ComplaintsforNorthern Ridge Nursery

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This past winter I ordered two trees, which arrived dead in spring. I am a horticulturist and know the difference between dead and dormant plants. Immediately upon receipt of the dead trees I contacted their customer service team via their website to discuss this with them and hopefully get either living trees or a refund. I got no response from them. Now, a few months later, I am on their website and see that I could have returned them within 14 days for a refund. I also see that getting warranty replacement trees from them will require me to pay for shipping again. This has led me to filing this complaint, and now I see how many other unhappy customers they have. I have no intention of spending more money with this company in hopes of getting viable replacement trees. Buyer beware - this company does not seem to care about it's customers.

  

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  Hello,

  Thank You for contacting us.  I have no record of you contacting us regarding this warranty issue, which is why we did not respond.  I apologize if the trees you ordered for Spring were received in poor condition and I will make sure we make it right.  You mentioned in your complaint that our warranty states that you have to pay for shipping again, however that is incorrect, nowhere does it say you need to pay for anything.  Our warranty is 2 part, first part is the healthy delivery guaranty whereas if your plants arrive damaged or they fail the initial scratch test as outlined in the prep, planting and care instructions then we ask that you email a photo of the damaged plant or failed scratch test and we will send a fresh replacement free of charge.  Second part is the 1 year warranty whereas if the plant fails within a year of receipt you can go to the warranty claim webpage on our website and answer a few questions, upload a photo of the failed scratch test and submit the claim to receive store credit in the amount of your original purchase.  At this point if you want to email the original photo of the failed scratch test you tried to email back in May I will either send you fresh plants or a refund, whichever you prefer.  You can also go to the warranty webpage and submit a claim since your plants are still under warranty until May 15th, 2025.  Thank You.

  The Tree Store

  Northern Ridge Nursery

   

   

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

  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. 
  
  I cut and pasted your warranty information directly from your website, below. Under terms and conditions item number 4 your warranty states that 'Replacement plant's shipping costs and taxes are not included AND WILL BE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER' (emphasis mine). As I stated in my original complaint to the BBB I am not inclined to pay shipping costs for the possibility of receiving replacements for the two dead trees. I have no faith that the replacements will be any better.

  BTW, I sent the original complaint as a message through your website, not as an email, or I would copy that here, too. You are claiming plausible deniability for your websites 'contact us' portal to have failed to deliver my message. That seems like a weak argument to make on what is really a small order. And this was a small order. And it would be easy for you to refund the price of my small order. 

  I have never complained about receiving dead plant materials in all of my gardening years, and I am in my 60s and I have spent a lot of money on plants over the course of that time. The trees you sent were dead, I wrote to you to tell you as much, and now I am simply asking for a refund. If you are unwilling to do this, than the matter is settled. I have spent enough time on this.

  Here is the text of your 1 year warranty:

  1 Year Warranty...........
  
  ...........Terms and conditions apply:
  A picture of the plant is required to verify it has perished.
  All required information on the warranty claim form must be completed accurately,
  The cost of the plant will be refunded in the form of store credit.
  Replacement plants shipping costs and taxes are not included and will be paid by the customer.
  Refunds will not be given for plants that were not planted in a recommended growing zone or if it is deemed that the planting instructions provided were not followed.
  The store credit can only be used once.
  Orders placed with store credit will be shipped according to the shipping schedule posted on our website.
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************

  

  Business response

  07/15/2024

  Thank You for your reply.  I'm sorry for your confusion with our policies.  Please note that you agreed to this policy of store credit in lieu of an out right refund if your claim is approved.  You paid $37.85 for your order which included packing and shipping fees and that is the amount you will receive as store credit when your claim is approved.  To get your claim for this store credit you must fill out the claim form and submit online along with an image of the dead plants.  To date, I still have not received your claim so I am unable to approve this claim for store credit and I cannot go against policy and refund your order, however what I did is apply the amount of $37.85 in store credit to your account allowing you to use this amount to purchase the replacements, however I will need you to complete the claim form before I will ship the product.  You will see that the store credit will cover the entire cost including the packing and shipping fees.  You can even use the coupon code TREES which will give you a 20% discount saving you even more on your purchase.  Thank You.

  ****

• Initial Complaint

  06/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I ordered 2 sycamore trees from The Tree Store (which appears to be one of their many names). Sent me non-dormant trees (they were supposed to be dormant, not budding with leaves erupting) in the Fall that I received in Nov and planted within one day only to see them killed to the ground the first freeze. And customer service only by email and a warranty process that is ridiculous and that they really don't expect anyone to complete and with all sorts of reasons they can claim it's your fault and deny the claim. I would like a refund, since I don't trust these people at all to send me 2 trees that are actually better than the ones I received, but I guess that is two much to ask. So is getting anyone to call you on the phone or answer the phone. ????? I have no problem with submitting pictures of the trees as they are right now, but their warranty process which they claim is straightforward and simple is simply ridiculous and intended to basically prevent anyone from getting a claim approved!

  

  Business response

  06/27/2024

  Thank You for Contacting us.  The point we are making is that 1.) The crop is not harvested until the plants are safely dormant for winter, so your claim that they were fully leafed out when you received them could not be possible.  2.)  The warranty you agreed to was that you must submit any "Healthy Delivery Issues" within 24 hours of receipt and we will send replacements.  3.)  You must follow our included prep, planting and care instructions to validate the 1 year warranty and fill out a claim form to receive store credit if your claim is approved.  I do not normally do this (change the warranty policy), however I will send you replacements and I will consider this matter closed.  Thank You.
  
  
  **** / Owner
  The Tree Store
  USPS Tracking Number:  9400111105501836457120

  Customer response

  06/27/2024

  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 this response because the plants were leafing out and not dormant when I received them. (Which you state)  Otherwise they would not have been killed all the way to the ground in the first freeze. I submit two pics of the trees as they currently are - still lifeless and you can clearly see dead leaf sprouts still attached to one dead twig.  
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

  [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. 

  They sent me two replacement trees and they are growing. I just wish they would admit that the trees could not possibly have been dormant last fall when they shipped them to me.  But the new trees are sprouting so I will close the case. 
  

  
  

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

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company is awful. I am not sure how the got an A- rating. Like other complaints I order trees and didnt get them all. They can keep their trees and my money. They must need it more. Shady business with no pride in their business. It is sad. I am sure their response will be half truths that make them look good. I just dont want them burning anyone else. It cost me the price of two trees to be called a liar because I didnt get them. I think they like scamming people. Notice I dont want replacement for my money back because I dont do business with disrespectful people and liars and here I thought it was a family business three generations but it seems like a very s***** company. I never get so many negative reviews on a company until now and I bought everyone

  

  Business response

  05/27/2022

  I really do not understand why this customer is so upset.  We never said we would not replace the plants that were missing.  She claims we called her a liar which is not true.  She says she doesn't want a refund or the missing plants sent, however she continues to file disputes and write bad reviews.  At this point I want to just refund the 2 plants she said were missing and ask that she does not contact our company again.  Thank You.

   

  *******************

  Customer response

  05/27/2022

  [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:
  
  That sounds good to me. And they did call me a liar. And I usually buy my trees from a legit nursery once in awhile I try new places. This time was just a fail. Buyers beware. I plan on never using them again. Worst experience ever.  So I also want no further communication with these people. But thank you for responding to this so fast.
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Seller shipped half of order. Missing from order were two arborvitae trees, a 2 pack ******* red maple, redwood tree, ******************* ****, and two butterfly bushes. Over $60 from order never got shipped. Upon contacting the business, I was instructed to "ship back the items for replacement"... THEY WERE NEVER SHIPPED / RECEIVED! Had seller simply checked their records or kept copies of their invoice, they would see invoice NRN3914 was an incomplete shipment.Extremely poor customer service where we never received over half my order, and Northern Ridge Nursery response was completely unacceptable. Nonresponsive seller.

  

  Business response

  03/20/2022

  Thank You for contacting us.  This was almost 3 years ago and unfortunately the warranty has expired and the window for filing a lost mail claim with the post office has also expired.  This order was shipped in (2) shipments in June 2019 as follows:  USPS ********************** Success-Delivered on Thursday, June 06, 2019 and USPS ********************** Success-Delivered on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.  Obviously the online tracking information is no longer available, however I can produce records that show that we paid this postage.  Shipping confirmation emails were also sent for both shipments.  If a shipment was lost in the mail, unfortunately it is too late to file a claim.  I would be happy to give the customer a partial refund on the items that were lost.  Note that the butterfly **** was refunded already.  Please let us know what you think would be a fair refund, the original cost of the missing plants was $36.75.  Thank You.

   

  ****

• Initial Complaint

  08/28/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered 11 trees from The Tree Store on May 2, 2021. The 11 trees arrived in late May as expected -dormant roots. Instructions were not included in the package, which I noted at the time and thought odd, in comparison to tree orders I have received from competitor companies. 9 of the 11 trees have died, despite desirable conditions. I reached out to TTS to inquire how to act upon the one-year warranty that is associated with the trees. I was told that I have to return the trees, along with a hand-written document indicating how I planted the trees, and that the document that was sent with them included. I wrote that instructions were not included and that I had noted at the time of receipt this oddity. "***" wrote that I was wrong, that the instructions were included. I shared again that they were not and what else could I do? I have not experienced such resistance to help a customer before. The requirement of documentation and "writing" past actions is unreasonable.

  

  Business response

  08/29/2021

  The warranty requires that the customer use our prep, planting and care instructions and to validate that they did indeed used our instructions the customer is required to save the combination packing list, instructions and warranty document, which is in a packing list envelope attached to the plastic covering that was surrounding the roots.  It would be impossible for an order to ship without this document as it has all of the shipping information for our shipping department.  If the packaged plants went to shipping without this document attached the shipping department would not know where to send the plants.  I have attached a copy of this document.

   

  As stated in the warranty, we will replace any plant thatdies within the first year, as long as it was planted using our 5 STEP Prep,Planting and Care Instructions and as stated on the top portion of theseplanting instructions,  the way to provethis is to save the "Replacement Claim Form" with the unique controlnumber, which was the lower portion of the required 5 STEP prep, planting andcare instructions.  If you no longer have the document you were asked tosave, then you can mail us a handwritten note that explains in detail how yourplants were prepared, planted and cared for along with the root and 2 inches ofthe stem of the dead plants you would like us to replace under the warranty. Please include a copy of this email with your claim.  Thanks Again!
  
  ***

  Customer response

  09/06/2021

  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.
  
  As I shared in my statement, the instructions that they insist were not provided.  As a business, they will not allow for the fact that an employee may have left these instructions out of a package, which was packaged during a time in which labor availability was lacking, and often times unskilled.  Because these instructions were lacking, I have had to estimate what I believe their five step plan for planting was and hope that my previous knowledge of successfully planting trees was correct -- although these trees died.  I also tried to called several times to speak to a company representative, but found that no one answers the phone and that one is met with a voicemail that says, "do not leave a message as no one will call you back," and that was three months out of date.

  
  

  I found ******* continue insistence that the documentation was included, when it was not, to be unprofessional, not customer-service oriented, and a way to skip out on their requirement to fulfill the warrant.  Competitors with similar products and prices do not have such rigid rules.  I want to be sure that others are not subject to purchasing an inferior product that has a warranty that is impossible to fulfill, in the case that an employee makes a mistake by leaving out required documentation.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  

  Business response

  09/07/2021

  Hello,

   

  We do not have any employees, only family members.  The paperwork in question that the customer claims was not included had to be included because if the packing list was not attached to the packed trees in packing then shipping would have no way of knowing where to send the plants.  We have very simple warranty terms, we will replace any plant that dies in the first year as long as the customer uses our included prep, planting and care instructions and how they prove that they did indeed used our instructions is by saving this 1 page 2 sided document and email an image of the document to us.  Once they do this the claim is approved.  If this customer threw away this document then they can send us a letter that explains how the plants were planted along with the root of the plant and 2 inches of it's stem and we will approve their claim.  Thank You

   

  ****

*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. ↩