stinky and rude

I ordered some lovely scented pelargoniums as mine did not make it through the winter this year, all the geraniums died in the cold. This time they are going to be inside plants.

I found a place that only sells pelargoniums, they are pelargonium experts if you will, and from them you can by a mixed pack of starter plants to grow on. They send you whatever flavours they have ready to go and then it's a bit cheaper than if you choose which ones you want.

All was well until they arrived. I opened up the parcel and one the plants was loose, I thought oh no it has snapped in transit! But no, it was not rooted, just a new cutting pushed into the hole of a jiffy thingy. Hold on. I looked a some of the others that were loose and alas, these too ware new unrooted cuttings. Not what the order page on their website says you are buying.

I sent off this email to them...

Dear Annie and Guy,

Thank you for your well packaged delivery, I received my order (no. 204218)
this morning.
On opening the package I was worried to see a loose plant and thought that
it had been snapped in transit however looking at the plant it seems that
the cutting has popped out from the jiffy pot (is this the correct term?) I
was expecting to receive rooted cutting and in checking some of the others
that were loose (I didn\'t tug at them from the pots) it seems that they are
not rooted. I appreciate that the plants would be from cuttings but had
expected them to be rooted and am a little disappointed to find they are
not. I would not have confidently ordered un-rooted cuttings.
I have a photo of how the loose one arrived if this is helpful.
I was happy to receive a wide selection and variety.

I\'m sorry to send a negative email as I was really looking forward to the
plants arriving!

Kind regards,
Lyndsay Officer

I spent quite a while trying to sound friendly. This is what came back...


Sorry to hear about your disappointment.  Please return the plants to us in
the packaging that they arrived in and we'll issue you with a refund for the
plants that you send back.

Regards
Annie & Guy

Hmm, I thought. No explanation and they want me to send the plants back and for them to probably die in the post and be wasted. But I want the plants, I want to know why they are not what they are supposed to be and maybe an apology for that and maybe a nice free plant in the post. I was pretty cross about this.

Dear Annie and Guy,

Was I wrong to have expected rooted cuttings, as this is what the listing in your online shop says I was buying? I'm sad that you have provided no explanation as to why this has happened and no appreciation of the inconvenience and cost involved in returning the plants to you, not to mention that the plants would possibly be wasted were they to undergo another postal journey.

It would have been polite for you to have taken the time to address me personally, respond to the issues I raised and aim to asses what would be a satisfactory resolution to this issue. I made the effort to explain my concerns in a polite and well meaning fashion and was keen not imply any offense had been taken. From your response I can only assume that my custom is of no value to you. I had recommended your site to a friend and I will now be telling them to buy their plants elsewhere.

Regards

Lyndsay Officer

So they refunded the money and said this...

Hello Lindsay

I'll send you a refund without you returning the plants.

At this time of the year we are inundated with orders and it does become
very stressful. My time is very limited and I do not get near the computer
much and have to keep email replies short.  There is after all only so many
hours in the day and neither myself or Guy is getting any younger!

We are very sorry that you had a bad experience with us as we rarely receive
complaints and we do value each and every one of our Customers.

Regards
Annie

I don't know if I'm hoping from too much from people but they still didn't actually address the issue. And is that an excuse for being rude? And they still spelled my name incorrectly. Sending out cutting just snipped form a plant and pushed into a jiffy is a very different affair from taking cuttings and growing them on to have a good ol' set of roots and then sending them out to your paying customers once you know they have made it. The first is pretty much instant, the second takes some time and space and attention and maybe some failures. I feel like I was being swindled. I know I'm not too good with cuttings so I would rather buy plants that are growing well, which is what I was supposed to be buying.

I think they'll be ok, I just have to really remember to look after them. I obviously don't want to promote these people but here is the site so if you are ever in the pelargonium market you might remember that these are not nice people to buy from. scentedgeraniums.co.uk

I would really like to get this from crocus but they are so much. Pelargonium sidoides.

 And this, Pelargonium 'Ardens'...

Wow.