Comments regarding Koi Garden Club

I ordered Giant Miscanthus plants from Perry via PayPal on June 23, 2009 and have not received anything nor a refund. I was in contact with Perry twice via his chat on Koi Garden Club's Web site but still nothing. The last communication was this on July 22rd 2009:

Jan Hi
Jan We had talked about two weeks ago regarding the Giant Miscanthus order
Jan you had mentioned that you were out of stock but could get new plants from other sources
Perry Post Please stand by Jan, I will be with you shortly.
Jan Were you able to get more?
Perry Post Sorry Jan I am still helping another customer. I will be right with you!
Perry Post I apologize for the wait Jan, I will be with you as soon as I can.
Perry Post Sorry Jan, I don't want to keep you any longer. Please click here to fill out this short form and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!
Perry Post Hi. No. ran into glitches. Paypal shut me down and siezed funds.
Perry Post No $ to refund right now. Double your order in fall?
Jan well, not sure what to do with those plants in fall though
Jan that'd be too late
Jan a ny other way to refund?
Jan or send other plants instead?
Jan some of the other miscanthus varieties you have on your Web site would work, too
Perry Post Okay. what plants would please you? Can send you $ but im in a jam right now. Sorry
Perry Post How many do i owe you?
Jan whatever grows very tall and works in zone 4, Goliath would be ideal
Jan total amount with shipping was around $85
Perry Post I will have to look at inventory and your order. What is your last name?
.......
Perry Post Would you like a tour of the farm nursery and pick some stuff? Grasses are slim pickins now. Its in elko new market.
Jan that's near Lakeville, right?
Perry Post Yes about 45 min from ....
Jan that may be an option, let me think about that. if not, do you think you'll have new
Jan giant miscanthus in April next year?
Jan and, what's the address of your farm?
Perry Post Yes for spring stock. Try googling hwy 86 and jonquil. Not my farm dont remember address
Jan ok, let me get back to you about picking something from the farm
Jan I may take you up on that
Jan I guess we could pick anything for up to $85, right?
Jan Do you mind sending me a quick email about the open amount and that this is redeemable
Jan next year as well, please?
Perry Post Yes anything out there. Plus i have a driveway full of clematis in n mpls
Perry Post K
Jan is the farm right there on 86 and Jonquil?
Perry Post K
Jan Do you have a phone number - just want to make sure somebody is ther...
Jan if we decide to pick something up
Perry Post 612 251 8991 by appointment. No storefront
Jan ok, thx, will let you know


I was not able to get ahold of him after that and the phone number provided seems to be somebody who has no idea what is going on or is in any way related to the farm he mentioned.

Don not buy from Koi Garden Club!

On 9/26/09 I ordered 5 clematis from Koi Garden Club for a total of $45.24, which was charged to my Mastercard account on 9/27/09. On 11/5/09 I asked them by e-mail, when my order would be shipped, but I have not received a reply or plants from them. I used Google Checkout.

Posted on September 11, 2009, updated October 17, 2009
You get my money via Paypal 3 months ago and then don't send me any plants or give me a refund. If you don't have the plants what did you do with the money?? Why would you say you didn't have it right now? You had it, I sent it to you , all you had to do is send it back. If you don't have it, You spent it. This is fraud . Now you get Positive feed back for sending plants, Don't you send plants according to the ordering date?
Order from this guy at your own risk. This is the only time I have been cheated out of my money on the internet in eight years! Go to the Minnesota Attorney Generals site for a form to fill out on Fraud.

I sent in an order in DECEMBER 2008 and still have not got anything but a few lame emails offering me more plants if I'll be patient and telling me that half the plants I ordered were not available. One email said that they were filling more recent orders than mine and would eventually get through their backlog. Why would they start filling newer orders when they had money from people who ordered the previous year??

BEWARE of this company!!!

Lost money on his coop. He won't even reply to emails. Very poorly managed bussiness.

I am rating the company neutral at this time, because I am still trying to resolve my problems with this company. At the moment, my current opinion of the company is negative, possible criminal. I posted the following comment on a Dave's forum and was encouraged to post the information here:

I believe in supporting small businesses also, but businesses are supposed to support their customers. This company does not. I am trying, in vain, to get information on shipping dates or a refund. No emails or calls are returned. They were quick to take the payment (AND CONTINUE TO TAKE PAYMENTS FROM PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH THEY CANNOT FILL EXISTING ORDERS) but don't respond at all to customer complaints and concerns. Because I was being patient, encouraged by good reviews from other Dave's customers on plant quality and owner response, I waited too long to get a standard refund from paypal. I can still file fraud complaints and try to get a refund that way. I billed paypal with a credit card, so I can file a complaint with them. I can also file complaints of mail fraud at the post office. I ordered several perennial geraniums and several clematis. The geraniums were tiny and sickly (one bare root, one in a 3/4" round pot, one in a 1' square pot, one in a taped plastic bag). Two died, the other two are alive, but tiny and struggling. No clematis were sent. No information was given on estimated sending dates. It is now summertime, and I ordered and planned to plant them in spring. They claim high quality plants with 2 year guarantees. How do you get a guarantee if you can't contact the company? How do you get a replacement or refund if the owner is in prison for fraud?

I would have been understanding if they had given me a status report by email, phone or mail. I became concerned when all attempts to contact them were unsuccessful. If they didn't intend to ship the plants in a timely manner, they shouldn't have charged people's paypal accounts until they were ready to ship. Alternatively, they could have contacted people saying they are out of stock of such item and ask how to proceed. If they can't fill existing orders, they shouldn't take new ones.

EVERY ONE OF THE ABOVE NEGATIVE COMMENTS, INCLUDING MINE, COULD BE RESOLVED WITH COMMUNICATION. WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH THIS COMPANY?

"On Aug 3, 2009 2:11 PM, Koi Garden Club responded with:

Hello everybody and thank you for your orders. Hopefully your garden season is going

well.

I owe all of you an apology, plants, or refunds. My apologies, I screwed up severely

this season by spreading myself too thin. There was concern that I wasn't going to be

able to survive on the plant sales alone so I took a part time job. In the process I lost

control of my inventory and operations. I ended up selling plants I no longer had, and

lost time to keep in communications. New plants were ordered in, and are in stock, but

I have spent all my reserve shipping funds mailing out back orders. Things have been

spiraling out of control so this is an email to let you all know what is happening on this

end.

I have every desire to honor your orders/refunds, but am completely out of funds at the

moment. I am shipping new orders as they come in and working my way backwords in

the back order pile.

I am offering a 50% additional items out of any items listed on my updated website,

http://KoiGardenClub.com for those of you folks who don't mind waiting for your plants

to be shipped sometime between now and the end of the season. If you have 4 items

on back order, pick out an additional 2. If you have 2 items, pick out an additional 1,

etc. My goal is to buy some more time while I get back on my feet.

If you are in need of your refund instead of extra plants, I simply don't have it right now.

Please know that I am trying to ship and refund ALL back orders and will continue to

whittle away at these pending issues as funds become available. If you need to file

complaints with whatever organizations you feel necessary, I fully understand. It was my

lack of planning and poor organization that put us in this hole. Also know that I am not

retalitory. If you file complaints and post negative reviews I will still get your refund to

you, but I just don't have the money right now.

As stated above, all new orders are shipping out right away in an effort to reverse this

trend.

Again, my apologies for allowing it to get this bad.
Respectfully,
Perry Jerome Post

I also order from Koi website and through the coop, with bad luck, A couple were dead when received, and 2 didn't look good, they died a few days later also. Two had no roots at all, when trying to plant, one only had 1 small root, and it broke when planting into another pot. . I wwill never order from again.

I ordered a bunch of clematis from Koi Garden Club after reading a thread on the Rose Forum about how good this vendor was. Since then, the starter of that thread has been burned too by this vendor and has left negative feedback also.

The plants were dormant when I received them. Only 3 had any growth in spring which was one little shoot on each one that soon died. 3 had root mealy.

I soon found out others had received the same poor quality/dead plants and had to fight hard for a refund even though the vendor admitted to them and to me that his own clematis from the same batch all died too.

This guy promised me a refund and then stopped answering my emails and of course I have not received my refund.

What a rip off!

"On Aug 3, 2009 2:15 PM, Koi Garden Club responded with:

Hello everybody and thank you for your orders. Hopefully your garden season is going well.

I owe all of you an apology, plants, or refunds. My apologies, I screwed up severely this season by spreading myself too thin. There was concern that I wasn't going to be
able to survive on the plant sales alone so I took a part time job. In the process I lost control of my inventory and operations. I ended up selling plants I no longer had, and
lost time to keep in communications. New plants were ordered in, and are in stock, but I have spent all my reserve shipping funds mailing out back orders. Things have been
spiraling out of control so this is an email to let you all know what is happening on this end.

I have every desire to honor your orders/refunds, but am completely out of funds at the moment. I am shipping new orders as they come in and working my way backwords in the back order pile.

I am offering a 50% additional items out of any items listed on my updated website, http://KoiGardenClub.com for those of you folks who don't mind waiting for your plants to be shipped sometime between now and the end of the season. If you have 4 items on back order, pick out an additional 2. If you have 2 items, pick out an additional 1, etc. My goal is to buy some more time while I get back on my feet.

If you are in need of your refund instead of extra plants, I simply don't have it right now. Please know that I am trying to ship and refund ALL back orders and will continue to whittle away at these pending issues as funds become available. If you need to file complaints with whatever organizations you feel necessary, I fully understand. It was my lack of planning and poor organization that put us in this hole. Also know that I am not retalitory. If you file complaints and post negative reviews I will still get your refund to you, but I just don't have the money right now.

As stated above, all new orders are shipping out right away in an effort to reverse this trend.

Again, my apologies for allowing it to get this bad.
Respectfully,
Perry Jerome Post

I order 4 Clematis and received 3 with a note that I'd receive the other separately. That was fine. However, the quality and root system of the plants looked nothing like the photo on the seller's website. I emailed the seller, let him know I was disappointed. I received a note back from the seller's niece a month later saying that she was sorry I was disappointed and would show the email to her uncle. The plant I was missing was unavailable and I could pick a substitution or refund. I chose a refund. That was 2 weeks ago.

"On Aug 3, 2009 2:17 PM, Koi Garden Club responded with:

Hello everybody and thank you for your orders. Hopefully your garden season is going well.

I owe all of you an apology, plants, or refunds. My apologies, I screwed up severely this season by spreading myself too thin. There was concern that I wasn't going to be
able to survive on the plant sales alone so I took a part time job. In the process I lost control of my inventory and operations. I ended up selling plants I no longer had, and
lost time to keep in communications. New plants were ordered in, and are in stock, but I have spent all my reserve shipping funds mailing out back orders. Things have been
spiraling out of control so this is an email to let you all know what is happening on this end.

I have every desire to honor your orders/refunds, but am completely out of funds at the moment. I am shipping new orders as they come in and working my way backwords in the back order pile.

I am offering a 50% additional items out of any items listed on my updated website, http://KoiGardenClub.com for those of you folks who don't mind waiting for your plants to be shipped sometime between now and the end of the season. If you have 4 items on back order, pick out an additional 2. If you have 2 items, pick out an additional 1, etc. My goal is to buy some more time while I get back on my feet.

If you are in need of your refund instead of extra plants, I simply don't have it right now. Please know that I am trying to ship and refund ALL back orders and will continue to whittle away at these pending issues as funds become available. If you need to file complaints with whatever organizations you feel necessary, I fully understand. It was my lack of planning and poor organization that put us in this hole. Also know that I am not retalitory. If you file complaints and post negative reviews I will still get your refund to you, but I just don't have the money right now.

As stated above, all new orders are shipping out right away in an effort to reverse this trend.

Again, my apologies for allowing it to get this bad.
Respectfully,
Perry Jerome Post

"

I have been waiting for a hosta order and sent emails that were never answered. I have had no communication from this seller at all.

I filed a paypal dispute today.

"On Aug 3, 2009 2:18 PM, Koi Garden Club responded with:

Hello everybody and thank you for your orders. Hopefully your garden season is going well.

I owe all of you an apology, plants, or refunds. My apologies, I screwed up severely this season by spreading myself too thin. There was concern that I wasn't going to be
able to survive on the plant sales alone so I took a part time job. In the process I lost control of my inventory and operations. I ended up selling plants I no longer had, and
lost time to keep in communications. New plants were ordered in, and are in stock, but I have spent all my reserve shipping funds mailing out back orders. Things have been
spiraling out of control so this is an email to let you all know what is happening on this end.

I have every desire to honor your orders/refunds, but am completely out of funds at the moment. I am shipping new orders as they come in and working my way backwords in the back order pile.

I am offering a 50% additional items out of any items listed on my updated website, http://KoiGardenClub.com for those of you folks who don't mind waiting for your plants to be shipped sometime between now and the end of the season. If you have 4 items on back order, pick out an additional 2. If you have 2 items, pick out an additional 1, etc. My goal is to buy some more time while I get back on my feet.

If you are in need of your refund instead of extra plants, I simply don't have it right now. Please know that I am trying to ship and refund ALL back orders and will continue to whittle away at these pending issues as funds become available. If you need to file complaints with whatever organizations you feel necessary, I fully understand. It was my lack of planning and poor organization that put us in this hole. Also know that I am not retalitory. If you file complaints and post negative reviews I will still get your refund to you, but I just don't have the money right now.

As stated above, all new orders are shipping out right away in an effort to reverse this trend.

Again, my apologies for allowing it to get this bad.
Respectfully,
Perry Jerome Post

"

I wish I could be more positive; however, of 6 plants ordered only two arrived after a month and of those two, one was in very poor condition. I have emailed several times with no response as yet. I have asked for a refund for the remaining 4 plants not yet received; I hope that will occur but I'd be very wary. Compared to other mail order sources, this is not good service and for many of us, there is some time-criticality to spring planting. I'd rather have heard that the order could not be fulfilled than receive plants late with the risk that the beginning of summer will prevent their succeeding. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and in this case, inexpensive meant poor quality.

Ordered 2 clematis plants 4/13/09. Have had no response to emails or a phone message (had to do some searching to find the phone number). 5/28 sent an email to cancel my order & credit my credit card -- have had no response & have not received a credit. Very disappointed. Glad my order was small.

This company has gone down hill fast. The owner, Jerome Post, does not return e-mails, phone calls, instant messages on his site and plants that do come, in my case, one only. The rest of order is missing. The plant is not healthy and broken on the one small vine in three places. Any contact about this to Jerome Post has gone totally unnoticed.
Buyer beware of Koi Garden Club. He shouldn't be in business.

I placed an order through pay pal on April 19th and have received nothing. I sent an e-mail to the company and have received no answer. I am very frustrated!!!

Add me to the list... Apparently we've been bamboozled. I placed an order on April 5th. I promptly received an email stating the plants would be shipped in early May. That email was followed by one offering to ship them immediately. Since local weather did not permit planting them so early, I asked for them to be shipped a couple of weeks later, and the seller agreed to contact me at that time. April 20th arrived and I hadn't heard from him, so I sent an email which went unanswered... Sent a second email on the 23rd and was told shipping would now be in May. Well - surprise, surprise - it's now the 28th of May, and I've sent three more emails (on 5/15, 5/21, and 5/26) - none of which have been answered. What a shame, I was really looking forward to those clematis. Argh. All best to everyone else in this boat.

I placed an order for clematis that was charged to Pay Pal on 4/30/09. I received an email a week later, asking if I was ready for the plants to be shipped. Now, 5/28/09, a month after the order was placed, I am unable to reach anyone at the business,by phone or email, and have no plants. Apparently, something has gone wrong, somewhere.

I placed a large clematis order on 5-5-09 of $156.00. Paid through PayPal. It is now 5-26-09 and have not received my plants. I have e-mailed Koi Garden Club and no response. I tried to phone today and just got an answering machine. What's the deal? This company has had my money for 21 days and no plants and no response!

I ordered 2 clematis through plantkingdom.com on May 8. I have contacted the company with no response. Also, in the ordering process, I chose not to use paypal and it went through paypal anyway.

Huge root system, healthy & great selection of clematis. I just planted 10 different varieties of clematis from Koi Garden. I ordered another 8 yesterday & will order more today. Fabulous prices & super deals going on right now! Ask the owner, Jerome, if you have any questions. Super customer service & awesome quality plants.