Comments regarding Nature Hills Nursery

I ordered four trees from Nature Hills in May. The first one I got was bent at a rather odd angle in the box and ended up to be dead except for some growth that eventually came back from the bottom near the roots.

I sent an email explaining the problem with the tree and got no reply at all. I called them today and the man told me I would have to pay for half of the cost of the tree and shipping and handling. I was amazed that I am going to have to pay for replacement of a nearly dead tree which was that way when I got it. I have never heard of such a customer policy.

I ,too, wished I had read more carefully on their replacement policy before I ordered anything from this company. I would highly recommend that NO ONE ORDER A THING from NATURE HILLS!!!!!!!!! What a way to run a company. I am disgusted with this company and want to alert other people not to waste their money or time on them.

"On Jul 14, 2009 8:50 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

The trees that are shipped from Nature Hills are bareroot, and they will arrive completely dormant. We inspect the trees thoroughly before they are shipped for weight, height, coloration, root structure, and pliability to be sure that viable material is shipped. However, when working with live plant material, there is always a possibility of the plant or tree not taking to the transplant. That is why we offer the 1 year replacement policy.

We certainly apologize if there was damage to the tree when it arrived. If a product arrives damaged, we ask that you notify us within 48 hours so that we can set up a damage claim. If we are not contacted within that time frame, we assume everything arrived safely and the standard replacement policy comes into play.

We also apologize that you didn't receive a response to your e-mail. We do typically reply to e-mails within 24 hours of receiving them. It may have been an issue where the e-mail never made it to us.

Thanks,

Nature Hills "

Hello
Like most on here I wish I would of found this site before I purchased from Nature Hills. Every negative comment is excatly how I feel. Here is my story.

I purchased online 15 raspberry plants and 3 apple trees. What I didn't realize is that it would take 2 months to ship. It never once told me that it wouldn't ship right away. I finally had to call and find out what was going on. I was ok with that. Next, we finally got them planted as per the instructions. Now we have noticed that some of them aren't alive. I would like to know how you are supposed to know that they are DOA? They come as just sticks anyway. It is not like they have leaves on them. But 5 of the 15 didn't live. Also when we recieved the apple trees, one of them didn't even have roots on it. Giving the benifit of the doubt we planted it anyway.

Now two months later the apple tree has just barely started to show signs of life and 5 of the raspberries are dead. So I called the customer service number with no answer. So I finally called back again and got a fine lady on the other end. (I say that very sarcasticly) I explained the situation and she explained that we had to pay to get the replacements. I guess I should of read better. That is my fault. But I would never purchase from them again. But after explaining to her that it seems to me that their policies only benifit them she said she was not going to argue with me. (I was just stating my opionion and never raised my voice once) And then it came.... SHE HUNG UP ON ME..... I would never order from them again. They seem to be running a scam. I am going to start up a online nursery and make people pay for dead plants. Seems like a great idea.

I do not reccommend this company to anyone. Unless you want to end up paying 1 1/2+ times for your plants. Cause that is what it boils down to here.

"On Jul 6, 2009 3:17 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

We certainly apologize for the way you were treated. Our customer service representatives do reserve the right to hang up the phone if the customer is vulgar, but should not hang up if you were simply asking a question. We would be more than happy to review the situation and would appreciate the opportunity to try and correct the situation. If you could e-mail us directly at info@naturehills.com with your name (and a mention of the post above), we will do our best to correct the situation.

Our sincerest apologies,

Nature Hills"

Just received a Himrod grape vine and Concord Seedless grape vine from Nature Hills. Both arrived in great condition with plenty of foliage. They have been in the soil for about 4 days now, and new growth is abundant on both. The only additional information I would request when ordering is the age of the vines at shipping time. They appear to be 1 year old vines, but there is no information to confirm it.

My order was filled virtually immediately with quality trees which were packaged impeccably. Perfect product and perfect presentation

I ordered concord grape bare root plants because you cannot get them in Oregon. They arrive on time, already budding with very nice roots. They are doing absolutly great and will buy more fo my plant needs from this company ! I was very pleased with everything and the people were very helpful ! Thank you !

Pam

I recieved my cranberry bushes yesterday, and I would like to tell you how VERY impressed I am with the plants. I just couldn't get over the healthy and large plants I recieved. Blown away would be the way to describe it.
Thanks so much for having such wonderful plants and I can promise I will buy more from your company! I WILL be buying from this company from now on. I would rate this company A+++++++++++++
Alice Keiser

I recently ordered from Nature Hills for the first time. My shipment of two hibuscus arrived a few days ago, approximately a week after ordering.

The plants were expertly packed and very healthy--they are already sprouting new growth. I will certainly use Nature Hills again!

I first ordered from them in 2008 in August regarding a sale on the Halcyon Hosta that I saw on line. It came in great shape, packaged well, and is doing remarkably well in my garden. This year, in May, I ordered a All the Rage rose bush bare root. Kind of feeling unsure about a bare root order, I ordered it anyways. The representative I talked to was great and I received it within a week from the time I placed the ordered. It comes to you in a plastic sleeve, moist with mulch around the root system. I prepped the roots as instructed. The main stalk is starting to come green green, so this has to mean that it is finally taking stock to the ground and growing. Our weather here in SW Michigan has been a yo yo of sorts...cool in the 50's and then warm in the high 70's low 80's, so I think it will do a lot better once the weather gets warmer. I have fertized it with Rose food, so only time will tell. I have no complaints regarding this company and have always had great service with them. Upon the shipment of both plants that I have ordered through them, I was always notified via e-mail as to when it was shipped and when I could expect to receive them. I always look to them first, when I am looking for a specific plant and only go with another nursery on line if they do not carry it.

I have just read some of the posts about Nature Hills. I almost feel as if I ordered from a totally different company. I had originally intended to post about the fine customer service I received when a package that was damaged in shipment, but now I feel I need to relate my long experience with Nature Hills. In 2005 I ordered an Autumn Blaze red maple which is now growing very nicely in my front yard. In 2006 I ordered 8 burning bushes that now are about 3 to 4 feet tall. I ordered these bushes when they went on sale in July. They were bareroot and all of them lived, mainly thanks to the excellent planting and care advice given to me by Nature Hills. In 2007 I ordered some yews to place under my front window and they arrived in great shape also. In 2008 I ordered some perennials. These came in 4 inch pots and were packed in such a way that even though the box was slightly crushed, the plants were secure and in good shape. This year I ordered some organic tomato plants. They were gorgeous, except for one of the boxes that was destroyed in shipping. I called customer service and they took care of everything promptly and courteously. All in all, I am very happy with Nature Hills.

I just received my hydrangea from Nature Hills and I can't wait to get it in. This honestly has got to be some of the best stock from any mail order / internet plant business I've ever dealt with.

I found this company last year when I was looking for a unique tree for my front yard, btw check out the weeping redbud if you haven't seen it, and have made several orders since. Everything has always been sent at the right time for planting and packaged neatly. And their service is decent.

You do have to pay half for replacements, but it is stated point blank when you order. Not to mention their prices are reasonable unlike some places where you feel like you paid for your "free" replacement before you receive your order. For as many things as I have got, I've only had one thing go bad. I have been impressed with their bareroot and potted stock so far. I would recommend them.

This is a company with a serious customer service problem.

I ordered 5 dogwoods, 2 pink, 2 white, one lavender (Kousa). The first two came fairly quickly (>2 weeks?), and I got them in the ground, with extreme care and preparation, right away. I'm in VA, state tree the Dogwood, and this spring conditions were nothing short of ideal. When the last tree still had not arrived about three weeks later, I went up to the website in the morning, and confirmed that the status was still "not shipped". Later that day I called and inquired with perfect politeness and absolutely no rancor, about the order status of the final tree. The woman with whom I spoke seemed positively annoyed by my query, and when we both looked at the website the status had indeed changed to "shipped". I apologized cheerfully but this did not improve the customer service representative's attitude.

About 40 days after the first trees had arrived and been planted, it became clear that one of the Pink Dogwoods was DOA; all the other trees, including the late arrival, were coming along very nicely. I know well this is how it goes with trees, especially mail order bare stock, and figured it would be pretty routine to get a replacement. No such luck. I really wanted to get the replacement as soon as possible so that I could get the tree in before the days turned too hot. I emailed the address provided on the website for replacement requests, and heard nothing back for over a week. Finally, I went ahead and called customer service. I believe I once again got the lady from the previous call. What I expected to be a routine business transaction turned into quite an unpleasant experience. Rather than spending our time discussing arrangements for a replacement, I was forced into a circular argument about whether or not the tree was actually dead. Think about it -- someone nearly a whole continent away from the tree was disputing the opinion of the person literally standing next to the tree! At one point, when I tried to refocus the conversation on the business at hand as she was expressing her opinion about the health of the tree for the third time, she told me to "stop talking and listen".

In replies (most of which are just boilerplate) to complaints on this forum Nature Hills representative(s) state that Nature Hills has a "no questions asked" replacement policy (notice, though, how the rep. at one point qualifies this "policy" with language about not requiring a picture or "submitting a claim" -- whatever that means). I can affirm from personal experience that this is absolutely false -- I was asked questions until I finally put my foot down!

Keep in mind that Nature Hills "replacement policy" requires you to pay half price for the replacement tree in addition to shipping and handling. So, for my replacement, I would have been paying a total of about $23, versus about $35 for a brand new order -- not exactly a bargain, considering the first tree was a total loss!

Anyway, I finally got my request (and payment information) for the replacement processed. Remember, I was now in a race against time to get this tree into the ground before hot summer conditions set in. Over two weeks after submitting my replacement request, by which time I was beginning to wonder when my tree was going to arrive, I received an email informing me that Pink Flowering Dogwoods were now out of stock, and offering me the waiting till the fall, or the next spring. It seems to me that if you cannot replace a faulty product you are obliged to offer a refund, but I'm sure Nature Hills has language somewhere that frees them from this basic common sense customer service obligation.

I replied with a message expressing my displeasure, to which I have not received a response.

What we have here is one of those companies that only take customer satisfaction seriously when complaints reach a public forum like this one, so if you need to vent, this is really your only option. I too wish I had found this forum before ordering from Nature Hills Nursery.

Nature Hills reps on this forum repeatedly state the following: "We have to work within the terms and conditions that were agreed to upon at the time of the order." My advice to prospective customers: Work within the terms and conditions of another company.

I've written of the cost of dead tree and am looking locally for a replacement that I can get in the ground as soon as possible.

And yes, the tree is still dead.

PS -- to the person whose Green Giant Arborvitae from Nature Hills didn't do well - I ordered thirty 12' bare root Green Giants, five 12" Wintergreens, and five 6" Fraser Firs from Musser Forests and EVERY SINGLE ONE is doing great!

"On Jun 4, 2009 5:05 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

We would like to sincerely apologize. We try to speedily respond to e-mails and were unable to do so in this case. It sounds like the biggest issue was the customer service call that you placed.

This is certainly not how we strive to conduct ourselves at Nature Hills and this issue will certainly be addressed internally. The replacement process should be smooth, and it was anything but in the case.

We would like the opportunity to try and make this right. If you could please e-mail us your name to info@naturehills.com, we will try and amend the situation as best we can (given the trouble you have already been through). Again we apologize for the inconvenience you experienced.

Nature Hills Nursery"

I've ordered bare roots from this company twice and have not had any problems. It seems a few of the negative comments were more geared towards unfamiliarity with bare roots or an expectation of receiving small trees. As far as their customer service, I called once for a question regarding handling time as I would be going out of town and the gentleman who answered was polite and professional. All in all, I have had good experiences with them.

Daniel Salazar

Nature Hills Nursery - Shipments Dead on Arrival (TWICE)

I am a farmer with a large vegetable and cash crop operation in Michigan and have been farming for over 30 years. I was looking to diversify my farm woodlot with a fifty American sycamore trees. I decided to order trees from Nature Hills Nursery early in 2008. The entire shipment showed up on my farm dead on arrival. The trees had no roots and arrived bone dry. Nature Hills literature found in the boxes advised the customer to plant them anyway as according to Nature Hills their trees arrive dormant and you need to plant them as is. My orchard has automatic irrigation with injects water directly into the roots. These Nature Hills Nursery sycamores were watered and never came out of the so called "dormancy". Nature Hills representative agreed to replace the entire shipment as long as my farm operation paid for the shipping cost - I agreed to this additional cost. The trees arrived two weeks ago (May 2009) again bone dry with very little roots. They were all promptly planted in highly fertile soil and set up with automatic irrigation. I was only able to revive about half of them. I called them back today for their advice and they told me that Nature Hills Nursery has a "ONE TIME REPLACEMENT POLICY". I offered to pay the shipping for a third shipment - the manager WOULD NOT do anything to help me.

As an highly experienced farmer who has transplanted thousands of vegetable plants and trees, worked with major live plant suppliers, I would not recommend Nature Hills Nursery products to anyone. Their delivered product have poor quality (bare roots, roots that have been trimmed, roots that are dry with no soil) and their warranty is very poor (you must pay for the shipping of replacement products and they only replace dead products once.

"On May 30, 2009 9:54 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

Our trees are rigorously inspected for height, weight, coloration, pliability and root structure before they are sent out. This ensures that viable material is shipped to our customers. It is recommended for bareroot material to be planted within 48 hours of arrival. We do include a note when we ship the product that bareroot material is shipped dormant for those who may not have worked with bareroot material before. As we state in our terms and conditions, if there is an issue with your order upon arrival you must notify us of the issue with 48 hours of it arriving. We would then asses the situation and act accordingly. If you did not notify us right away, then we would not have known that there was a problem with your order. Because there is a risk of loss any time you work with live plant material, we offer a replacement policy. It is stated at the time that you order that it is a one time replacement. We apologize if you didn't see that when you ordered, but we do have to abide by the agreement that we set when the order was placed.

Thanks,

Nature Hills"

Ordered 4 maples. The shipping was $9.95 for the whole order so I thought this was a good value. I didn't look carefully at the symbol that these were bare root. I don't think they make it clear. They were shipped in 2 boxes. 3 trees were okay sized, but hard to tell it they are alive or not. The 4th tree that was supposed to be 3 feet tall is barely 1 foot and I at first missed it as it was so tiny and it was packaged in plastic with another normal sized tree. The roots were dry. It is less than the thickness of a pencil or straw...a tiny twig. I first called and left a message to customer service that it was missing. They never called back. I called again to tell them it is here after all, but to complain of the size and ask for a refund or replacement. Haven't heard back. Not a good value at all. Disappointing!

"On May 30, 2009 9:46 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

Sorry that there was a delay in getting back to you from your first call. We hope everything is satisfactory for you now. Please let us know if there is anymore we can do.

Thanks,

Nature Hills"

BEWARE!!!! I will do business elsewhere next time around and wish I would have found this link prior to placing my order with Nature Hills. Their communication is HORRIBLE. Don't expect to ever hear back from these people once they take your money. I ordered 2 bare root lilac bushes. I realize these were bare root plants but 90 days is way too long to see if something will come out of dormancy. We are already into the peak of our summer here. Come to find out, after much research on bare root plants, they DO NOT ship their plants correctly which could possibly be a good reason as to why so many people have bare root failures with this company. I feel that the amount of money I spent on shipping that they would have been properly packaged, instead, I received 2 bushes shoved into a cardboard box that spent a week in transit. I think this company makes all of its money on its policies......1/2 the price of the plant and you pay S&H. Total ripoff. If I do ever receive a response from this company I will not bother wasting any more of my money with them. Could anyone suggest a quality company to order plants from?

"On May 29, 2009 2:30 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

Nature Hills ships hundreds of thousands of plants and we package each order with care. If there was an issue with the packaging or the the plants arrived damaged we would certainly take care of the issue. Have you contacted our customer service department? Please let us know and we will look into the situation. We have the 1/2 off replacement if there is failure in the first year, but if it arrived damaged we would cover the replacement. We just ask that you notify us within 48 hours of the issue, as per our terms and conditions. Just let us know and we will see if we can get this issue resolved.

Thanks,

Nature Hills"

IT is pretty obvious that this is a poorly run company with an average of 50% negative feedback.I would not have ordered if I could have found my items somewhere else...so I took a chance..despite the feedback.
I ordered two willow oak trees on 07/08/08 expecting to recieve them immediatly..BUT I did not read the fine print which said they would not ship till fall....I recieved them in December.DEAD. they never leaved out...
The warranty is 50% of price plus shipping,,,,why should I take the chance to pay for more dead trees....

"On May 28, 2009 5:25 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

We certainly apologize that you have had an issue with your order. We try to post our shipping times in several places to make it appearent when your order will ship. After the first week of July, it is generally too had to transplant in most areas of the country. At that point last year, it just wasn't safe to ship material. With that being said, if there was an issue with the order upon arrival, then we need to look closer at the situation. If you could please e-mail us at info@naturehills.com. Please include the first and last name used for the billing information and reference this post in the e-mail, we will review the situation and see if there is anymore we can do. Most of the positive reviews we receive on this sight are about the quality of our products. Please give us a chance to review this.

Thanks,

Nature Hills"

I recently received an order of 4 crabapple trees, 5 elm trees, and 2 hibiscus plants. I ordered these from Nature Hills after I was unable to find what I wanted locally. I have planted bare root trees many times so I was prepared for the rather sorry looking appearance compared to the large leafed out trees you buy at a nursery. However, I planted the trees and within a week they are all beginning to leaf out. . The hibiscus were shipped from California and were nice looking plants. I planted them and they settled in nicely and are starting to put out new leaves. It would have been nice to have a planting guide with the shipment. Being an experience gardener I managed okay, but someone planting bare root stock for the first time, might have had questions. I will order from Nature Hills again. They have a nice selection of stock, their prices are competitive, and the shipping rates were reasonable.

I ordered four emerald arborvitae for a privacy screen. I changed my mind because I wanted a faster growing tree. Nature Hills changed the order to four Thuja Giants with no futzing around. I emailed them, the order was changed by an answering email, and all was well. I changed my mind AGAIN, and this time there WAS a problem, something about the computer only being able to handle one change to an order. But the customer service representative, Bryan, worked very hard to make it possible to get what I wanted. The Giants were going to be too big, and I wanted Technys instead. There was a difference in price, which was handled quickly and simply. The four Technys arrived in terrific shape -- in spite of having been "delayed" in transit, I assume by UPS, but I don't know -- and I have every hope and expectation that they will continue to be healthy.

I bought the Weeping Redbud tree, 'Covey', aka "Lavendar Twist". Also, a Montmorency Sour Cherry Tree. Customer service was outstanding! Though may I suggest that you put a map on your site depicting shipping schedules? That would probably save you a lot of calls.

Trees arrived in good condition, planted the same day as arrival. Redbud took a while to "wake-up" from dormancy, but is now fully leafed out, cherry tree is also doing very well. I have a small yard so this will probably be my last tree purchases. I'm so glad it turned out so well! Thank you very much!

When I ordered $183. worth of trees over phone I was advised of their no hassle guarantee, of 13 trees 4 outright failed,and 1 was D.O.A, it happen to be a $38.00 Cimaron ash, one of two. After planting it in rich soil, with planting soil in hope it would survive. when Spring broke it was outright dead, while the others were budding, the other 5 did not survive. I called N.Hills Whomever I spoke with, told me to give it another month then e-mail photos of dead trees. Even after giving a few more weeks hoping for a sign of survival, it was obvious the trees failed. when I called back I was told I can only re-order at 1/2 price plus S+H. They refuse to give even a 1/2 credit on the failed trees. Bottom line N.H. is a Rip off. If You order from them Its Buyer Beware, Never Again from N.H. Managing Supervisor is Bryan, and very quick to throw out their buyagain 1/2 price policy. Some no quibble.

"On May 22, 2009 5:05 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

We do have a policy to replace failed items in the first year, no questions asked, for half price plus shipping and handling. With bareroot material, we do need to wait to make sure that the plants have enough time to break dormancy (this can take 60 days or more). They might have had you do that if there was questions about the plant prior to the 60 days. If you had issues with a tree when it arrived and it was reported within the appropriate time, we can certainly revisit the issue. If you would like us to investigate it further, please send us an e-mail to info@naturehills.com

Thanks,

Nature Hills Nursery"

I made a large order of fruit trees from Nature Hills last fall. I recently received my trees and everything is correct in my order. I ordered plums, cherries, peaches, pluots, apricots, aprium, and a pear and an apple. The trees all look relatively good. They are not the best I have seen in terms of their roots (some could have been taken out with more roots attached) but they are certainly not the worst I have seen either.

I have planted everything and am watering well, so we shall see how it goes over the season. One reason I ordered from Nature Hills was because they had some varieties I could not find elsewhere, so I am pleased to have those for my orchard. So overall, I am pleased with the order and it was fulfilled as I expected.

If I experience problems with these trees over the season, I will update my experience here.

Nature Hills,
I am so happy with the lilac bush that arrived from you a few days ago. It was packed beautifully, instructions were clear, and the plant size was perfect. Not usually planting bushes bare root, I followed the instructions carefully and guess what? Tonight I notice it is already leafing out and looking like it was in a five gallon bucket when it arrived. I am so pleased. The weather and temperatures have also been perfect for a newly planted bush. I am looking forward to its progress as it grows and matures.

This was my first order from you and I am looking forward to working with you in the future.

Kindest personal regards,

Mrs. Nelson
Virginia

My order of viburums arrived in excellent condition and I thought they were great plants for a good price. Very
hard to find tree peopy, rockii also a very good price.
Will definitely order from Nature Hills again.
The careful packaging demonstrates to me the company's attitude toward the customer.
GA, Brentwood, Tennessee

Ordered 3 akebia vines, and was delighted when they arrived. The plants were quite large, and the ingenious packaging kept them from receiving any damage. Definitely would order from them again, and wish I had discovered them sooner!

I ordered some hydrangeas and a 'Black Lace' elderberry from Nature Hills.

The hydrangeas are nice and healthy. The elderberry was dried up as the pot had cracked. I contacted Nature Hills that evening and a gentleman named Bryan responded very early the next morning. He was concerned about the order and helpful with advice on how to care for the elderberry - the plant is looking healthy now after following his advice.

I purchased (25) 1 foot bare root Green Giant Arborvitae and all but (1) died within a month. I emailed the company and got a run-around the "terms and conditions". Instead of standing behind the plants they sell, they want me to pay half of the cost of the plants again plus S & H. What a joke. I will never buy from them again. Recently we also found that a cherry tree we purchased with the Thuja's has died as well. They will not see my money again. Buyer beware!!!

"On Apr 22, 2009 10:02 AM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

We certainly apologize if you feel that you were given "the run-around." We do have to abide by the terms and conditions that were agreed upon when the order was placed. If this was a case of damage and it was reported to us, we might have other options for you.

Because there is always a risk that a plant or tree will not take after being transplanted, we do offer a blanket replacement policy. Failed items can be replaced within the first year, no questions asked, for half the price paid plus the shipping and handling. That way you are covered no matter what happens to the plant or tree.

Our fruit trees and our Arborvitaes ship from different centers, so it seems unlikely that there would have been damages to both shipments (although stranger things have happened). We ship hundreds of thousands of plants per year, thousands of which are the Arborvitaes. We just haven't experienced a loss of this magnitude with those trees. A loss of that size could have been caused by other underlying factors such as weather, soil, insects, etc. It may be beneficial to have a soil test preformed in the area, or to consult your local county extension office.

We would be happy to discuss the issue further to try and determine the cause, if you like. If you feel this was a case of damage during shipping, certainly let us know if you would like us to revisit that issue as well.

Thanks,

Nature Hills

"

I received my yellow twig dogwood and harry lauder walking stick this past week. The yellow twig was larger than shown online which was a real plus and very healthy. The Walking stick appears healthy, good root system. I have absolutly no experience with the walking stick, so I assume the one stemmed shrub is the way its supposed to start out. It does have several buds on the stem where I think the next branches will appear. All in all happy with their shrubs and already ordered another. Will report back on the walking stick, although I do know they are slow growers. I will use this company again. As for shipping costs, ALL online plant companies charge high shipping costs, after all they do have to employ people to properly package the items.

Beware! You cannot cancel orders with Nature Hills. Their order confirmation email says you can, with a small fee, up until your product is "shipped"...but you really can't.

When I tried, I was told there is a longer and more restrictive policy somewhere on their site that states you can't cancel if there is any kind of packaging process going on.... I guess I wasn't supposed to trust the emailed policy they sent me.

It gets worse, because "selecting items from inventory" is a "packaging" activity according to them and, therefore, creates an uncancelable order. So, they have been "selecting items from inventory" for a month now...and won't let me cancel the order. Think about it...when are they not "selecting" items or doing something that they can consider "packaging" or "shipping"?

I was shocked at how they treated me when I sent them the language from their own order confirmation email. They got defensive instead of trying to provide customer service.

In short, I will never do business with them again. Any company that is misleading like that and then follows up with classic customer-no-service is not to be trusted again.

PS - My only other purchase there arrived with half the plants dead. I considered this a risk of mail-order plant purchases and wasn't upset (they were inexpensive). Of course, after this current issue I am upset. :)
I hope these new plants arrive alive!!!

"On Apr 7, 2009 5:16 PM, Nature Hills Nursery responded with:

jhogarden,

I want to apologize that you had a negative customer service experience. We would be more than happy to take a look at the situation for you. If plants arrived damaged, then we can try and set up a damage claim (that will depend on how long ago the damage occurred).

When it comes to cancelling orders, we can up until they are sent to the warehouse. Due to the volumes that we do, orders are sent to packaging by the hundreds and it can take a few days for the warehouse to get through a pile. Once it gets to that point, we would have to halt the entire shipping process to manually search through hundreds of orders. It is just isn't feasible to hold up shipping on a large number of orders to try and stop one from going. That is why we don't cancel once it gets to that point.

However, if your order has been "gathering items" (which means in packaging) for that long of a time, then there might be an issue with the order. If you could send us an e-mail to info@naturehills.com with "packaging issue" in the subject line, we would be more than happy to look into it. If we can cancel it, we certainly will. If not, we can try and get a status on the shipping. Let us know and we will try to resolve the situation the best we can. If it was a mistake on our part, we would like to try and make it right for you.

Thanks,

Nature Hills"

I bought a couple twenty dollar pomegranates, this fall and was expecting delivery around December. The trees came in right as expected but were smaller than expected. I was hoping for 3-4 foot trees that way I could expect fruit within the next few years. When the trees came in they were 1 ft tall, but were packaged great and I'm sure they will make it just fine. Next time I will shop around for large stocks but I'm fully satisfied and told my dad where to find some small stock since he does not like digging big holes.

Ordered 4 bare root Crepe Myrtles in October, was advised they would ship in December, shipment arrived December 29th in excellent condition, wonderful Tennessee mud on the roots with a wet paper towel wrapped around. Good instructions on planting. They are in the ground (California adobe) and looking forward to spring. This company has good relations.

My purchase from Nature Hills turned into the single worst customer service experience I have ever suffered. I received bad products and could not get anyone to help. Oh, they know their "terms and conditions" by heart, but they have a LOT to learn about taking care of their customers. It seems they at least are now paying attention to the folks who use The Garden Watchdog as witnessed by the many recent "company representative" responses. It makes you wonder why they didn't just give good customer service from the start.

"

We certainly apologize that you had such a negative customer service experience with us. We would be happy to review the situation and see if there is anything we can do to assist you. We do have to work within the terms and conditions that were agreed to upon at the time of the order. If you feel that these terms were not met, please e-mail us at info@naturehills.com with your name and order number (you can reference this post also) and we will see if there is something more we can do.

Nature Hills"

I ordered some BlackEyed Susans (Indian Summer) from Nature Hills Nursery and they arrived in less than pristine condition. After one email back to Nature Hills, my 4 plants were replaced with no questions asked and with a very apologetic tone to their correspondence. As I add more shrubery and plants to my yard, it will be Nature Hills Nursery as my first choice!

Blanche Fricks

The plants arrived on the 2nd of October and I am always impressed with the packing and the quality. They were in the ground in a hour after receiving them. I am a big fan of your Easy Elegance roses. They are truly disease free. I continue to add to my rose collection using them after most of the grafted roses I had died. I appreciate your excellent plants. Keep up the good work.

A happy customer,

I am now into my 13th day of waiting for my plants to be shipped and am already disgusted. Although it does say shipped in 10 to 14 days, that is generally the worst-case-senario for most mail order companies during a very busy time.

The first ten days my order was being "processed". For the past three days my plants have been being "pulled from inventory." (MInd you, I'm talking about 5 groundcover plants in 3 inch pots and a 1 gal. perennial flower) but for some reason, they're still being pulled from inventory. Absurd!

I hold little hope that when, and if my plants finally get here they will be anything worth planting and the $77 shelled out.

I had hoped to get some sort of root system started, but that's not likely to happen at this late date. I am enjoying the 4 and 8 foot trees I ordered from a more reputable company on the same date and which arrived and were planted with-in 5 days.

If you smoke, you are at a much higher risk of getting cancer. If you order from Nature Hills, seems you've got a pretty high chance of getting burned.

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We want to apologize that you had such a negative experience with Nature Hills. Feedback, whether it positive or negative, helps us to identify our strengths and weaknesses.

Sometimes it can take the full 10 to 14 days for an order to ship. We try to ship orders at the beginning of the week and devote the last part of the work-week to preparing orders for shipping the following week. Once an order goes to the shipping center, your account will display that the items are "being gathered from inventory." At that time, our crews are pulling plants from the greenhouse and moving them into the packaging center. At the packaging center, the plants are being prepared to be boxed and shipped. Depending on what day you order, it can take closer to the full 10 to 14 days to ship.

This might explain why the status said that items were being gathered for several days, but it does not explain why the plants arrived in the condition that you described. We pride our self on shipping quality plants. I am not sure of the details surrounding the shipment, but it sounds like we failed in this case. Again we apologize, and we certainly want to make this right for you. If you could contact us with your name and order number, we can do our best to resolve the situation. We would appreciate it if you give us the opportunity to make it up to you.

Nature Hills"

I love Black Locust trees, but was unable to find any in our local nurseries. I ordered 4 of them from Nature Hills, 2 for me and 2 for my daughter. They arrived and we planted them and they are doing fabulously. The plants were dormant when they arrived, but quickly came to life, and are growing very well. I keep them well watered, and applied compost to help them along. I'm very pleased with the trees, and will enjoy them for many years to come. Thanks.

I ordered a Shamrock Linden tree on June 11, 2008. It arrived a week later dried out, leafless, with the tip folded over. When I contacted Customer Service, the representative said that the tree was "dormant" and would break dormancy within 90 days (also that the tip would straighten out). I planted it immediately. After 90 days, the tree had not changed appearance. When I again contacted Customer Service, I was told that that item was not in stock, and I would not receive a refund. I would recommend never dealing with this supplier. They ship bad product and do not stand behind it. There are thousands of other nurseries that ship excellent goods, and gladly.

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It is not uncommon for bareroot material to take several weeks to break dormancy, and it can take up to 90 days. Since bareroot material is shipped and harvested when it is dormant, we are limited on times that we can ship. For those in cooler zones, material is only shipped in the spring as this is the safest time for transplanting bareroot items.

Through conversations with this customer, we were able to reach an agreement that fell within the terms and conditions posted on the site. A new plant was shipped and the issue has been resolved.

Nature Hills "

I too was duped, Very sad that a company that seems to have so many positives would not care about the negative experience of others so that they may in turn shop with them again. Bryan explains the return policy with such ease, I am at fault I should have read the return policy myself I bought 2 plants a pontiella, and petit blue that doesnt bloom until late in the year not one bud or sign of life. The pointiella came with green leaves, and brown stems, by July all brown. Why would Nature Hills think someone would want to buy plants that failed at half price with a shipping fee? Because they don't think, they know you won't.

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Unfortunately, there is always a risk of failure when it comes to transplanting live material. Temperatures, soil conditions, water levels, and other environmental factors can impact the growth (or lack of growth) with a newly transplanted item. That is why we offer a no questions asked replacement policy. We can sent replacements in the first year for half the price paid for the failed item plus the shipping and handling. This policy is stated in the terms and conditions.

If an item arrives damaged due to the shipping, we will replace it if we are notified of the issue in a timely manor. Damage requests have to be submitted promptly so that an investigation can be conducted if needed. If the damage is reported after we are able to put together a claim, then we are only able to rely on our standard replacement policy."

I ordered several plants for my new garden from NH in early April. A third of the shipment arrived within two weeks. 3 "dormant" sweetspire and a twisted lavender redbud which i planted immediately. All are doing well.
By mid-May, I hadn't recieved the rest. By May 21 I was getting concerned as I would be leaving for vacation for 3 weeks. I phoned the company and they seemed suprised that I had not recieved my shipment. The rep however asked me when I would be returning from vacation and guaranteed me the shipment would be sent the week of my return. It was.
In June I ordered a Northern Sun Forsythia. It arrived in a dormant state, was planted and is doing well, although it too looks as if it was grown against a wall with branches only on three sides.
Last week, my "Carnaby" clematis bloomed ... it's not Carnaby. It's been identified as HF Young. I emailed NH, got a response back within 2 days and was given a store credit after providing them with a picture (of course, they were out of Carnaby and don't plan to carry it again).
No other questions asked.
Last weekend I ordered fall bulbs. I haven't used my credit yet because I was told I needed to do it by phone. They weren't open on the weekend and I wanted to take advantage of the free shipping which ended on Sunday.
This is my first experience with a mail order nursery. If there had been no complications, I would give them a positive rating. All the plants that I have recieved have been packaged with great care and all the dormant specimens have bloomed.

On 5/7 I received and planted two dormant bare root dogwood trees. After a month I saw no signs of life and contacted the company and got a response back from Bryan who advised me that it can take 90 days for a dormant bare rooted tree to break dormancy. Well I still have two "dormant (dead)" trees. For a one time replacement I would have to pay half price, plus s/h. No guarantee on the replacement. I lost $48 dollars and wasn't about losing more. Wish I had found this web site prior to my ordering.

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One of the risks when working with live material, is that there is the possibility that a the item will not survive the transplant. There are so many factors that can contribute to the loss of a plant, including extreme temperatures, less than ideal soil conditions, or unpredictable weather patterns. We try to offset these obstacles by offering a no questions asked replacement policy for half the price paid for the item lost and the shipping and handling. This allows are customers to replace items without having to submit a claim, send in pictures, etc."