Comments regarding Willis Orchard Company

I ordered 5 fruit trees , i called 3 separate times, the first 2 i was told my trees were in the mail, the 3rd time they told me they had not been shipped, so there not sending my trees and not returning my money, i called there local sheriffs office and reported what they had done. now im just out 200$ . I cant even believe this place stays in business, if you dont want to lose your money ,


DO NOT BUY FROM WILLIS ORCHARDS!!!!!!!

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We received a money order for $150.94 from Geno Cupp on Nov. 18th, the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving. It takes a few days to deposit checks. We only had two shipping days before the holiday and have hundreds of orders in front of Cupp's. The Monday after the holidays he calls demanding trees or money back, just going crazy. We mailed a refund check the following day. He kept calling until he received his check. A freak show that I don't wish on my competitors."

Ordered 15 trees this past spring. Only four lived.

Ordered 12 pecan trees this past spring. Only one lived. When I called the company didn't get much help. Must send trees back , at our expense, with receipt and credit card receipt.

This past spring, I ordered 4 Pomegranate trees, 3 wonderful and 1 Angel. I ordered three of these with several years growth, because I wanted to have fruit soon with out waiting. 1 Angel I paid $84.00 for and then about $ 48.00 for each of the two Wonderful, and then about $14.00 for a wonderful plant just about 6" tall and it has done fine.
However, when the other 3 plants arrived they were about 3' tall, but they looked dead and rattled like they were dead. I scratched the limbs and they were slightly green. However, come spring and now summer they are truly dead. Never any sign of growth on any of the 3. I called several times, they insisted they would sprout soon, I asked for a refund. I was told that they do not do that, but they told me that they would replace them this fall. This would defeat my purpose of getting a early start of Pomegranates. Willis insisted that I return the dead plants to prove I am not lying, at my expense of course. I have cut and packaged them and planned to return them until I have seen that several other people have almost had the same experience.

Now, I plan to contact the Attorney General of Georga, maybe they will want to see the plants! Willis should not get away with this sloppy way of doing business.

Buyer-be-ware if you do business with Willis Nursery!
I am a retired Ag. Teacher with a degree in agriculture.

I ordered a 2-3 ft. desert King fig tree from Willis Orchards and received the wrong size. The offset lady finger banana tree was no tree at all, but a shriveled wimp that now 3 weeks later, is a brown stinky pile of goo. On a garden fig forum (//forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0913170923431.html) alabamatreehugger reported that Willis Orchard website advertise to sale tree of edible chestnuts, but Willis pictures the poisonous horse chestnut. Willis Orchards also advertises pear trees showing a basket full quince fruit instead of pears. The pakistan mulberry is not an authentic pakistan variety but a wild mulberry. Willis's use of the word, "authentic", is devious and troubling. Willis Orchards will not get another order from me ever. They offer no refunds, but replacement possibly if you jump through several hoops. I am reporting them to BBB and the attorney general's office and all the forums to warn innocent shoppers.

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Yes, it's true, we do sell grafted Pakistan Mulberry trees as well as grafted Persian and White Mulberry trees. We also offer a non-grafted cultivar called Black Beauty. However, we do not offer or display horse chestnuts, but we do offer two grafted and two non-grafted varieties of authentic chestnut trees. OH, the term "Authentic" on our site refers to products we offer that are true to name trees and not rip-off impostor trees that some of our competitors sell. Such as sending people Chinese Chestnut trees instead of true native Chinquapin trees, like a different nursery does when ordering from them. Yes, we have a very fair and universal to this industry replacement policy. If a tree dies within one year and is returned for replacement, we replace the item free of charge, including 100% of the replacement's shipping cost. Some companies require customers to pay extra costs, we do not. Also if a mistake in our customer's order is brought to our attention, we make the necessary correction without additional cost or hassle to our beloved customers. So, to sum this response up. This review is not from a real customer of ours but from the previously mentioned competitor. This does not reflect an authentic purchase experience but is a malicious string of false statements in an effort to curve our increasing share of the mail order market due to our quality products and excellent customer service. Feel free to contact us to learn more about the author of this slanderous review."

Last January I ordered by phone 2 Reliance peach trees in the 5-6 ft size, and one Satsuma plum 3-4 ft. size. When I received the trees in late March I was immediately disappointed, the trees were starting to come out of dormancy - in fact the peach trees were beginning to blossom, they were smaller than stated on their website, and the roots were heavily pruned back and did not appear to be large enough to support the top structure .I bought the large peach trees to shorten the wait for fruiting. When the trees failed to grow I called Willis in late May and they told me if the bark was still green when scratched to wait. When it was obvious they were dead in mid-June I called and after the women on the phone suggested Miracle grow (to raise them from the dead?) I was told to return the trees for new ones that would be shipped in October. I shipped them back to Willis today and it cost me almost twenty dollars. Willis’s stock were the only ones that failed to grow I planted this spring from six different providers. Not a bargain by any means.

I ordered a Wonderful Pomegranate Tree - 8-10' on May 5th 2008. I have tried to contact this company via email, google check out email, and by phone. I can't get ahold of them, can't get a response to my emails.

I still have not received my order and now it's June 7th 2008.

I'm going to dispute my credit card charge with MasterCard and I will never do bussiness with this company ever again.

BEWARE!

Ordered bluberry, blackberry and peach tree. Blueberies arrived okay, blackberries as roots that were pretty much dead. No peach tree. Queried the non arrival of peach tree. Had to email three times, then some clearly inept person named Cynthia, claimed shipment was 'lost'. I asked for a tracking number, but non provided. Eventually, she said that they 'do not give refunds' and would send in the fall. I told them to refund as I did not want the tree in the fall. Still no resolution.

This March, I order 8 fruit trees from Willis- Apricot, Necterine, Fig, Asian pear, Pear, Plumcot, Plum, grape. When the plants arrived, it didn't look promising. There was no lateral growth in the roots, just stumps, and a couple of the plants had started to sprout but had dried leaves on them. I planted them in mid March, hoping for the best. It is now mid May, 8 weeks later and only 1 plant, the grape has sprouted (the only plant with good lateral root structure). There is no growth in any other fruit tree. I called the company and they say to send back the dead plants - it seems to me, only 1 alive out of 8 is a very bad yield. I am not optimistic that I will get good fruits trees from Willis. They never sent me an invoice, and the fig variety sent, was the wrong one from the one requested. I originally fruit trees from them because of positive reviews from this Forum. Unfortunately, my experience is very disappointing.

I ordered an olive tree and a paw paw tree in March. The paw paw tree is dead and the olive tree was smaller than listed. To add insult to injury, I called customer service about the paw paw tree. I had a man that read a script -go scratch the bark. When I told him I already did this and as a gardner I knew the plant was dead. He then read the same script..to go scratch the bark. He didn't even offer to look up my order or ask for my name. He told me I could ship it back and they would send me another one in December. This is May. I offered to ship it back for a refund on my credit card and he replied the company did not do this I would just have to wait until December. What poor customer service! I will not do business with this company again.

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I am sorry, but our guarantee policy covers replacement of the tree, not a refund. You weren't read to from a script, you were told the same thing that so many of our customers are because they think the plant is dead; we can't very well replace a tree that is still alive, so there has to be a check made as to its status.

All we request for you to make use of the guarantee is a return of the merchandise and a copy of your invoice and we can replace the plant for you when the season resumes, which as you were told, is December to April."

I ordered a tree last week as an anniversary gift for my wife. I called in advance and was assured that it would ship Thursday or Friday at the latest, and would be delivered on Monday. Card was charged Friday. Now it's Tuesday, the day of my anniversary, and I just found out that it hasn't even shipped yet. If Willis isn't able to ship in that time frame, fine, but don't promise me it'll be here.

Now I get to go home and give my wife an empty pot for our anniversary. Thanks, Willis.

I placed an order with this company on March 6th 2008. Their confirmation email stated that they would email me once the order had shipped. They immediately charged my credit card the $599 that I spent on my order, however after three subsequent emails to them I have not received my order nor will they respond to any of my communications. If I don’t hear from them soon I am going to report them to the Attorney General’s office for fraud.

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This situation has been resolved with the customer, who found out that some of the emails were not properly reaching us. The plants have been shipped, received, and planted."