supply


----- Original Message -----
From: "Black Jungle Terrarium Supply"
To:
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: Order - BlackJungle.com


Hi Marcia,

I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you but the Anthuriums you
have ordered will not be available until early Spring. Please let us know if
you would like us to ship then or if you would prefer a credit on your
account.

Thanks,
Richard


Positive
On Nov 19, 2007, stevesze (1 reviews) from Belchertown, MA

I have ordered twice from BJ and visited the store/internet fufillment center twice. All four times have been a pleasure. Mail orders arrived quickly, well packed, and healthy. My physical visits found friendly and very informed personnel and owners who never rushed through my questions and browsing. I have found their pricing competative or superior to local competitors in the MA area I previously frequented. Having spent 26 yrs in retail it is my experience that dissatified customers are much more prone to leave ratings than happy ones. Human nature, I guess.Still with the service I got from BJ, I am nevertheless suprised by any negative comments. Of course, only one Guy I know is Perfect.

Negative
On Oct 26, 2007, 2pugdogs (6 reviews) from (Linda) Winfield, KS (Zone 6a)

On 9-15-07 I placed a order with this company for 2 Alocasia lauterbachiana in the amount of $21.28 including shipping. These were paid for by using PayPal. About 2 weeks later they called to inform me that they were sold out. I wasn't home at the time they called so they left a message on the phone asking me if I wanted to order something else. I called them back and had to leave a message as well and said I didn't want to order anything else, just give me credit back with PayPal. It is now 5 weeks later and have not received my credit. I have called them about 6 times leaving a message for them to call me that I wanted my money back. I also have send them e-mails and have not heard anything from this company. 10-25 I called them again and left another message stating that if they didn't call me back today I would be going into Daves Garden and I would leave them a very very negative feedback. If anyone is thinking about buying from them I would really reconsider. A company that owes me money and they will not call me or answer a email is a company unworthly of my business.


On October 29th, 2007, 2pugdogs added the following: Black Jungle did call me today, finally. They apologized for not having the plant that I had ordered. No apology for taking a month to get back to me, or for being very slow about answering e-mails or phone calls. She asked me what I wanted to do, and I told her to credit me back through PayPal for the amount. She said she would. I will come back and leave a note when I receive my credit.
On November 6th, 2007, 2pugdogs added the following: On Nov. 5th I did receive my credit. That morning I had to send them another email to let them know I hadn't received my credit yet. Then within an hour I got a email from PayPal stating credit had been issued to me.

Neutral
On Oct 25, 2007, lothianjavert (13 reviews) from North East, MD (Zone 6b)

I was thrilled to find this site: they had a lot of neat nepenthes, as well as other interesting plants. I ordered two nepenthes and then went back and ordered a third. I emailed about combining the two if possible, but never heard back. I received the two of the three nepenthes yesterday. When I saw the box I was disheartened. Instead of using a regular shipping box, they had used a tired, battered box that had once held terrarium supplies. I have no issue with reusing packing, but it should at least be able to protect the plants/be in decent shape. Upon opening the box (it practically fell apart in my hands the cardboard was so flimsy), I found minimal packing, and two very small, very sad looking little plants. One had been essentially crushed. It had been stuffed into a plastic baggie, pot and all, with no wrapping on the pot, so the peat it was potted in was everywhere, and the plant was uprooted. The plant was also much, much smaller than advertised. I repotted it into a 2" pot, and the leaves don't even reach the sides of the pot. I'd say the LS is about 1.5". It's about the same in height, so it is a tiny little thing. So much for a 4" leafspan. The other plant is about a 4" leafspan, so I can't complain- the size is as was advertised. It did arrive in OK condition. This one was packed better and wrapped so that it would not uproot, unlike the other plant. I think it will acclimate just fine. I'm not sure about the other though. Now I am worried about the third plant. What condition will it be in when it arrives? I ended up leaving a neutral, as the one plant was as advertised, and did arrive OK. I also have not contacted the company, so they have had no chance to try to rectify the situation, so at this point, a negative isn't called for. I hope that they begin to use more care in packing, and if they are sold out of a plant of a certain size, instead of just sending a much smaller one, let the customer know, offer a small discount, or substitution (or at least apology ), something.


Company representative comment on January 31, 2008:

On Jan 31, 2008 9:32 AM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply added:


Dear Lothian,

I wish you had called us before posting a complaint. I do everything in my power to make sure each and every customer who orders plants from Black Jungle is more than satisfied. If you do call, even at this late date, I will replace the damaged item and do anything else I can to set things right. This is the first time I've heard of a Nepenthes leaving our shop without proper taping. That disappoints me. I'm also disappointed in the box choice. Over 95% of our plants leave in new, stiff boxes, and in the winter they are also insulated.
Black Jungle has gotten the message about the need to improve Customer Service and a number of steps have been taken: First, we've added a fulltime CSR position, so now, folks can call from 9-5 p.m. and reach a live person, who can take their orders, answer questions, or shuffle them over to the right expert. Second, BJTS has built a new show greenhouse right next to the shop, so soon, customers can come view our entire plant inventory, year-round. We've also become much more aggressive about de-listing plants as soon as they become unavailable, and we've initiated a follow-up phone call policy for terrarium builders, to check on how things are going after they've received their order.
We know we're not perfect, but we're trying really hard. We are truly an American Cinderella company, in that we've grown very quickly from a small basement enterprise to a big storefront, and we've had to learn a whole lot, really fast. But please believe us when we promise you, we are! We want to be the best terrarium supply company in the world. Thank you all for your feedback. We are listening very closely.

---Sincerely, BJTS

Neutral
On Jul 26, 2007, DaveH (31 reviews) from San Francisco, CA (Zone 10a)

I recently ordered three nepenthes (carnivorous plants). My order arrived promply, and the plants were well packed. The plants were in fairly good condition, although not quite as good as others I have ordered elsewhere. Their website has some unusual plants that are hard to find from other sources.

Positive
On Jul 12, 2007, RUK (2 reviews) from Fair Lawn, NJ (Zone 6b)

We recently visited the store and we had a great time checking out the beautiful plants and adorable little frogs and we learned how to set up a bog garden. They have a thriving one right in front of their store. Once we have our bog garden set up I am looking forwards to order the pitcher plants from this place.

Positive
On Jul 4, 2007, boojum (3 reviews) from Shelburne Falls, MA (Zone 5a)

I recently brought some DG orchid friends to the store nearby me. It was a wonderful experience. We bought a bunch of orchids, got great advice and individual attention and the sample bog garden was just wonderful! My friends are now going to get some of the plants to make their own bog garden. BJ made me look good as a plant hostess!

Negative
On May 25, 2007, KarniVoor (1 reviews) from Philadelphia, PA

They don't maintain their web site. I ordered several carnivorous plants on-line, which showed all in stock. My credit card was charged a few days later (Wednesday), but no email confirming shipment. I got a phone call that Friday saying that the Nepenthes I ordered was not in stock. I could not call them until Monday. Although hours were listed as 10-5, they didn't answer the phone until nearly noon (earlier voicemail was not returned). The person I needed to speak with was unavailable and would return my call in an hour. After 1-1/2 hours, I called them back and spoke with the right person. The Nepenthes I ordered were not in a good condition to survive shipment and could she substitute a different one? She tried to persuade me to pick an alternative Nepenthes, but I insisted on a different Napenthes shown on their web site (she did appear knowledgeable). My Drosera was also out of stock and we agreed on an alternative (it was a few dollars more, but she gave it to me for the same price). Since there was a price difference, I OK'd a Jewel Orchid to make up the difference. At this point, I just wanted to get the plants shipped. I was very disappointed in the packing. The plants arrived wrapped in shredded wax paper with no extra protection around them. The wax paper around the top of the plants got damp and soft, so it did not afford any protection to the leaves. The orchid had a bent leaf and a Drosera had some of it's leaves taped to the pot! The Napenthes and another Drosera were the only ones in plastic bags over them. That's not much of an improvement. Compare to California Carnivores, which puts plastic cups over each plant and wraps each plant securely (with a plastic marking stick to put next to the plant). On top of that, I think the flytrap I ordered was fairly small size. I don't think I would order from this company again. It sounds like a place where you need to shop in person. They need to get in sync with their web business. Especially the credit card charging problem (not until it's shipped). That's why I pay by credit card. If there were further problems, I have recourse. (I also use a one-time number for privacy concerns.)


Company representative comment on June 15, 2007:

On Jun 15, 2007 9:56 AM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply added:


Hi there! I'm fairly certain I'm the woman you spoke with on the phone about your order. My name is Trystan, and I'm employed by Black Jungle to supervise the plant department. First, I want to sincerely apologize to you for our shortcomings, the first being unable to supply the items you originally ordered, and second, for failing to pack them well enough to arrive in good shape. Taping down Drosera leaves is a bad thing to do, and it shouldn't have happened!
I would personally welcome an opportunity to provide you with a better outcome and a more positive experience with us. We're having an open house on June 23-24th, and you are very warmly invited. I would be honored to meet you and give you a tour. At that time you could also share some of your concerns with our owners, who manage the website.
We do work very hard to maintain our inventory, much of which we propagate here, and we work hard to ship things safely and well. Because some of our plant stocks are limited, things do sell out. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this caused you. I welcome feedback whenever a plant arrives in less than perfect condition, because that's how we learn and improve. We also replace plants that arrive in poor condition. Thank you for the suggestion about using cups for the carnivores.
Again, thank you again for ordering from Black Jungle Terrarium Supplies. I hope you choose to give us another chance someday, and I'm truly sorry you were less than satisfied with your order.

Positive
On Dec 28, 2006, begoniacrazii (16 reviews) from Northern California, CA (Zone 9a)

Placed an order for some more unusual plants. Plants were shipped quickly but two arrived so small that they had fallen out of the pot and were DOA. The other plants were of good size and very acceptable. It took three emails to resolve the DOA plant problem. It took a while to get a response, BUT once I heard from Trystan, my plants were quickly replaced at no additional charge and email from BJ was more than kind and helpful. My overall experience was actually pretty good but would have appreciated a more timely response to email (over three weeks to receive a reply, but they did mention that they have a high volume of email). I would not hesitate to order again from BJ, but might call/email first to check on the size of plants first. I don't mind paying a higher price for unusual plants but want a sizable specimen to arrive. Plants were well wrapped for winter shipping and had no cold damage at all.

Negative
On Nov 20, 2006, toddottgardener (7 reviews) from Grand Rapids, MI

the prices are outrageous for the microscopic size of the plants. i ordered previously, spent lots of money and received almost nothing for it. i decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. i ordered again - a nepenthes, begonia foliosa and a couple others. the nepenthes arrived looking sickly and the begonia was missing. i practically needed a magnifying glass to see the others. i called them and they did ship the begonia. it was two inched tall, had three leaves, and barely a root (all for the bargain price of $6.99). it was almost comical, but what was really funny was the size of the pot it arrived in. it's size made the "plant" look even smaller. well, the nepenthes continued to shrivel up to nothing so after three weeks i called them (i should have called sooner). they blamed me for it's death and made several excuses. i have ordered from several companies and this is the only company i've been disappointed in. i fact, companies like cloud jungle and peace of the tropics actually sell some cuttings that average about two dollars, which are larger than potted plants from black jungle that sell for $6.99 and more. i don't know how black jungle got positive comments, but i won't waste my money there anymore when there are many better quality and lower priced companies.


On February 20th, 2007, toddottgardener added the following: no, i didn't mention plant size because i was more concerned about whether this nepenthes would live or not. you do mention sizes on your website - either pot size or leaf span - but does that really tell the size of the plant? if you say the leaf span is 3-4", does that tell me how tall the plant is, or how many leaves it has? i ordered a nepenthes from another company for about the same price. it was in a four inch pot with a 3-4" leaf span - it was over a foot long with at least 20 leaves. compare that with your five inch plant with four leaves. and no, the plant isn't dead. what i meant was, that you implied it would be my fault if it did. yes, the plant is still alive, but not surprisingly it is the same size after all these months. but i think i see a new leaf just starting to emerge? and yes, the humidity is above 90%. and i'm sorry i used the term microscopic. the plants are very, very, very small. would you be happy paying $6.99 for a begonia, and receiving a two inch plant with three leaves? (That plant did die, by the way, presumably from lack of a mature root system.) If your website says they're growing in 3" deep pots, i would assumed the plant would be at least the same size as the pot, with healthy 3" roots. anyway, the point i was trying to make... i have orded from you twice, and both times have been disappointed. i'm sure as a business, you need to do what you can to survive, but compared with the many companies i've ordered from, your plants are very small and very expensive. in the words of another person who wrote in, "the size of the plants for the price was laughable", and so was the 10% coupon that you send to disappointed customers.
Company representative comment on November 20, 2006:

On Nov 20, 2006 2:57 PM, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply added:

Hi Todd,

I was the one you spoke to this morning and I am quite surprised and disappointed to see this review. I would also like to clarify a few things. First, you never mentioned any concerns with plant size or overall quality at all during the conversation. All of our Nepenthes have their sizes listed in the product description so you know what to expect upon their arrival. Second, the three sundews you were sent were mature or close to mature and so I am confused about the need for a "magnifying glass" to see them. Third, this morning you ephasized that the plant was NOT dead but had browning leaf edges with leaf curling and that you would watch it for a while longer. Now, you are posting that I blamed you for the death of the plant. Is the plant dead or not? I did not blame you for the condition of the plant but rather explained how the plants need specialized care upon arrival, especially thin-leaved species such as N. ampullaria. You told me that you put it with all of your other Nepenthes after you received it and I explained that those conditions, while fine for established plants, may not be approriate for a recently shipped plant that could benefit from additional humidity. You could not tell me what the humidity level in your terrariums is but stated that you knew it was high enough due to condensation on the glass. I explained that condensation does not indicate a specific humidity level, but rather only indicates that the temperature is warmer inside the tank than outside of it. The plant was shipped wrapped with shredded wax paper, sealed in a plastic bag to help ensure a safe delivery. You stated that there was probably not enough humidity in the bag because there was no condensation on the bag. I then explained that we would not want moisture on the bag as that could cause the plant to rot. You also transplanted the plant after receiving it into a different media than what it was originally growing in. These are not "excuses" but simply things that will affect how the plant establishes when growing conditions are changed suddenly from what ours are. I also told you that even though we did not hear anything about the condition of the N. ampullaria for three weeks that I would provide you with a store credit if the plant did die. That was never mentioned here either. We normally never do such a thing because we have no way to know if the plant was cared for properly during that time period or not. You never complained about the plant when you received it, nor did you mention it when contacting us about the B. foliosa that was left out of your order. Out of all of the N. ampullaria that we have shipped over the past several weeks you were the only one that had a problem. Even though it goes against our policy we still agreed to offer you the store credit and you said that you would be happy with that. As far as our pleased customers go, in addition to their satisfaction with our products, they are probably also happy due to the fact that we will even break the rules and offer credit to them, even when it goes against our policy. Lastly, if we sold unrooted cuttings we would perhaps be able to sell them for a few dollars. The fact that we sell potted plants that require more time, effort and care does not allow us to do that.

Sicerely,
Richard Revis
Black Jungle Terrarium Supply

Positive
On Nov 19, 2006, CTMGGardener (5 reviews) from Waterbury, CT

I placed a web order with Black Jungle for carnivorous plants. All the plants were reasonably priced. They arrived well packaged and without damage. I was especially happy with the 3 pitcher plants regarding size for the price. The two sundews were fine. The 2 venus flytraps were small plants though (young, not winter dormancy small) and they did substitute one with the dente variety which I would have preferred they ask before doing so. Their website has a lot of great information regarding terrariums which is how I found them.

Negative
On Aug 3, 2006, indigowells2 (2 reviews) from Carbondale, IL

I am very disappointed in the plants I received from Black Jungle. All told our order came to nearly $200 for anthuriums, philodendrons, ferns, and miscellaneous. While the shipping was timely and the packaging good, the size of the plants for the price was laughable. Here is the letter I sent to them complaining of the problem: After scanning the internet for indications about your company and the kind of plants you ship (and reading and rereading the comments on Garden Watchdog), I and my friends felt confident in placing a fairly large order (for them) with your company. The plants arrived Thursday, well-packed and in good condition. The issue we have is the size of the starts. While the King anthurium was very well rooted, the other plants were barely rooted into their small pots. Particularly disturbing were the crocodile and heart ferns. These had apparently just been shifted up into the 3" pot from the plug tray -- as each was removed from the pot the soil fell away from the plug. This same thing happened with one A. clarinervium and two P. gloriosum, and for the ones that didn't lose their soil, there were only one or two roots that had reached the sidewall of the container. I own and operate a retail perennial nursery here in southern Illinois. We grow our own from cuttings and seed, so I am very familiar with shifting up and rooting times. I can tell you that selling material that has not developed enough of a root system to hold the soil mass together will lose you customers. No matter how good the plant looks on top or how badly that cash flow is needed, it is just bad business. And when a customer has to pay extra shipping for the weight of that worthless soil.... If I wanted plugs, I'd just order a tray of 72 from Agri-Starts. Sincerely, ***** ***** ______________________________________________ I received a reply from them in about a week: Dear **** ****, Thanks for recently shopping with Black Jungle Terrarium Supply! We appreciate your business and would like to express our thanks to those repeat customers for their continued patronage. In doing so, we are offering you this discount on your next purchase. Save 10 percent off our entire website while supplies last. To Redeem this Coupon, just enter the coupon code that is shown below, where prompted on the checkout page of our online catalog and 10 percent of the purchase price will be deducted automatically. Coupon Code: ******* Valid for online orders only. Don't forget...Expires 8/31/2006. Shop now at www.blackjungle.com Thanks again, Mike and Richard ______________________________________________ Is this supposed to be customer service?!?! An offer of 10% off my next order really doesn’t help much since I don’t intend to order from them again.

Positive
On Jul 28, 2006, ShelfLife (3 reviews) from Clearwater, FL (Zone 9b)

Two plants ordered and two beautiful, healthy, and extremely well-packaged plants arrived in a timely manner. Two of the best looking plants I've received via mail order.

Positive
On Jul 26, 2006, NematanthusNut (6 reviews) from Mandeville, LA (Zone 9a)

Purchased a Jewel Orchid and Cytosperma johnstonii from this company. Great plants, great shipping and excellent customer communication. Great prices too! Would definitely recommend this company.

Positive
On May 18, 2006, dixie_angel (23 reviews) from Trenton, TN

Just received my plants and they were the best packed and healthiest have received online YET.......shipping a tad slow but worth it for the quality of plants received! Thanks SO much! I will be ordering from them again in the near future! :0) oh, and their prices beat 98% of the sites I have visited!!

Positive
On May 16, 2006, Asufrin (4 reviews) from Pittsburgh, PA (Zone 5b)

Order arrived very quickly - all plants ordered arrived in good health, well packed, and as described in their online catalog. An email question regarding one of the plants that I received was answered very quickly and curteously. I would recommend this company.

Positive
On Apr 25, 2005, bellenova (2 reviews) from Columbia, MD

I ordered several plants from Black Jungle, and was impressed with the fast shipment and the wonderful condition of the plants when I received them. I found the customer service to be very knowledgeable and accomodating to my requests. Their catalog is great - they have so many interesting plants I can find nowhere else. Their selection of pitchers is wonderful! I will definitely order from them again.

Positive
On Mar 4, 2005, Equilibrium (32 reviews)

I've ordered carnivorous plants from right around 20 different nurseries. I too, hesitated to place an order in February being that I'm from the Chicago land area. Much to my surprise, I received a box from them that was not only insulated but outfitted with heat packs. The box sat outside in 31F weather until I got home from work and the heatpacks were still radiating. Black Jungle refers to this as their "winter shipping". Incredible. Add to this that each plant was painstakingly prepared for shipment then individually wrapped and I have to say that if this nursery has what I want in the future, I will order from them over others who might be cheaper. The plants arrived perfectly healthy and not even one trap was so much as even bruised. Incidentally, their prices were beyond competitive. Impressive, very impressive. Oh yes, upon placement of the order, they e-mailed a confirmation. They later followed up to let me know when the plants were shipping and provided me with tracking information. They then followed up a third time to inquire as to my satisfaction with the plants upon receipt and provided me with contact information in the event that I was dissatisfied for any reason. It doesn't get better than this folks.

Positive
On Feb 26, 2005, ooojen (10 reviews) from Lewiston, MN

When got an email letting me know some great-looking plants were on sale, I had to take a chance, even though February is not the best tme to have plants shipped to Minnesota. The plants were healthy, and packaged very carefully so they made it in fine shape! It has been over a week, and they're all doing very well. I'd recommend Black Jungle as a good source of some unusual, hard-to-find plants.

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