AeroGrow International, Inc.

Hello,If we can have information on the person that contacted Customer Service regarding the issue (full name, e-mail address), we will be able to better address what happened and provide a better answer. As it is, we do not have any records under Ms*** ***, so we have not way to see
what transpired. As for a refund request, since the purchase was made directly through ***, we have no record of the transaction and we would not be able to provide customer with any type of refund. As the manufacturer we will address any warranty issues and replace any parts as needed, under warranty. But again, without the information of the person who has the garden and contacted us directly, we have no way to address this customer's concerns.Thank you,

We were indeed closed for the holiday (Dec 23rd, 24th and 25th); a lot of companies were. However, our Customer Service department opened on Monday the 26th and was answering questions and requests from our customers since 7am (MT). We then found Mr***’s inquiry and reached out to
him regarding this matterWhat happened to him is must unfortunately. It is perfectly understandable that he be upset for receiving the incorrect part not only once, but twice. We have started an investigation at our distribution center to ensure the correct parts are being sent out when this particular item is ordered. We want to ensure this does not happen againWe have also submitted one more replacement order for Mr***. And have requested the manager of our distribution center to oversee himself that the correct part is in Mr***’s package. We also reached out to Mr*** to let him know that we are replacing this item for him one more time

The customer spoke directly with the Customer Service Manager on 12/about the aerator in his gardenWe confirmed that there was concern over the aerator being clogged or the aerator no longer working properlyWe were able to determine that the garden was best to be replaced, and replaced
the garden for him for arrival 12/He has the Customer Service Managers information to reach back to with any questions or concerns

With all our products we include a Warranty Card that indicates that if there are any issues with the machine, the user should contact us directly. And with our warranty statement we indicate that any modifications to our AeroGardens, that are not part of the instructions for regular use, will
void the AeroGarden's warranty. That is what we indicated MrThompson when we received the defective unit he sent back to us and we found he had tempered with it.However, we also made an exception for him, and replaced his defective unit for a new one. So while we explained to him our policies, we still replaced his defective AeroGarden as if it was still under warranty. Attached are copies of the documents referenced above: Guide with Warranty information and Warranty Card. Also attached is a copy of the invoice ($value) of the replacement order issued for MrThompson where we replaced his AeroGarden at the end of November

We have taken the feedback and reviewed in full as well as listened to each contactThe order was in a processing status which is not generally able to be stopped for shipping, but we did have opportunities in our contacts to provide a better customer service experienceThe Customer Service
Manager has provided coaching to involved staff on this customer experienceWe stopped shipping and issue a full refund to the customer’s credit card

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Sincerely,
*** ***

I emailed and called the customer and worked with them on their concernsTo resolve the concerns we: Sent a whole new trellis system Replaced the pods that were not growing or not satisfactory Sent a software update to the Farm Plus to address the time planted issue Sent a pod seed kit
After speaking with the customer all concerns were resolved to his satisfaction

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Forgive me but this is not the only time I have been informed that my card would be refunded.  Keep in mind that the following instances have happened since my first inquiry in late November (email thread is also attached):1) In two separate phone calls - one to my husband and one to myself - two different customer service representatives stated that they had processed a refund back to the debit card.  The last call where that was stated was on 12/12/2017.  When my husband spoke to a representative last evening, she stated that a refund to the card was not possible because the order was preparing to ship.  Not one representative with AeroGarden has given the same account of what is going on with this order.2) This order has been pended in "processing" status since 11/15/2017.  No representative has adequately explained how or why my order was in this status for more than a month.  Deduction from my bank account happened within a 5-day period.  Via email, I was assured the order would ship beginning 11/27/2017.  That obviously did not happen.3) Be advised that my bank has already been contacted since both my husband and I refused to believe that this company can be trusted at its word alone. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: as mentioned in the company email, they were willing to give me a refund but suddenly decided not to honor this agreement. I want them to fulfill the promise they made to me and  refund the  $100 like they agreed to do.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:It's great they are sending out a replacement but that should have been done long ago. I wasted a lot of time just to get them to honor their warranty. It shouldn't be that way and I see others have had the same problem. This company does not value it's customers. We have bought three of their gardens and now I wish I hadn't bought any. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Customer contacted us in early April of 2016 to let us know she had purchased an AeroGarden through a retailer and it had arrived with a broken light, she indicated she had already planted her garden so we sent her a replacement bulb for the one that arrived broken and a new Gourmet Herbs seed pod...

kit, in case her planted garden did not make it due to the lack of light.  This was sent to her on 4/11/16, under order #[redacted] at $0 value.   Customer contacted us again at the end of the month to let us know that the lights arrived but they did not work.  She provided a picture of her garden as a proof of purchase.  We then sent her a new base and another free Gourmet Herbs Seed Pod kit.  This was sent to her on 4/21/16 & 4/26/16, under orders #[redacted] (for the base) and #[redacted] (for the kit) at $0 value each.   On June 1 she contacted us again to let us know her AeroGarden had become noisy and her plants had died again.  She then requested either a replacement or a refund.  She was then advised that we could not provide her a refund because she did not purchase the unit from us, but we would definitely replace it for her under warranty, and we would upgrade her model from the CFL (compact fluorescent bulbs) she had to one with LED lights.  We then (on 6/1/2016) issue replacement order #[redacted] for a brand new AeroGarden Classic 6 (with LED lights) and one more Gourmet Herbs Seed Pod Kit, and we also provided her with a pre-paid return shipping label ([redacted]) so she could return that defective machine back to us for inspection.  She was advised the label was only good for 30 days and the replacement order was sent out to her before she returned the defective one back.  The pre-paid return shipping label was never used and we did not receive the ‘defective’ AeroGarden back as requested.   In October of 2016 the customer contacted us back to let us know she was experiencing difficulties again, that she was not able to get anything to properly grow.  We then replied to her with a list of tips that would allow her to get her garden growing properly and we also brought to her attention that we had not received the defective AeroGarden back from her.  She thank us for the advised and left it at that.   In December of 2016 she contacted us again regarding plants not growing, we kept providing her with advice, and continued inquiring about the return she had not sent back.  She sent us a series of pictures (attached) to show us how her pants were not growing.  Upon review of the pictures, and after sending her, again, a check list of things to verify, we replied with the following:   “We have provided a complete checklist and advised that distilled water is used.  Nutrients should be added 8mL every 2 weeks.  The aerator will bubble within the water bowl when working properly, and the light hood should be at the lowest position.  There are other details that are discussed in the checklist.    The pictures you have provided show some healthy, growing herbs, some that have not sprouted, and one of the detailed pictures appears to have what is known as ‘damping off’ which is often caused by a fungus.  Be sure to sanitize the water bowl with bleach or vinegar between plantings to prevent this from happening.”   At this point she started being rude and insulting, using phrases such as (verbatim) “I know how to use this junk machine.”  And the customer demanded a refund.    Since the customer was clearly not willing to do the necessary maintenance to keep her garden, as a courtesy, we offered her the option of a $99.95 refund (the sale price of the unit at that point) if she returned the AeroGarden back to us.  At this point we had given up on her returning the original machine.  We then sent her another pre-paid return shipping label, this was on January 2nd; it was return label #[redacted].   She came back at the end of January saying that she had no time to send it and requested another shipping label.  By this time it had been at least 9 months since she originally purchased her garden, and about 8 and ½ months since we had first asked her to return the original defective unit.  Her case was closed, and she was made aware of it.   When she was advised of it, she came back with more insults such as (verbatim) “Your piece of st product doesn't work and grew mold in my house, potentially contaminating the air”  “Your company is truly the worst and has been such a hassle with me from day one”.   Throughout the entire course of our interactions with this customer we had tried to assist her and provide her with the information she needed to get her garden working properly.    Part of the check list points we provided the customer several times was to ensure the machine was working properly.  According to her response, she indicated she had checked everything on the check list and everything was working fine and she was doing everything according to the information sent.    So, if the machine was working fine, then the fact that plants were not growing was not a matter of a defective machine, but of plant care and environment.  We cannot control what customers do to the plants, and up until the case was closed, we provided this customer with replacements and counseling necessary to ensure she had success.

[redacted]  has made 2 purchases with us.  One on 4/4 for 15 seed starting systems and one on 5/12 for another 30 more of the same product.  Both times, the product has been shipped to a third party in [redacted], while [redacted] is located in [redacted].What the customer experienced...

on both occassions was damaged packing boxes (see attached pictures submtited by [redacted]), not damaged product.  [redacted] was asked if the product itself was damaged, and she indicated NO.  The first time this happened (in April) we first made an exception for [redacted] and reshipped to her new product to replace the one that had arrived with a damaged box.  She received a replcement but was not satisfied so on top of receiving a free replacemetn for the first damaged item, she also received,as a second exception, a refund for it.  She was told it was as far as exceptions would go, since we were not responsible for any damages occurred in transit, but that we would let our distribution center know what had happened.  We submitted to our Quality Control department the pictures [redacted] had sent and they said they would take it from there.When she experienced damaged boxes on her second order (twice as big as the first one), she was expecting to receive the same exceptions.  When shecalled about the same problem on her second order, she was asked fi she was "reselling" the product, because as long as the product was not damaged, there was no reason to refund her for the entire price of a produc that only had a damged box, but that otherwise was in perfect new condition.  She refused to answer the question.  Needless to say [redacted] was not happy when she was told there would not be another exception made.  She was told that she could return the product she was not satisfied with for a refund.  But woudl have to follow our returns/refund procedure.  She had to pay for the items to be returned, and then a refund would be issued to her hard on file.  [redacted] refused.  Instead, she filed a charge back on her credit card, and had her bank pull partial funds from her second purchase.As of today, [redacted] has seen that her bank refunded her the amount for the itemes she deemed damaged, yet, she never returned the product to us.  So she has received moneys back for at lest 3 products, she has kept the 3 products and has received 1 more free replacement.  Thechnically she has received at least 4 products free.

To better explain Mr. [redacted]’s case I need to provide you with some background. Mr. [redacted] purchased an AeroGarden at [redacted] in July of last year (receipt attached).  The model he purchased was an AeroGarden 3SL, which [redacted] continues to sell at a high discount ($25 in this case) because...

that particular model has been discontinued since 2015.  The last models produced were from mid-late 2015. On August 10th of 2016 Mr. [redacted] contacted us to let us know his AeroGarden purchased in July had stopped working.  Since he had provided a copy of his receipt, and we knew that these models [redacted] was selling were problematic, we issued a replacement for him without asking him to return his defective unit back to us.  We replaced his defective AeroGarden 3SL in Order #[redacted] on August 10, 2016 for free and replaced it for the redesigned AeroGarden Sprout.  Since the receipt from his original purchase did not indicate the color of the garden, but he indicated when calling us that it was black, we replace it for an AeroGarden Sprout in black.   You can verify the details on the order invoice attached. On January 4th of 2017 Mr. [redacted] called to complained he had 2 AeroGarden Sprouts not working (he said they were not producing oxygen/bubbles) and wanted replacements.  Since we know we had issued a previous replacement we asked him this time to return the defective units for analysis.  We provided him with a return shipping label and we told him we would send his replacements once the units were received and analyzed. On January 13th of 2017 we received Mr. [redacted]’s AeroGardens.   One of the units was the one we replaced on August 10th and that one was working just fine, so we returned it to him as it was.  The second AeroGarden was an AeroGarden 3SL with date code of [redacted], which coincides with the AeroGarden 3SL he reported not functioning back on August of 2016, which we had already replaced.  You can see the attached copy with the label showing the date code. We decided to give Mr. [redacted] the benefit of the doubt and offered to replace his defective AeroGarden 3SL.  However, the replacement model, AeroGarden Sprout, has also been discontinued and we only have it available in color white.  Mr. [redacted] was made aware of it and was advised that we could either replace his 3SL for a Sprout in the only color available (we no longer have black) or we could upgrade him to the next available model, which we have in black, for the price difference of $20. We have not heard back from Mr. [redacted] since we gave him the only options we have available for a replacement that, by all accounts, seems to have already been replaced last year.  And that is where we currently stand.  As of today, we are still waiting to hear from Mr. [redacted] on how he would like us to proceed. You can see on the attached screen shot of the orders issued for Ms. [redacted] that we still have his replacement order on hold, and we have done nothing but issue replacement orders for him so far, and the only reason why the last one is holding is because we are waiting for Mr. [redacted]’s answer to our request. Thank you,

The description of the product outlines what is included, and the Seed Starting System is not listed. The Seed Starting System is a separate accessory. This item is currently out of stock but will be available for purchase in late January. If the AeroGarden was purchased only for the Seed Starting...

System, we will be happy to supply a pre-paid UPS label and will accept the return of the AeroGarden and all other items purchased for a refund. Recorded calls to both agents were reviewed, and in both calls our agents were courteous and helpful in their attempt to explain what should and should not have been included. Thank you.