ComplaintsforThe Tree Center

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We ordered 10 (4-5) foot Leyland Cypress trees along with the recommended probiotic root stimulator and fertilizer from The Tree Center on April 19th for $937.13. Order # ********. The trees took a little longer than expected to arrive and were packed well but upon opening the boxes, we were disappointed in the width and overall condition of the trees. We also spent a lot of money on these trees that we believe we overpaid for due to their condition. The pictures on the website of full trees are a little misleading. I have also seen some reviews that show much fuller trees than I received until I filtered for the lower reviews where people complained the trees were not full. I emailed The Tree Center and attached pictures of the trees measuring the very short widths and damage to the trunk. They took several days to email me back saying I have one week to repackage and return the 4-5 foot trees and it was day 6 so I had to get them mailed by the next day which was a Saturday and ship them back at my own expense which would cost a lot of money. They seemed only one tree damaged enough for a "store credit" which I still haven't used as I told them I would rather get a refund and purchase a heathier tree locally. I went to a local nursery to show them pictures and ask if this trimming was normal and nursery told me that these plants were not only overly trimmed, but were also incorrectly trimmed straight down as opposed to an angle to give a conical shape. Some were trimmed shorter in the bottom and longer in the top of you refer back to the pictures I sent. He told me that would cause the lower branches to die off if they don't get enough sunlight so I will have to trim them even more to ensure they properly fill in as a hedge. The Tree Center customer service also told us they get trimmed before they arrived at the center from nurseries and some nurseries trim them more than others. They said if I ordered another one I couldn't request that I get a fuller tree. They said they thought the trees were healthy and would grow and that they only guarantee the height not the width. We spent the whole day planting them with the fertilizer and root stimulator we bought and mixed with good soil we purchased locally. You said they were healthy from the pictures but upon planting them, at least 5 had trunks covered in sap. They were either damaged from the over trimming too close to the trunk or from the tape and upon shipping. The trees have only grown a little taller since we have ben taking great care of them since the end of April and are not growing wider to make a privacy fence as we initially bought them for. The sap is still leaking from the trees and a lot of lower branches have turned brown and died. As you can imagine, this is beyond frustrating.

  Business response

  08/14/2023

  Manager confirmed that tree fullness was sub-par.  Trees are healthy (sap is no issue, all Leylands do this) but shouldnt be sent out so soon after trimming.  $500 refund issued.

  Customer response

  08/17/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I bought 2 Meyer Lemon Trees listed on the company website on September 6th 2022. ***********************************************. They were sold to me as potted plants. It is stated clearly in the description and in the care directions. Upon checking out the website displays a pop up it states Buy a one-year warranty clearly visible dark color against the white screen and states the following 1-Year Warranty There are a number of reasons why a plant can perish, which is why we offer a 1-year, one-time Replacement Warranty (shipping costs not included) available for purchase at the time of checkout. Meyer Lemon Tree - #5 Container it says terms and conditions in small letters at the very bottom. I paid and bought a warranty for each plant. The plants die. I am still in warranty ( June-July 2023) I take photos grab the receipt and the warranty is listed the company send me back the following response: From: ****** (The Tree Center) Sent: Friday, June 30, 2023 7:14 AM To: ******* ****** Iservice/#warranty. While there are multiple potential voiding factors, I will provide a relevant section below: "Certain and varying factors may void a 1-year warranty. Voided 1-year warranties are not eligible for any form of reimbursement. The following factors void a 1-year warranty: ...Keeping a plant in its grower container or planting it in a pot, raised planter or planting bed, or other structural enclosure, past 30 days, unless the plant is sold as a house plant." It was sold to me as a house plant. Why is they warranty not being upheld.

  Business response

  08/14/2023

  Customer sent message in error (as if he didnt buy a warranty).  Issue corrected and warranty claim processed

  Customer response

  08/15/2023

  After your contacting the company I was given the replacements I paid for and they upheld the warranty. Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  06/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Re: The Tree Center Complaint ***************************** Upper Marlboro, MD *************** June 12, 2023 To Better Business Bureau: On April 24, 2023, I purchased six ***** **** Boxwood shrubs #5 Container totaling $760.02. The six shrubs were delivered on April 28, 2023. On May 16, 2023, I submitted a claim #****** with a picture showing that one of the shrubs had missing branches and leaves. On May 22, 2023 claim #****** a second claim was submitted with a photo showing the shrub was dying and turning brown. Both claims were submitted requesting replacement shrubs. I never received a telephone call or email. When I finally spoke with someone, I was told it was normal for shrubs to lose leaves. However, these shrubs have lost leaves and branches and are continuing to die. I requested both shrubs to be replaced. However, my requests have been ignored. The resolution I am seeking is two replacements of the ***** **** Boxwood #5 Container shrub or if the shrubs are not available a store credit for the price of two shrubs in the amount of $239.00. These two shrubs did not thrive and according to their company policy, guarantees customer plant satisfaction up to 30 days from delivery. My shrubs were under warranty through May 28, 2023. I am not satisfied and I am asking The Tree Center to honor the warranty I was promised. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Sincerely,************************* Attachments:1.Order Information 2.Shipping Information 3.Delivery Information (confirmation)4.Proof of first complaint submission #****** May 16 plus photo 5.Proof of second complaint submission #****** May 22 plus photo 6.Healthy ***** **** Boxwood picture from The Tree Center website 7.The Tree Center Arrive & Thrive Guarantee (warranty)

  Business response

  06/29/2023

  I reviewed the attached material and came to the same conclusion that customer service did.  These plants look fine.  She has a single branch with some brown leaves that can be removed with scissors and that is all.  Unless there is some additional information I dont see any reason to replace these plants.  The green color looks quite lovely actually.

  Customer response

  07/03/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered a Japanese Maple from The Tree Center. Paid $109 for a 2 gallon plant. When it arrived on 10/25/22, 90% of the leaves were in the bottom of the box. The leaves that were on the tree were all burnt and curled on the edges. And they all had gray spots that looked like a disease. According the The Tree Center advertising, the have a satisfaction guarantee. I reached out, sent pictures. Kallie in Customer Service said "Japanese maples lose their leaves at this time of year. We will not issue a refund." First, not all Japanese maples lose their leaves. And these spots were not from a natural seasonal shedding of leaves. I sent a second email with pictures and still no response. Finally, I ordered the same Mikawa maple from another nursery and received a beautiful, green, leafy tree. This tree was shipped from California so equal shipping distance as the MD location of The Tree Center. Sent pictures to Tree Center showing difference and requesting a refund. Still no response. Do NOT buy from this nursery. Cannot trust the quality of their product or their word.

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  Customer refunded $109.50 for damaged plant

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hi. I placed an order ( ******** ) for several trees. When the packages arrived, I opened it. The trees were in bad shape . All but one, which although healthy ( seeminlgy fofniw) is a lot smaller than what the container size ( and thus price) lead me. I sent a 1st email to the support center, with some pictures. I was asked to send more pictures, which I did and since then no response. So I spent more than 400$ and I got dead trees...

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  We were fine to process the claim for some damaged plants.  We were simply waiting for a response to the following:

  "While we do require photos showing the entire plant, we cannot see a bark scratch test from the last photo provided.  The photo showing the bark scratch test doesn't need to show the full plant, being that we already have those photos showing the full plant.  Please attach a photo showing the bark scratch test up close so it's visible.  As soon as we can see the bark scratch test and determine the results, that will be the last bit of information we need."

  Customer response

  12/09/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I did send pictures as requested.

  Business should also post actual pictures of plant size associated with each container size, not fully grown trees. This way, customers would know what they will receive for what price. This is false advertisement. On top of sending damaged plants.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *******  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Ordered 10 #5 gallon bucket of northstar boxwood after careful research of this particular plant. The website shows pictures as well as a detailed description of the plant itself. I purchased 10 at $109.50 per plant with a 20% discount. They arrived yesterday in 5 rectangle boxes which I thought was odd given the size and sphere of the plant. I opened the package to find 10 plants chopped up to now form a thumb shape so they would fit in the rectangle box. This plant is almost full grown and in addition grows very slowly so the beautiful natural balls are now skinny thumbs and will take several years for this slow growing plant and a ton of labor to get these back to normal. I immediately reached out to the business and complained as they are all destroyed and need to be returned and replaced with what I was promised. Unfortunately I was told that since they are alive they are not considered damaged or problematic and will only take all plants back if I pay for shipping which would be insanely expensive on top of the fee I already paid. Imagine ordering a beautiful almost fully mature tree and then they cut off all the branches and send you a bark with one branch left. Is that fair? Is that not considered damaged because it arrived alive? It will take years of hopes and prayers for branches to come back. Its a total bait and switch for a top dollar plant. I am furious that a business can take my money and not give me what I paid for. I’m sending pictures of the plants and the box. It is clear that a round plant cannot fit into this box unless you cut it up. They refuse to correct the problem by delivering 10 new plants that are not destroyed and taking back the ones that are they offered a $200 credit which I do not want I either want 10 new plants or a total refund and come and get these plants. I refuse to pay for return shipping.

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  Customer did not understand that all boxwoods are trimmed this time of year.  Customer believes that we trimmed them to fit in shipping box, not realizing the immense amount of time this would waste etc.  Customer did not respond to options of 50% store credit or $200.  We refunded $200.

  Customer response

  12/08/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:1. They are lying about their reasons and they should not say “I don’t understand”(they can’t speak about my understanding. Do they know me? Its simple. I was scammed and apparently, from their reviews, plenty of others were scammed as well. My purchase was made 2 months ago. They offered $200 back then when I complained. After spending 1,000. I asked for them to be replaced. $200 wasn’t going to make these plants look the way they promised. In fact, 2 weeks after that offer, they were selling them on line for 30%?off. My other option was to return them if I covered shipping cost since the plant was alive, it was on me. Interesting enough, just today, 2 months later, they responded to this bbb complaint and took off $200 today as well. I am still without the plants I paid for and I still have to purchase 10 more plants. So $200 does nothing. I told them that 2 months ago.I’m saying it again today. I never wanted the money. I want what I paid for. It’s sad that criminals can scam the public. It’s not right.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased four Japanese Maple trees from them March 17, 2022 (#********, $630.20). I also purchased insurance for each of these, which provided a 1-year guarantee. On Oct. 8, 2022, I contacted them asking how to exercise the insurance policy as one of my trees had died. They replied asking simply for a pic of the tree, which i provided. They responded (almost gleefully, i might add) that i had violated one of the conditions of the policy and thus voided the insurance. I write for a living - words matter. Not only did I take a screenshot (full email attached) of their policy, i pointed out that what they were trying to enforce isn't actually what the policy says. They then said they reserve the right to "change the terms" at any point. That's all well and good for any transaction going forward; however, they can't change it to get out of an obligation - they can't un-ring the bell. As the email exchange shows, I followed every instruction given to me. Here's the kicker. The plant didn't die because it was in a pot–all of the others are in pots as well and are doing well–it died because of the extreme Texas heat this year, which I might add IS also covered in the guarantee. The just saw "plant in pot" and assumed this is what caused it die. I simply want them to honor the insurance agreement and replace the plant. I didn't want any money, no refund, only a replacement. That's it. We're talking, roughly, a $150 tree. Rather than do the right thing, they saw an opportunity save themselves a couple of bucks while also losing future business.

  Business response

  11/17/2022

  We do not have many restrictions to our warranty.  Outdoor plants in pots is one of them.  Most plants die in containers over long periods of time.  Whether it dies from cold, lack of watering etc.

  As a courtesy I have refunded $75 which is half of the price of the tree. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  September 21, 2022 #******** I purchased a Japanese Maple tree (Crimson Queen) The Tree Center shipped a tree that was in poor condition, very small and had a broken branch. This was an unhealthy tree and also a much younger tree than was ordered. I was mislead by the photos on the website. I notified the company through several emails, sent a photo and asked for a replacement tree or a refund. Customer service was rude and refused to provide a refund or send a replacement tree. The cost of the tree was 69.00 and shipping was 29.95. 

  Business response

  10/25/2022

  Customer was unhappy with size of plant.  We offer various sizes to choose from.  Offered opportunity to return but customer declined.

  Customer response

  10/28/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This is false advertising. The unhealthy tree was damaged, dried out and dramatically smaller than the size as pictured. This is false advertising and the company should issue a refund or send a replacement. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Order Date 9/12/2022. Order Number: ********. Total Cost: $627.76.....I ordered 5 Leyland Cypress trees. 5-6ft size. Even though trees are the correct height, they are 100% unacceptable!. They have zero mass-volume (as far as branches are concerned). They are not going to cover the space intended for privacy. These trees are just little long twigs. What is advertised and what you actually receive are completely different! Classic case of bait and switch practice, which is 100% illegal. I contacted their support center as instructed and received the most ridiculous reply ever. The message basically said " thank you for ordering from our company and we are glad the plants arrived healthy" Not even acknowledging that I have contacted them to file an official complaint. Regardless, I am asking for a full refund or at least a percentage OFF my original purchase. I think these trees are worth the friction of the price I have paid for them. I am looking for at least $500 off my purchase if not more. As a comparison, same trees, smaller size only by about a foot (4-5ft) are stocked in our local ******. They are listed as $59.98 and look great! I have multiple pictures, including the advertisement online that shows you a "bait-picture". Trees are already planted by a professional Landscaping company. They are watered and also fertilized.

  Business response

  10/25/2022

  ---------- Forwarded message ---------
  From: Clint S****** <*****@thetreecenter.com>
  Date: Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 6:39 AM
  Subject: Re: You have a new message from the BBB of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania complaint #********.
  To: Better Business Bureau <[email protected]>, Dispute Resolution Team <[email protected]>
  

  
  

  Response:

  
  

  “Customer was unwilling to return trees as they were already planted.  The matter is resolved from our side"

  
  

  Clint S****** | The Tree Center

  Owner/Partner

  
  

  Customer response

  10/25/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I reached out to the company about returning trees on 9/26. Here is my email to their manager:

  Hi ****,
  
  First of all, thank you for replying back quickly. The trees are in excellent shape. They have been planted and we have been taking care of them like they are our children!
  
  Meanwhile, this entire experience has been a nightmare to say the least! The trees look nothing like what they are supposed to look like. This is the reason I am disputing the charges and filed a complaint.
  
  I also have been running around all day today. I have been to *** ** as well as ***. Ready for this? They are telling me that it would cost over $700 to ship these trees back your nursery!!!!!! 
  Obviously, I am not going to do that. 
  As I was driving home, I realized that there must be another way for you to make this right. Since you have a *** ** account as a business, you can perhaps create and email me 3 RETURN Labels back to your nursery. This would resolve the issues 100%. As soon as I get my credit back to my original form of payment, I will reverse all of my complaints, including a possible litigation against your company and individuals.
  
  How about you say yes and take care of this old guy for once?
  
  thank you for reading. Looking forward to your response. Can you please share this with Clint (the owner) please?
  
  ***** *******
  ************
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  09/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased 2 trees and 1 hydrangea on 8/19. I thought I added the 1 year warranty. Upon inspecting the receipt on the day I purchased them, the warranty was not showing up. I contacted the company via their chat the same day I purchased the plants and asked them to check that I added the warranty and if not, to please add it. The response on the chat was that they were busy and would get back to me. I never heard from them. On 9/6 I received an email stating that the plants would be received tomorrow (9/7). Since I didn't receive communication from the company about the warranty, I reached out to them again by chat and then by phone and spoke with two supervisors. They refused to add the warranty and told me they are unable to add the warranty after the items are shipped and that they had reached out to me about the warranty needing to be purchased before it was shipped. I never received this communication and I told them I never received this communication. They still refused to add the warranty. They said the error is on my end that I didn't respond before the plants were shipped. I told them there must be an error in their communication system because I never received the communication. They continued to refuse to add the warranty. DON'T PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY. They are not consumer friendly or professional --- very bad business practices.

  Business response

  10/25/2022

  ---------- Forwarded message ---------
  From: Clint S****** <*****@thetreecenter.com>
  Date: Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 6:37 AM
  Subject: Re: You have a new message from the BBB of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania complaint #********.
  To: Better Business Bureau <[email protected]>, Dispute Resolution Team <[email protected]>
  

  
  

  Response:

  
  

  “Customer has agreed to wait until spring and let the trees settle.  Staff reviewed pictures and trees seem like they are doing fine"

  
  

  Clint S****** | The Tree Center

  Owner/Partner

  
  

  Customer response

  10/25/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me, as long as they replace the trees in the spring if the browning becomes worse since they were unable to process the extended warranty.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ******
  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩