Comments regarding Moonshine Designs Nursery

Roger is a bully & a liar! Shipping is way higher then needed. This is a resale shop. Rip off!

Very poor communication, no customer service, and the worst delivery -- or lack of it! -- system.

I ordered; paid by check. No response or acknowledgement of any kind and no response to phone calls on when delivery was anticipated. Three weeks later, I a tracking number. Waited for Plants. Three weeks later, I checked the tracking number and it showed 'no delivery' due to inaccurate address.

Again, no communication on plants...I contacted them through email and saw no reason to contact me. I confirmed the correct address that has been in place for more than 30 years!

No discussion...they just reshipped the plants...The box arrived this time -- and they were obviously the same plants!...in ragged shape since they had been wrapped/shipped for weeks!...

And the second shipment would not have been delivered if it had not been for the UPS personnel that knew the house, name and delivered multiple times a week to us!...The address was STILL WRONG!!

Poor, poor everything...there are far too many honest growers out there that want to work with you and that respect your needs to ever deal with these people again!

Posted on June 14, 2011, updated June 6, 2013
Ordered Castle Spire hollies in 2010 and again in 2011. Nice looking plants. Pleasure to do business with. Will order from again.

8/28/12 - I received an email from the company confirming my order (3 different ninebarks, one weigela, and one tiger eye sumac - $93.75).

9/9/12 - I received an email from the company notifying me my order had been shipped.

I do not recall how long they were in transit (what date they arrived). The items arrived in poor condition, wilted, and leaves turning brown. The tiger eye sumac had little more than a stub for roots. I was shocked at how bad they looked.

9/24/12 - I emailed the company to let them know the order had not arrived in acceptable condition.

They never responded to this email. I planted the lot, hoping they would recover. In the spring, all but the tiger eye sumac came back to life.

5/17/13 - I emailed the company again to let them know the sumac had arrived in poor condition and never grew.

They have never responded to either of my emails.

I do thousands of dollars in mail order plants each year. Many things can and do go wrong, but one thing I won't tolerate is a total lack of communication. This company is now on my "never use again" list (a very short list, I might add).

Moonshine's page asks that you contact them if a problem before posting here. I did that and they did not respond. I purchased 4 trees from 4 different nurseries - only Moonshine's arrived in a very stressed state and it may not take. Shows this tree was in a sad state before they shipped it. I ordered a Witch Hazel from Moonshine. I ordered a Witch Hazel, a Walking Stick and a red bark maple from 3 other places. The other 3 arrived as if they had never even been sent they were in perfect shape. Moonshines tree ball was wrapped in saran wrap and the soil was all over the box and the leaves were either dead or dying and the root ball was dry. As I said, I wrote but have heard nothing so I'm forced to post a warning. Be smart and purchase elsewhere - for me, I'll stick with Wayside, Jackson and Perkins and Rarefind since they have superior shipping methods and first class product - oh, I even paid extra for my moonshine purchase - what a waste of money. Had they sent a replacement or refunded me, I'd then have said they were true to their word and worth purchasing in the future from. Oh, I'm 69 and have purchased many trees in my time and never have I been ignored by a nursery if something arrived in the state that this purchase is. I did plant it but it sure looks sickly.

"On Sep 29, 2010 7:01 PM, Moonshine Designs Nursery responded with:

Wehave not received any communication regarding any problems with Witch Hazel from anyone. Neither by phone, mail, or email."

Ordered plant with the basic shipping method through USPS that they offered for LIVE plants. Very early in the morning the next day, a representative tells me that she will ship the plant with the shipping I selected but it is probably going to arrive dead. Why would they offer that method of shipping for LIVE plants if they know it is very likely they are going to die anyway? I immediately returned her email that morning requesting a refund and to cancel the order all together. The next day she then tells me that the order "already went out" (that morning) and it's too late to cancel my order but they did not give me any time to respond to her warning that it would die (which any logical person would then cancel the order). Come to find out my order was not shipped at the time they claim. Number one, the postmark on the package and number two, their shipping notification email did not go out to me until around 3pm. There was no tracking info provided but they did not provide this to me. The plant arrived our was already shipped dead. It is in really bad shape and it looks like it was cut up pretty bad before being sent. Poorly packaged just thrown in a box. Once she told me it would likely die with that shipping method, they gave me NO time to respond. Any sane person would cancel and not waste the money. I question the ethical practices of this business for telling a customer that the plant will arrive dead, then give them no time to respond, and ship it with that method anyway knowing it will arrive dead after they have warned the customer with no time to respond!!!

"On Aug 13, 2009 9:15 PM, Moonshine Designs Nursery responded with:

We expected this from a person that cannot read or follow simple directions. The shipment was made a different method with no added charge to the customer although it cost us more to send it this way. You just can't please some people!"

I also placed an order with them, and have since sent several e-mails, as well as having called and left 2 messages back in March and April--still NO Response from them. The blackberries they sent were small and didn't all grow, but there is no way to get them to respond. I didn't even ask for a replacement, but just wanted further info on my purchases. I won't be buying from them again; wouldn't have found them except for this site and the glorious reviews. Don't count me in on those--I'm not enamored by them or the merchandise.

"

We have not received any emails or phone calls from this party and have no record of any transactions with them."

I ordered 2 1 Gal Fireball Burning Bushes this year. I got them fast and was a little surprised that they were bare root twigs. I planted both and one is showing growth and the other isn't. I sent two emails asking if the one that is showing no growth is all right and have heard nothing back. They were fast to answer when i was asking about them when buying but now they aren't when it comes to a problem. If i need to replace the one l'll get it from another nursery and never do business with this place again.