TN Nursery Ships garbage knowing you won't likely pay return shipping for a replacement.

I’m assuming by posting the text of the warranty and not addressing my specific claim that the owner is saying there is nothing wrong with the product I was sent.  If you want to fix this, address the issue and send a replacement.  I’ll then add an addendum to my post that another customer of yours may receive a replacement if he takes his case to the public.  Otherwise no one is going to believe that you take care of anyone.  You see, I have a policy not to spend my hard earned money sending back dead sticks when that is completely unnecessary.  That’s called “throwing good money after bad” and most people aren’t going to do this.  But of course you know that. 

TN Nursery talks a lot about dormant trees.  I don’t have an issue receiving a dormant tree.  I’ve planted hundreds of them in my orchard over the years.  However that is not what I received.  A tree is a system and that system includes roots.  No roots= no tree.  Everyone can look at the pictures I provided and decide for themselves.  It’s telling that you, the owner of a nursery, are trying to tell the public that there is nothing wrong with what you sent.  Now you can take a cutting from a tree and try to get it to root through different techniques but a cutting is not a tree.  If you were trying to send me a cutting which is not what I purchased then care should have been taken in the packaging to make sure it was kept moist.  I received a dried out cutting.

 What is the purpose of a warranty?  I believe it is to give the potential customer peace of mind in making the purchase that he/she is not throwing money away.  I agree with the owner,  read the warranty in full but let me pull out some highlights and you can decide if this is an “excellent warranty” that gives you the peace of mind you need  I believe this warranty is about one thing.  Protect the company and not the customer so the company can get away with terrible business practices.  My comments are in parentheses:

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If you have ANY problem with your order, you must contact us via email with an order # and the problem within 24 hours of receival or we will not be able to help you.  (Pretty small window in my opinion)

1 year warranty on plants under quantity of 10 per variety ordered. In store credit will be applied after plants are returned to us. (Who pays to ship back the plants?  The customer.  This is getting expensive)

We do no refunds. We only do in store credits for future orders or re-orders of the plants you lost.Our store will only hold a credit for 30 days. Failure to order plants within 30 days from day credit is given is considered null and void. No exceptions. (Pretty strict I’d say for an “excelllent warranty”  Would be fine I guess if you trusted the company enough to send out a good replacement product.  You’ll have to decide on that one.)

 Absolutely no warranties on wholesale orders placed if you are not a licensed nursery, no exceptions due to wholesale pricing being a very small profit ratio we can not offer anyone not in the industry even a 24 hour warranty if they buy wholesale and not experienced and licensed dealing with bare root plants. (They define a wholesale order as ten or more of of the same variety.  Not applicable in my case but just another part of their “excellent warranty.”)

We package all plants in boxes and breakage seldom happens. We are not responsible for carrier damage or lost in transit items . Customer must file claims for any problems they may have with carrier damage or lost items.  (This was not true in my case.  My dead stick was wrapped in some burlap and that is all.  No box, no packaging material, no moisture.  So TN Nursery chooses the carrier and yet they don’t resolve a damage issue with them, the customer has to do that.  Another part of their “excelleht warranty.”)

Our plants are counted 4 different times before they ship and unless we find evidence one of your packages got damaged, we seldom honor shortage claims (What a surprise!  Must be that the customer miscounted, not us)

BELOW IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WILL RECIEVE. DORMANT PLANT ARE NOT PRETTY BUT THEY ARE ALIVE! (Not in my case.  Roots are one of those silly requirements to being alive)

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I’m glad the owner took the time to copy and paste for us the company’s “excellent warranty.”  It gives us all more information for making our purchasing decisions.

We have an excellent warranty. We do urge you to read it in full.

1 YEAR GUARANTEE

Dead Plants Received - They are not dead, they are dormant

WE ONLY SHIP BARE ROOT DORMANT PLANTS, THEY ARE NOT PRETTY WITH NO LEAVES ON THEM BUT THEY ARE NOT DEAD SEE IMAGE BELOW

All plants are shipped dormant and immediately after they have been dug. Your plants may look dead but they are not, they are dormant without tops on most. They may have dead leaves from winter and they will not be pretty or have any blooms on them, this is how dormant plants look. Please look at the bottom of this page. There are images of what your plants will look like when received verses in spring time. Plant them, water well for the first 5 days and see. This is why we offer a 1 year warranty, to let you see they will bloom and be pretty and as advertised in spring.

If you have ANY problem with your order, you must contact us via email with an order # and the problem within 24 hours of receival or we will not be able to help you. We have insurance too for errors and/or omissions and this is the allotted time our insurance company gives us to report problems. If you've got any problem with your order email us at customerservice@tnnursery.net the order # and the problem. If it's more than 24 hours, your claim will not be honored, no exceptions to this rule. When you email we have a time stamp to show our E&O Insurance company to reimburse us for shortages etc that we've sent out in error.

RETAIL WARRANTY - For Orders Under 10 Plants Per Variety

1 year warranty on plants under quantity of 10 per variety ordered. In store credit will be applied after plants are returned to us. Return Plants To This Address (only use fedex or ups, we have no us mail receptacle) 856 Main St, Altamont Tn 37301 . We only offer in store credits on returns, no refunds. With an in store credit, you can order what you want instead of us replacing what you purchased in case you'd prefer another item instead. We seldom must but do reserve the right to substitute a plant for one of equal or greater value.If you do not want substitutions, please put us a note in checkout “no subs” and we will honor this. We do no refunds. We only do in store credits for future orders or re-orders of the plants you lost.Our store will only hold a credit for 30 days. Failure to order plants within 30 days from day credit is given is considered null and void. No exceptions.

WHOLESALE WARRANTY - For Orders Over 10 Plants Per Variety

10+ plants per variety ordered are priced wholesale and we offer an "arrive alive" 24 hour warranty on wholesale quantities. No further warranties on wholesale quantities after 24 hours. We will not accept returns after 24 hours of receipt. Plants must be returned within the 24 hour period after received. If they are not dead, we will not accept them back. You need to do a scratch test prior to returning them. how to preform a scratch test is listed below. Absolutely no warranties on wholesale orders placed if you are not a licensed nursery, no exceptions due to wholesale pricing being a very small profit ratio we can not offer anyone not in the industry even a 24 hour warranty if they buy wholesale and not experienced and licensed dealing with bare root plants.

Shipping Charges

Our shopping cart only charges a shipping estimate. If you live in a further state and have ordered a heavy item like mosses or a large quantity of plants, the shipping may be more expensive and we will always alert you of extra charges before we ship your items and it is up to you if you want to cancel or pay extra shipping charges. Very expensive states to ship moss to are MD, OR, CA, NV, RI, WI.

Transit Damage

We package all plants in boxes and breakage seldom happens. We are not responsible for carrier damage or lost in transit items . Customer must file claims for any problems they may have with carrier damage or lost items. Insurance is available upon request.

Plant Shortages

Our plants are counted 4 different times before they ship and unless we find evidence one of your packages got damaged, we seldom honor shortage claims but if you see there is a shortage, we must be notified within 24 hours of received in order to research and check it. You will need to call 888-958-5640 and dial extension #5 and leave your name, order # and what's been shorted in your order. Failure to so within the 24 hours period after received will result in us not being able to honor your request. We will check your tracking # and make sure it's not over 24 hours when you call in also.

Order Cancelling

Once you place your order online, the order is sent directly to the fields. If you need to cancel your order we will be happy to do so unless it's left our office to be dug in the tree farms. Reason being is because our workers go to the fields to dig our plants does not have cell phone reception in most areas they dig in and there's no way we can contact them and tell them not to dig after it leaves our office. No exceptions.

If you refuse your order and return it, will will not accept it. We ship fragile bare root plants and there is a short window on them needing planted after received. They would be dead by the time we received them back. 

Ship Dates

Please do not put a desired ship date in comments of your order or call and request specific dates to ship or receive. We get over 30,000 orders a year and this is impossible to do. We however do give you the customer options as to when to ship (mid or late April, spring & fall, depending on season we are currently in). We will not be able to pay attention to any other shipping requests than the option you select when ordering.

Still don't believe plants are alive? Do a scratch test and this will prove they are alive. Simply scratch the bark and if the inside of the bark is brown, it is dead. If it is greenish-white, your plants are alive.

BELOW IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WILL RECIEVE. DORMANT PLANT ARE NOT PRETTY BUT THEY ARE ALIVE!