Comments regarding The Tree Center

Don’t waste your money. I ordered three dogwood trees from the Tree Center last fall. I paid a little more than I would have at a big box store, but thought I’d get a better product from a specialty company that sells online. I was wrong.

I planted and watered all three trees per their instructions. Two of the trees are thriving, but the third tree never had leaves at the top and none have grown in. It looks terrible.

I wrote them about the one tree that was not growing correctly. They reminded me that I was past my 30-day warranty period and recommended I water it more.

Many nurseries offer one-year - or even lifetime - warranties. Not these clowns. They offer a 30-day warranty (really?), but will happily SELL you a one-year warranty. Knowing this, I should have gone elsewhere. My mistake.

BUT… I know to never buy from the Tree Center again.

Purchased trees for a total amount of $595.35 including a 1 year warranty of $85.05 last fall. The order included 9 junipers. Out of 9 plants 6 evergreens arrived in bad condition, dried out and scraggly looking.

I tried many times to get an exchange per email, but got rejected every time. First they told me this: "You did purchase the optional 1-year warranty, however being that this claim has been filed within the first 30 days we will process this as an Arrive & Thrive Guarantee claim and your warranty will remain intact and active to apply toward your replacement plants should replacements be necessary."

Then they flat out rejected exchanging them after requesting photos. You can clearly see that the plants were not up to par, dried out before they were sent out and scraggly in appearance upon arrival. But on top of that they lost lots of leaves because the dead leaves fell off after winter.
Customer services response last fall was that the trees would be just fine with a bit TLC.
I contacted them today again and sent more pictures of the trees in question. They look very sad and lost more foliage over winter, specifically in the area where they were already dried out upon arrival. This time I got offered a store coupon of $31.05. the smallest trees (1 gallon container) cost $34.50 without any tax or other charges. The two Skyrocket junipers in question cost $54.50 per piece (3 gallon container).

Customer service and their management don't take this request seriously. I filed another BBB complaint today.

If this is not their usual complaint then I'd like to see what other people's trees look like on arrival. All of my store bought nursery stock evergreens look fine and grew last season. Only theirs look worse now than last year after I unpacked them.

I'd like an exchange of at least three plants. I paid an extra $80 for warranty. And I don't care if you phrase it Arrive & Thrive or 1 year warranty, it is the results that matter. And for now I got 6 junipers in my yard that look very sad. Very disappointed with this online purchase! What are you going to do about it?

I purchased 7 three-gallon Cherry Laurel scrubs which arrived severely infected with Shothole Fungus. After nearly a week of trying to get a response from The Tree Center, I was told that I should prune the damaged sections, plant them and hope for the best. The infected areas are extensive on the plants, and this will require removal of most of the foliage. In addition, I paid for healthy plants. From reviewing other customer comments, it appears that this has happened to many customers. It is very disappointing that The Tree Center would ship diseased plants, and even more that they are unresponsive to this concern.

Both Green Giant trees died in less than two months. All they said was not enough water. Not true but will move on to other suppliers. BEWARE - On the receipt they write 1 Year Warranty on it. That doesn't mean there is a one year warranty only that you can buy it. Very misleading.

$900 for 8 red twig dogwood arctic fire
Plants arrived covered in fungus, sent pics to the tree center and filed a claim on their website. Spoke with three different people who assured customer service would reach out. Now, no one is even answering the phones.
In my account they have marked the issue as SOLVED.
Filed a complaint with BBB and have filed a dispute with my credit card company.

Posted on June 4, 2020, updated June 4, 2020
Posted on October 5, 2019, updated June 4, 2020
I have placed 9 orders with the Tree Center over the past 3 years. Those 9 orders covered 5 shrubs and 12 trees.Twice they sent me the incorrect item, but they cheerfully corrected the problem and sent me the ordered item. All of the shrubs and trees I have ordered from The Tree Center have thrived and are still important components of my garden. As recently as 10/3/19 I received four Thuja 'Green Giant' from The Tree Center and they are healthy specimens. I usually communicate with The Tree Center via email, and have found them to be very prompt in responding.

I purchased a nandina and 3 boxwoods from The Tree Center. The nandina is fine, but the boxwoods are yellow. I have submitted multiple tickets without response. I chatted with someone twice and emailed her about my issue. No response. I've emailed an additional 2 times without response. Customer Service is nonexistent and I'm stuck with plants I can't use.

BUYER BEWARE! After receiving 5, nearly dead Anabelle Hydrangeas I immediately emailed the The Tree Center (since it was after 5pm est) and called at 9am the very next day to let them know that not only did I receive unhealthy plants, (I sent pictures too) they were also NOT the size I ordered or received (the hydrangeas were 1 gallon size plants sent in 3 gallon pots - clearly fraud) The first customer service person and the second (a few days later) both said they'd filter my call/complaint to a "manager" "supervisor" to call me. The week past, then 2 then 3 weeks - no one from The Tree Center called me. I paid $350 for plants and a worthless warranty for plants that were already dead and no one from the company was taking any accountability. So I filed a dispute with both my bank and PayPal, the BBB AND THE AG and the FTC. The is clearly a violation of my consumer rights by The Tree Center under the consumer protection laws for false advertisement and misleading statements that the plants are larger than they really are. They don't have a foot to stand on under their "Alive & Thrive" guarantee. Finally Paypal sent me an email saying they've refunded my money and then a Tree Center person emailed me to offer a store credit. I said no thank you I just wanted my money back and don't care to deal with their company. Please buy local and if they are local to you, good luck.

HORRIBLE SERVICE
I ordered over $500 worth of Butterfly Bushes in their beautifully advertised 3 gallon size. When the plants arrived, many of the branches were broken, and they were pitifully small. One plant was so twisted and terribly trimmed they even agreed to replace it. However, when we put them in the ground, all but one of the plants had no root structure and the potting mix simply fell away leaving what pitful little roots there were exposed. It became obvious that they had taken barely one gallon plants and repotted them into 3 gallon containers then shipped. Once you purchase, you can no longer talk to a live agent. They merely send emails assuring you of how wonderfully the plants will thrive. This is fraud in advertising- stay away and only order from a reputable company because you will regret spending even a penny with these scam artists.

I ordered 2 Hollywood Junipers, then realized (immediately after paying) that I could have purchased 3, received free shipping, & it would be cheaper than the price of 2 with shipping. I wrote an email explaining the situation & asking if I should cancel the order & re-purchase to resolve. I received an email stating no need to do that, a 3rd tree would be sent. Didn’t hear anything for a couple days & wrote asking if the financial difference had been taken care of at their end or do I need to do something. The rep responded saying it was too late to change order by the time they checked into it, implying I hadn’t confirmed in time (my reply to say “thanks, that’s great!” was sent less than 2 hours after receiving the first reply). No apology nor any compensation was offered. I pointed out I was disappointed in this due to the fact it could have been handled by cancelling (as I should have done) if I hadn’t been told with such confidence it would be taken of on their end. It took a few exchanges for the rep to understand my point that it was their fault & it seems customer service ethic would dictate they make it right. The end result was basically a shrug & a “I’m sorry I should have let you know sooner”. And a 15% discount on a future order, which I tried to use but it was only applicable for orders of $499 or more! Really poor treatment on principle, particularly on such a small thing to resolve easily. Won’t be ordering from them again.

I ordered 6 cypress trees costing over $500.00 and The Tree Center decided to "top the trees" / cut off the tip of the center tree stalk in order to either remove dead growth or make them fit into the shipping boxes. They have no valid customer support email address to file a complaint or request an explanation why they would prune the tree stalk. Very upset and dissappointed and bascially robbed of well over $500.00. I will never order from these guys again.

False advertising using “pot size” to disguise selling smaller plants at higher prices. They also have NO live customer service for actual customers who placed an order. They’ll only speak to prospective buyers before purchase, so they can make the sale. Then, you have no live support to resolve a problem and must accept whatever they tell you in the email response as the resolution.

They use false claims about discounts and quality to lure customers, but these folks are hucksters. Anyone honest and reputable stands behind their business with direct access to live support and they don’t use deceptive marketing and advertising. The plants they ship are small in size planted in big pots. Everything about them is a scam.

On 6/17/18 I ordered (Ord#10125909) a Baby Blue Spruce (5 gal) and Emerald Green Arborvitae. I received them a few days later and planted both of them. Within a week or two the Baby Blue Spruce needles began dropping. The problem continued to worsen leaving no needles on the tree whatsoever. I reached out to the Tree Center on 8/27/2018 about this issue. 3 days later on August 30th I received a reply from a Tree Center Representative requesting pictures of the tree, which I immediately provided. The pictures provided showed several other nearby plants and bushes which were well watered and green. 6 days later on 9/5/18 I received a second response requesting me to remove the tree from the ground and send pictures of the root ball for inspection. I responded letting them know I would remove the tree over the weekend, weather permitting and take the photographs. On 9/11/2018 after several days of rain, the weather cleared up. I removed the tree, snapped the pictures of the root ball and emailed them as requested to the Tree Center. Since sending these pictures I have received ZERO response from the Tree Center. I have followed up multiple times with no response. I have also attempted to reach someone by opening a new service ticket. Still no response.

Do *NOT* order plants from them in the summer/fall.

When you order, you get their “Arrive Fresh” guarantee which gives you only FIVE days to determine if your plants are going to be healthy or not. Now, other than any OBVIOUS defects that you can SEE (which I assume they would never ship in the first place), IMHO there is no way to know if a tree is going “healthy,” even after the additional 45 days you have to report damage.

BE AWARE: That the Shopper Approved reviews you will see for this company on their website are only entered immediately upon ordering. You cannot – and I tried – enter feedback AFTER your purchase.

I bought two arborvitae from them in late June 2017. I rigorously followed the planting instructions. One of the two plants did not appear to be in the greatest shape and I did bring this to their attention. Yes, it was 14 days after their 45 day "grace period." However, at the time, I was told to wait until spring and if the tree did not “come back” they would “take care of it.”

As I suspected this spring (2018) the tree is now a pile of brown leaves. [I have photos of the two trees together if that would be useful to anyone.] When bringing this to their attention, sharing emails from the person who made the promises (who, of course, no longer worked there), I was told that the “best” they could do was offer a 50% discount on a replacement since I had not purchased their “1 year guarantee” (which BTW is very easy to miss on their order form).

So if you are considering ordering from them, my suggestions are:

(1) Order in the SPRING only so you are at the peak growing season and can reasonably determine health within their narrow 45-day window.
(2) File a complaint about the tree’s health – REGARDLESS of condition – within 5 days so you are on record in case the tree turns out to be defective.
(3) Always order their 1-year replacement guarantee. HOWEVER, note that when you do, their attractive prices are no longer so attractive when compared with others, including local nurseries who always warrant what you buy from them.
(4) Your local nursery will provide much better service and warranty because they want your repeat business, which the Tree Center clearly does not (at least based on the way I was treated).

Good luck!

I ordered a juniper from The Tree Center on June 3rd. On their website, they indicate that most orders go out the next day, and that once shipped, customers receive FedEx confirmation.

On June 11th, after not having any further communication from them, I attempted to use their on-line chat function to learn the status of my order. The on-line chat function gave a message that no one was available.

I then phoned them, and was cut off 3x. On the 4th attempt, I remained on line for 15 minutes and finally gave up. I sent them an email asking them if they could provide me an update to my order status.

In summary, they offer on-line chat that doesn't function, a call inquiry menu that either cuts off the customer or simply places them on hold for an extensive period of time and they do not remotely live up to their timeline of processing orders in a timely fashion. I would not do business with them again.

Bob Lamm