5/8/2016 Walnut Ridge Garden Center is writing in response to a complaint filed #[redacted] concerning “product issues” as related to Lemon Trees for purchase at our garden center. #1: Selling Meyer Lemon Trees as Eureka Lemon Trees – We...
receive truckloads of tropical plants in early spring. These deliveries bring in several 1000 plants from many different suppliers at one time. Our invoices indicate that we received 9 – 1 gallon Meyer Lemons ($24.99), 10 – 3 gallon Meyer Lemons ($42.99) and 5 – 5 gallon Eureka Lemons ($89.99) over the time span of February thru April, 2016. We were unaware that the 5gallon Eureka Lemons were tagged “Meyer Lemon” from the supplier. We have removed them from our sales floor and will call the supplier to determine which variety we actually have. We appreciate the customer notifying us of this “mislabeling” problem.#2: Availability and Pricing Issues – When a customer calls about a live, perishable plant we check inventory and price in our computer system at that moment. When the customer called inquiring about Meyer Lemon trees, she was quoted the price for the sizes (1 gallon & 3 gallon) of Meyer Lemon trees that were in stock at that moment. Unless a customer asks us to hold a plant or prepays there is no guarantee the plant will still be in stock later that day or week. In addition plants are perishable and can be removed from the sales floor if they are no longer in a sellable condition. It takes a few days for that to be reflected in our inventory numbers. We apologize that she was quoted a price for a 3 gallon Meyer Lemon $42.99, but there were none in stock when she arrived.#3: Use conflicting tags to mark up the price – Walnut Ridge does not change tags, quote misleading prices or mark up prices before a customer arrives. The customer was actually looking at the larger 5 gallon size ($89.99) Eureka/Meyer Lemon tree because that was the only type or size lemon tree left in stock. She was not quoted that size or price when she called because our computer system listed it as Eureka not Meyer. Walnut Ridge apologizes for the confusion and we are in the process of contacting our supplier to understand which variety we actually have. #4: Employees are not educated on lemon trees – Walnut Ridge carries thousands of types of plants though out the seasons of the year. It would be wonderful for every employee to know all there is to know about each of these varieties. However, the reality is that’s impossible. We do our best and are very proud of our employee’s plant knowledge and they are learning more everyday. Again we apologize that this customer was told wrong information on why there were two different tags on the same plant. The employee should have brought that information to management right away. They have been instructed to do so in the future. It is Walnut Ridge’s understanding that this customer did not purchase a Lemon Tree according to our records. We would like to extend our apology once again for any confusion or inconvenience this issue caused. Thank You for bringing this matter to our attention and giving us the opportunity to respond. [redacted] Walnut Ridge Garden Center
5/8/2016 Walnut Ridge Garden Center is writing in response to a complaint filed #[redacted] concerning “product issues” as related to Lemon Trees for purchase at our garden center. #1: Selling Meyer Lemon Trees as Eureka Lemon Trees – We...
receive truckloads of tropical plants in early spring. These deliveries bring in several 1000 plants from many different suppliers at one time. Our invoices indicate that we received 9 – 1 gallon Meyer Lemons ($24.99), 10 – 3 gallon Meyer Lemons ($42.99) and 5 – 5 gallon Eureka Lemons ($89.99) over the time span of February thru April, 2016. We were unaware that the 5gallon Eureka Lemons were tagged “Meyer Lemon” from the supplier. We have removed them from our sales floor and will call the supplier to determine which variety we actually have. We appreciate the customer notifying us of this “mislabeling” problem.#2: Availability and Pricing Issues – When a customer calls about a live, perishable plant we check inventory and price in our computer system at that moment. When the customer called inquiring about Meyer Lemon trees, she was quoted the price for the sizes (1 gallon & 3 gallon) of Meyer Lemon trees that were in stock at that moment. Unless a customer asks us to hold a plant or prepays there is no guarantee the plant will still be in stock later that day or week. In addition plants are perishable and can be removed from the sales floor if they are no longer in a sellable condition. It takes a few days for that to be reflected in our inventory numbers. We apologize that she was quoted a price for a 3 gallon Meyer Lemon $42.99, but there were none in stock when she arrived.#3: Use conflicting tags to mark up the price – Walnut Ridge does not change tags, quote misleading prices or mark up prices before a customer arrives. The customer was actually looking at the larger 5 gallon size ($89.99) Eureka/Meyer Lemon tree because that was the only type or size lemon tree left in stock. She was not quoted that size or price when she called because our computer system listed it as Eureka not Meyer. Walnut Ridge apologizes for the confusion and we are in the process of contacting our supplier to understand which variety we actually have. #4: Employees are not educated on lemon trees – Walnut Ridge carries thousands of types of plants though out the seasons of the year. It would be wonderful for every employee to know all there is to know about each of these varieties. However, the reality is that’s impossible. We do our best and are very proud of our employee’s plant knowledge and they are learning more everyday. Again we apologize that this customer was told wrong information on why there were two different tags on the same plant. The employee should have brought that information to management right away. They have been instructed to do so in the future. It is Walnut Ridge’s understanding that this customer did not purchase a Lemon Tree according to our records. We would like to extend our apology once again for any confusion or inconvenience this issue caused. Thank You for bringing this matter to our attention and giving us the opportunity to respond. [redacted] Walnut Ridge Garden Center