ComplaintsforEverwilde Farms, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 3-16-22 I purchased 3 lbs of buffalo grass on Amazon from Everwilde Farms. I was sent Kentucky Blue grass seed instead which I did not know until the grass came up several weeks later. This KB grass seed was packaged and labeled as Buffalo Grass seed. I received a refund from them without any questions, but now I have a yard full of the wrong type of grass. I live in NM and wanted Buffalo Grass because it is a drought resistant grass, not KB Grass, which needs to be watered every day. I tried to get help from Amazon, but they were no help at all. This company should be held accountable for selling cheap grass seed in expensive grass seed packages. They should pay to clear out the grass that they sent me and then pay to have the correct type of seed planted. This company is dishonest!

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  First, I want to reply to this complaint about the Buffalo Grass Seeds from August 30, 2022:

  
  

    We received an order for 3 LBS of Buffalo Grass from this customer on the Amazon Marketplace on March 16, 2022 for a total purchase price of $136.35.  We received a message from the customer on July 6 stating that the seeds were the wrong type, and that she wanted a refund.  On July 7 we offered the customer either a replacement or a refund.  She messaged back the same day stating again that she wanted her money back.  We then issued a full refund of $136.35 for the product and the shipping with no questions asked.

  
  

    The customer states that the seeds were mismarked.  We do not even sell Kentucky Blue Grass, so it is not possible that we shipped the wrong bag of seeds to her.  Also, Buffalo Grass Seeds are quite distinctive from any other kind of turf grass seed, as they are sort of like little roundish husks, rather than long slender grass seeds, making it really unlikely that there was an error on our part of identification.  Grasses that are newly sprouted are difficult to identify even for experts, so we are not sure how the customer is certain that the grass that is growing is Kentucky Blue Grass?  It is possible that there were some type of resident grass seeds already in her soil that sprouted up upon watering.

  
  

    The request that we should clear the grass that is growing in her yard, and then pay to have the correct type of grass seeds planted is beyond the scope of our transaction.  We sold her a bag of seeds, installing those seeds in her yard was not a part of this transaction.  The industry standard for seed companies is that the seed dealer liability is always limited to the purchase price of the seeds. In the Terms and Conditions page of our website it states:

  
  

    "The liability of Everwilde Farms for any loss or damage arising out of the purchase or use of its seeds or other products, including loss or damage resulting from negligence or strict liability in tort, shall be limited to replacement of the item, or the refund of the purchase price. In no case shall Everwilde Farms be liable for more than the purchase price of the seed.  We reserve the right to request the return of the seeds before making adjustments.  By ordering and accepting such seeds, the purchaser acknowledges this limited warranty and that they constitute the entire agreement between the parties regarding any warranty or liability."
  

  
  

      The fact that we refunded the customer in full, and that our liability is limited to this amount may be part of the reason that the customer was not able to get any help from Amazon.  We have been in the seed business for over 25 years, and this is the first complaint that has ever been filed against us with the BBB.  If we were a dishonest company as the customer states, there would be a lot more complaints filed against us.  We are an honest company, and do our best to resolve customer issues, so hoping that this response will help to resolve this complaint.

  
  

  Second, we are not a BBB Accredited business, but there is a BBB profile page for our company.  The problem is that we moved our company from WI to CA a few years ago, so the contact info is outdated.  The new company info should be:

  
  

  Physical Address and Mailing Address:

  Everwilde Farms

  560 **************

  ********* ** 92028

  
  

  Website and Email: Unchanged

  
  

  Phone: ************

  Toll Free: ************
  

  FAX: ************
  

  
  

  Thirdly, we used to handle clothing returns for a company called HolyClothing.  They are a company that has offices in ****** and *****, but I don't think that they have a ** mailing address.  So, we handled their *** Returns for them, but have ceased to be connected to HolyClothing in any way since 2020.  The problem is that we keep getting BBB Complaints for the ******************** at our home address in **. Our home address is ******************************************************* 92028.  I do not have an updated *** address for HolyClothing, but just want our home address taken off of their BBB Profile so that I do not get these Emails anymore.  The owner of HolyCothing lives in ******, and the last working Email address that I had for him was *****************************.

  
  

    If you are unable to process the second two items, please forward this info on to the person that can process these changes.

  
  

  Thanks,
  

  
  

  Everwilde Farms

  
  

  Customer response

  09/13/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I do not accept their response.  This is not random grass that just popped up because I started watering.  If it were random, it would be spotty.  This grass filled in the entire area that I seeded with this company's grass seed.  If it's not Kentucky grass, I don't know exactly what type of grass it is.  I do know that it is not buffalo grass.  There is no buffalo grass in this entire area.  
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  09/16/2022

    Grass species can be difficult to identify, and there are a lot of different varieties of Buffalo Grass out there, so not sure how the customer is so certain that this grass in her photo is not Buffalo Grass?  We have sold Buffalo Grass seed to thousands of customers over the past 20 years, and I cannot recall any other complaints about the identity of our Buffalo Grass seeds. 

    But we realize that the customer is not happy with the grass that grew, whatever it is.  We also realize that we are human, and mistakes can happen.  So, as soon as we were aware that she was not happy with her purchase, we immediately refunded her in full with no questions asked.  Her request that we replant her lawn is unreasonable, and goes way beyond our original transaction of selling her a bag of seeds on Amazon.

  Customer response

  09/22/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I do know what buffalo grass looks like.  I have it in my backyard.  I have wasted an entire season growing the wrong grass seed from your company.  I have put a lot of time and care into this grass only to have to start over next summer.  I have included a picture that shows the buffalo grass in my backyard (right side of picture) and the grass in the front yard that I grew from your seeds (left side of picture).  They are very different grasses.  The money I spent on this grass seed is not the problem.  The problem is I have spent months growing the wrong grass from the wrong grass seed!  

  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

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