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chocolateis2b8

lesson learned the hard way

chocolateis2b8
13 years ago

OK, call me stupid, naive, or any other names, won't be any worse than what I've already called myself. Believe me, I'm kicking myself up and down over this one.

Last fall I dug up all my poor excuse for iris and gave them a new home and this spring they outdid themselves, seems they were totally happy in their new home. Their beauty gave me a bad case of iris fever. Since I seemed to have found the perfect spot for them, I wanted to get more, this time named ones.

So I ordered 21 from one ebay vendor, first mistake. I ordered the first week of June and they did say they would not be shipping until July 1 at a first ordered, first shipped basis.

So I waited and meanwhile I busted my butt getting a new bed ready, I desodded, tilled in compost and kept the spot weeded waiting for my iris's.

Finally almost 2 month later I get a notice that my order has been shipped. In this notice it even listed all 21 iris.

So what do I get? 8 tiny pieces of rizomes, a refund check for the other 13 and a short note saying they had a bad growing season so this was it.

Ok, granted they refunded, but don't tell me in 2 months time they couldn't once let me know, given me a chance to order other iris's. They never let me know, even in their package sent e mail they were still leading me to believe I was getting my complete order.

So after waiting this long, all I got was 8 tiny pieces I could have fit in the gardens I already have, hours of back breaking work and a big bare spot in my gardens with nothing to put in it.

To say I'm not a happy camper is a bit of an understatement.

Comments (10)

  • sylviatexas1
    13 years ago

    I hope you haven't left positive feedback already;
    if you have, you're just out of luck.

    If not, tell the seller that the items she/he shipped are not as advertised, that they are not whole rhizomes & that you want a refund.

    If you don't get it, I don't know the exact procedure, but you can complain to ebay, & of course the last resort is to leave negative feedback with a comment.

    In future, you can almost always get irises from dealers for less money than you have to pay on ebay.

    Try bluej iris if you want a bunch & need to watch your money.

  • bgaylene52
    13 years ago

    There are many reputable gardens still accepting orders. If you are a relative beginner, some still have $3 iris like Superstition iris. Blue J Iris closed to orders on July 1.

    I just placed a final order with International Iris for the first time because the garden had Emma Cook. If the order is over a certain amount, there are no charges added for shipping there. Also reasonable is Snowpeak Iris and there are many more still taking orders.

    Ebay for iris-Yuk! I was burned just like you and, isn't it just the most infuriating thing? Your blessing is that you received a refund, I didn't.

    Good Luck with your iris search

  • aimeekitty
    13 years ago

    there are still some accepting orders... I just ordered some from Wild Iris Rows. I know some other people here have ordered from them. (this is my first time ordering from them.) GOOD LUCK!

  • hosenemesis
    13 years ago

    I'm so sorry to hear about this. You were so excited, and now your bubble has been burst.

    Check the web and see if there's a local iris society. They have lots of sales in July and August, since everyone is dividing and making room for new irises. My club, he San Fernando Iris Society, sells them for three bucks apiece.

    Schreiner's has a summer sale, they may still be sending out orders. I got great irises from Wild Iris Rows a few years ago.

    Renee

  • chocolateis2b8
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks all. I think you can tell I needed to vent and lucky you, you got to hear it, lol.

    I didn't leave a feedback, I'm just too ticked off to do so in a resonable manner. I'm not the kind of person who never wants to hurt someone or their business, which is why I didn't give the name of the seller in this post, and if I'm too mad, I end up doing that and then kicking myself later for it.

    Maybe the seller is a member or reads the forum. If so, it's not that they didn't fill my order, afterall I can understand a bad growing season and they did give me a refund, it's that not once in almost 2 months did they let me know they would not be able to fill the order and give me a chance to order somewhere else, they even lead me to believe right up until I got the order that it was my complete order. That was not good business practice.

    Meanwhile, I planted the little ones they did send, sure didn't take up much room. Of course now I'll have to wait a couple years to see if they even bloom true to name. Well I guess this fall when I divide up my overgrown daylilies, I can put them in the empty spot I made for the iris's. It's still a disapointment, I had them slated for other areas, which will now stay grass. Plus I've been bitten by the iris bug and have nothing to relieve the itch,lol.

  • neonh
    13 years ago

    I recently ordered several iris from ebay and they came in excellent shape, huge rhizomes, and I can't wait until Spring to see how they did. I then ordered from a vendor I had seen mentioned on this forum, and those came yesterday. They are quite small, and I'm disappointed. I bought them as a gift, so I'm not quite sure what to do.

    I guess it's just hard to tell what you're going to get when you order online. Was the ebay seller someone who had lots of positive reviews?

    Sorry you are disappointed, and I absolutely agree that they should have let you know right away and given you the option of canceling your order

  • littlebit_gw
    13 years ago

    Please email me thru my page..I have to divide my irises this year and I will be more than happy to share with you..Most of mine will go to our club sale but I have LOTS...so they won't miss them..

  • iris_gal
    13 years ago

    I just want to add for new bearded iris growers that the size of a rhizome doesn't guarantee next year bloom. I have received tiny shriveled ones that bllomed sooner than fat ones.

    I hope they perform for you. And I once named the seller who sent 90% incorrectly labeled ones. Why should someone else get burned? I had tried to resolve it first with the seller - no luck.

  • cjcanet
    13 years ago

    Hi, send me an email and we'll see if we can fill that empty spot :)
    cjcanet@yahoo.com

  • colcol
    13 years ago

    Gosh, chocolateis2b8, add me to the stupid list. you are not alone. My iris (from ebay vendor) arrived today... very puny and one had a half rotten rhizone! Of course that's the one of my dreams and the only reason for ordering. Wild Oats. I spent mega bucks to order it many years ago when it first came out, over the years I lost it.
    I will leave feedback. But they did not say anything about the quality, so the "positive" feedback will read : Good ebay transaction, but poor quality ryhizones.

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