Seattle Orchids 1st Order Experience
 

Hi All,

I wanted to share with you my recent experience with Seattle Orchids. On May 31st I placed an on online order that included three phalaenopsis (Cornu-Cervi in bud, Matthew Chen in bud, and Phal. Tetraspis), one “TLC” orchid (chosen by SO), and one “As is” Cattleya.

My orchid order was placed on a Thursday therefore it was to be shipped until the next Monday, however for “personal” reasons the vendor did not ship any orders that week as per their website announcement. This takes us to the week of the June 11th. However I did not receive my order because they sent me the wrong order, which kinda sticks because I had that week off from work to plant and quarantine all my orchid orders and other orchid related orders...
After two calls to Seattle Orchids and several emails to inform them of the mishap they finally said for me to ship the wrong order back to them, pay for the shipping charges out of my pocket as they would later reimburse me. —I must admit I was bothered by this because in my experience anyone else would have provided the shipping label for me to print out and just drop it off or even have USPS pick up the package themselves. I did as they asked and paid and shipped the package back to them. I did receive a reimbursement in the form of store credit. Again, this also stinks because so far my first experience ordering from them hasn’t been that pleasant.

One week later, I called to ensure they received their package and find out when I would receive MY order. The lady who answered my calls, Destiny said they would email me with tracking info once my order shipped. I never received any notification from them and I think this was their biggest mistake because my area had some unexpected heat waves with temps over 95. They shipped my order without notification and my orchids sat outside in the heat for hours. (It is also in their policies to check and withhold any orders with such weather...this did not happen with my order)

Finally, when I received what seemed to be the correct order I discovered they had sent me the wrong orchid!!! Once again. I received a Phal. Samera instead of the Matthew Chen and the quality of the orchids I received was the worse I’ve ever seen. They all had burned leaves, dehydrated, and one of them had a fungal infection. The Cattleya had two rotten pseudobulbs, and the TLC turned out to be a Miltassia which was probably the only one orchid in good condition.


One week after and I’m still calling the place to let them know about the mistake again...they instructed me to soak the orchids and what not to revive them but it was too late. The infection had already spreaded to the steam and after sending them pictures of the plants they said they would let me know what to do next. A few days later I received a redound for my order. I never received the Phal. Matthew Chen or replacement orchids for the ones I received in bad conditions.

After this drama (because that’s what it all turned out to be) I will NEVER purchase anything from them again. I still have the store credit they gave me for the shipping expenses, but with the horrible experience I just went through I don’t want anything from them. The people at the customer service was always polite and helpful at their best of their capabilities, but it was clear that they did not have the correct inventory of the Matthew Chen, they never sent it and was never available. The communication to their customer was lacking and I wish they would have asked me if they should replace with other orchids or refound me the money. Perhaps I would have been able to also include the store credit and be done with them once and for all.



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Did you pay with a credit card? If so, copy your post above, and send it to the credit card issuer, along with a challenge of all charges. Send a copy to Seattle Orchids.

You did not get what you ordered, and what you did get was defective, so you don't owe them anything. And, on top of that, they will receive a chargeback fee from the card issuer.

I used PayPal but they did refound me for the order except what I originally had paid for shipping.

Oh that sounds like a pretty miserable experience. I know "shit happens", even the best of us mess up or have a bad day sometimes, but I always wonder how these businesses are able to rationalize this kind of behavior and customer experience.

I used to buy quite a bit from them because they had/have some pretty interesting and hard(er) to find orchids. The issue is, it sometimes takes a couple of years to bloom things out (even blooming sized plants don't always bloom in season), and what I was finding was an unacceptably high rate of mislabeled plants and no recourse. It really sucks to pay $50+ on a plant and spend a couple of years caring for it, only to find out it's not what you paid for and not worth the money.

Now I'd only ever consider buying something from them if it were in spike/bloom and cheaper than other places.

I will say that most of the plants I've gotten from them have been nice and healthy. So, it's sad to hear that they've got labeling/ID issues and now possibly issues with the health of their stock. I really hate to see US orchid businesses go down the drain, we've lost so many good ones over the years.

A part of me is hoping that I’m just 1/1000 and IF i order again they will redeem themselves and fulfill customer satisfaction. On the other hand, they had the chance to do so with me and time after time, the owner just called for what seems to be what’s most convenient for them.
I also agree with this as one of the phals. Received is labeled as “blooming size” when in my opinion is just a seedling quite small and not a mini orchid species for it to be smaller than the palm of my hand in size.


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I think what happened with me was an issue with their inventory and as they mentioned someone new in the shipping department, but if what they say is correct. Why then once they received the order sent to the wrong customer back (to ensure everything is in good condition) they did not catch the fact that a Matthew Chen is not the same as a Phal. Samera, the label was correct what was wrong was the plant.

---------- Post added at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 PM ----------

That’s exactly what I thought! Even my husband suggested that if they wanted their plants they pay for it. That I shouldn’t have to spend my own money and time to drop off the package at the postal office, but in all honesty I was mostly concerned for the plants! I didn’t want them to suffer any more than they should and I wanted them to go to their rightful owner as quick as possible.

They had already spend almost 5 days being shipped from SE to IL, and now another 3-4 days back, and again 4-5 days to their correct owner in Connecticut.

I did not have a good experience with them, either, and so I will never order from them again. It is always so disappointing when you are excited about getting new orchids and then you have something like this happen.

I never care if orchids are perfect and I am willing to let an orchid slide when it isn't the promised 'blooming size'. I have even nursed rootless orchids back to health with no complaint to the vendor. I also understand when a vendor makes a mistake. One vendor forgot to send my orchid for which I had paid. When I contacted him after a couple of months, he apologized profusely, asked if I wanted the orchid or a refund, sent me a much larger one than I had expected, and used two-day shipping.
The other mistake was when a vendor sent me the wrong Cattleya. When I called them, they told me to keep that one and they immediately sent me the right one at no charge.

Yeah not quite the same here. But I wanted to give them a try. I have two big orchid nursery very close to me so I’ll stick with them. At least I know a few people at Hausemann’s and I’ll be able to pick my own plants.

Hausermann's is a good vendor. I have bought many orchids from them. :)

If you want a specialty Phal, Peter Lin is said to be very good: Homepage ⋆ Big Leaf Orchids

Hausermann's also often has a good selection of Phals and the selection often changes. I bought two not long ago that I have been wanting for a long time, on sale. They were not said to be in spike but.... :)

Good luck!

Sucks to have that kind of experience with them. I’ve always thought they were a quality vendor, but I’ve never bought anything from them. I’ve been very satisfied with all the orchids I have purchased from Carter & Holmes, Hausermans, Big Leaf, H&R Nurseries and from First Rays. Cmon Ray, start selling orchids again! 😊