Comments regarding Ison's Nursery & Vineyard

I bought many plants online, this purchase from Ison's Nursery unfortunately has the worst experience. They have very little customer service, phone call is not answered or returned, emails took several weeks to get any reply. In the end my grape vine didn't leaf out and they wouldn't replace or refund the order. They just gave me a partial credit for next year. Really?!

Now that I'm staring at a stone dead fig I check their site and find they have the worthless guarantee that allows them to swindle folk.
Any site that guarantees their plants will show up alive and not the next winter, is a place to avoid.
So when they say violette de bordeaux will be good in zone 5.. Well as a real nurseryman will tell you HAHAHAHAHAHA. No figs do well in zone 5. As a great nurseryman pointed out "The Chicago hardy fig, is the most unfortunately named plant. Nothing that dies to the ground is 'hardy' if it doesn't do that normally.". You want to be Zone 7-8 before you start considering outdoor figs.
So I'm just out the money and an irreplaceable year of my life because I shopped with Isons.

I've been raising strawberries in this location for 40 years. Switched to fall planting about 10 years ago with good success. Lat year, purchased 50 Sweet Charlie plugs from Ison's. Came in time, nice plugs, took well. Covered with straw for the winter. In spring, uncovered and plants looked OK. They grew well into large plants but---produced just a few berries and then just went wild. No strawberries for the first time in 40 years. Pulled them all out and will buy new plugs from another source.

I ordered a bareroot pomegranate that was shipped in early March 2021 by USPS and arrived 10 days later, which is a long time for a live plant. Tracking information was useless. However, I was assured by the company that they were aware of delivery delays and made an effort to keep the roots moist. Maybe. In any case, I planted it the day of arrival and it never put out any leaves by the time I gave up on it in June (following the company’s advice to wait). OK, sometimes a plant is DOA. The problem is that they will not provide a refund. Instead, they offer a replacement plant next year at half price and full shipping - a minor savings at best. Why would I order another tree when the first one was dead? Good customer service would have provided a full refund if they want to address customer concerns and not get negative reviews like this one.

I believe this company may be out of business. I placed an online order for around $134 for trees. Got the automated response acknowledging the order. Waited a month without hearing anything. Emailed them. Waited a couple more weeks. Emailed them again. A couple weeks later opened a claim with paypal. I guess they didn't respond because paypal refunded my money. Do not order.

I have placed several orders with Ison's but won't any more. As they say, the measure of a company is not when everything is going correctly, but when something does not, and here Ison's has been incredibly disappointing. I also encourage all potential customers to read this to be spared the time and expense I was in advance.

I have a house with limited planting space in my yard and therefore choose what I plant carefully. In 2015, I decided to use the only area in my yard fit for grapes to plant a Fry Seedless Muscadine marketed and sold by Ison's as "semi-self fertile." The plant was shipped healthy (I must say, as has been the case with all of the plants I have received from them) and quickly took root. Each successive year, I tended to the vine, fertilizing, pruning, spraying, etc. After 4 years, the vine looks incredibly healthy, has put out dozens of clusters of flowers and, most importantly, not a single grape. Now, some irregularity was expected - they are clear that some years there will be lots and others less, but there should be some. I have plenty of pollinators in my yard as well, as all of my fruit trees produce abundantly. When I contacted them earlier this year, they advised I plant another muscadine next to this one. When I responded I have no room for it, after 2 weeks, they finally admitted un-apologetically I should pull it out as it was unlikely to ever give fruit. It's incredible deceptive to advertise something as semi self fertile when it's not self fertile at all - as the vine will never produce grapes on it's own, they wasted all of my time and energy over 4 years!

For some off you, the fact that they ship healthy plant matter may be sufficient to keep using them, but a company that misleads its customers and takes no responsibility for what they have done does not deserve my money.

Buyer beware: this company does not stand behind their products. I purchased two trees and both shipped at the same time. Planted both right away, same way. After a couple of weeks, one tree leafed out and the other did not. I contacted the company & was told to give it more time. I did, but still no life.
Their return policy is limited to 7 days. This is not enough time for dormant trees. My last email asking for help didn’t have a greeting, a “sorry about your tree” or anything along those lines. Just pasted return policy text. I really wanted to like & support this company, but this level of poor customer service means no more business with them. Just wanted to warn anyone else before they bought...it’s an unwise gamble.

In February 2016 I purchased:
Concord Bunch Grape Vine $8.95
Niagara Bunch Grape Vine $8.95
Darlene Muscadine - 2 Yr Bareroot $8.95
Triumph Muscadine - 2 Yr Bareroot$8.95
Supreme Muscadine - 2 Yr Bareroot $8.95
Elberta Peach Tree $22.95
Salavatski Russian Pomegranate $29.95

The Elberta peach was dead on arrival. I called and asked for a replacement and they insisted it was fine. (I scratched the bark and nothing was green and no other signs of life). I waited a month and then called again. They agreed to send a replacement and that also died within the first few months but I couldn’t get another replacement since they already replaced the peach once for the dead tree they sent me.

Two of the muscadines and the pomegranate died over the winter and the rest of the muscadines died the following year. The only plants left are the 2 grape vines.

I was so disappointed! Especially with the peach and pomegranate because they weren’t cheap. I have TONS of plants from other nurseries (apples, pears, cherries, plums, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, figs) and I’ve never had plants die off at a rate like this. If I’d just lost one or even two I’d understand but this was insane.

Initial order for various plants (grapes, fruit trees) in late fall of 2016.

Order never shipped until spring of 2017.
Not impressed with plants; small size, evidence of pot bound rooting and overall plant quality.

Had a number of failures coming out of dormancy.

Problem with obtaining replacements was not resolved until early 2018 so we lost an entire growing season.

Plants were replace by Ison's but quality again is suspect with same issues as noted in previous shipment.

Communication with this company is sporadic; sometimes you get a response and other times you do not.

Due to plant quality and lack of timely customer service to resolve problems, we resolve never to buy from this company in the future.

Posted on May 12, 2016, updated October 1, 2016
I'm going to begin this comment as neutral because I've not yet contacted the company. I have, however, read their policy concerning plants that do not leaf out; and it seems bizarre that the same types of plants, shipped in the same year, but ordered from other companies are thriving while the Ison's plants are dead in close proximity. So, is it the conditions, or is it their plants? As a Master Gardener and food grower for over a decade, it seems to me that the issue is their plants. The packaging appeared to be good and damage-free. Their policy is to allow me to repurchase the failed plant at 1/2 price plus shipping. I am balking because I have no faith the next order will survive. I've lost an entire season, added amendments to soil, dug holes, carefully planned out growing conditions. . .and now I have to pay for a plant a second time. Here is what died or failed to emerge: 12 asparagus crowns, 2 Paw Paw trees, 2 Muscadine (their trademark plant), 1 Marionberry, and 2 raspberry. It seems like an enormous amount of loss in a fairly small order that was planted the next day after delivery. I think there is room for caution with this company; even though it was recommended in a book resource page. More later.

This was my 2nd order from these people. First was tolerable but weak plants. This year, I ordered 7 apple trees and a number of muscadine vines earlier this year. It was a little late when I ordered them but I planted them promptly upon receipt at my farm. The muscadines were ok. They were in pots. But the apple trees were bareroot. And not much root at that. It looked like they had trimmed the roots aggressively. One of the trees never leafed out. It lived for a while on the nutrients it had---but then died. I babied it for three mos watering ---made a great hole to plant it. A second tree looks like it also will die but has been at the edge or darkness since planted. I wrote Ison's a month after their deadline for their HALF refund (which is tacky) and they did not even respond. Emailed again 3 wks later;no response. I tried my best w these plants. They are DOGS. And their customer service is doggy too. No way would I EVER order again from a company like this. I will buy trees from Petals from the Past which is not far from my farm next year.

Ordered 6 Muscadine plants on 3.2.16 and by 3.14.16 they have not shipped. I have emailed this company twice and still no response. My next contact will be VISA security to not pay the charge since this company obviously has no intention of shipping what I paid for.

Posted on May 12, 2015, updated November 13, 2015
This review is on the mail order aspect of the company. This company may be great if you live nearby or within driving distance, however, this company should not be doing business online because they simply do not care about their mail order customers.

First of all, a mail order company must guarantee their plants/trees that they sell. 7 days is simply not long enough to evaluate whether a plant/tree is going to survive. I received trees in the mail, already leafed out when they should have been dormant, leaves dried and extremely stressed. Their guarantee states that the trees must be dead on arrival within seven days. These trees were alive and COULD make it, although very unlikely. The point being, it is going to take much longer than seven days to nurse these miserable trees back to health, which at that point will be well passed the guarantee. Is this done on purpose? It sure sounds like it, but why would a successful well established company need to do such a tactic to make money? If they cannot ship trees to a location and guarantee them to be healthy and in good shape, then they should not ship to these places. The money they would lose from this would be made up for by great positive reviews and customer feedback, which should bring in repeat customers. That has got to be better than the MANY 1 and done customers that they have now.

Secondly, a mail order company has to be able to respond to customers emails, questions and calls in a timely manner. Many people who order through the mail and over the internet, do not call but choose to correspond through emails instead. Email is the modern form of communication and should be taken seriously. I have emailed this company on numerous occasions, simply receiving an automated email saying something like, "we will get in touch with you as soon as possible". Many emails later, there is NO response. Not one. Why is it so difficult to respond to an email? I do not see how ANY business in the modern age can get by without at least some email communication. Let alone a business that makes its money using an online website, where emails are the mainstream way for communicating with customers.

The final nail in the coffin of this business, is that they don't even know what plants/trees you ordered! No company should ever ship the wrong item to any customer without some explanation as to why they are doing so. Understandably, substitutions occur all the time. But opening up a box and being surprised that a substitution has occurred is not the way to handle the situation. If you do not have the item that was ordered you need to contact the customer and ask if he/she would like a substitution or a refund for that item. Again, this would fall under better communication skills. Although, at this point, I would settle for ANY communication. I ordered trees, which apparently were not available, so I got something else instead. Surprise, way to go, just give me any old tree and maybe I'll be happy and shut up. I probably would have, but maybe, just maybe, this should have been asked first, hmmm?

So what is the point of this negative review? To have my trees replaced and the situation fixed? Of course, I would love that! I work hard for my money after all and I would like to feel good about spending it on something I enjoyed. As of right now, I feel pretty sick that I got mistreated so badly. I feel as if I was duped by a very tricky scam artist and my money is just, gone. I doubt this will happen. If it does, this review will still stay negative, because it does not change the fact that all of these things need to be addressed by this company if they are to stay in business as a mail order nursery. I sell plants myself. I do not sell plants online nor would I ever attempt to do so, no matter how much money I might make. I know my limitations and I know I could not offer the kind of guarantee that I offer my customers in person. Many mail order companies can make that guarantee and are very successful at it. I suggest that Isons contact some of these companies and inquire as to how they go about doing such good business online and through the mail. It can be done. Please stop creating unhappy customers. It's bad for the entire plant/nursery business overall. Fix your problems and fill this page with positive feedback. These reviews do not show us a company that has been operating since 1934.

"On May 13, 2015 11:29 AM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

First off let me start by sincerely apologizing for the bad experience you have had with our company. Our customer satisfaction is very important to us.

Secondly, let me tell you that we want to do everything we can to make this right for you. Beginning April, we are short staffed in our office to due the operations outside the business. With the extreme difficult winter we had 2014 we lost a lot of plants and had to limit our staff as much as possible until our inventory is back. We have just completed all of our potting and will have an excellent inventory this coming year. When you have a limited staff, unfortunately things don't always get done as they should and for that I am extremely sorry.

We do guarantee that the plants you receive are alive upon receipt. If you are unhappy with the plants your receive you have 7 days to contact us for a full refund. You can tell if the plants are alive even if they are not leafed out. When you scratch the bark you should see green. We state if they fail to leaf out by July 1st we will replace the following year at half price. We take half the responsibility and let the customer take half the responsibility. There are so many factors involved in if a plant will survive. Weather, soil conditions, quality of plants, care after planted and more. I wish we could guarantee that every plant we sell will live and produce no matter what but that is impossible. Even when we plant our own plants we consider 80% livability to be a success. Sometimes you cannot determine the exact cause a plant does not survive. So we take half the responsibility. I understand you got your trees already leafed out. Here they did start leafing out some and our guys did ship them with leaves on them. We have many customers that still want to receive trees and plants in late April and May. That is why we discount the trees during that time as well. By this time alot of plants are leafed out. It definitely is not the most ideal situation but usually the plants do recover and we try to get them to the customer as quickly as possible. If your plants do not survive I will be happy to replace these for you a not costs this coming shipping season and would need to ship them to you much earlier in the season. Here in Georgia, by April and May lots of trees are budding and leafing out.

As far as responding to your emails, with a limited staff we did drop the ball in that area. Our first priority in the office are the customers that walk in the door. After that it is the phones that are ringing. Then we try to respond to our emails. We do respond to most but have been unable to respond to all. Every email is important but we just were not able to answer each one and for that I am tremendously sorry. We are working on a better system to be able to respond and have the staff available to reply. It is difficult to respond to an email when you have an office full of customers and phones ringing as well as other work needing to be done. We hope to have someone dedicated this coming year to do nothing but answer emails so we can stay on top of that.

By the end of the season we are selling out of many products. We do substitute but only when absolutely necessary. There should have been a letter in your invoice stating what was being done and why. Apparently that did not happen as well. We again dropped the ball and failed to provide you with the excellent service we strive for. Again, I am so very sorry for your poor experience.

I understand that your money is valued and we want to make sure you receive what your ordered and the best possible plants. I am so sorry that you had such a bad experience with our business and would like to do all I can to make this right for you. My grandfather started our business in 1934 and each and every customer is very important to us. I understand we did not get it right with you but I can assure you we did get it right for many many of our customers and they hare very satisfied with out business and happy with our plants. Unfortunately, those customers do not take the time to posts a positive review. You will find it is the customers with bad experiences that do. Yes we got it wrong with you and some other customers but we do get it right most of the time.

Please contact me as soon as possible. My name is Janet Ison. I want to work with you to make sure you get everything taken care of and to let you know we are a quality business that has been providing quality plants to our customers since 1934. We are in NO WAY A TRICKY SCAM ARTIST!!! We care about each and every customer and their needs and will do all we can to help you in anyway. Sincerely, Janet Ison"

Posted on May 5, 2015, updated July 7, 2015
Posted on April 13, 2015, updated May 5, 2015
I bought an asian pear, fig, two grapes and an asian persimmon last spring. The persimmon and the fig never leafed out. One of the grapes died after about three months. The pear is doing well. I called to let ison that the pear anf fig did not live. I did not realize what ison return policy was. They wanted me to pay 1/2 price for replacements. After a lot of discussion they agreed to replace for free. They replacements came this winter. I planted them in large pots this time and did not leaf out again. So out of seven plants only two survived. I am not a rookie. I have a degree in horticulture and manage 20 acres of greenhouse at metrolina greenhouses. I do not recommend to buy from ison.

"On May 13, 2015 11:38 AM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

I am so very sorry for the bad experience you received from our business. Our guarantee is in our catalog as well as our website. We do guarantee that the plants you receive are alive upon receipt. If you are unhappy with the plants your receive you have 7 days to contact us for a full refund. We state if they fail to leaf out by July 1st we will replace the following year at half price. We take half the responsibility and let the customer take half the responsibility. With you being a grower I am sure you understand there are so many factors involved in if a plant will survive. Weather, soil conditions, quality of plants, care after planted and more. We have had many customers that put their tree or vine in the ground and never water, fertilize or care for it. There is no way we can guarantee the care the plant receives after it leaves us. I wish we could guarantee that every plant we sell will live and produce no matter what but that is impossible. Even when we plant our own plants we consider 80% livability to be a success. Sometimes you cannot determine the exact cause a plant does not survive. So we take half the responsibility.

I am sorry you did not realize this. I do not understand why your replacement plants did not survive. Our persimmons take a long time to leaf out hear and sometimes do not even leaf out until June. I am hoping your tree will still leaf out. I would like to know exactly what we sent you and to be given an opportunity to take care of your problems. Your business is very important to us. I cannot explain why you had difficult experience. As far as the emails, we have had a very limited staff in the last month and unfortunately we sometimes fail to respond to each email.

My name is Janet Ison. Please contact me as soon as you can and let me help make this right. Our customers are vital to our business and each and every one is very important to us. We will do all we can to take care of your concerns and problems. Thanks, Janet Ison
Read more: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/1023/#ixzz3a2LpDHhH "

Please note this is not a review on the product since I did not receive it. This is about their customer service. I can honestly say I gave them every chance to answer and they were not helpful at all.

I ordered some berries and other things. spent around $70.00. everything seemed OK I got my tracking info, watched it like a hawk. took some time off to make sure I'll be here for the delivery. next thing I know the tracking status is showing delivered! i know for a fact it didn't get delivered because I was there! I send an email to Ison right away. Any how, I figured is not their fault since apparently something got shipped (or at least I think so based on the fact that got a tracking number from them)

so I sent an e mail to them where I explained what happened. 3 days later I got a very short reply saying my order had shipped, then a date, and the carrier. I'm thinking: wow! did you not read my question? I have been tracking it, so yes. I know who the carrier is. I know when it shipped. What I need to know where it is. After all, it's not my fedex account. They should be the ones calling in to check on it.

I was trying to be calm and just e mailed back saying: I know that. I have been tracking it. Please read my original e mail below. They replied something along the lines of we tracked the package and it looks like it delivered on such and such date. At this point I'm getting irritated because all they have done so far is repeat everything I have already told them. so I replied saying please don't repeat what I've already told you can you just check on the delivery? and I haven't heard from them in days.

I'm very irritated with their customer service. I have a job and very little free time. I don't have time for this back and forth where all I get are unusable answers and 0 solutions. I just think It's not fair that I'm taking all the risk here. they got paid and now they couldn't care less. GREAT!

ohh well. I'm over this. no more online nurseries for me.

TODAY I was told on the telephone that my tree order of $400.00+ was shipped YESTERDAY and that the price of the trees had been reduced by 30% at midnight YESTERDAY. According to FedEx, shipment info regarding my order was sent to them TODAY and they picked up my shipment TODAY, when the prices were 30% less than I was charged. Not very thoughtful of Ison's, when they had every opportunity to charge me TODAY's current price instead of $125.00 more.

"On May 13, 2015 11:40 AM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

When you place an order online we have not control of when you are charged and how. We will be happy to refund you the difference in the price. Please contact us as soon as you can and let me take care of this for you.

We do start dropping the prices on items that are overstocked. I apologize for taking so long to respond to your comment.

Please give me a call as soon as possible! Janet Ison"

I had placed an order and had to take a sudden trip so I emailed as well as called Isons to change the date of my shipment of grape vines. I was told this was no problem and they would be shipped out to me in Mid-March. As I was absent, a box arrived in my yard, my neighbor who was kind enough to get it can not read where it was from, so I asked her to open it. My neighbor is classed as Special needs so I can not expect her to care for them so asked her to place the box in my shed. The next day I called and was told if able to send the box back. I explained I would not return home for almost a month and could not return to sender because box was opened. I was told not to worry, a new order will be shipped out on the date I requested. When I got home, the vines were already dried (they snapped like twigs), so I trashed them thinking I'll be fine with my order coming in. I have emailed them starting the beginning of March 2015 as well as calling and leaving messages. At first I was just trying to let them know I was ready for them and they could ship anytime...now after several attempts by emails and messages left, I have not heard from anyone regarding this matter. This upsets me a lot because I feel I'm being avoided and ignored. :(

"On May 13, 2015 11:44 AM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

I am so very sorry for the poor experience you had with our business. Your plants should have been held and not shipped until the date you requested. I am not sure what happened and I am looking into it. We definitely dropped the ball and I regret that.

I want to ensure that you receive all the plants you ordered in quality condition. Please contact me by phone at the nursery (770) 599-6970. I am in the office 9-5. Our phones are slowing down now and you should be able to get through. If you receive the voice mail please hang up and call again in a few minutes until one of us answers.

Your satisfaction is so very important to us and I will do everything possible to take care of your plant needs. Again, I am so sorry you did not receive the quality service we strive for. Sincerely, Janet Ison"

I have been a Isons customer for over 4 years. I have bought trees shrubs and over 30 muscadine plants for myself and family members. I tried both calling and emailing them about a issue I had in ordering but could not use my promo code. Never got a answer. Monday I called 01-19-15 asking about 6 muscadine vines that are beautifu vines but have not produced a single grape. I was told Mr. Ison would call me back. since it was 9am I figured I would get a call that evening but did not hear from him. Tuesday I called back and was told he would call me in a few hours. Again never heard from him. Today 01-21-15 3pm and still haven't heard from him. Guess he is to busy to worry about people that have already spent money with them.

I ordered 2 raspberry plants and 4 blackberry plants, all bare root, from them in May 2014. A couple looked like they were in bad shape, but I planted them all, as suggested by Isons and waited. Only three leafed out. The others are dead. I suspect that they were dead on arrival. I contacted Isons to complain and also to take advantage of their plant guarantee to replace the dead plants. They never returned my emails.

I won't be buying from them in the future.

I purchased several pear trees and a Pakistan Mulberry Tree on March 2013. One pear tree and the mulberry tree didn't leaf out for last summer. Tried to call the company, but never got a chance to speak to someone. Felt very frustrated.

This spring, the appear-to-be-dead pear tree finally leaf out. But the mulberry tree is totally dead after I dug it out and examined the roots.

I bought 2 jujube trees (one Sherwood one Li) from Ison's in 2010, didn't survive in the following winter. Paid 50% of the regular tree price and got the replacement in 2011. Each year, the trees have lots of flowers but not a single fruit. A few days ago, just looked at the record and realized this would be the 4th spring! The bigger disappointment is to my kids who excitedly told me each spring that the trees sprouted then flowered, then came with the same disappointing summer and fall!

Called the customer a couple years ago, although one of the ladies was very nice, no explanations offered.

I ordered an Instant Orchard Angel Pomegranate tree in December and received the tree this spring. I was happy to see its size. It being bare of leaves and bareroot did not bother me, as I have ordered/received other plants from other nurseries in similar fashion (this is not new to me). I immediately washed the gel that the root ball was wrapped in and planted the tree according to instructions. Again, planting a bare root and/or dormant tree/plant is not new to me. However, all of my other trees and plants have broken dormancy at this point and are leafed out, some are even rather bushy and have begun to bare fruit. This is not the case with the Angel Pomegranate tree. I don't see how it could be considered an Instant Orchard when it appears to be dead. It has not leafed out whatsoever. I check it every day and no change at all. I tried calling Isons, but was not able to speak with anyone. So, I emailed them several weeks ago inquiring to know if this is normal for this variety (late break in dormancy), but again, no luck. I have not received a reply. When I ordered, I was hesistant due to their guarantee of reshipping at 50% for a replacement but I had such wonderful experiences and results from others, such as Nature Hills and Bay Laurel Nursery that I didn't think anything would be amiss. Well, I regret this mistake. I found another Angel Red tree locally that was fully leafed out and blooming, so I purchased that one for less than the Isons tree, so I don't care to have a replacement shipped out, especially at additional cost to me. I'm sorry I took a chance with Isons and I would not recommend them. Save your money and time. They don't make it easy to communicate with them to help resolve issues. I bet if there was a problem with my method of payment, they would have contacted me immediately.

I bought grapes, elderberries, and on impulse a pineapple guava. I bought the pineapple guava simply because I wanted to feel like I was getting a good deal on shipping. I got the shipment and the bare root plants look like normal bare root plants, just a stick. The pineapple guava (an evergreen) had lost all of its leaves but two and was not very supple.

I tried repeatedly to call them, but got no answer or return call so I took pictures and emailed them to ask about the plant. I kept calling and eventually got through and they said that it shouldn't look like that and they'll send a replacement. Then, I get an email asking if want a refund because all the pineapple guavas were damaged by the extreme cold. I respond that I would rather have a refund than a plant next year and then they send me another plant. It gets to me and there are no leaves on it.

When I called, I was told that I should just wait and see if it leafs out and that damage in shipping is normal. This doesn't appear to be shipping damage and I paid for what I assumed would be healthy plants. I suppose I should be happy I got two for one, but I didn't order dead plants.

This makes me worried about the grapes and berries that won't leaf out for a while yet.

POEPLE,RUN,RUN,RUN,FROM ISON'S. IF YOU LIKE MAKING THIS COMPANY MONEY BUY PURCHASING THEIR DEAD PLANTS AND TREES THEN YOU GOT THE RIGHT PLACE. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD SEND OUT A PECAN TREE WITHOUT ANY SIGNS OF GROWTH, YES JUST A 3 FT STICK, AND THEN WANT ANOTHER 50% TO SEND ANOTHER TREE OUT. NOT ME SUCKER, STIFF ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU,STIFF ME TWICE SHAME ON ME. CUSTOMER BEWARE THEY WILL TELL YOU HOW GREAT THEY ARE BUT YOU ARE ROLLING THE DICE,GOOD LUCK

"On Aug 13, 2013 4:11 PM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

I would like to sincerely apologize for the poor service you have received from our nursery. We strive to provide the highest quality trees and service to our customer. Unfortunately, sometimes mistakes do happen. We would never intentionally send out a tree that is not alive and/or in poor condition. Unfortunately, we as owners cannot fill every order ourselves and depend on our staff. Sometimes they fail to provide our customers with the highest quality possible. We will continue to work on ensuring that does not happen again.

We will be more than happy to send you a full refund for the pecan tree you ordered from us. We do have a policy that if you receive a tree from us and are not happy with it when you receive you, that you have 30 days to let us know and we will issue a full refund. If you plant it and it fails to leaf out by July 1st we will replace at half price the following year. I am so sorry that we disappointed you in our business. We are a 3rd generation family business and provide ourselves in offering our customers the best service possible.

If you could contact our office and give us the information we will immediately issure you a refund. Again, please accept my deepest apology for the poor service you received. In the future, I hope you will give us another try and you can ask for me personally. Just ask for Janet Ison. "

I have ordered from Isons in the past and been very pleased. I tried to order from them in the spring of 2013. I called, I sent emails, no contact. I was trying to spend money and they would not return phone calls. Very poor customer service.

"On Aug 13, 2013 4:46 PM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

I am so sorry with the difficulty you received trying to contact our nursery. We begin our potting season in the Spring of 2013 and have a smaller staff in our office. We have had issues with our email provided and have since resolved these problems. Our customers are very important to us and are the sole reason our business is successful!

Please allow us in the future to assist you. My name is Janet and I am one of the owners here. We will be fully staffed back in the office in September and we are currently answering our emails daily. We will begin our shipping season in early November.

We have been in business since 1934 and we are a 3rd generation family business. My grandfather started our business on a small scale growing muscadine vines. We have since added products and grown to what we are now.

Again, I am very sorry for the difficulties you had with contacting our nursery! I hope you will give us a call again and feel free to ask for me personally!

Sincerley, Janet Ison"

I placed an order 11/21/12. Order was never shipped. Finally filed dispute with Pay Pal. Received refund for order on 1/7 13 no explanation I never got the plants that wanted. WHAT A SHAME!

Posted on May 13, 2012, updated May 13, 2012
Posted on May 1, 2010, updated May 13, 2012
I ordered nearly $200 worth of 5-6' peach trees (4 Saturn peach trees) from them and received 3-4 ' single "twigs" and 2 of them were dead. I emailed them and it took more than 2 emails to get their attention and when the raplacements arrived they were apparently the 5-6' original ones that should have been sent in the first place but they too were DEAD. They were ordered in late fall 2009 and the replacements were just sent in March 2010 and I am still waiting to hear from Ison's about a replacement or refund. My husband said it looks like I can kiss that money goodbye and maybe it is an expensive lesson I have learned. I will NEVER order any plants via mail order again and will warn others about this. I live in Georgia and ordered from Ison's because I wanted to make sure the trees would grow here. My experience was VERY VERY NEGATIVE.

"On May 16, 2012 3:38 PM, Ison's Nursery & Vineyard responded with:

We never want to have a disappointed customer! And it has always been our policy to do everything possible to make it right if a customer is not satisfied or if there is an error in an order.

We are a third generation family owned nursery and grower. We take pride in the plants that we grow and the value and service that we offer. We have also worked hard and are proud of our At rating with the Better Business Bureau.

We are saddened to see Ms Widener’s post and that she was disappointed with her plants. We contacted her long ago to address her concerns. Her original order was dated 10/24/2009 for Galaxy Peach Trees in the amount of $130.75.

When she contacted us originally about her order and told us she was not satisfied we reshipped the order, plus we issued her a full refund. And as a gesture of good will we also included a $100 gift certificate that she could use on anything she wanted. She redeemed the gift certificate for kiwi plants and an instant orchard pear tree that were shipped in the winter of 2010/2011.

We called her once again today as a sign of good will and concern for one of our customers after seeing her post.

We truly do care and strive to be the best mail order nursery in the country.
"

Been gardening 40 years. Isons the worst experience ever. Last year ordered 5 trees, 6 bushes, 2 goji plants. Really wanted goji plants which is why I ordered from them. After many calls looking for my order & getting a different excuse each time, the order came
minus the goji plants although order indicated they were there. After calling was told Sorry, we didn't have any (but they did charge me for them) We called them a few months later to let them know that only one tree grew, everything else was dead. They promised to make it good this season, but have not done so. In forty years, we have had one or two items fail during that time, but never an entire order.

Posted on May 25, 2010, updated May 25, 2010
Posted on May 25, 2010, updated May 25, 2010
I ordered (2) Muscadine Grape Vines and received them in January. Both were in poor condition but one did grow this Spring. I've spent the past 2 weeks now trying to contact someone by telephone and emails for a replacement. They don't answer the phone (let voice mail answer it) and they haven't responded to 3 emails I've sent. It seems that once they have your money, they really don't care what happens to you or your plants. I'm very disappointed with their lack of basic customer support. Unless I hear from them soon I cannot recommend them and will not buy from them again.

concerning isons nursery. they keep changing the sending date on me and the last one (today) was a week from today. the lady said they didn't get the walnut trees in because of the cold weather. Huh? seems to me warm weather might slow things down but you need cold weather for dormancy. it now remains to see what the trees look like if i get them. if they are good i'll upgrade this report. i have a heartnut and thomas black walnut in the ground since they were shipped by another nursery in dec. when i put in all my orders.

Tim Wilson, Cumming, GA:

I ordered blueberries in February. It is now May, and no plants.

When I called customer service at Ison's Nursery, the guy said the plants were mailed parcel post in February.
There's no way to prove they were ever mailed without a tracking number, so I assume that they forgot to send my plants.

The customer service guy's response to my inquiry was to tell me he had to ask one of the owners if I should get a refund.

Five days later, no call back.

I just sent another Email inquiry about my missing order.

I'm sure Ison's doesn't defraud their mail order customers purposely.
They are probably just incompetent, and customer theft is just a byproduct of that.

My expectation is that I just lost $37.50.

But the other side of the coin is that Ison's lost a repeat customer, and anyone who is near enough to hear my story will not become an Ison's customer either.

I purchased a number of fruit trees in January of this year. Since some were not available, I was told that these would be shipped. After calling a number of times I finally received all but two of the trees in my order. Time passed and when I finally spoke to a representative in April, she told me that these two items would not be available this year; therefore I would receive a refund. When the refund did not arrive in what I thought should be a timely manner, I telephoned and since I never spoke to a live individual, I left messages, then e-mailed. As of today, two weeks have gone by and there has been no returned call, nor e-mail other than the automatic response, and, more importantly, no refund. Maybe tomorrow?

Same experience as first email. Order was placed on first week of Dec. with a promise ship date of Dec. 15th. Order was just received Feb. 6th. But credit card was charged first week of Dec. Also after receiving trees we have had questions and left 2 voicemails with no response. POOR customer service. They seem to have no concern after they get your money!!!

I placed an order in Oct. 2007 for fruit trees, strawberries, muscadine vines and loganberry vines. They cashed my check and it cleared. By middle of January I had not heard anything from them. I called and they told me they would ship last week. I received nothing. I called back on 01/23/08 and was told, once again, they would ship next week. I cancelled the order. I am so disappointed that I did not get my order. I need to find a nursery that will do what it advertises. A very disappointing attempt to get muscadine vines.

After viewing their catalog, I was very excited to order from Ison's. I faxed my order on March 8th, ordering one dwarf peach tree and three blackberry bushes. When I recieved my credit card statement on March 10th, there was a charge from Ison's on it. The dollar amount was for the full order, so I expected to see it arrive any day. According to UPS, my area is only a three day delivery from them. By March 26th I was concerned. I emailed the company with no results. On March 29th I called. A polite lady told me that the order was ready for shipment and would be sent that day or the next. Still I received nothing. I called their customer service line again this morning to cancel my order. They didn't even ask why. I think it is unprofessional to place an order on a credit card before it ships. On top of that I was lied to about my order being ready to ship. I will never order from them again and I encourage others to think twice before they do.

A fig tree I ordered from them was not true to type. The pear trees ordered were smaller than I have received elsewhere, but grew fine.

I have bought muscadine plants from this company. I ordered 4 plants, 2 male and 2 female. I was shipped only one female. This plant is dying. I have asked this company for help to select female plants for my two males. I don't get any answer from them. I am new to muscadines, so I think that a seller shall advise and help a buyer to obtain the product you need. This is not done here. I will never buy again from them.