AeroGrow International

Customer contacted us in early April of 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 $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/& 4/26/16, under orders # [redacted] (for the base) and # [redacted] (for the kit) at $value each On June 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 (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 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 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 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 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 $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 months since she originally purchased her garden, and about 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

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

The description of the product outlines what is included, and the Seed Starting System is not listedThe Seed Starting System is a separate accessoryThis item is currently out of stock but will be available for purchase in late JanuaryIf 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 refundRecorded 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 includedThank you

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 ***, 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,

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 agreementI want them to fulfill the promise they made to me and refund the $like they agreed to do Sincerely, [redacted]