The scoop on 'Boer Green Exotic Plants'

Hello all.

Boer Green has resurrected itself on eBay.ca as "Macrovulgaris", and they're operating out of Vancouver, Canada. Their ads are the same rehash of the ones they used as the former Boer Green!

Ordered 2 nepenthes from them in September of 2005. Never received them. I just put it down to experience and got over it. Today, out of nowhere, I get a box from Minnesota. Inside was my order of N. ramispina and N. fusca. I also found in the package a N. spectabilis and a small somewhat dried out Cattleya.

So 7 months later I finally got my order. The nepenthes were in okay shape and size. Nothing to complain about there. The spectabilis was actually a pretty good size. They also came with a heat pack.

I have ordered over 15 Nepenthes from Boer Green, and they all arrived quickly and in excellent condition. A year after I purchased them they are all thriving, and I am looking to add to my collection this summer. I am disappointed to see Boer Green is no longer on e-bay. Does anyone know where to get Nepenthes in Canada?

Purchased many orchids from Boergreen in the past with rarely a problem, but I live close to the company. Most of the orchids were ok and a few were actually exceptional, especially the Vanda's. Sometimes shipping was a bit slow. Then for some reason things went bad in November/December '05. Shipping was slow, and their negative feedback started increasing dramatically. Looks like a lot of the feed back was from buyers outside Canada

They are no longer registered on Ebay. I think they tried to resurrect as CanadaExotics which very quickly became "No longer registered". CanadaExotics has not yet anwered my e-mail if they were affiliated with BoerGreen.

Hello, like others I didn't get my Nepenthes. Stumbled upon this site while looking for other ways to contact BOER Green. Since I did, I am hoping others might do the same. Just because paypal and ebay have failed in getting money back. Don't give up, there are other options. File a complaint with RECOL ([HYPERLINK@www.recol.ca]).
Reporting Economic Crime Online (RECOL) is an initiative that involves an integrated partnership between International, Federal and Provincial Law Enforcement agencies, as well as, with regulators and private commercial organizations that have a legitimate investigative interest in receiving a copy of complaints of economic crime.

Once enough claims have been filed they will look into it. I believe I am the only person that has filed so far.

You can also contact the:
Vanc Police Department
312 Main ST
Vancouver,BC
V6A 2T2
(604) 717-3535

Ask for the fraud department.

Some information you will need:
Company listing in the canadian yellow pages:

BOER Green Orchids
6106 28 Ave, Ladner, BC V4L2N6
(604) 940-9486

Ebay contact information:
User ID: boergreen
Name: Bev Keswick
Company:
City: Vancouver
State: BC
Country: Canada
Phone: (604) 940-9486
Registered Since: Monday, Feb 17, 2003 23:34:36 PST

Fight for your money. My C$46 isn't enough to get any of the agencies moving on its own, but if more people complain then action might happen.

You can also file a complaint with:
Better Business Bureau of Vancouver Island
[HYPERLINK@www.bbbvanisland.org]

Exuses every time I got answer from my emails, always they will be there next Tues. something always came up that they could not be shipped,only after almost three months did I get the "Plants" 4 Orchids all either dead or just about. it was money down the drain because I am sure asking for a refund would be futile. just read his feedback.

AWFUL!!! I ordered a Plumeria through eBay, from this one. It was supposed to be big, rooted, healthy and possibly even flowering. I paid my money and received good feedback. I even sent a printed self addressed shipping label to facilitate the process. Weeks went by. Emails were sent back and forth. After about 4 weeks, a battered box arrived. It had been all over the place because the box had been reused so many times....there were old addresses all over it and the Post office had no idea where to send it. What had been very unprofessionally crammed inside was a dead stick with a little lastic wrap over one end containing a 1 inch root. More emails followed. A replacement was sent, then it wasn't , then it was.....stories were conflicting. Another dead plant arrived. What I did get were a series of apologetic emails outlining all the seller's problems. I got so sick of hearing about her problems and never getting what was promised that I finally told her to forget the whole thing. I lost my money and got no plant. NEVER order from these people.

On 10/7/05 I won and paid for a Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Nepenthes Ramispina on e bay from Boer Green. E mails were then sent by me as to where the plant was. From Boer Green I got yes it was shipped then no it wasn't. One excuse after another - something about shipping certificates needed which they were working on. That was in the last e mail I received from them 11/11/05. I still have not received the plant. I have e mailed them 3 times since and asked to cancel my order and refund my money. They have not responded.

I ordered six plants from Boer Green in Sept/Oct 2005. The first order was for three orchids and a Nepenthes Lowii. The orchids were delieverd promptly, and were reasonably sized for the price. (One is already putting out a flower bud.)

However, the Nepenthes Lowii was not delivered, and nothing in the paperwork indicated why it was not. (In fact, the invoice indicated that the plant had been included in the package, which it wasn't.) I e-mailed Boer Green immediately, and they responded with:

Dear Mark
your nepenthes plants have been delayed because of a problem with the cites permitt. It should only be a short delay while we wait for the new permitt,if you can bear with us we'll make sure something extra goes in your order. sorry for any inconvenience.

I waited a few weeks but heard nothing. I e-mailed them again and got the same response. I waited a few more weeks and then e-mailed again. A different person responsed saying basically the same thing. This went on for two months, though sometimes they didn't respond to my e-mails. It's now been over three months. On Dec 12 Boer Green said:

Hello.
We actually had a problem obtaining a new permit released by the USDA and were unable to ship anything for all of November to the U.S. So we have a back-order that is being shipped to Minnesota this weekend via next day courier, and then leaving from there on Tuesday to all of the U.S. customers via Priority.
Sincerely,
****
Boer Green

However, it still hasn't arrived. This week's response from Boer Green was:

Hello.
Not yet.
I tried to call the owner tonight to see if the carnivorous have cleared as being Canadian yet, but there was no answer.
Sincerely,
*****
Boer Green

So, I'm still waiting. I don't know if they really don't have permits or if they just don't have the plants. If they had problems with USDA/CITES permits, they should have stopped selling to buyers to whom they couldn't ship. From the ebay feedback ratings it seems that Boer Green was doing well up until Oct/Nov 2005.

Overall my experience with Boer Green was positive. In fact, I ordered two more orchids from them after the first batch (the one with the missing Nepenthes) and those were both delivered promptly. However, the issue with the Nepenthes, and their other negative ebay feedbacks, has made me wary of dealing with them again (at least until I get my Nepenthes,) and caused me to rate them as 'Neutral'. They continue to get positive feedback at this time on ebay but they are over 50% negative in the past month, so caveat emptor.

Mark E. Hamilton
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

BAD! Avoid ordering from these people. Either they do not have the necessary paperwork to import orchids, or they are very disorganized. Simply said, they do not deliver and are slow to non existant with emails. Too bad because they have a nice listing of hybrids. Apparently others have not faired well also since their E-bay feedback is horrendous.

Bought 3 plants from this place. One orchid and 2 Nepenthes. Received the orchid bare root, a little dried out and with 2 maybe salvalgeable roots. Never received the Nepenthes. It's been 3 weeks since they last contacted me and 51 days since I paid for the plants. So I am apparently out $48. My first bad experience on ebay in 174 transactions.

I bought 2 orchid from this company in early August. I paid by check. I understood the waiting process for my check to clear and for the "phyto" certificate to clear. However, it is now more than 6 weeks later and after 13 email back and forth and "lost plants in the mail and promises of tracking #'s, I still do not have the plants that I ordered and paid for. I am a patient person and am willing to change this to neutral if I ever get my plants alive, but as of today, they apparently have once again lost my order and have no clue where the tracking 3's are as per their last email mail. Hello, is any one awake up there. Please just send me my plant alive and health and in a reasonable time frame. I can send a package to the Northpole in 6 weeks.

I have purchased a number of orchids from this company. Cost of plants, on bids, are very reasonable, though small, they are very healthy. Company responds within a day to all emails and they keep you posted of payments, status of orders and shipment dates. They have excellent customer service and follow through.

I had several good eBay transactions with this company. Bought 2 orchids (Paphilopedlum and Dendrobium nobile) and two ornamental fragrant gingers. The orchids were sent packed in spagnum in good condition (not in spike) and one is now flowering a year later, to my delight. All plants healthy. Orchids are quite affordable too. Shipping not expensive, either. They offer shipping with a heat pack in the winter!

Boer Green Exotic Plants is an E-Bay seller. I have bid on and won 2 or 3 orchid plants from them. The plants are just OK. They are healthy, but skinny and small. With love and care, they have potential. If you have the patience to nuture the plants, this company may work for you. It's a situation of getting what you pay for--their orchids are very low in price. One of the orchids I did win was supposed to have spikes. It did not. I contacted the company and they said to return the plant and they would try to replace it with the same species in spike. I did not do it because it was not worth the hassle. They do answer e-mails and allow you to return plants you are not happy with. The e-mails are short, curt and to-the-point. My guess is that they are really busy and overwhelmed--that's the general feeling I got from them. Although I found the orchids to be just OK, their E-Bay feedback is positive.