Comments regarding Southern Bulb Company

I ordered some bulbs early this year from Southern Bulb. The main reason I ordered early, was that some bulbs (Lycoris) needed to be planted in late summer for fall bloom and because they put on foliage early in the fall. I ordered some narcissus at the same time for fall delivery. Time passed and I began to panic about the Lycoris. Upon contacting the company, I found that they had lost the order or some other excuse. In any event, the Lycoris finally came in June or July and I got the bulbs planted. They subsequently bloomed and now have leaves (Nov. 2009).

October passed and I had not received my fall bulb part of the order from them. So again, I contacted them. They emailed me and indicated they were "investigating" the matter. One day early in November, they called and said they could find no record of the order. Of course, I had saved my receipt at the time I ordered the bulbs, so there was certainly a record on my end! The fellow I talked to, asked if I still wanted to order. I said "No, it's too late here."

The long and short of it is that I doubt I'll ever deal with this outfit again! The bulbs I received were of good quality and have performed, but their business operation appears to be slack. They seem to lay orders about and lose them. I ordered fall bulbs from several other companies and got the bulbs within days of my orders! Caveat emptor for Southern Bulb!

"On Nov 10, 2009 6:12 PM, Southern Bulb Company responded with:

We are glad to have another customer pleased with the quality of our bulbs and their high performance! Southern Bulbs strives to preserve and provide the highest quality heirloom bulbs. We also make it our aim to provide excellent customer service just as the comment supports our correspondence by both email and phone with the customer. We have bulbs, and we offered to place an order to get the desired bulbs shipped as soon as possible, although we had no record of the stated order bulbs in our system. The customer offered no information of order number, order date, or order receipt.

To extend our desire to meet and exceed customer expectations, we offer a free gift certificate to this person. Please call us toll free at 888-285-2486, or email southernbulbs@gmail.com and we would be happy to serve you this way. We do have bulbs, and we desire to provide this customer with another good experience with our bulbs.

We have been working very hard over the past two months to upgrade our ordering and shipping system! We have streamlined this process, and are pleased to announce that we are nearing a same day turn around . A reputable Dallas warehouse service has jumped on board with Southern Bulbs to make this happen. Southern Bulbs is committed to preserving and providing high quality and performance heirloom bulbs in the best way possible for every customer. The above customer offer, and advancement of our purchase and shipping system, is evidence of this commitment."