Comments regarding Caladium Bulbs 4 Less

My Master Gardener Association tried to to use his company as a fundraising source and he turned out to be the most unreliable vendor we have ever dealt with. In January 2011, We had an agreement in place for caladiums to be ordered in March and delivered by April. When the time came to place the order, he stopped returning phone calls and emails. Very unprofessional. I had to desperately seek another source for the caladiums. It was now late in the ordering season and very few growers had caladiums left. I desperately was seeking a grower who could supply the types of Caladium I needed and at a cost similar to what I had agreed to with Caladiums 4 Less. If Bill Kurek would have been honest in the first place, I could have easily worked out an agreement with another company. Instead he left me in a huge bind. Bill Kurek will tell you whatever you need to hear but will not deliver on his promises. I later discovered that Caladiums 4 Less doesn't even grow all the things I was told. Thank goodness there are reputable growers in Lake Placid, Florida of which Caladiums 4 Less is not one.

"On Jan 21, 2012 7:22 AM, Caladium Bulbs 4 Less responded with:

We are sorry we weren't able to meet this group's needs, but we suffered a major crop loss as did everyone else in this area.

I have ordered bulbs from caladiumbulbs4less in 2009 and 2010 that grew very well. In 2011 I ordered $119 of bulbs of which only one bulb came up. I have been corresponding with them since May 2011 to receive a refund. They said they would send me a refund but I have have still not received it. I even returned the apparently defective bulbs and that cost me an additional $20. I am very disappointed.

I placed an order back in January and was charged in full at that time. A few weeks ago (mid-June in Zone 6 territory) I wondered, "hey, what ever happened to those caladium bulbs I ordered?" I emailed the company two weeks ago but have received no response. Very disappointing, especially since I've had mostly great experiences from vendors I've researched here on DGW. I've emailed again today and will update if this problem is resolved quickly; even so, I'm none too pleased to have been put out almost $60 for half a year.

Posted on May 12, 2011, updated May 13, 2011
The bulbs were very small compare to what I seen from other company and when I mentioned this to him, he was very rude to me. I will never buy from this guy again, too rude for my business. There are too many others that I would buy from and I can get much better quality bulbs somewhere else.

I placed an order for Moonlight caladiums and I was sent June Bride caladiums. If you know the difference between the two, Moonlight is much whiter than June Bride. I contacted Bill, who is the owner of this place. He was very rude and cocky and refused to do anything about it. I will never buy anything from this guy again. I recommend hightly that you look at Classic Caladiums and Happiness Farm, at least they grow their own bulbs, unlike this guy Bill who just buys from others and doesn't know how to grow his own.

"On Apr 28, 2011 10:25 PM, Caladium Bulbs 4 Less responded with:

This woman is NUTS!! She bought bulbs TWO years ago and waits until the beginning of this past March to tell me she received the wrong bulbs. Two Years!! She was shipped Moonlight but apparently she knows my business alot more than I do. After being called a liar, a thief and an A-hole, Yes, I did get a little rude. I flat out told her to call someone else!!!! I take alot of pride in what I do and Yes, I do grow some of my own Caladiums. Do I buy from other growers, Yes.
We ALL do!!! If anyone would like to see the emails I had to deal with please let me know and I will more than happily forward them to you. This woman needs to adjust her prozac because she's a flat out wack job!!!!

Ordered on the 29th of January. Still have not received anything ... sent d-mails as well as email from their website. Still no response. Having to file dispute with paypal to get my money back.

NEGATIVE! I ordered the 40lb mixed caladium rainbow mix. I was stunned to find a simple (damp) large box intermixed with just bulbs and styrene peanuts. It took hours to carefully pick the bulbs out of the packing material.

Most had shoots, so I had to very careful not to break any off. Do you realize how much care that takes? Maybe I should have just dumped the single large box into a trash barrel of water and scooped the styrene out first and then drained the barrel!

But I did it the careful way, one bulb at a time. Foolish me, I did expect the bulbs to come in plastic or mesh containers in some set quantity like daffodils or tulips.

I don't care how good the bulbs are (and they don't seem that impressive - many are soft), I will never order from Caladium Bulbs 4 Less again!

I've been stewing over this for 2 weeks since they arrived. They were planted immediately, but I don't have good hopes. I'm not posting a negative report happily.

Mostly, I just want to suggest that the shipping/packing is awful! But a lot of the bulbs seemed very soft and I assume that is not good. If I get 30% growing, I'll consider myself lucky.

"On Sep 18, 2009 10:51 AM, Caladium Bulbs 4 Less responded with:

I guarantee more then 30% came up!!!
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind.
As far as a simple damp box goes, I'm not sure what kind of box he would have preferred and the day I can control what Fed Ex or Mother Nature does is the day I retire! The old saying still applies,
"You can please everyone all the time"