| Neutral | hopflower
(23 reviews) | On Apr 9, 2004, hopflower Santa Rosa, CA
(Zone 9a) wrote:Last year bright and early I ordered some dahlias from what I thought to be a reliable, courteous vendor. Well.. reliable they might be, but courteous was borderline. Because of our early heat spell in California, I was a little concerned as I am not an experienced (well, very experienced) dahlia grower, and this was only my third season growing them. The first one brought adequate results, but the second year was terrific. I won a Best Section and First Prize at one of our local fairs and was eager to grow and learn more. I ordered a couple of ball dahlias in some luscious colours and awaited the season to come to plant the tubers. When the season arrived early as I mentioned, I thought I might have to act fast, so I emailed the company to ask for advice on what I should do, or whether I really had a need to worry. I also asked to check on the order to see whether I should ask to get it a bit early due to the surprise weather. What I got was a terse and a little cocky note back telling me that they were getting ready for the show in San Francisco and would not really "be packing my order". They would deal with it when they got back, presumably at the regular time to ship.
I don't think I deserved the attitude that I was being somewhat demanding when I most definitely was not. In fact, I asked whether I should be worried; and just needed a bit of reassurance or advice if I had a need to be concerned. A simple, "no, you don't have anything to worry about" ,or "yes, I can see why you might think you would want to plant early" would have sufficed.
Because of this attitude, I will not be reordering from the company. They have some fine choices, but I am not willing to be mistreated again because I don't quite know what to do and am a little inexperienced. I do not feel that that is a kind or respectful way to deal with customers. |
