Comments regarding Eastern Plant Specialties

I never received my plant order (placed on Feb 4), nor did I receive a refund check as they promised (on May 12, after my inquiry as to the status of my order). Now, they are not responding to my emails. A week ago, I informed them that if they didn't issue a refund within the week, I was going to file a complaint with the Maine Attorney General's consumer protection bureau. I will be filing an official complaint tomorrow.

Ten years ago I had a good experience with EPS but this year it's been a nightmare. Ordered $398 worth of plants in February. What was shipped was missing 50 plants. The rest were skimpy, bedraggled strands. I was able to reach them once, after many tries, and was told that a refund would be sent out the following week. That was a couple of months ago. Radio silence since then. No response to emails, neither phone number accepting messages. I guess I was a jerk for ordering from the little guy. Never again. Be forewarned. And if anyone from EPS does see this - you guys ever hear of Karma?

Last fall, I sent a check to reserve an order for spring delivery.
As the spring season progressed, I did not hear from Eastern Plant Specialties. I called and was told that the cold spring weather prevented delivery. After several weeks of waiting, I inquired about the order by email and was told that the order would be sent. Two weeks went by and I still had not received the order, so I called and the owner who said, "I thought I sent that order." I said that I had not received it. The owner said he would check into it. After several weeks the order still had not arrived. Another email was sent, asking for a refund...no response. Multiple telephone calls produced no answer other than the statement that the account could not accept messages. When I tried calling again in mid July, the owner answered the phone. After I identified myself, he hung up.

I have bought large rhododedrons from the nursery in Maine. I bought the plant in the spring for fall pick-up. In the fall I was told that the plant was too hard to dig out and was offered replacement. When I went down to pick them up, I found the original plant that I had paid for in the spring, dug and ready to be sold to someone else who had offered more money for it. I thought a deal was a deal, especially once the money trades hands.

I've made -- in vain -- two attempts to obtain plants from this company, which is located in my own home state. First, I ordered three hollies, and never received any response. A couple years later, my sister-in-law (who is a professional grower and has apparently had friendly personal dealings with the owner/grower at Eastern) bought me a gift certificate as a Christmas present. The certificate never arrived in the mail. She made a follow-up call, the guy promised to take care of it. Still nothing ever showed up.

I've had similar experiences to those described by others: "lost" orders, late deliveries, wrong items delivered, calls not returned, etc. Every year I am tempted by the nice looking catalog, but it's just not worth the hassle dealing with these people.

They charged my credit card and it was another two months until I saw a plant. I received less than half my order. The plants that came were small but healthy--no problem there. The rest were never sent. This year I asked for them to complete the order--they were out of many things I was told but will send me a BIG BOX of things I'll love. That's been over a month--I don't expect it. I was a fool to have ordered so much ($500) but with the plant selection being so interesting, I thought surely they were a good business. Wrong.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, I bought the very helpful catalog from this company.

I then placed an order in February for about $150. They charged my credit card that month. In April I sent an email remarking that I had noticed the charge and when could I expect shipment. Their
response indicated that

1) they don't normally charge credit cards until they are about to ship; and
2) they would normally ship in late April.

Late April came and went. No plants. No response to email until May 21, when they admitted that my order was one of a few that "slipped by", this despite being organized enough to charge my credit card. They refunded my money, but I'm taking my business elsewhere.

I placed a large order in January specifying a delivery date as I had several trips planned. They acknowledged my order, however they did not ship when requested. I emailed them, made several long distance calls and wrote to them to request their projected delivery date but received NO response in any form. They had taken a $100 deposit on my credit card. After a month of no response, I emailed and phoned them again to cancel the order and ask for my deposit to be returned. They would not respond and did not refund my deposit. I then went to the credit card company which did refund my deposit. I had dealt with them for several years and although they have good prices and unusual items, their delivery dates were always uncertain. One year they called in the beginning of March to say it was unseasonably warm in their part of the country so they were shipping my order that week to me in Northern Illinois which was NOT unseasonably warm. Many of their items are shipped in bags after being pulled from the ground which made their transition iffy. I would not recommend this company.

I have dealt several times over the years with this company. Initially, five or so years ago received orders promptly and in very good condition. Reasons for ordering from them were that they carried a variety of non-common natural species. However, things went sour when they moved to New Jersey. Based on personal communications I am aware that there was a death in the family that created major problems in 2002 (I believe). An order that I placed then was not filled. In late summer I received a note acknowledging the problem and did I still want to have the order filled? I said yes but nothing happened. Re-ordered in very early 2003 with the result that nothing (08/30/2003) has happened. Cannot send e-mails since their message buffer is full; no one answers the phone and I've left a couple of messages with no response. While I sympathize with their problems I cannot recommend this company in anyway at this time.

A $35 order was never received. After a telephone call was made, still no order received. Email and a hand written letter elicted no response of any kind. I have written off the $35.

No acknowledgement or confirmation of your order. Impossible to reach by phone. You don't know what you'll receive until it doesn't arrive. About half of my order wasn't filled and I have yet to receive a refund despite a written request. Plants were very small. One fern variety I ordered arrived as a mass of roots which although planted immediately upon arrival still hasn't shown any growth. Despite their descriptive and helpful catalog with hard to find varieties, will not order from them again.

Sent them the $4.00 for their catalog in February. It's April and still no catalog, not even an acknowledgement of my request. Their website has serious problems, often the scroll bar control just disappears. I can't help but wonder about the quality of the rest of their service.