Airplants 4 U

Review: I experienced extremely unprofessional and irrational customer service from this company.

On 12/4/13 I placed an order 4 glass terrariums from this company online and the total amount came to $35.75 including shipping. On 12/6/13 I received a confusing confirmation email from the company but didn't respond to it since it specifically asked not to respond. On 12/12/13 I hadn't heard anything from them so I decided to send an email to the customer service email that was listed in the confirmation email. The purpose of my email was to get a better idea as to when my items were going to be shipped and nothing else. On 12/15/13 after receiving no response from the company I once again sent an email requesting the status of my order and mentioned that if I didn't hear back from them soon that I would request a refund and or open up a dispute via PayPal, the company payment was transacted through. Later that same day I received a response from [redacted] at airplants4u.com with a rude, irrational and unprofessional email that prompted me to respond with some suggestions on how they could remedy some of the issues on their end. Here is the text of the last exchange we had on 12/15 and 12/16: "Dear [redacted], I understand that this is a very busy/stressful time of the year for you and your business and I appreciate your response to my email. I was very thorough in reading through your letter but perhaps it isn't as clear or straightforward as you'd like it to be. I do have some recommendations for you: 1) In the confirmation letter it states: "Contact Customer Service if you have questions or need help." This should be removed since it gives your customers the impression that you actually welcome their questions or concerns 2) Your confirmation letter also states: "you can expect delivery in about 5-7 business days (ball park estimate for orders in the United States) after payment," which implies that I should expect my package to be "delivered" and not just shipped between 5 to 7 business days after payment receipt. What it should say is "you can expect for your item to be shipped out in about 5 to 7 days after payment", so I think that a revision of this section is in order as well 3) I never received an "auto response" email from you when I sent my initial inquiry in to [email protected], so that system needs to be checked and remedied 4) There is also nothing on your website, the confirmation letter or my receipt of payment that says "All orders are final and orders can not be canceled without our approval," which clearly needs to be stated for this policy to be valid." RESPONSE: "Dear [redacted], if we want your advise we would ask for it. It seems you are the one stressed out here. You sir need to lighten up. You are the one who did not comprehend our communications. Your comment about customer service is completely out of line and sarcastic. We welcome respectful questions from customers but you did not understand that your question was already answered...Why would you expect a response when we state clearly that we do not respond to status of order inquires???..In fact our confirmation email is always evolving and being tweaked ...We find your emails highly insulting and over the line for a respectful customer...We are a highly successful small business that does not appreciate stupid comments that originate in your not reading or comprehending our stated policies. Therefore we are using our right to cancel your order. In the future, please treat your sellers with respectful courtesy and never send insulting unsolicited advice. You should never try and tell a business you are doing business with how to run their business or threaten them with unjustified disputes. Who in [redacted] do you think you are???? We think just another stressed out [redacted] in this season of kindness. Hope you can lighten up and treat your fellow man with respect at least in this Christmas season." On 12/16/13 I was refunded the $35.75 and the note on the refund receipt states, believe it or not "Buyer is insulting, abusive and threatening."

Desired Settlement: I had ordered items from this company as gifts for this Christmas holiday. As a result of this company's poor communication and customer service I will not be able to gift these items in a timely manner since my order was cancelled and my money refunded and the holiday is 9 days away.

In an ideal world airplants4u.com would send me my original order with expedited shipping at no cost to me as an apology for handling the transaction so poorly, but I know that this would never happen.

After doing some research online I found that I wasn't the only consumer that had had an abusive and negative experience with this company. So if I can help make it known that this is a very poorly managed company with unsavory practices and that this info would help spare another consumer a potentially disturbing experience I'd be happy in the end.

Thank you for your help and consideration in this matter!

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

We had to refuse service to Mr. [redacted] because he sent us extremely insulting, abusive, sarcastic, threatening and obnoxious letters. As a business owner it is our right and privilege to refuse service and not do business with such an individual. Mr. [redacted] was provided information at the time of purchase that apparently he did not read. The information stated that the order was received and no updates to status would occur until shipping occurred. Our letter informed Mr. [redacted] that we can not provide a specific shipping date ahead of time because previously made orders are processed first and most of these orders involve complex custom assembled plant assortments. There was no promise of any specific delivery date, only an estimate for non peak shipping times. As you know, Christmas is a peak shipping and ordering time. We informed Mr. [redacted] that we do not respond to status or order inquires since orders are received and in process until the notice of shipping is sent. So if Mr. [redacted] had read our email he would have known this. Apparently Mr. [redacted] did not read this letter until later since specific instructions about contacting customer service were not followed (the correct customer service email address was not used ). So on the 7th business day after purchase, Mr. [redacted] sent us a demanding and threatening email. We responded with an explanation. Also, in addition,Mr. Mehia received at least one auto-email that addressed shipping at peak times. Then we immediately received a very sarcastic,rude, insulting,abusive email that was way over the top. In this email, Mr. Mehia tried to tell us how to run our business. Give me a break! We are a highly successful small business that has been growing every hear for over 12 years. We are top rated at Paypal and we have 30,000 positive feedbacks at Ebay. We certainly do not need this guy`s unsolicited advice!! Our reputation for fairness is beyond repute. Like every business we get an occasional nutcase or unreasonable customer. Mr. Mehia went way too far in his insulting email, so we had to cancel his order. Did Mr. Mehia really think we were going to fulfill his order after his disrespectful over the top remarks? Now he is vindictive and trying to damage us. Nice Christmas spirit eh? As sellers, we do not have to do business with these kind of people. We do not tolerate abuse. Mr. Mehia is clearly a bad customer to say the least. We used our rights as a business to cancel and refund with plenty of time for Mr. [redacted] to order elsewhere. So as a result of our action, Mr. [redacted] is displaying his "spoiled brat attitude" and vindictive motivation by complaining to you. His desired resolution as stated is just to get his remarks published in order to try and hurt our business. Well, publishing will not hurt our business at all as it keeps growing and growing. We are not a member of Revdex.com and unjustified complaints have no effect on our business.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

As a customer I believe that communication with a seller is an extremely important aspect of making a transaction. I know that there are many e-commerce customers who purchase things online and don't expect much in the way of customer service, however I am not one of these people. When I make a purchase online I expect the seller's written policies to match their actions. If the seller's policies are stated in a confusing, unclear and unorthodox manner, as is the case here, I'm going to contact the seller to have things cleared up. What I didn't expect and what is completely uncalled for were the responses that I received from this vendor. I will not be left to the mercy of the seller's whims and will not remain silent if I feel that I've been treated poorly as in this case. After looking into this company I realized that I wasn't the only customer who had been treated in such an unprofessional a bullied fashion. The purpose of my complaint is not to damage reputation, play the blame game or call people names but rather to bring these unprofessional and ultimately unethical business practices to light in the hopes that other consumers can avoid getting sucked into an unsavory negotiation. As a consumer I don't think that decorum, respect and clear communication is too much to ask from any business. Thank you.

Final Business Response

We have already responded to this unjustified case and we stand 100% behind our response. Because Mr. [redacted] verbally attacked us, we had to refuse service to Mr. [redacted], which is certainly our right as a business. This transaction ended when we canceled the order and refunded Mr. [redacted]. As stated by Mr. [redacted], his desired resolution is nothing from us. His stated sole resolving motivation is to have his vindictive rubbish diatribes published on the Revdex.com site. Whatever Mr. [redacted] says, he really wants to try and hurt our business because he thought he would get away with verbally attacking us and abusing us. We will not do business with anyone who does that to us period! Well, even if his diatribes are published, they will have no effect on our very successful business. We are not members of Revdex.com and our potential customers do not check with Revdex.com before doing business with us. Our reputation for honesty, fairness, good business practices and high quality products is beyond repute. We have many thousands of people who would completely disagree with Mr. [redacted] His opinion does not reflect truth and is vindictive in nature. We have 30,000 positive feedbacks on Ebay and tens of thousands of happy customers throughout the world as well as an A+ rating with Paypal for over 12 years. Mr. [redacted]`s opinion lacks credibility and does not stand up to light as being truthful and reasonable. One person`s unjustified opinion is of no worth when comparing to thousands and thousands of customers, many of whom are repeat customers. In one word Mr. [redacted]........"rubbish"!

Review: Will not resolve issue of damage in shippingJust stopped responding to emailTells me shipping complaints are my responsibility
[redacted],
Before Christmas (Dec 17th) I placed an order PayPal ID #XXXXXXXXLDXXXXXXX with you
The shipment went out the Friday before Christmas and unfortunately didn't get to us till after ChristmasI believe there was some damage done to out of of the plants
Reichenbachii 8"- 10"
Concolor Extra Large 12"+
Stricta Giant
Velutina Large (approx 6")
Let me know what you think...and/or if you need better picturesThese are not my first Tillandsia (just so you know I'm not a complete novice ;)I'm thinking they got hurt in the delayed shipping with the cold weather, there was not a heat pack in with themAlthough with the holiday delay, not sure that would have helped
Please let me know if you need better pictures to confirm damage
Thank you,
Hi [redacted],
Sorry for your loss
The damage appears indeed to be freeze damageThe package was tagged "do not leave in freezing temps"Since the package was delivered a week ago, we can not determine when the freeze damage occurredIn order for damage to occur, the plants probably were left in an unprotected location overnightRegards, [redacted]
Yes, they were delivered the day after Christmas, the 26thI personally took them from the mail carrierHe brought them to the door and I followed the enclosed instructions immediatelyAre you saying that you will not replace the damaged plants? I guarantee this did not happen once they were delivered
Hi [redacted],
We are not responsible for the damageYou should contact the responsible party, US Postal Service because they must have left them in extreme conditions, even when the box was labeled live plants do not leave in freezing temps, and therefore they are negligent, not usWe send nothing but very healthy plantsThis policy is stated on our website and is completely fair and reasonableIt also states that damage should be reported immediately upon receipt so we know when the damage occurredHeat packs are available but are not free and postal service delivery was extended over the original estimate so they would not have lasted until deliveryIf you would like to re-order, we can give you a 50% discountAirplants 4U
I agree that the damage was done by the postal service, during shippingHowever, I do feel some responsibility should be taken from youThey should have never been shipped the FRIDAY before a Holiday, especially to a Montana address
The reason for the delay on contacting you, was the holidaysWe had guests and honestly I didn't want to bother youAnd admittedly I thought I could pull them out! They just kept declining in health
I am not questioning the fact that you send healthy plants, I never thought otherwiseI'm not trying to take advantage of you, nor am I in the habit of taking advantage of anyoneI just feel the responsibility lies on you because of the shipping date
The responsibility is definitely NOT ours and we will not take any responsibility for late arrivalWe shipped your order in time to arrive before Christmas and as you can see by official US Postal Service record, the estimated delivery date was December 24thTherefore your contention that the mis-routing and resulting late delivery and plant damage is our fault is completely unfoundedYou should also know that Christmas is a very busy shipping time but we shipped within business daysIt is therefore best to order well in advance during peak shipping timesSee tracking information below and notice the estimated delivery date
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Priority Mail�®
Delivered
December 26, 2012, 2:pm
I'm asking for a reasonable resolutionHow about you replace the most expensive plants and we will call it goodI feel this would be more than fair to you and me.Desired Settlement: As you can see by the above emails, I was more than willing for 1/of the plants that were damaged to be refundedNow I would either like a full refund or replacement for the damaged plants
It is truly ashamed that this country has forgot who the customer is and how they should be treatedMy husband and I did direct meat sales and we never would have questioned the customerIt would have been replaced or refunded
Furthermore he stated I would have had to order a heat pack, at an extra charge...according to the text from his website, I don't think it would have been my responsibility
Shipping USA: Shipping is $for your entire plant order ( United States orders only, including Hawaii and Alaska and
territories) Shipping is via USPS Priority Mail and includes delivery confirmationYou will receive an email (with
tracking #) from the US Postal Service when your order is shippedWe process and ship orders made before yours
firstThe time till shipped depends on how many previously made orders are ahead of your order on the listDue to the
popularity of our high quality plants, we often receive more orders per day than we can ship, so orders may back up at
timesSpring is usually quite busy and surges of orders can occur any timeTherefore, time till shipped is variable, so if
you need your order by a specific date for a specific event, please let us know the date and what the event is at the time
of purchase and we will make sure you receive your order by the date you need them
If there is extremely cold temperatures forecast for your area, we may delay shippingIn some cases, hour heat
packs may be used
Business
Response:
Business' Initial Response
We stand behind our previous responses to the buyerThe buyer informed us of the condition of the plants a week after delivery (much longer than our published policy requires)Once plants are in the care of the buyer we are not responsible for plant healthThe buyer did not provide any evidence of damage at deliveryThe following statement is published on our website:"Any plant health problems will be evident upon arrival or within a day or twoEMAIL US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU
BELIEVE THERE IS A HEALTH PROBLEM AT DELIVERY and if possible, provide photosWe are not responsible for
health problems occurring later because these problems would be caused by your careSo IT IS VERY IMPORTANT
THAT YOU READ AND FOLLOW THE CARE INSTRUCTIONS provided with your order and also available on this site
If you follow the care instructions your plants will thrive."
We are not responsible for plant damage caused by the buyer or the shipper....read this statement on our website....."We guarantee that the plants we ship are very healthy and of high qualityWe stand behind our products 100%
However, Airplants4u is not responsible for damages that occur in shipping: i.efreezing, heat damage, breakage,
delays, etcThese claims must be filed with the carrier."
Nowhere on our site do we state that we provide free hour heat packsIn this case, a hour heat pack would not have helped one bit so is a mute point
We shipped in time for delivery by Christmas as promisedSee the tracking info below and note the expected delivery date
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Priority Mail�®
Delivered
December 26, 2012, 2:pm
SAINT IGNATIUS, MT XXXXX
Expected Delivery By:
December 24,
Delivery Confirmation�
Out for Delivery
December 26, 2012, 8:am
SAINT IGNATIUS, MT XXXXX
Sorting Complete
December 26, 2012, 8:am
SAINT IGNATIUS, MT XXXXX
Arrival at Post Office
December 26, 2012, 8:am
SAINT IGNATIUS, MT XXXXX
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
December 25, 2012, 3:am
MISSOULA, MT XXXXX
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
December 24, 2012, 1:pm
BILLINGS, MT XXXXX
Depart USPS Sort Facility
December 22,
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA XXXXX
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility
December 21, 2012, 9:pm
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA XXXXX
Electronic Shipping Info Received
December 21,
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility
December 21, 2012, 9:pm
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA XXXXX
Dispatched to Sort Facility
December 21, 2012, 5:pm
PARADISE, CA XXXXX
Acceptance
December 21, 2012, 5:pm
PARADISE, CA XXXXX
Weather data for December 24th for the Saint Ignatius MT area (buyers town) was a high of 41F and a low of 28FTherefore, since the expected delivery date was Dec24th, a heat pack was not necessaryHowever, the USPS did not deliver as scheduled and misrouted the packageThe package was delivered on December 26th when temps were much colder (25F hi and 21F low)Therefore any freeze damage was definitely not our faultThere is no way of knowing if the buyer exposed the plants to extreme cold or the USPS
Again, we refer to our published statement on the website...."Airplants4u is not responsible for damages that occur in shipping: i.efreezing, heat damage, breakage,
delays, etcThese claims must be filed with the carrier."
The buyer is barking up the wrong tree
Consumer's Final Response
I just wanted to thank you again, for your help in resolving this issue
I do know that he will not budge on his decisionIf I would have done better research on the internet, I wouldn't and shouldn't have ordered from himThere are many complaints of his attitude
But alas, I always want to think the best of people and that they will do the right thingWhy he was willing to offer 50% off of a reorder, but not replace 50% of the damage is beyond meThis all could have been avoided with a little customer service!
Thank you,
Business' Final Response
As you know,we have corresponded previously with this buyerBecause we are not able to comply with her unreasonable demands, she now has resorted to trying to hurt our business by complaining to the Revdex.comHowever, we are not a member of Revdex.com and her complaint, which does not hold water and has absolutely no validity, will have no effect on our business one bitOur business continues to grow each year
We have one of the best reputations for an online business in the world and this can be verified by our 99.8% Positive feedback on Ebay with 27,positive feedbacks over a period of yearsWe are Paypal Verified and have been a Paypal Business Account holder for yearsWe are fair and reasonable alwaysWe have never received a valid complaint against us that was not resolved fairlyAny unresolved problems were made by unreasonable people with invalid complaints or people with mental problems or attitude problems
Here are the facts:
Customer made order
We shipped the order within business days in
time for Christmas (as promised on our site)
The plants we shipped were in excellent prime
condition
The official USPS estimated delivery date was
December 24th
Delivery made on Dec26th
One week later, customer emailed and said
plants have been damagedOur website states
that if plants arrive in unhealthy condition,
buyer must inform seller within daysAfter
plants are in the care of buyer, we are not
responsible for health problems because they
would be caused by buyer careWe do not know
if buyer did not care for plants properly or if
plants were damaged by US Postal Service
Buyer stated in previous email she believes
damage was caused by Post Office
We did everything correctly yet buyer
mistakenly tries to blame us
If there was any valid evidence to show that we were responsible for plant damage we would of course make it rightWe are very honest, fair, and ethical people
In spite that we are not to blame for any damages
to plants (all allegations of buyer are unproven and false), we generously offered the buyer 50% off if she reorderedThat is customer service beyond the call of duty! Instead of working with us to resolve her problem, buyer has resorted trying to make trouble and thought she could hurt usHer refusal to accept our resolution and resort to unreasonable demands in a medium she thinks will hurt us or pressure us is regrettable