Comments regarding Iriswarehouse

Ordered 14 iris in May, 2013 which were received in July and included bonus iris. The ordering process was easy and pleasant. However, I was shocked when the iris arrived as they had absolutely no roots and no measurable rhizome - just a few leaves which curved somewhat at the base. I emailed IW with questions about it, which were NEVER answered. She dodged every question. She's a perfect politician. I finally gave up as it wasn't worth any more of my time. None of the iris bloomed in 2014 as promised, neither did 1/3 of them bloom in 2015. In comparison - in 2014 I ordered 14 Iris from Schreiner's and was totally pleased by the huge rhizomes and roots attached to the fans. Most of these have already bloomed. I will never make the mistake of ordering from Iriswarehouse again.

Posted on August 21, 2014, updated May 11, 2015
I ordered 5 iris from this company, which I found because they were offering "Coal Seams" at a very attractive price. My order was handled quickly and sent promptly. I opened the well packed box and saw the 5 I had ordered plus a bonus rhizome, "Savannah Sunset". The iris all appeared of good quality with the exception of 1 of the ones I had ordered, "Breakers." This iris was smaller than a marble and attached to a mother rhizome that was already partially shriveled. I broke the small rhizome off the already spent rhizome (no reason to keep it attached) and went out to plant the six I'd received. I am not a complainer and generally do not return merchandise or have unreasonable expectations, but the more I thought about it the more it irked me. I went in the house and checked the iriswarehouse.com website. It stated that if you receive unsatisfactory plants that you should not plant them as you will have to return them to iriswarehouse.com. So apparently I'd voided my ability to return the iris; despite this, I still thought they should know I was unhappy. I sent them an email letting them know the circumstances.

This morning I received a prompt response which was politely worded, however they told me that it was "curious" that I received a small "Breakers" iris because this variety is usually large, and also told me that they photograph each order as it goes out and they would review the photos of my order, I guess to prove/disprove the quality of the iris. They offered to send me a free "Breakers" iris on my next order, which they'd send me an email confirming (haven't received that yet). I am rating this experience negative because:

1.)Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but I feel like they are implying I am making it up that the iris was of poor quality, and that is offensive. Yes, it's probably viable but was clearly inferior. I realize some customers try and get things for free for no reason and/or are unreasonable but I am not one of them.
2.) The return policy is crazy. While I have not complained to any other iris supplier, I have seen from other reviews that other companies refund or replace dissatisfactory iris free of charge for a variety of reasons without requiring a return of a labeled, untouched by foreign soil rhizome. So I'd have to pack it up, bring it to the post office, pay to mail it etc. because they sent me a poor quality item. Seriously?
3.) I was offered a free replacement iris as part of a future order. I am not going to give them more money when I wasn't happy the first time. So they'll fix the problem if I spend more money?
4.) I think with these policies they're cutting off their nose in spite of their face. This iris rhizome was $5.50, retail. If I returned it what would they do, replant it? Come on. I placed a $40 order with them and complained about one of them. I have ordered a lot of iris with no problems up until now from other companies. So they held onto their $5.50 but lost out on more.
5.) There is too much competition for iris rhizome business to treat customers this way and to provide iris of this quality and expect them to come back.


Of course the worst part is that this rhizome was sent in the first place. It should've been left to grow because there is no way it is flowering size for this spring. Problem would've been averted if good quality was sent to begin with. I am still happy to have gotten the "Coal Seams" variety for a good price but it has been a negative experience overall for me.