The scoop on 'Sandy Bar Nursery'

I purchased 7or 8 trees last year from Sandy Bar Nursery and have been very satisfied with the tree stock which they shipped . I had requested any branched trees to be branched low on the trunk, and these were sent to me. They were all large and stocky trees and I was impressed with the root systems ( not all chopped off as with many other nurseries) and the trees arrived in good condition. They have all been growing well. I would not hesitate to purchase addtional trees from this company . They contacted me at the time of shipping so I could be ready and I appreciated this.

I am reporting a resounding negative and do not recommend this nursery. It is apparently some mon and pop shop and very inefficient. It took 4 weeks to get them to finally process a refund for an order that never shipped. In addition, they charged me 20% "service fee" for the same order that never shipped. To make a greater insult to injury they charged me 20% for the ENTIRE order , (20% of the shipping charge that thay never shipped???). Avoid these folks, you'll be glad you did. If they are this desparate for money, I believe they will not hesitate pinch it from others. No way to run a business folks. They won't get my business again.

The same time that this customer sent us an e-mail complaining of this charge he entered his complaint on this forum, without waiting for our reply. I responded to his e-mails immediately and we arrived at mutually agreeable arrangement. (I refunded him $3.80, his last e-mail to me read “Thank you. That is equitable”). Since he has taken the time to lodge a complaint but not to explain the ultimate outcome, and also has not told the full story, I feel compelled to offer my perspective.

I spent a good bit of time on the phone with this customer answering questions regarding whether or not the Blenheim Apricot would be suitable for his area. After some research I gave him my advice – the Blennheim is an excellent apricot, but it was not rated for his climate zone, so if he wanted a fool-proof, disease resistant variety he should consider another one, but if he felt adventurous he could give it a try and consider it an experimental planting. He decided to try it and placed an order. We bundled, boxed, labeled and shipped the tree and charged the customer’s card. Before UPS arrived for pick up the customer called to cancel his order because he had talked to his local extension agent who advised against the Blenheim. I explained that we were happy to cancel the order but there would be a nominal charge because of the time we had put into processing the order. Many companies would consider an order this far along as already processed and shipped, and would have had the customer return the item for any refund. We were willing to pull the order from the shipping line, un-box and un-bundle, change our shipping summary, adjust our inventory and issue a refund, however, we did need to charge a nominal fee to cover our expenses. In any case, I was willing to discuss the matter with the customer and reach a mutually acceptable solution (i.e. I refunded him $3.80).

We spend hundreds of hours a year offering advice and adjusting orders to suit customers needs, climate zones, pollination requirements and growing conditions, at no cost to the customer. We enjoy doing this and consider it part of our job. We put a lot of information in our catalog and on our website and enjoy giving our customers good service. The last feedback I received from a customer was this : these were the best plants I have ever received, and I have ordered from a lot of places. I almost quit ordering from mail or internet because most are so bad. Thank you for your great nursery business.
We are not “some mon (sic) and pop shop and very inefficient.” We are not “desparate (sic) for money, nor are we ready to “pinch it from others”. This was a rare incidence when a customer cancelled after we had bundled, boxed, shipped and charged their order. I repeat for emphasis - many other businesses would have considered the order complete and allowed the package to be shipped, but we took the effort to pull the package from the shipping lot and cancel the order.

I support “watchdog” forums like these – I use several myself; they’re a great way to get advice from other shoppers and hold online businesses accountable. Unfortunately online forums can also be subjected to the occasional irate individual who might choose to use them as a soapbox, as I feel was the case here. I feel I was insulted and, despite the fact that the customer did not offer the full story, and I issued him a refund, I still receive a negative rating that does not go away.

By all means, register your feedback; rate nurseries; hold them accountable. But please give the nursery an opportunity to respond to your complaint before posting it on a public forum. And please avoid personal insults. I have worked in the nursery and agriculture industry for many years and I assure you that the majority of people who work with plants do it because they love plants and are honest people, if they wanted to make a lot of money and/ or fleece people, there are easier ways to do it. Also, be on the lookout for hastily written and angry comments (i.e. misspelled words, exclamations!!! CAPITAL LETTERS) and take them with a grain of salt.

I ordered 10 trees total, 2 peach, 2 pear, 2 plum, 2 cherry, a nectarene and a fig, plus 2 rasberry canes. All arrived in good health and some have started to bloom already. They were very helpful I would not hesitate to order again.

Last year, I bought two Persimmon Trees here at Sandy Bar Nursery. Over the Summer, I enjoyed to see how fast the two trees has grown. I am very please and happy with these trees, so I came back and ordered two more Fuji Apple trees. I will definitely come back for more fruit trees.. The bare roots were shipped with well packaging to ensure they will live.

Sincerely,
Thomas Hoang

Never again! After Sandy Bar shipped me a bare-root peach tree in February (early spring in Central California) I planted it, following their directions carefully. When no leaves appeared by April-May, I tried to contact them about a replacement. Two emails and one phone message over a 3 week period went unanswered. On their website, they claim to stand behind what they sell -- I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply.

I’m afraid we dropped the ball on this one – Immediately after our bare root season ended in late April we began remodeling our office. Due to unforeseen complications we were without an office for far longer than we’d anticipated and thus were not able to correspond with our customers. We’re now set up in our interim office and are catching up on e-mails and phone calls. We’ve contacted ModestoJohn, sent a full refund and extended our apologies. –Mark DuPont, Owner, Sandy Bar Nursery

My apple trees arrived a few weeks ago, but I have been too busy planting to enter my comments. I ordered three dwarf apple trees from this nursery late in the winter. They have an excellent variety of apples grafted on dwarf root stock. The trees were well packed and arrived dormant and in great condition. They are well rooted, thick and sturdy. I am impressed. I highly recommend this nursery. I have ordered trees from many places, and when I'm ready to add more varieties of apple trees to my orchard, this is where I will check first.

My trees and shrubs look great, arrived promptly and are healthy and thriving. Will order again!

Sandy Bar served me well. While one of the products was out of stock, a company representative contacted me on Saturday so that I could substitute before shipment the following Monday. The trees arrived in good condition within a week. We'll see how they grow!

Nice nursery stock, fast delivery and attentive to email inquiries; I've been very impressed.

I ordered fruit trees from several good nurseries this spring, but Sandy Bar was the very best! I can hardly believe how vigorous the cherry and pear trees are after only a few weeks!! Good size and caliper, too--the ones I ordered were trimmed down to three feet for shipping, but from the thickness must have been more like five or six feet. Caliper was 2/3" to 3/4". I would definitely recommend this nursery.