Comments regarding Ison's Nursery & Vineyard

Posted on August 23, 2021, updated July 13, 2022
Posted on July 14, 2021, updated August 23, 2021
Posted on July 14, 2021, updated July 14, 2021
Posted on July 7, 2021, updated July 14, 2021
First to give an understanding of who I am... I live in zone 7a and I grow exotic fruit trees such as pomegranate, fig, and banana.
I have over 50 fruit trees on my property which get the best of care.
I am a very good gardener. I am also the President of my own gardening social group of over 200 members. I have ordered online many times throughout my life. This is the first order I ever placed with Ison's. During the winter of 2020 I placed an online order for one Salavatski Pomegranate and one Jiro Persimmon. My credit card was charged and April of 2021 a box arrived with one dormant Jiro Persimmon and a letter apologizing that they were out of stock of Salavatski Pomegranate. The letter gave me options to do nothing, receive a reimbursement, or wait and have a tree shipped next season. I sent an email... I chose to have the tree shipped next season but received no reply. So I called everyday for 3 weeks until I got an answer and let them know verbally my decision. I received no notice of a new order being created or expected shipping date. Why is this company advertising a product that is already sold out 2 seasons ahead of shipping season? That borders fraud but.... I was being patient due to Covid difficulties the company might be having. I immediately planted the Jiro Persimmon after it arrived and pampered it every day. Day after day went by and the twig did not leaf out. I scratched the bark and the top of the twig looked somewhat green and mostly brown but the grafted root stock was black on the outside and not green when I scratched it. I sent an email in early June notifying Ison's the twig has still not responded and received nothing but an automated response. I have called, and called, and called so many times I cannot count. My messages and emails have never been responded to. Here it is July. Only a few months away from Autumn and still I have nothing of value to show for the chunk of money they took from me. I have been patient with them.... If they would have at least responded to one email or answered my phone calls I would not be placing this negative review. I recieved an email notice from them that they were having a pre-sale for winter shipping telling customers to order early because it looked like they would sell out quickly. Seriously? They are going to sell out there products before shipping the products they already owe to previous customers??? Again, I made every effort to contact them to find out if they received my Persimmon claim or if my pomegranate tree was expected to ship. Nothing. No response. From my end... it appears they took my money and threw me under the bus. Based on this experience I cannot in good conscience recommend any customer to buy products from this company. Is it really so impossible to open your email and say "Hi." during in a 4 month time period?

Posted on February 12, 2016, updated March 2, 2016
Posted on February 11, 2016, updated February 12, 2016
Posted on February 4, 2016, updated February 11, 2016
I entered an order before the end of the year. Two-thirds of the shipment arrived weeks later, but they collected over $620 immediately even for back ordered materials. I have repeatedly asked for information on the rest of the vines and back ordered fertilizer and have gotten zero response since being told it was going to ship at the end of January. I have asked for a refund as the combination of vines, fertilizer, pecan trees, and shipping adds up to approximately $200. Nothing. I'm sure there will be a post claiming to be sorry, but this is just abysmal service. Do the right thing and refund my money. Invoice # 252327449

(Musc Plus:Carlos Plus) Carlos Muscadine - 2 Yr Plus Bareroot
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(Musc Plus:Early Fry Plus) Early Fry Muscadine - 2Yr Plus Bareroot
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(Musc Plus:Black Beauty Plus) Black Beauty Muscadine - 2 Yr Plus Bareroot
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(Musc Plus:Cowart Plus) Cowart Muscadine - 2Year Plus Bareroot
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(Musc Plus:Darlene Plus) Darlene Muscadine - 2 Yr Plus Bareroot
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(Instant:Instant Stuart) Stuart Pecan Tree (I/O) $54.95 X 1 = $54.95
(Instant:Instant Desirable) Desirable Pecan Tree (I/O)
$54.95 X 1 = $54.95
(Musc Plus:Creek Plus) Creek Muscadine - 2 Yr Plus Bareroot NEW
$12.95 X 1 = $12.95
(FERT:Muscadine) Ison's Muscadine Custom Blend Fertilizer
$11.99 X 4 = $47.96

Your website redirects me to a google frame malware site when trying to search through your site. Also when I try to add ANY muscadine to my shopping cart it says you are out of stock. Are you really out of stock of every single plant??? your description states you will send out potted plants at any time of the year. I have bought from isons for many years and have always been very satisfied. i would prefer not to order from another company but it's starting to look like I will have too! It's really hard to maneuver around your website when it keeps redirecting me!

Posted on July 9, 2013, updated February 10, 2014
Posted on June 16, 2013, updated July 9, 2013
I ordered three table grapevines (concord, neptune and reliance). Of the three only neptune and reliance had good root systems. The concord vine was small and had a weak root system.I planted all three and 1 month later my suspicion was correct. The concord vine did not leaf out and was dry/dead. I contacted them 3 TIMES VIA e-mail with no response. BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THEY HAVE NO REPLACEMENT GUARANTEE.

"On Aug 13, 2013 4:30 PM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

I am so sorry to here of the problems you had with our nursery. I cannot explain why it took so long for you to get a response to your emails. I have several on staff whose job is to respond and address the needs of each email we receive daily. Your satisfaction is very important to us.

If any customer is not happy with the plant at the time they receive it, they have 30 days to ask for a replacement or a full refund. We do have a policy that if your plants fail to leaf out by July 1st that we will replace the following year at half price. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the care the plant receives after it is planted, the conditions in which it is planted such as soil quality nor can we guarantee the weather. We have had many customers who have planted their vines and never watered or fertilized them. For that reason, we implemented a 50% replacement policy. We are a 3rd generation family business and do our best to meet every need of our customers.

We would like to provide you with a full refund of the cost of the vine that you ordered. Your satisfaction is extremely important to us. We would also like to offer our apology for the problems you experienced with our nursery. Our customers make our business and we do all that we can to meet the needs of our customers and provide excellent quality plants for their home garden needs.

We do our best to send out the highest quality plants. Unfortunately, we cannot get up all the orders personally ourselves as owners and depend on our staff to fill orders. I sincerely regret that you received a substandard plant and will do everything possible to ensure your satisfaction. We have been in business since 1934 and pride ourselves in our longevity and quality service we provide.

Please contact us as soon as possible and allow us to take care of this for you. Sincerely, Janet Ison"

Posted on March 15, 2013, updated March 28, 2013
My favorite regional walk-in/mail-order nursery did not have the bare root strawberry variety I wanted this year, so I tried another regional nursery: Ison's. The Chandler strawberries I ordered in early February arrived in late February but appeared to be nearly dead; roots dried out and the stubs of leaves rotting. Nothing like the last two times I received bareroot strawberry shipments. I hoped they were dormant, even though Ison's is in a warmer climate than mine and my other Chandler strawberries were already blooming. Strawberries are quite tough, so I planted them in the bed that had been prepared for them and waited. 3 weeks later, only 14 of the 25 plants show signs of life. Meanwhile, some extra plants I moved from my other bed are growing vigorously in the same spot.

To be fair, I did not contact the company to express my disappointment, so I don't know if they would have shipped me new plants. If these are the caliber of plants they are shipping, I don't want a replacement -- these plants will not possibly produce any fruit this year.

Posted on October 25, 2010, updated October 27, 2010
January 2009 I ordered two vines from Ison's order number #101686 in case anyone from Ison's reads this. I ordered one Nesbit and One Fry Seedless. I get them and plant them as directed even though one appears dead and dry.

After one grows for about a month, I call to get a new Fry Seedless sent out, because that is the one that was dead and dry. After trying about 10 times to get a hold of someone, I finally do. Don't expect a callback. Leaving messages is useless. They send out a replacement. I let it go as bad customer service.

About June of 2009 the dead vine shoots up a sprout. So I guess it all worked out for the best right. Well this year I get grapes from my vines. Vine one - supposed to be a Nesbit (Black grape) is a white grape that is aweful tasting. Vine two and three- supposed to be fry seedless (red grape without seeds) turns out to both be late fry from what I can tell, not a bad grape but not even close to what I ordered. Late fry is a bronze grape with seeds.

Last week I rip out the vines and order some new ones. I did not realize it until I got the conformation email today that I had ordered from the same people. I cancelled that order and decided to write a review of my experience.

Overall they have bad customer service and do not ship what you order. Overall I get the feeling that they just do not care.

Poor (No) Service followed by Poor Customer Service. Spoke with Darlene (an owner) on the phone early in April. Discussed varieties available and placed order. Had not received order by end of April. Called and was told they could not find my order, even though they had sent me a confirmation email with order # and charged my credit card. Said they would reorder my order (except for the one item no longer available) and ship it the following Monday to receive on Wednesday. Did not receive over the next 10 days. Emailed several times to Darlene. No response. Called and spoke with customer service. Stated she could not find my order, even with order #. Order had never been placed. Now out of most of my order and rep said anything ordered now would be picked over. My vineyard will be a year later because of their incompetence and they seem to not care. Specifically asked rep to have Darlene call me or at least email me with an apology or explanation as to why this had happened and have not heard from her. Did get refund several days after my final conversation.
I beleive company fundamentally honest but ordering process and customer service is incompetent. Can't speak to the quality of their vines, as I never saw one. Have an empty vineyard to look at until this winter when I will obtain stock elsewhere. A simple apology would have gone a long way, but instead, I am left feeling as if I am totally not valued by the Ison family. Order from them at your own peril.

Tim Martin - Eagle Springs, NC

After reading the comments on here I took the plunge and ordered 2 apple trees and a persimmon. Will keep you posted on my experience as it occurs.

I have ordered almost $1,000 worth of stuff from them. It has all arrived in good shape. I was surprised when they charged me at the time of ordering, even if months in advance. This included the $120 for 20 Nobles vines that they did not have or send. They did send me a check, which I did not cash as I lost it. Several attempts to get my money back have not been successful (they have not respsonded to 2 emails). The forum that they used to have on web site was top notch, problem has not been solved for over a year.