Comments regarding Trade Winds Fruit

Posted on December 24, 2012, updated January 31, 2013
Posted on September 26, 2012, updated December 24, 2012
Posted on September 26, 2012, updated September 26, 2012
Posted on September 25, 2012, updated September 26, 2012
I'm not sure what to think about these people. Their selection is amazing. And their prices are absolutely fantastic! When I first found the site I thought I'd died and gone to gardener's heaven. I sent out two orders within two weeks of each other. Lo and behold, I received the second order within two weeks. But it's been a month and I haven't seen a trace of the first order. Customer service answered my first email and told me to wait (apparently customs is unreliable for Canadian orders). Two weeks later, I emailed them again. This time, there's been no response. I'm a little upset, as the order was fairly substantial and I'd at least appreciate a refund so I can get the lost items elsewhere! Keeping my rating at neutral until this issue is resolved.

"On Jan 31, 2013 3:13 PM, Trade Winds Fruit responded with:

It is unfortunate this member decided to change their rating over something for we which we have no control. The customer did not mention that shipping prices increased only for international customers and increased due to the postal service increasing their rates by over 100% on January 28th. The comment is also misleading as standard shipping for United States customers is still free with an order of $10 or more and U.S. shipping prices did not increase at all. We make no money on international shipping prices and charge our customers based on what we pay for shipping ourselves. In addition, for larger international orders, shipping prices have increased a lesser amount, e.g. on a $100 order to Canada, shipping used to be $12, now it is $16. We are very disappointed ourselves that the costs of shipping increased so dramatically, but it is something not within our control."

I ordered culantro seeds and they came in a tiny clear plastic envelope---only about 15 tiny, tiny beige colored seeds, not the 200 to 250 seeds per package they advertise on their website. I cannot get the seeds to start although I have started many plants from seeds. I finally found a picture of culantro seeds and they are much larger and darker than the seeds Tradewinds sent. I wonder if the seeds that Tradewinds sent are culantro. May not order anything else from this company!

My wife made an order of $25.30 USD with them about one month ago. Never received this order. Sent them 3 emails and they insist to not reply.. She has open a dispute at Paypal hoping to receive our money back. NEVER AGAIN wants to make transactions with this company.

Three weeks went by and I never received my order. I emailed and they replied within a reasonable amount of time telling me that they were busy collecting seeds and that some of those seeds were a part of my order. That was okay, I was glad to get the reply. I got my order about a week later. 1 month total from order to delivery. They are located about a 1/2 hour away from me. I wish I could have just picked my order up. :)

Ordered seeds on 10/26/06. Emailed them several times with no response.
Have not received them as of today.
Placed a claim with PayPal to get my money back.

I tried the experience aware of the negative comments since it wasn't expensive to get the seeds I was after. Germination rate wasn't too good, you could see that some seeds weren't collected fully ripe. 2 out of ten varieties germinated well though.

I ordered from this company BEFORE I knew about this site. I was told in an email the following:
"Thank you for your order with Trade Winds Fruit! Your order of
5/12/2006 has shipped via U.S. airmail on 5/13/2006. Please let us
know if you have any questions." I live in Tennessee and it takes more than 10 days AIRMAIL to reach me?? (which it hasn't yet)....they will not answer my repeated emails inquiring about it, either. Another company that is just a waste of time for anyone who looking for ethical business entities to buy from. Live and learn.......unfortunately. :0(

Delivery was quite fast, no problem there, but germination rate wasn't too good.

i ordered alot of fun, hard-to-find seeds equalling about 50$; the money was taken out of my account, but no confirmation was sent, so i was a little concerned. it took almost a month to get my seeds, but all were accounted for, and a note was left for the one pack that was unavailable, with a date stateing when it *would* be available and that it would be sent then. some of the citrus seeds were starting to get moldy-- it looked like the result of condensation in the bags-- but i planted them anyway and they're growing (quickly!) so i guess there was no harm done. one of the seeds was mislabled and crossed out, but no new name was written down; i planted it anyway.

overall, it was positive, but the slowness and the lack of communication / confirmation made me give it a neutral.

~:)

My first email to this company was placed before I ordered anything, asking how many seed per specific packets and availability. This email was answered.

I ordered some seed from this company that would be extremely difficult to find else where. Considering the rarity of the seed, the price wasn't too bad, besides the shipping was very cheap, just 25. per packet.

Just when it hit the two week mark (it stated on their site that shipping may take up to two weeks), I emailed the company. The seed came the day I emailed but no one answered my email.

The email asking when I would receive the see was void so I paid no attention that they didn't respond.

Upon inspection of the seed (there were only three, as I was expecting) one of the precious seeds had puncture holes where insects bored into them. I even saw insects peeking out of the holes and so the embryos were probably eaten or damaged.

I placed an anwer explaining the problem and reqesting a replacement. My email has yet to be answered.

It would seem that this company ignores any negative emails. This is NOT how a business should run. If I paid for a product, I expect to have what I paid for.