Post by meizzwang on Jul 21, 2015 13:59:07 GMT -5
I invite everyone to make their own decision whether or not to work with this company, but I personally had a very long and frustrating experience, and I feel obligated to share this with you all...at times, it was almost unbelievable how they treated me.
On one hand, if they do deliver to you a good product, they're quick, efficient, easy to work with, and very reliable. On the other hand, if they send you a poor quality product (which they advertise as being good quality) and you want to return it, be prepared to receive some of the worst customer service you can imagine.
Here in California, sourcing high quality peat moss is a challenge, and rumor had it that American Horticulture Supply had a really good batch of peat moss (well, they did, but they sold it all and then restocked a bunch of low grade peat). Based on my good friend's experience with them, I called on a Thursday and asked if they had good quality peat moss, and they said absolutely, so I ordered a pallet of it. They were quick and delivered it by Monday (pallet photographed to the right)
The driver was very friendly, and I helped him get the pallet off the truck. I was excited and immediately tested the peat moss. 325ppm....wait, WHAT?!!!! No matter what you're growing, 325ppm of unknown salts is not good quality, this is worse than the stuff you can get locally (which seems to average 225ppm). BTW: it's very challenging to grow CP's in super salty peat...been there, done that!
I called the main Southern California branch and asked if I could swap out this pallet for a proven, good quality peat moss (100ppm or lower), and Regina (sales rep) said she'll get back to me. I told her the pallet I received isn't good quality as was promised, and she didn't contend.
2 days later, I called and left a message, but still no call back. On the 3rd day,she finally picked up and she gave an annoyed sigh, and apologized for not getting back to me (she's skillful at promising things over the phone but didn't follow through with the majority of her promises). She then gave me the phone number of their supplier and said I should contact them since she didn't hear back. WHAT?!!!!!! I told her that's not acceptable, and how about we just make this easier on both of us and I'll return the pallet/get a refund. She quickly told me sure thing, call the other branch (American Horticulture Supply has multiple offices).
I called the Gilroy Branch and asked to return the pallet and refund the cost. I offered to wait until they had a delivery nearby so it wouldn't be out of their way. Miguel from the Gilroy Branch told me they could do that, but there's a 20% restocking fee, or $150.. WHAT?!!!! At first, he defended himself and said they didn't do anything wrong. I explained this pallet was purchased under the promise (by Miguel himself) that it was good quality, which it was proven to not be. I said look from the customer's perspective: how would you feel if you received a poor quality product which was promised to be good, and in the end, you pay $150 and get nothing but almost a month of frustration from the supplier? No response. I said look, I know there's cost associated with restocking, but $150 is unreasonable,especially because of the false advertisement. Legally, they were responsible for refunding the whole thing. However, In hopes of expediting this issue (it wasn't worth my time anymore), I offered to compromise and pay for the pick up, but that's it. He said he couldn't make the call, and to call the main branch.
Called the main branch, told Regina the whole story, and then she said she couldn't make the call on lowering the restocking fee and to call back the Gilroy branch. What?!!!!! I said look, if you can't make the call, and Miguel can't make the call, who can? 30 seconds later, after she "spoke with her manager", it was lowered 10% restocking fee (sneakily, they still charged for all the shipping even though other customers had already paid for shipping and I was conveniently on the way). Overall, I paid $87 for this nightmarish learning experience. Pallet was picked up on a wednesday, and by next tuesday (Regina's boss was out of town until then to authorize accounting), the refund would be issued... But the nigtmare wasn't yet over.....
The refund never showed up on Tuesday, so I called on Wednesday morning. Regina said it should show up today (Wednesday). Surprise! It didn't show up on Wednesday, so I called on Thursday morning. she said accounting didn't send the funds back because they didn't have my credit card information. UN.......EFFIN...BELIEVABLE! At this point, I asked to stay on the line until the refund was confirmed, and she said after about 3 minutes that it was confirmed and she'll send me a copy of the receipt shortly. Surprise, Surprise, she never did send it, so I called again and she emailed me the receipt while I was on the phone.
After 7 phone calls and an incredibly long and drawn out poor customer service experience, I got the refund. Long story short, NEVER AGAIN!!!!
On one hand, if they do deliver to you a good product, they're quick, efficient, easy to work with, and very reliable. On the other hand, if they send you a poor quality product (which they advertise as being good quality) and you want to return it, be prepared to receive some of the worst customer service you can imagine.
Here in California, sourcing high quality peat moss is a challenge, and rumor had it that American Horticulture Supply had a really good batch of peat moss (well, they did, but they sold it all and then restocked a bunch of low grade peat). Based on my good friend's experience with them, I called on a Thursday and asked if they had good quality peat moss, and they said absolutely, so I ordered a pallet of it. They were quick and delivered it by Monday (pallet photographed to the right)
The driver was very friendly, and I helped him get the pallet off the truck. I was excited and immediately tested the peat moss. 325ppm....wait, WHAT?!!!! No matter what you're growing, 325ppm of unknown salts is not good quality, this is worse than the stuff you can get locally (which seems to average 225ppm). BTW: it's very challenging to grow CP's in super salty peat...been there, done that!
I called the main Southern California branch and asked if I could swap out this pallet for a proven, good quality peat moss (100ppm or lower), and Regina (sales rep) said she'll get back to me. I told her the pallet I received isn't good quality as was promised, and she didn't contend.
2 days later, I called and left a message, but still no call back. On the 3rd day,she finally picked up and she gave an annoyed sigh, and apologized for not getting back to me (she's skillful at promising things over the phone but didn't follow through with the majority of her promises). She then gave me the phone number of their supplier and said I should contact them since she didn't hear back. WHAT?!!!!!! I told her that's not acceptable, and how about we just make this easier on both of us and I'll return the pallet/get a refund. She quickly told me sure thing, call the other branch (American Horticulture Supply has multiple offices).
I called the Gilroy Branch and asked to return the pallet and refund the cost. I offered to wait until they had a delivery nearby so it wouldn't be out of their way. Miguel from the Gilroy Branch told me they could do that, but there's a 20% restocking fee, or $150.. WHAT?!!!! At first, he defended himself and said they didn't do anything wrong. I explained this pallet was purchased under the promise (by Miguel himself) that it was good quality, which it was proven to not be. I said look from the customer's perspective: how would you feel if you received a poor quality product which was promised to be good, and in the end, you pay $150 and get nothing but almost a month of frustration from the supplier? No response. I said look, I know there's cost associated with restocking, but $150 is unreasonable,especially because of the false advertisement. Legally, they were responsible for refunding the whole thing. However, In hopes of expediting this issue (it wasn't worth my time anymore), I offered to compromise and pay for the pick up, but that's it. He said he couldn't make the call, and to call the main branch.
Called the main branch, told Regina the whole story, and then she said she couldn't make the call on lowering the restocking fee and to call back the Gilroy branch. What?!!!!! I said look, if you can't make the call, and Miguel can't make the call, who can? 30 seconds later, after she "spoke with her manager", it was lowered 10% restocking fee (sneakily, they still charged for all the shipping even though other customers had already paid for shipping and I was conveniently on the way). Overall, I paid $87 for this nightmarish learning experience. Pallet was picked up on a wednesday, and by next tuesday (Regina's boss was out of town until then to authorize accounting), the refund would be issued... But the nigtmare wasn't yet over.....
The refund never showed up on Tuesday, so I called on Wednesday morning. Regina said it should show up today (Wednesday). Surprise! It didn't show up on Wednesday, so I called on Thursday morning. she said accounting didn't send the funds back because they didn't have my credit card information. UN.......EFFIN...BELIEVABLE! At this point, I asked to stay on the line until the refund was confirmed, and she said after about 3 minutes that it was confirmed and she'll send me a copy of the receipt shortly. Surprise, Surprise, she never did send it, so I called again and she emailed me the receipt while I was on the phone.
After 7 phone calls and an incredibly long and drawn out poor customer service experience, I got the refund. Long story short, NEVER AGAIN!!!!