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I too have had problems with Inter-State Nurseries, as recently as March and April 2002. I also received moldy plants and ones that were obviously dead. Being an optimist, I too planted these wonderful specimens. I have two of the many items I purchased that sprouted some green. We will see how long they last. I have sent my second letter to them and did threaten to contact the Illinois Attorney Generals office. Lets see how far that gets me.
We have tried to get in touch with Inter-State for several HOURS! The phone is constantly busy. My order was split. The first part was very poor quality (The VERY SMALL bushes looked rotten.) Today, the second part came. Besides being VERY SMALL, one was rotten and the other was dead! As per "your satisfaction is guaranteed", we are very dissatisfied!
I received a partial of my order over a week ago. The plants were of poor quality and packaged in individual plastic bags and shipped in a large plastic bag. The bag I received was marked partial order 2 of 3. My credit card was charged for the full order. I have tried repeatedly to phone the company and have gotten only busy signals.
I just received my small order from Inter-State, so badly labeled, many plants are unidentifiable. They came in plastic bags, and looked either too young or too mushy to have been shipped. Wish I knew of this site prior to ordering.
We, too, have ordered from Plantron affiliated nurseries. We ordered from Interstate one year in March. We still had not received shipment by June and wrote to cancel. When we were on vacation in July, a shipment came from Richard Owens. I refused it, because we had not ordered from Richard Owens. We finally realized what had happened when I tried to call about the cancellation and discovered that the phone number and address was the same for both. This year, I was tempted to order from Kelly Nurseries, but one of the "testimonials" sounded familiar. I went to the internet and found that I have not been the only one taken by this company. Kelly had a Minnesota address on the catalog rather than Illinois so I thought it was different. Boy am I glad I checked.
Inter-State Nursery does have a website:http://www.directgardening.com/index.aspThe reason why no one could find it before is that they use a different name online. I guess there is too much bad relations with the other name. I ordered from them before I knew, so we will see how it goes.
I have to echo the complaints I've read here about Inter-State Nurseries' merchandise. I ordered 10 dwarf Juneberries this spring, and when they arrived, they were completely dried up. I've ordered bare root woody plants from other nurseries before, and none of them arrived looking like this. My attempts to call their customer service number were futile, as it was always busy. I didn't hear from them for several days, and when I did, the message said their condition was normal and to go ahead and plant them. I'd already done so. I'm pretty well certain, though, that they were dead when I got them. They're certainly dead now.
This is my first time ordering plants through Inter-State Nurseries; I received the advertisement in the mail. I also experienced the same problems as most of the posts here.
I ordered nursery items from Inter-State Nurseries a couple of years ago and what I received was dead and moldy stock. When I called to complain, I was told that the plants I had received were "dormant". I told them that I was not an idiot and knew the difference between dead and dormant, and told them in writing that I would report their shoddy business practices to the State of Illinois Attorney General, and I received my refund promptly, but I can't seem to get off their mailing list. Truly, let the buyer beware.
I have been burned also by Inter-State Nurseries. I placed an order in May 2001 and have not received it. From what I have read I may not want to receive it. It is now Aug. 4, 2001.
I placed an order in May of 2001 and they cashed my check, but as of August 3, 2001. I have yet to receive anything. Sure wish I had seen this site. Thank goodness my order was small.
My mother ordered a set of 6 different iris for me as a gift in 1999. The first year only one bloomed, but they were all alive and healthy. This year they all bloomed. Only 2 of them were what they were supposed to be. Two were the same - a very ordinary kind of iris. I took pictures and wrote them about the situation, requesting replacements for the iris that were incorrect. It has been 2 months and I have heard nothing. I was afraid of that, having read some of the postings here, but hoped that they were trying to improve.
I certainly got an eyeful when I stumbled onto this site last night. I have had similar problems with this company/companies. I got so frustrated that I filed suit against them in Small Claims Court, and won a judgment against them. No one from Inter-State/Plantron even bothered to show up. I am planning on filing a lien against their property, but of course, it appears that as shells, none of the entities may actually own any property. If anyone knows if they do, which company it is and where the property is, please let me know. I may not benefit from this but maybe my greatgrandchildren will, with all the interest that is building up day by day. And, of course, other angry customers can do the same.
I placed orders from five different nurseries in February 2000. Two of the orders were from nurseries who are divisions of Plantron Inc. (Inter-State Nursery and Farmers Seed and Nursery.) These two nurseries sent most of their stock with shortages, dead root stock, and rotten plants in tight plastic bags. I have called and written to then, several times but as yet have not had good results in getting a claim settled. I will not ever order from these two nurseries, or form any of Plantron's divisions.
First letter sent 6-22-99 and returned November 22, 1999 Dear Customer Service: I was very disappointed with my order from your company. My gardener warned me of the quality of several companies, but I thought I would take a chance and order from you. I regret to admit that he was right. He told me that I should have order from Burgess, since their product always comes healthy and alive. Their plants are never rotten, moldy or mushy. I could not believe the condition of the order I received. Pink and orange molds were all over the roses, and all of the plants were mushy, like slime. We planted the plants but none of them made it, as we had expected since they were dead when they arrived. The roses we put in the compost pile, how nasty they were. Perhaps you shouldn't seal everything in plastic bags, they turn everything to mush. Please credit my credit card for this order. I regret that your name has come up to all of the gardening friends as a nursery NOT to order from.
I have been ordering from Inter-State Nurseries for years, and I have been very pleased until this spring. My order was in excess of $150.00 and only the buy and save 1 cent sale items were DOA - The red maple trees, tulip trees, etc. I didn't even bother to file a claim because I had destroyed the invoice (Proof of purchase) upon receipt, going on their previous years' reputation.
In the past I have used Inter-State for Sub Zero Roses. All the plants are doing just fine in my garden. I have no complaint about this nursery. Make sure your garden soil is well suited for the plants you ordering. Most plants need good soil, good sun, and good water.
I wish I had found this site before I ordered from Inter-State. My experience with them has been the same. I received the most pathetic-looking plants also in plastic bags and covered in fungus. There is no way that some of them could have been alive before they were shipped. I did not receive any instructions with them either.
The worst service, always a month later than they tell you. Plants are mostly received in very poor condition; mostly rotten and black. Replacements are just false advertising, They never provide. Will never order from any company in the future that has Division of Plantron in their name. Or any company from Bloomington, IL Another order to a sister company has not been received after 2 months. They sure never waited two months to take my money.
My experience was the same. Most plants were DOA, and their response to my complaints was slow. Replacement plants were just as bad. I will never order from them again.
Inter-State Nurseries is by far the worst mail order catalog in the world. My order, which was over $135.00 arrived over a month late, in plastic bags, rotten and covered with fungus. I was even missing several items in my order which custom service has refused to ship until I write a detailed letter and send back the shipping label. The customer services reps are rude, and ignorant. They threatened to place my account on hold when I told them I was going to call my credit card company and notify them that goods were paid for but not shipped and those that were shipped were not what I ordered or unplantable because they liquefied in the plastic bags. I have spent over $30.00 in phone call to their non 1-800 number. DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY OR ANY DIVISION OF THIS COMPANY!
I also order plants from Inter-State in April of this year. Upon receipt they arrived in plastic bags and appeared to be dead. I followed the instructions to revive them before planting. To my dismay, only one plant was alive. I have written to Inter-State, requesting a replacement of my order and have yet to receive a reply. If this is how they do business by taking customer's money and not responding to the warranty they provide, then I can only say for this company, customer beware. I am still waiting for them to make good on my order.
