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Comments regarding Fedco Seeds

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  Feedback History and Summary  
94 positives
5 neutrals
2 negatives

Comments:

RatingAuthorContent
Neutral dirkphilly
(8 reviews)		 On Dec 31, 2019, dirkphilly Philadelphia, PA (Zone 6b) wrote:

Price is competitive but seeds are not always reliable. I ordered two different daikon radish seeds last year and both produced radishes not true to variety. Maybe not a surprise considering they are just a co-op company, not a dedicated seed company. Baker Creek and Johnny's are all dedicated seed companies and their seeds are always reliable with fabulous customer services.

Neutral MVIsland
(15 reviews)		 On Jan 13, 2016, MVIsland MA, MA (Zone 7a) wrote:

Posted on January 8, 2016, updated January 13, 2016
When I saw that Fedco had their 2016 seeds available online in early Dec 2015 I made sure BEFORE I placed my order on Dec 8th online, that the seeds I wanted were NOT on back stock or out-of-order. I grow vegetables as a small market grower and really counted on the seeds I ordered. Fedco clearly stated online shipments would not start until early January 2016, which was fine with me. I received my Fedco order today and HALF the order was on "back-stock" and one was completely SOLD OUT. And this was from a order placed the first week of December! I immediately called Fedco and told them how could they possibly be "out-of-stock" on half my order when I placed it in early Dec 2015, when they 2016 seed line-up had just went online. I told the Fedco rep to just send me a check for everything that did not arrived to me today (which was half my order) I told her I was counting on the fact that I checked to make sure PRIOR to placing my order, that in fact everything was available. Now I have to order the same seeds from another company that I know that DOES in fact have the seeds I need. I have waited a month to just find out half my order is "back-stocked" & "our-of-order", and ~hope~ that maybe those seeds might GET IN ORDER and get shipped who knows when! The rep said she will cut me a check for all the back-orders and the out-of-stock seeds and mail the check to me. Today is January 8th. I will see how long it takes to get the reimbursement check in my mailbox. I hope Fedco will at least send my check back in less than 4 weeks, and I will change the experience button to a positive. Very discouraging.

On January 13th, 2016, MVIsland changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:

In all fairness, I said I would repost when I got my refund check for half the order that was out-of-stock, or sold-out. I check get my check 2 days ago. Fedco sent my check fasssst, not sure why they moved so fast, could be because they read these ratings, and saw mine. None the less, I did get mt check back, but I am not going to change this comment to a "positive", but rather a neutral. Looking at the seeds that DID arrive in my order. If the company is going to sell "held-over seeds from prior years and sell them in a current year, they should DISCLOSE that information to the customer in their catalog or on their website. Three of the 5 packets I ordered were seeds not from 2015, but 2014, and who knows if they were repackaged prior years than that! I ordered Bright Lights Chard, has stickers covering the package that was stamped 9/1/14, with a germ rate of 76%, the sticky covers over that info now says, packed for 11/1/15 with a germ rate of 78%....huh? Each passing year the germ rate DECLINES, not goes up! The Space Spinach has a white sticky that says it was packed for 9/1/15, peeling the sticky back the package was really packed on 1/1/15, which would clearly have made them 2014 seeds or older. Green Wave Mustard sticky says they were packed for 11/1/15, peeling back the sticky they were actually packed on 11/14/14. I have bought seeds in stores before that were from prior years seeds, the germination rate drops a lot each passing year, but the cost of buying old seeds are never the retail price. I have bought old seeds for HALF PRICE or even less than that. When you go into a store if they are selling seeds that are out-of-date you never pay full price. Fedco, if I wanted to buy seeds that are out-of-date, I would have gone to a local big box store and bought their 2015 seeds on sale for 1/2 price. Not to worry about me ever doing business with your company again, because that will never happen!
Neutral go_cats
(7 reviews)		 On Jan 29, 2009, go_cats Wilmette, IL wrote:

FedCo's website is one of the hardest to navigate, or figure out, that I've ever seen. I'd be happy to buy from them, if I could figure out what they sell without risking carpal tunnel syndrome.
Neutral CountryDaddy
(7 reviews)		 On Feb 26, 2007, CountryDaddy Wilmington, IL wrote:

I realize that one of the stipulations for placing a comment here is that you have dealt with the company. I was about to, but didn't, and this is why. Their shipping and handling costs are prohibitive! Their plant selection is OK, some pictures would be nice, but when I saw a $14.00 charge for shipping to Illinois and a $5.00 box fee I couldn't believe it. I think that's ridiculous. It's about three times the average shipping and handling charge of other companies.

On February 26th, 2007, CountryDaddy changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:

I must apologize to Fedco for my previous negative comments. After going back and rechecking, I found I had looked at the shipping charges for Fedco Trees and not Fedco Seeds. Their shipping/handling charges are actually not out of line. I'm sorry I spoiled their perfect positive rating. Too bad the negative mark can't be retracted. I'm going to try ordering from them and see what happens.
On February 26th, 2007, CountryDaddy added the following:

I see the negative mark has been removed. Excellent!
On February 26th, 2007, CountryDaddy added the following:
Neutral verenabean
(1 review)		 On May 30, 2006, verenabean Lincoln, MA wrote:

I love the catalog, the selection of seeds, and the politics of Fedco, but their shipping policies and weak ordering systems have room for improvement.

I wanted to place a replacement seed order for my farm on a Wednesday morning this spring, and was told that they couldn't ship my order for a week since they only ship on Wednesdays, and it would probably take a few more days after that week to get to me. I asked if I could fax an order right then and there. No. I asked if they could take a phone order. No. Was there anything I could do to get the order in that day? No. Every other company I called was much more accommodating. It's one thing to be a quirky, personable business, but that shouldn't mean being quirky in meeting customer needs. I ended up ordering from another company that shipped my seeds that very day.

The online ordering is OK, the website has an odd design that is not typical of online ordering systems and makes the process cumbersome if you are placing large orders.

Still I order most things from them when I have time to plan ahead and spend days working out all the strange codes. Excellent prices and varieties, and a fun catalog to read in the quiet time of winter.