Comments regarding Leaves and Petals Garden Center

I purchased a Rising Sun from them last year. When I ordered it, it took the owner (Raphael) months to ship it to me due to his physical illness and not being able to ship the tree due to not having the correct shipping materials.

When I finally received it, it was loosely packed in a plastic planter, completely dried out and all the soil was inside the box, not the planter. Basically, it was dead. I still tried planting it to no avail.

I spoke with Raphael and he told me to call this spring for a replacement. Well, I see they have a new website, but no contact information. And I do not have their phone number.

I tried Google and there is two phone numbers. One is disconnected, the other......no one answers.

I didn't give them a negative as of yet because I'd like to see if the owner is true to his word.

Does anyone have contact info for them?

I will keep you updated.

"On Jun 2, 2013 3:09 PM, Leaves and Petals Garden Center responded with:

Dear Trixie,

We have made the mistake of using Google phone lines, honestly because they are free. Unfortunately, we either set up the lines wrong, or they aren't working properly, and that is the reason for not being able to be connected. But it is also the reason that we posted our cell number, so that any customer can get in touch with us at any time if they have problems. I'm so sorry you experienced this.
The number for you to reach any of us is 404-932-8391.

We do have some consultants restructuring our web site and changing the inventory now, and soon there should not be any problems of this nature. We wish we had an IT department we could send something like this to, but we are a family business. However, if we were a large nursery, we would never be able to get access to the best plants grown, and get the first picking.

I hate that your tree was received in that condition. Once the plants leave our site and are in the hands of either Fedex or UPS, we are on the edge of our seats. Even though our packaging was instructed to us by them, it doesn't mean there will not be any accidents and delays. We have seen them route a package going to the west coast to Maryland first and wondered if they realized they were headed in the opposite direction. When we see the documentaries showing customers' properties being thrown about as though it were trash, it is up to all of us to complain to these two companies. If we allow it, the abuse will continue. And think of the business model that exists: if they damage the first shipment, it is an extremely rare occasion where they will reimburse even for the shipping, let alone the product, etc. Thus, they now get a second stream of revenue when the package is again reshipped. There are not too many companies where their negligence can mean more revenue.
But to get away from that, I want to make sure that you receive or have received your tree, and in excellent condition. I cannot trace you by name, thus you must have used a different one when you placed your order. But please be assured that we have never, and would never, allow a customer to be dissatisfied.
Since the complaint ends without further incident, we are assuming that you were able to get in touch and had the tree replaced. But we do not know for sure, and would like for you to respond and let us know in order to insure you are a happy and satisfied customer.
Again, we apologize for this incident - we package so carefully, and we rarely get any complaints. But at times Fedex or UPS has perhaps put a box with a piano on top of one of our boxes, despite our requests for caution, that it is a perishable product, etc. We were actually told by a Fedex manager that the warnings serve to decorate the box, but the employees do not have the time to read or care about it. With those conditions, I am surprised at how few of these incidents we get.
Please know we will be looking forward to hearing from you. You have both our email address and our cell phone numbers, so there is no way that will not be able to reach us. It is our goal that you have the tree, enjoy it, and hopefully, send us a picture that we can post on our customer testimonials and pictures page that is being prepared.
Thank you again,

Michelle at Leaves and Petals.
"