Comments regarding House Plants 4 Less

At the beginning of July, 2007 I ordered a ZZ plant to be sent to a friend who just moved to Melbourne Florida. I paid HousePlants4Less $79.95 through PayPal for this plant. It was never delivered but I was billed through PayPal. I e-mailed HousePlants4Less, numerous times and called their contact number, leaving messages. No answer. PayPal opened a claim but was not able to retrieve funds from their account with HousePlants4Less, to credit my account. The case was finally closed, unsuccessfully. I'm out $79.95. Fortunately I was able to order the plant and have it delivered through a reliable on-line company. I want my money back. I am very disappointed with HousePlants4Less and I found that paying through PayPal is no guarantee. So much for trust on the internet. This is my first disappointment with internet shopping.

It is a shame that a company that had such glowing comments as this one did, has made a complete turn around for the bad. Briefly, I placed an $80.00 order for two plants that I could find NOWHERE else. It didn't take long to realize that I not only wasn't going to get my order but I also wasn't go to get a response to e-mails and phone calls either. I just want my $80.00 back. By the way, I finally found one of the plants I was looking for at Lowe's. The other one, String of Beads, I'm still looking for.

On June 14 they charged my credit card $43.14 and I never received the plant I ordered! I e-mailed then six times, every reply was "we received your e-mail and will get back to you!!" which they never did!! I also phoned about ten times over three days and only received a busy signal. I think other people should be warned to avoid this company.

I placed an order on May 14, 2007. My checking account was charged $39.95. I waited two weeks for the shipment of my plant, then contacted the web site and e.mailed to ask where my plant was. I canceled the order three weeks later, no response from Houseplants 4 Less and no credit. I expect a credit issued to my checking account or a credit issued from you company by the end of this week. I have called your company long distance and left two messages. This is NOT what I expect from a reputable internet service.

I bought the plant elsewhere, so no longer want the plant as restitution. I just want my money back. It has been over 30 days now and no response from your company. That is bad business.

I have contacted my bank to see what can be done about this, but I hate going that route because that will involve extra fees for you, when I feel this is probably an oversight and can be rectified immediately if you will just take the time to do it.

Please correct this situation immediately. I will expect a credit issued or a phone call to take care of this matter.

Pam Weigle

After having bought a String of Pearls plant at HD and watching it die because they'd overwatered it (I'd tried repotting it but it didn't work), I figured I'd buy one from House Plants 4 Less because if they grow them, they must know not to overwater them. However, the plant that I received was as wet as the plant from HD! And I mean wet, not damp. I tried repotting it, but the roots are superficial and the plant is fragile, so I wasn't able to get much of the wet soil around the roots off. Then I tried putting it outside in partial shade (morning sun only), hoping the heat would dry it out. I watched as this plant began to shrivel up, get moldy and die, just like the overwatered plant from HD.

I emailed Bobby to ask about their return policy. At the time, there were no hard feelings. I'm sure they hire new employees from time to time, and I just assumed that someone new had accidentally overwatered it. However, when he called to ask whether I wanted a refund or a replacement plant, he also said that he didn't know why I sent it back, as it looked fine to him and all it needed was some WATER!!! (This was after having emailed Bobby to explain what was going on).

Problem is, the plant I sent back was maybe about 2/3 the plant they had originally sent me. I had watched as my other plant had slowly died, and I knew that this one was headed for the same fate because it was doing the exact same thing. I didn't want the weeks to pass until it was completely gone before returning it in case it would be too late to get the refund.

I did get my refund, but I was insulted by being told there was nothing wrong with the plant after my roommates and I watched it dying with our own eyes, we could feel the wet soil with our own fingers, and the exact same thing had happened with my last overwatered String of Pearls plant about a month ago. I wish I had felt comfortable getting a replacement plant, but after paying for the shipping to send this one back, I didn't want to gamble on being out even more money if the next one was also overwatered. I don't even return plants that I kill to HD, despite their return policy. If I kill it, I suck up the loss because it was my own fault. But I don't want to buy a plant that's doomed before I even get a shot at it!

I might buy other plants from Houseplants4less, but no more succulents.

"

We Do Not Wish For You To Feel Insulted. There Are Lots Of People That Do Not Do Good With That Plant. However let me Say This. I Took The Plant Just As It Was Returned To us And Put It In The Yard And Its Doing Fine.
Its An Easy Plant For Us I Guess.
Listen -- You Can Take That Plant And Wash All The Soil Away From The Roots Then Drop It On Top Of More Soil And It Will grow New Roots. that's How We propagate It.
The Light Is The Main Problem.
We Lose One Or two A Year But That's It.
An Easy Plant To Ship And care For.

No One Said It Was Your fault However Anyone In The World That Has A Plant Will Understand This.

If You Have A 6 Inch Pot Filled With Soil And Holes Are In The Bottom With good Drainage, The Pot Will Dry Out In A Few days On Its Own And If It Was All That Wet you Would Of had To Add Water Or Someone Was Watering It.
A 6 Inch Pot With Soil Can Only Hold So Much Water. Water Did not Hurt the Sting Of Pearls. putting it in the direct sun did but it has came back nicely.
We have It Growing Now.
Sorry About Your Confusion and Frustration But It Is Mis Directed.

THIS WAS THE LAST EMAIL I WAS SENT FROM ceallachg.
I WANT TO POST IT AS WELL SO THAT ALL THAT ARE READING CAN KNOW EVERYTHING.
I HAVE NO SECRETS AND NOTHING TO HIDE.
I DO MY BEST TO HELP AND PLEASE ALL MY CUSTOMERS EVEN WHEN THEY GIVE NEGITIVES.

For the record: I initially gave you a neutral rating, not a negative one.

I have about 30 houseplants including several other succulents. Miraculously, they've all been alive and well for the last couple of years. Makes you think I must be doing something right, doesn't it?

As for how long the soil was wet--it was never taken out of the same pot you shipped it in and I never watered it. My roommates are intimidated by my plants. They never water them, even when I'm on vacation (which I wasn't). "However Anyone In The World That Has" a String of Pearls plant knows that the beads completely cover the soil, keeping the moisture from evaporating nearly as quickly as it does with other plants.

Does this really look like it's in perfect shape to you? This photo was taken 7/18, a few days before I sent it back. Only half of the plant was left by then. You can see the wet, dark green disintegrating beads in the circled areas (especially in the smaller circle--you can see that one has been "smeared"). So I can show people this photo, if you want their opinion (although just to let you know, they're the same people that helped me recognize by the same symptoms that my last SOP plant had been overwatered).

Instead of saying "I'm sorry you weren't satisfied, but I did give you the refund you requested", why did you choose instead to say to everyone who reads Garden Watchdog that you're a defensive person who doesn't believe his customers even when they're telling the truth, and who is perfectly willing to insult them publicly when they have a legitimate issue? Obviously, that's up to you, but personally I wouldn't want my customers to get that impression of me. Do you want me to post the photo so we can get an unbiased opinion?

Kelly


THIS WAS MY RESPONCE

Honestly, I Do Not care If You Post The Photo Or Not. I Also Sell So many Plants That A Slow Down Would Give Me A Break. I Do Care About All My Customers And Have Always Tried To help Each Of Them If They Would Let me. Ask Around You'll See.
Now In Your case -- You Gave a Neutral -- Lets Look At This

You Got A Plant And Did not get It to Growing And Was UnHappy. As Our Police Clearly States - If This Happens Send It back To me And I Will Send You A New Plant Or Refund Your Money. -- That I Did. You Give A Neutral For That -- I Have Done All That Could be Expected Of Me But You Keep Feeling Something That's Causing You To Keep Writing So Hear We Are Again.

What More Can I Do For You ? What More Do You Expect ?
The String Of Pearls You Had Is Fine At This Moment. Its In My Yard Right Now --- Growing. I Do My Very Best To Keep My Customers Satisfied But That's Not Always Going To Happen And There's Always Those Few That Nothing You Do Pleases Them So I Do My Best And Move On.
By The Way - I Am Going To Post All This As I Do Want My Customers To See The Good The Bad And The Ugly -- Hey Its Life...

If Anyone Has Any Questions About Me The Can Find Me Daily At The Site Or In An Email Here Or At The Site.
I Send The Best Plant And Largest Of All Online Plant Store.
I Get One Negative In About Every 121 Sales So That's Not To Bad.
We Do Try Our Best To Please But We Know This Is Not Going To Be 100%
I Did Once Try For 100% But After A Couple Years I Learned Better.

NOW FOR THE CUSTOMER -- TRY US FIRST !!!

I am Brian Saunders. I work for houseplants4less. This entire Posting business was brought on by you. You have continued to say that 3 weeks and the 6 inch pot was still soaking wet. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE WITH IT BEING 3 WEEKS IN THS SUN..A 6 INCH POT WILL NEVER STAY WET FOR 3 WEEKS IN THE SUN. All we have said is that someone had to water it more than it needed to be. We are only saying 3 weeks is impossible for a plant to be in a 6 inch pot and be in the sun and stay wet for that entire 3 weeks. Plant lovers around the world will tell you the same. We are not trying to offend anyone, but you took it offensively. "

Unique information I used to register and purchase with on the houseplants4less website were not secure in their database.

Because of this my personal contact information (my name, address, birthdate, phone number), site password and credit card number have been fraudulently used as well as posted on a Russian CC scam site.

"

We tried to explain on the telephone that this is impossible to happen. For those of you who know, and those of you who do not, we use a 3rd party billing system called PayPal. We store absolutely ZERO credit card information in our database. We use a 128bit encryption. If there was any possibility of anything being stolen, it would be address and plant order information. We have checked and it there is no sign of an intrusion. Paypal has not notified us, and no other notifications have been received. We do apologize that this happened, but we do guarantee that our site is safe, secure, and reliable."

I recently ordered four plants from Houseplants 4 Less, and three of them were completely unacceptable. I was charged $30 for a cast iron plant that had a total of FOUR, count'em, FOUR leaves. Two other plants were brown, spotted, and busted up. I emailed the owner of the nursery and he did not see fit to respond to me or give me a refund. Of all the online nurserys I've ever shopped, this one was the worst. Save yourselves some money folks, and never shop here.

"

This is said as people DO NOT PROPERLY READ ALL THE INFORMATION on the plants they order. The Cast Iron was a Variegated Cast Iron Plant and it clearly says it will only have 2 or 3 leaves:

Notice: The Plant You Will Get Will Be a Rooted Plant With 2 Or More Leaves From the One In This Photo.
Also - No shipping to most areas below 35 degrees at night on the week of shipment. This information is from the link provided below.

http://houseplants4less.com/plantstore/product_info.php/cPat...

She also ordered a 4 inch Black Cardinal and recieved 2 Black Cardinals in a 6 inch pot. 2 for the price of 1, and in a larger pot than ordered. She ordered a Spider Plant in a 4 inch pot and received a 6 inch pot.

Plants receive damage in shipping and we do our best to pack plants securely enough that no damage occurs. As for the unreturned email, we have posted a bulletin on our front page as to current website problems. The main computer went down and is in repair at this time. We do apologize for this inconveinence. "

I ordered an Alocasia Poly "mother" plant and called to verify it was a larger specimen. I was told it was in a two gallon pot and was large. The site specified a 30 inch tall plant. What I received was a three gallon pot with two six inch small plants freshly transplanted into it and with no root development outside the six inch pot plugs. I paid $66 for what I might have purchased locally for $20. Lesson learned: when buying sight unseen, surprises often await.

"

First let me Say That I Am Sorry You Feel Unsatisfied However Let Me Give You The Facts So Others Are Not Misinformed.

The Alocasia Poly Clearly Says

Tropical Plant With Beautiful Features:
A beautiful foliage plant with glossy, near black, arrow-shaped leaves. Silver veining in the foliage.

Height: 30 Inches
Exposure: Part Shade
Your Plant will Be in a One Gallon Pot Or Bigger.

I Sent You One Three Times That Size.

The Part About Height Is What The Plant Will Grow To Not Always What It Is. Also I Personaly Put The Plant Togather As The One That Was In A Two Gallon, As I Had said On The phone Was Not Pretty It had Brown Tips And I Wanted You To Have A Great Plant.
I no I Can Not Please Everyone But I Just Had To Add My say."