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In January 2008 I ordered 11 packets of vegetable and herb seeds from Gourmet Seed International. When the order arrived, it contained 5 seed packets dated 5/2006, and one seed packet with no date at all. I emailed the company, expressed my opinion that fresh seed was my expectation and asked if they could replace the seed with fresh 2008 seed. They replied with an email talking about how seed remains viable for years after it is packed, etc. I again told them I had never been sent 2 year old seed by any other company, and asked to either have fresh seed sent, or my money refunded. They have said to return the seed and they will refund the money. This is disappointing, as it now means I must take the time to go back to the post office to send it, and must place another order and pay another shipping and handling fee for another order with another company. I think they also should refund their shipping and handling fee ( $6.29 US, the highest of the 5 companies I ordered seed from this year), as I certainly would not have even ordered from them to start with if they had posted on their web site that they send seed packed 2 years ago. And, of course, my time and energy to handle this return as well as time off work during the business day to get to the post office is not something they will reimburse.
On Feb 10, 2008, Gourmet Seed International responded with:
"
On Feb 9, 2008 8:06 PM, Gourmet Seed International added:
We are sorry that this customer is unhappy with the seed that we offer, and did offer to refund their purchase price, which is normal for any company.
We did explain that although most domestic seed companies use simple paper packages which only allow for a 1 year expiration dating, much of our seed comes from some of Europe's finest seed houses packaged in long-life, hermetically-sealed packages, which allow for a 3 year expiration date. In fact, we have followed this example as it provides the customer with much fresher seed. Also, much of what is being sold as '2008' seed here in the US was packaged in 2007 from 2006 harvests. In other words, still 2006 seed.
After we offered our explanation, we did extend our offer for a refund, as it was obvious that the customer was still not happy with the seed. We did not hear anything further from the customer until they filed this complaint, and were never aware that the customer took exception to returning the seed. If the customer will contact us, we will be happy to arrange for a pickup of the seed at their convenience."
On Jun 10, 2007, gardenbumpkin San Francisco, CA wrote:
They substituted an item without letting me know if I wanted it or not (they have my email address). I had to emailed them three times trying to ask them whether the item they sent me was the same one I ordered/paid for because the seed packet was in Italian.
They finally emailed me back on my third email to them and said that they did not have my first two emails and did not know what happened to them????
Then I got another email . . . . .from their warehouse telling me that they have already sent my order??? DUH. . ...That was not my question.
The next day got another email and this time they finally told me that they had substituted the item. Well . . . . duh. . . . .
I would not buy from them again for the lack of customer service, gave me the run around and their S/H is extremely high.
On June 10th, 2007, gardenbumpkin added the following:
Here are the only two emails I received from them and still have in my file folder:
"A package was shipped to you on 06/06/2007 Via US Postal Service First Class to the following address . . . .
(from their Warehouse email)
"This is a # for the replacement seed we sent you".
Thank you,
Elsie
There were never any mentioned of refund or replacement on either of the emails to me.
Nor were there any other emails to me that the company spokesperson had mentioned - just the two little emails above.
It is always best to tell the truth and what had actually happened during the course of this event. Everything the spokesperson had mentioned is a lie beyond reality. On Jun 10, 2007, Gourmet Seed International responded with:
"
On Jun 10, 2007 10:19 AM, Gourmet Seed International added:
We're sorry to see this posted, as we made every effort to respond to the customer and reply to the emails that were received.
We received only two emails to Customer Service, both of which were responded to (we keep all emails on file for at least 6 months for reference). We can only guess as to why the customer did not receive our first response, perhaps there was a problem with a spam blocker.
In any case, when we received the first email, we acknowledged that based on the information the customer had relayed to us at that time, it appeared there may have been a error in the warehouse in filling the order. We asked for more information to be sure we understood exactly what was wrong, and to ensure that we would be able to correctly solve the problem, we also asked the customer to let us know how they preferred to resolve this, whether by refund or replacement. We received no response until a later email arrived, where it seemed obvious that the customer had not received our first response.
We again responded to the customer, but since we were afraid they would again not receive our response, we went ahead and reshipped the seed in question to the customer. Meanwhile, the customer did respond to a shipment confirmation email, at which time the warehouse directly responded by confirming that a replacement was being sent.
As to our S/H rates, for domestic orders, we charge $4.95, plus 5% of the order. Our standard shipping is either USPS Priority Mail, or UPS Ground for larger and bulk orders. We normally ship within 2 business days of receipt of the order. Given that postage rates for Priority service start at $4.60, we feel we do a good job of providing exceptional service at a fair rate.
We again apologize for the inconvenience this customer experienced, and are reviewing our SOP to see what we might do in the future to minimize this type of problem.
Situations like this can be very frustrating, as emails can occasionally be unreliable. Spam blockers, while useful to reduce the junk emails we can potentially receive, can interfere with necessary business communication. Whether that was a factor here or not, we don't know, but it is important to add the names of the companies you do business with to ensure you receive all the information you need.
We stand behind the quality of the product we provide, and continually work to improve the level of service our customers receive. In spite of their perceived experience with us, we thank this customer for their business, and wish them well.
Philip Winteregg
General Manager"
ordered greasy pole bean seed from them and received quickly. i planted the seed and had 0% germination. i planted several other varieties at the same time and had excellent germination. i emailed them and they sent me an equal amount of seed but said the reason mine didn't germinate was that i planted them in cool soil. they also said that the greasy bean was an heirloom variety and they were harder to germate in cool soil. well, the soil was plenty warm as i germinated lima beans as well. the replacement seed were of the same lot and when i opened them the smelled rotten. i tried to germinate them on a propagation mat and they only rotted , stinking up the entire house. i ordered from a lady in kentucky the same type seed and planted last week and the seeds are now coming up. i can't get a response from harvest moon though i have emailed them several times. i would like a refund but don't think i'll get it. i would not reccommend them because the fancy packaging doesn't hide poor seed quality.
regards,
cary
On May 11th, 2006, dvrmte added the following:
i don't want to make this a bigger issue than it is. you seem to be a bit agitated. i would like to bring some truth to you as it seems your staff is giving you some dishonest information.
(1) i have received one response to my complaint about the seed. you said you would send more seed and did. when the seed was sent and didn't germinate you never answered any of my emails.
(2) nobody spoke with me from your company on the phone as i'm deaf. my wife said there were never any messages left either. you may need to check with your "customer service manager" about their honesty.
((3)complete copy of last unanswered email:
greetings,
i emailed you the results of the replacement greasy bean seed you
sent to replace the first order that didn't germinate and haven't
received a response. in case you didn't read it, i also had 0%
germination from them as well even under controlled temperature. you
need to retest the seed and send refunds to anyone that bought them.
most gardeners will think it was their fault the seed didn't come
up.the seed must have been harvested too damp and packaged before
fully drying as the smell they have permeated my entire house while i
attempted to germinate them. i've since purchased some greasy bean
seed from a lady in kentucky and they came up extremely well. i'm no
rookie at gardening, especially heirlooms. i have grown greaseys for
many years and the only reason i wanted new seed is because my seed
had crossed with a neighbors several years ago and i couldn't seem to
breed out multi-colored seeds.
the okra seed i received from you germinated great.
i would like to have a refund for the 2 packs of seed i bought from
you.i also would like to complain about the unusually high price you
charge for shipping those fine looking seed packs that don't hide
poor quality seed.
as i said in my previous email i would post negative comments about
your company if you didn't refund. here is a link to the first of
such comments: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/2282/
i'm not the only one complaining if you read other comments about
your company. you have negative comments on other forums as well.i
will post on them as well.
regards,
cary dover
(4) where's the refund? i haven't received it. i bet its dated after you saw i posted here. if so i'll scan a copy and post it here.
(5) i'm sure after other members read this they will know whose honesty is in question. i never said your company was dishonest , i only said one variety of seed were bad and i didn't like the lack of response after my first complaint. you have made several dishonest or incorrect statements in defense of your company. i can't believe you said i had a phone conversation with your customer service mgr. he must have been talking to himself as i didn't hear him. (deaf) ha! ha!
i'm glad to see you admitted the seed are bad and am looking forward to my refund that hasn't been received yet.
regards,
cary dover
On May 25th, 2006, dvrmte changed the rating from negative to neutral and added the following:
well harvest moon made things right after all. it seems they are going through growing pains as their business has grown quickly. on my original order i incorrectly misstyped my email address. every time i complained they would go back to the order email and reply rather than replying directly to the emails sent. just a case of the right hand not knowing what the left one is doing. someone there finally forwarded my emails to the right person and a refund was sent. the only problem i have now is that there was a claim that i had a phone conversation with customer service even though i'm deaf. i guess this guy got taken to the woodshed for that.
they also pulled all the bad seed and have more being tested now. i would probably order from them again just because they have a huge selection and they did make it right even with such a small order.
regards,
cary doverOn June 15th, 2006, dvrmte changed the rating from neutral to negative and added the following:
well its neutral to negative as the blue lake beans were just picked. it seems this is not blue lake at all. i don't grow this for home use as i sell them to people who request them. when i tried to snap them they were full of fiber and strings even when young with undevoloped seed. it seems i was sold a white seeded bean that is for dry shelling. i tried to cook some of the very young ones but i had to spit out large amounts of woody material. the company already has refunded me more than they have to so i'm not looking for money. i would not reccommend this company at all. you may get your seed but who knows what kind you're getting and is the seed going to come up?
look around for a more established company as i wasted alot of time and will lose quite of few dollars at my roadside stand because of this mess. On May 3, 2006, Gourmet Seed International responded with:
"
On May 8, 2006 1:56 PM, Harvest Moon Farms added:
Dear Mr. Dover
I apologize (again) for your germination problems resulting with this seed. For the record I think you should be more honest and evaluate the facts in your remarks to the general public of our handling of your order that
1) we responded to your email 3 times and our customer service manager spoke with you on the phone as well. You were not ignored but promptly taken care of.
2) After our first email we replaced your seed once with no complaints about it until now.
3) You were refunded the full purchase price and shipping costs per our guarantee even though we replaced the seed immediatley.
We offer some of the finest quality seed on the market! With over 2,000 selections we admit there is always going to be a variety or two that "goes bad' though its fresh and germinated fine during testing once in a while and that is simply nature and any seed company will tell you this. This lot of White Greasy Bean was pulled, though we had no other complaints, we did notice that the germination rate for the lot was increasingly lower since the last 2 tests after your inquiry. Our return and replacement rate is less than 1%, exactly 0.06% of our total sales of seed. We receive only a handful of concerns regarding seed germination a year (6 to be exact for 2006) from the tens of thousands of customers we service.
If you are going to file a complaint Sir please be legitimate and offer all the facts to the public. Though you had a problem, we handled it properly and above and beyond what any other company would do. If you want to comment that all our seed is poor, though that is your right to opinion but this is contradictory to the facts you gave us on the phone and of your own comments in the last email to us from you stating our other seed we supplied you was extremely good and that this problem apparently was with only the variety White Greasy (Email address below in your comments have been wiped for your privacy) I do wish you well and hope that in the future we can offer your our service and "great germinating" seed, especially the okra again. Again any apologies for inconvenience you experienced and I do wish you the best this gardening season.
Kind Regards,
Michael Dean
President
Harvest Moon Farms & Seed Co.
----- Original Message -----
From: "large runner" <*************>
To: <*************>
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 7:45 PM
Subject: greasy beans 0% germination again
"i'm no rookie at gardening, especially heirlooms. i have grown greaseys for many years and the only reason i wanted new seed is because my seed had crossed with a neighbors several years ago and i couldn't seem to breed out multi-colored seeds.
the okra seed i received from you germinated great.
i would like to have a refund for the 2 packs of seed i bought from you."
"
I´ve ordered and payed on January 15th. Today is Februaray 14th and nothing has arrived yet. And I´ve payed U$11,75 for s&h!! for a total order of U$34,95.
I´ve asked by email for the shipment date and they not answered. Very bad experience indeed.
On Feb 14, 2006, Gourmet Seed International responded with:
"
On May 8, 2006 1:19 PM, Harvest Moon Farms added:
Dear Sir,
As we explained over the phone and by email to you. It takes 10 to 14 business days (not including weekends or holidays) for an International package to reach you as well as the time that customs handles it. We confirmed with tracking you received your package on Febuary 17th. The shipping charges were actually $12.03! Im sorry you felt the seed should have arrived sooner, but Express Service to your location in South America was $38 and you already complained of shipping cost, we always ship exactley what were charged from the carrier plus cost of envelope or box. I apologize for any inconvenience to you but these are unfortunatley issues with the carrier and not our service.
Kind Regards,
Michael Dean
President
Harvest Moon Farms & Seed Co."
