I'm not certain exactly what you can do if you are NOT patient...its not like you can go to another state and demand your banana in person, and revealing the person's identity here might get you "chastized" by the powers that be. Spike used to "frown on" that and would not let us have a forum devoted to exposing "bad traders"...but who knows with iVillage? They seem much more lax. A much more effective way is to let all your trusted gardening contacts know about this person and ask them to pass it on. Soon few will answer this person's trade posts, publicly OR privately. This person should be honest enough to send you the plant you were expecting, but don't hold your breath. I hate to say it, but if they can't tell the difference between a heliconia and a banana they shouldn't even be gardening, much less trading.

I don't actually plan on naming the trader on the forums or privately to anyone either, because I actually think the trade went bad because of the passage of time, not because the trader was a 'bad person'. And if the trader ever reads this post, she is going to remember and make good on the trade. So, I sit and wait. :-)

BTW the trade was for M. coccinea not M. velutina. I had forgotten... memory fades, computers crash...