Comments regarding Berries Unlimited

One of my plants was in poor condition when it arrived and died a week after planting it. It's been over a week and despite numerous emails back and forth I still don't have a straight answer about a refund/replacement. I won't purchase from this company again- buyer beware.

Horrendous company! BUYER BEWARE!
• The raspberry and blueberry plants I ordered took TWO MONTHS to deliver, which the company simply blamed on “rain delays.” Hmmm? Two months of rain…?
• The plants were just tossed in a box, left loose, with nothing to secure the plants or soil, which resulted in damaged root balls, plus many broken branches, stems, and leaves
• The plants had significant insect damage as they were STILL infested with insects that were eating the leaves and roots when opening the box. Berries Unlimited initially blamed the infestation on another company that they bought the tissue-cultured plants from in OR. Despite that assertion, Berries Unlimited also contradictorily stated they tissue-culture ALL their own plants, plus their certification that says these plants have been certified to not have disease or infestation.
• When I requested a resolution, the were dismissive, rude, and completely unhelpful, only offering farce excuses for all of the above. Zero Stars for customer service.
Do yourself a favor and save your money, time, and garden by shopping elsewhere!

I purchased 8 blueberry plants from Berries Unlimited and they all arrived with a fungal disease that makes the berries inedible. This is a disease that is spread through contact with other infected berry plants. I have no other berry plants!

Berries Unlimited were aggressively unhelpful. Claiming that the disease couldn't have come from their plants because they had no insects, disease or anything wrong with any plants in their entire inventory. They sent me pictures of healthy blueberries to "prove" the disease didn't come from them.

Its just so annoying! I spent hundreds of dollars and the company sent me sick plants. Not only do they not offer to offset the cost, they don't even help me diagnose the problem! They just deny and send me pictures of healthy berries. Lots of companies have problems from time to time. Its to be expected. How they treat their customs - even if they aren't willing to offer a refund - says the most about the company's integrity. This is a garbage company. Go elsewhere.

I ordered 390 raspberries, 385 blueberries and 48 honeyberries from this company by phone in January and February of 2015 for spring shipment. They appear to be doing business as Bluewinkle berry farms also. The total amount paid in full in February 2015 for the orders was $4560.50. I had to delay shipping of the orders as we still had frost in the ground here in the second week of april 2015. They accommodated and shipped 130 raspberries soon after. I sent emails in late april(the 19th) and early may(the 7th) indicating we were ready for shipment here. The emails in may were responses to the invoices sent for each of the orders.
As of August, 2015 I had only received 130 Nova raspberry plants. I called them on 3 consecutive weeks(the first 3 weeks) in August 2015 to see if they would be shipping the blueberries and honeyberries for fall planting. I spoke with a person each time, either Lindsey or Barb and they were going to find out what was going on with the orders and then call me back in the next day or two. After getting no responses whatsoever from them on the matter, the last week in August I requested a credit on the orders for the total billed to my credit card for $2069.40. They had 2 billing cycles to contest this and did not. On September 9, 2015 I also sent them a certified letter requesting a refund for the remainder of the order that was paid in full but not paid by credit card. This amount would be the amount still owed minus the price of the 130 raspberries which I received. fedex tracking number 575475413182. This amount is approximately $2000.00 still owed me as I have received only the 130 raspberries from the total order. They would not pick up the certified letter (usps tracking number 70150640000416565561 ). I then sent them a priority mail letter (usps tracking number 9505512167765264002638)
as they would not accept a certified letter. There has been no response to it whatsoever. I believe they are still in business as they have redone their website during this time. Bottom line, I am out around $2000. When one is trying to start a small fruit farm, this is a huge loss as there is no income in the starting year. Avoid Berries Unlimited and Bluewinkle Berry Farms (the name of the company on the invoices).

I ordered 16 Polka Red Raspberry plants from Berries Unlimited. The plants arrived and appeared to be in good condition. I followed their transplanting instructions and within a few days after being placed into the soil, 9 plants began to wilt, dropped their leaves, and ultimately died. I contacted Berries Unlimited about getting replacement plants and offered to pay shipping. They replied that they have to have picture proof of the dead berry plants. I sent them 9 pictures of the dead plants, and then no response. I waited for a response and after not hearing anything I contacted them again and asked if they got the pictures and offered to resend them if they didn't come through. They responded with this email, "Hello! You need to give soil You planted in for soil analyze. It seems your mulch was treated with chemicals and it may cause the damage. Or it could be just mulch acidic itself- like juniper, cedar etc. we recommend only hard wood mulch for blackberries or untreated pine mulch/bark. It is impossible to lose so many healthy plants at once. Our plants are very strong, healthy and ORGANIC! Do You have sand soil in addition?
Respectfully

Lidia"

As you can tell from the demeanor of their email they are not going to replace any plants and pretty much implied that I killed the plants. So I am out $109 for using Berries Unlimited. Buyer beware. They clearly have no people skills, and customer service is a foreign concept. I recommend Stark Brothers for Bare Roots and Backyard Berry Plants for potted plants. NEVER AGAIN LIDIA!!!

I ordered and paid for 700 Blueberry plants of three different variates from BU on May 20, 2014. I was promptly sent an invoice with shipping numbers. I received the first 199 plants on May 30 which suprisingly came infested with Japanese Beetles. I questioned the beetles, but agreed with the explanation of their organic farming practices. I was still surprised.

The following 300 was delayed due to rain. They arrived around June 6, in better condition and I was content with their explanation for the late delivery. Then nothing. Finally, on June 18, not yet receiving the balance of the plants, I asked that due to the delayed shipment and an expected arrival in July, that the shipment of the balance of plants owed be held until fall. Since I had PAID IN FULL, and to this point had not questioned the business's integrity, I said i didn't need a refund, only that they mark my account paid for the fall delivery.

On August 15th, I called Berries Unlimited and left a message asking that the balance of the plants be shipped. I heard no reply from repeated messages left until an email was replied to on September 24th stating that the plants would be shipped 9/26 or 9/29. I made arrangements for labor and materials required to plant the remaining plants the following weekend. We had agreed on and I had paid for express delivery. I told them on 10/1 that I needed them by 10/4, and I was told by Hare, that the labels were printed the day before (9/30) and they were being shipped THAT day (10/1).

The next day, I was notified by FEDEX that the shipment was picked up on 10/2 and they were being shipped via ground, and it would be 5-7 days. I called BU to tell them I would be rejecting the delivery because it wasn't what we had agreed upon. Barb offered a story that didn't align with what Hare had told me.

I never received the shipment, BU had contacted FEDEX, cancelled the delivery, and requested a return. I contacted BU on 10/7 when I was notified the shipment was returned, and requested a refund. I was told that refunds were sent out on the 15th of the month and that a check would be sent then.

Today is October 24th, I am still awaiting a refund for 201 blueberry plants I paid for in May but was unable to receive as promised on at least 4 occasions. I contacted them today and was told my file is still "on his desk" but the check hasn't been sent. I asked that she let me know today when I could expect it.

The people are friendly enough, especially Barb. But I get the impression that communication is the root of the problem. For a start up, this is proving to be a difficult situation for both of us. I will update my review when I receive the $804 owed me for the undelivered 201 plants.

"On Nov 16, 2014 4:37 PM, Berries Unlimited responded with:

This order was cancelled in transit. It was refunded."

I purchased in May a Sunshine Blue (southern highbush)/Zone 5-10 mid season 4 inch Size plant from Berries Unlimited. The plant had green berries on it and I planted it upon receipt with the correct soil, acidity, etc. They recommended that I use the Miracle Gro food for acid loving plants, and I've only fed this to the blueberry plant mixed with water. It's now July 20th and recently the plant has turned brown from the bottom up, the leaves turned up and dry, and the berries turned dark. I emailed today BerriesUnlimited with a photo of the plant to ask for a nursery manager to view it and provide recommendations, assessment, etc. Within 12 minutes of my sending my email, I received the following reply:

"Hello! You over fertilized the plant!
Respectfully
Lidia"

Has anyone ever received a reply like this from a plant company? How does this resolve my issue? I'm concerned about my plant's condition and received this response? To say that I was surprised is an undestatement...I'm aghast. I will never spend any money with BerriesUnlimited ever again.

"On Jul 20, 2013 9:55 PM, Berries Unlimited responded with:

It is 10 Pm Saturday Evening. I get e-mail
Hello,

I am attaching a picture of the blueberry plant and would like a nursery manager to look at it.

Please contact me back as soon as possible.

Thanks,

[name edited at request of poster]
I look at the picture and answered what exactly happened to the plant! Finished my late dinner and sent TWO more e-mails with longer explanation what was done wrong. Before I got any reply I got this negative:)
You should contact BEFORE You try to use any chemicals not AFTER when the plant has died and there is NOTHING to do about this plant. That's simple. I always try to help.

I got this message
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: Order Complete #130512-121412-4031
To: Berries Unlimited
Hello,

Your response was incredibly rude and completely incorrect.

If this is how your company responds to customer concerns, I will never purchase another item from your company again.

I'm aghast at your lack of concern and will be reporting your response to warn other customers as well.

You have lost my business,


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Berries Unlimited
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Subject: Re: Order Complete #130512-121412-4031
To:

And I replied with two morte e-mails trying to explaing in detailed WHY the plant got dead.
Dear [name deleted]l!You wanted to know WHAT happened to Your Plant. I told you WHAT happened.I grow those blueberries from the very beginning! I know exactly HOW they look If some one over fertilize them! I did not mean to sound rude I know the PLANT WORLD and I just tell You what happened to the plant.Picture clearly shows that the plant got too much fertilizer BEING in the pot! It is very easy to do this to the plant which is in the pot! It is les harm to the plant which is in the ground.It is true and I tell you this truth. It is my opinion. I did not tell You miss watering because the plant would look completely different.Unfortunately this plant got too much acidic stuff,I do not know what You used to fertilize it but the rootys are burnt. I am sorry.
Respectfully
Lidia
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Berries Unlimited
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:37 PM
Subject: Re: Order Complete #130512-121412-4031
To:

The second mistake was made -too large pot! when You grow plants in pots You have to choose Size VERY carefuly- Increasing the sizes STEP BY STEP! So This 1 gal 3 yo plant should be replanted into 2 gal pot MAXIMUM!! and keep it in 2 gal pot for 2 years, THEN to increase 1 more Size and keep two more years. That is how You should grow Plants in the pots. Too much Soil keeps them overwatered- water balance is VERY HARD to keep! + Any pot is very easy to overfertilize! I can reship IF You pay for shipment. BUT Please, be careful with fertilizer.
Respectfully
Lidia

If to look at time I replied it is NOT bad for Saturday 10 pm plus!I did not leave this case for Monday and Kindly offered replacement. But It was NOT my fault the plant got burnt roots. All information HOW to grow blueberries is on the website.and Everyone is VERY welcome to ask ANY Questions at ANY time even late at the weekends/Holidays. I reply al the time when I am not in the lab, in thelab or in the field or in the nurseries outside- I am ALWAYS here to help when I am not outside! Thank You! And with greatest respect to all of Our Customers.
Lidia Delafield Stuart

From:
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:15 PM

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Berries Unlimited
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:32 PM

From: Berries Unlimited
Date: Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 10:37 PM
"

Posted on January 7, 2012, updated July 13, 2013
Ordered 4 honeyberries from this company. Was told they would ship late. Turned out to be very much later (many months after my order). When they arrived, packaging kind of poor and we were unable to find one of the honeyberries (though we found the tag for it); the other three were acceptable but certainly not what I would expect from a company that advertises they are the "Home of the Honeyberry". I've ordered other items from this company before and they arrived in good, robust condition. I hesitate to complain too much; this might have been a fluke, but still this was not a great transaction for me.

"On Jan 7, 2012 6:49 PM, Berries Unlimited responded with:

Hello! Our Honeyberries are from the laboratory- tissue cultured clean virus indexed plants in 4inch size pots.Now they are dormant. They are gaining roots during winter season to pop up very vigorously in spring. Large plants which are from cuttings grow faster first but slower later because they are not virus indexed plants.We do not sell such plants. We had to wait them for a long time from the lab due to bad weather condition and the information was on the web site,and they are the only tissue cultured honeyberries in the country available. 2011 was the first year of the new varieties which were small, developed from cells, 2012 plants are much larger now and available immideately.

I am a farmer and permaculture designer with over 15 years experience growing trees and small fruits from bare root stock purchased from nurseries all over the country. I have extensive experience dealing with companies and am skilled at recognizing quality nursery stock from stock that is diseased, poor quality and packed improperly.

I don't often make the time to write reviews, but feel compelled as my experience dealing with Berries Unlimited was such a nightmare and hugely disappointing. A number of the other reviews on this forum echo the situation I experienced. I originally ordered 8 Honeyberry plants In January 2011 with a shipping date for the week of May 9th, 2011, which I confirmed via email with Lidia. My credit card (via PayPal) was charged at the time I placed the order.

On May 4th I sent an email to Lidia making sure we were all set for shipping the next week. She emailed me back saying the Honeyberries were not going to be ready until the end of May, but even more concerning was she had no record of my order! Fortunately, I keep good email records and immediately emailed her my order # and confirmation of payment. She was then able to find my order in their system and assured me the plants would ship end of May, which was fine since we have a lot of trees/small fruits to plant in the spring and I am happy to space things out.

The last week of May came and went and I heard nothing from them. I left a phone message which was never returned. I sent an email on 5/30/2011 and here is the response I got:

Dear Mary- now they scheduled late June! Can do NOTHING about.I can switch them with anything You desire, just let me know and i'll ship everything we have ..
Respectfully
Lidia

Here is my response:

Hi Lidia,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the update and the offer to ship other plants. However, the only plants I am interested in are the honeyberries. Can you explain to me why they are so late this year? I am willing to wait until late-June, but if they are not ready by then I would just like to have a refund issued to my PayPal account which is how I originally paid.
Thank you.

She then wrote a long, rambling response about the weather in Oregon, tsunamis, earthquakes etc. HMMMM?

So, needless to say, June came and went and I did not see my honeyberries. I emailed July 20th (yes, July 20th!):

Greetings,

I am inquiring again about when I can expect to receive my Honeyberry plants. I left a phone message yesterday but did not hear back. I understand that there have been many problems with the plants, but would like to know if I can expect them in the next couple of weeks. If not, I would like a full refund as I paid in full for these plants back in January and yet, almost 6 months later have nothing to show for my $.
Thank you.

Amazingly enough, the Honeyberries had just that day miraculously appeared:

Dear Mary! We got honeyberries today! I replant them into 4 inch pots.They have very nice rot system.I can ship them in an instant but I can keep them here for a while untill they are rooting in the new 4 inch pots. I can refund with the bank interest as well or You can get more plants for the long waiting and unpleasant weather all over the country, especially in Oregon what moved our berry process 3 months back.I promissed them in Mid April but It did not happen! I gave plants for tissue culture 1 year ago expecting them in 8 months for sure but no one can control the weather and our website policy shows that clearly. We are all very dependable on weather! Please, do not order next time if plants are not in stock. It is easier for me and it is better for You.Because weather games sometimes break everything in Plant World and I have to be patient about replying for 100+ e-mails a day.. But as a rule they are kind ones, with understanding.. sometimes it is not..
Respectfuly
Lidia


Here is my response:

Hi Lidia,

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the update. I am willing to wait a couple more weeks for the plants to be well rooted and more likely to thrive. Ideally, I would like them no later than mid-August.

I do, however, feel confused though about why it should have been my responsibility to not order them since apparently they were out of stock. The website indicated nothing of the sort. The packages of 4 were available for spring shipping or at least that is what was indicated on the website. Usually if an item it out of stock it is clearly shown and you can't actually order it but rather can be emailed and notified when something comes back into stock. It feels difficult to be reprimanded and told I shouldn't have ordered it when your website allowed the order to go through and gave the impression that the plants were available.

I appreciate all the challenges you've faced in getting the plants ready and yes, as a farmer, I am very aware of weather and the critical role it plays in our growing season. I have been homesteading in far Northern Vermont for 15 years and if ever there was a rugged climate to farm in, this is it. I am not trying to be rude or difficult and feel as though I've been pretty patient waiting for the plants. I so hope it works out to get them this season and they will be a wonderful asset to our food production. If they are not ready by mid-August then I would like a refund on my PayPal account which is how I originally paid.

Thanks again

Her response:

Dear Mary I can ship them tomorow but I still would love to watch them for a week or so to ship stronger plants. They are fragile enough being this size.. They ARE strong and came in perfect shape but still need some reast befgore replanting and new shipment..It has ben a mess with the weather all over the country. Now we are in the heat stroke here. But If they survive this they will be just perfect anywhere else, especially up to the North.. Please, give me just a week or two to get them rooted in( they have perfect root system) and then I'll be sure they can get through any winter anywhere.. I would advice to put them with the pots in the pile of compost soil til September, then I'd replant them into gallons and keep this way in the compost pile too through the winter and then I would replant them in the beginning of April when the soil not frozen. Last frost can chanmge nothing for them they will easy get through..
Thank You!

I was floored that at the end of the day I wasn't even going to receive plants that were ready to put in the ground but should be overwintered in pots in a compost pile. Seriously?!

So, when the plants finally arrived in AUGUST, they were so pitiful looking and some of the most poorly packed I have ever received. They were simply plugs and some of them were laying on top of the potting soil of the 4-in pots, they had not even been properly planted into the pots leaving the rootlets (I can't even call them roots) dried out. In addition, 4 of the tags marking the varieties were loose in the box so I had no idea which plant was which.

I did replant the plugs and tend them for another 4 weeks before putting them into the garden. In that time, 3 of them (the ones that were badly dried out upon receipt) died which really did not surprise me at all. The remaining 5 were planted out with not a lot of hope that they would survive since they were so fragile and puny. So far, they are either dead or have not yet broken dormancy; the verdict is still out.

I did email Lidia after receiving my order to tell her how disappointed I was the quality of the plants and the entire saga of getting them but never heard back. What a waste of $98! I will never buy from this company again; too much work for such little return.

Posted on October 13, 2011, updated October 24, 2011
Posted on October 13, 2011, updated October 13, 2011
Posted on October 13, 2011, updated October 13, 2011
I placed an order for Elliot blueberry, Bluecrop blueberry, Loganberry, Marionberry, Tayberry, Midnight Blue honeyberry, and Night Mist honeberry on May 4 based upon the good reviews on this site. They sent the payment through immediately and also sent me a message asking if they could ship everything together in June as there had been a problem with their honeyberries. They didnt' come in June. When I emailed to follow up- they said they'd start shipping July 10. On July 28 they said they'd ship them tomorrow and send me a tracking number. It's now October 13, no tracking number, and still not a single one of the plants I ordered and paid for have arrived. The July 28 emails said she'd left them for me as booked and added a free plant in with them; however, they must be sitting in limbo somewhere since they are not here.

"On Oct 13, 2011 8:32 PM, Berries Unlimited responded with:

We delivered plants right after we got them from the lab( they was delay due to weather and I informed My Customers about this on the website and answering their e-mails), we replanted them and watched them for a week to see how they were doing.Then I shipped everything I owed.
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