vendor Baker Creek

N

newbiepepperguy

I ordered most of pepper and tomato seeds from Baker Creek, and I've been very happy with all but one. I posted a review indicating the poor germination rate (3 out of 25, with only 1 of those making it 2 weeks after germination) on their website, and they didn't post it. I asked why, and they said they don't post reviews mentioning bad germ rates.

Is it just me, or does that feel a little... Not... Cool?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I would politely let them know the positives first , then mention the not so positive one . Hopefully they'll make it right for you . I had that happen to me with a well known vendor , but i wasn't gonna throw him under the bus without a chance to rectify it . He made good with me in a heartbeat . all is well ,     :party:
 
I can say i probably wouldn't post it either , just make good with ya,     :silenced:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
moruga welder said:
I would politely let them know the positives first , then mention the not so positive one . Hopefully they'll make it right for you . I had that happen to me with a well known vendor , but i wasn't gonna throw him under the bus without a chance to rectify it . He made good with me in a heartbeat . all is well ,     :party:
 
I can say i probably wouldn't post it either , just make good with ya,     :silenced:
Click to expand...
Yeah, I mentioned how much I loved the other peppers and tomatoes. And I really did. Just thought it seemed morally sketchy to provide a place for reviews (which ostensibly indicate customer satisfaction or lack thereof) and then only allow reviews that are good.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
lol they filter out reviews? that is shady.
 
i'm guessing they do it because they probably have a standard and test the germ rates themselves and if it passes their quality control then it is good to sell. rareseeds can't just trust every hillbilly joe who might buy seeds and give them 0 star reviews because they didn't germ the seeds correctly.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
juanitos said:
lol they filter out reviews? that is shady.
 
i'm guessing they do it because they probably have a standard and test the germ rates themselves and if it passes their quality control then it is good to sell. rareseeds can't just trust every hillbilly joe who might buy seeds and give them 0 star reviews because they didn't germ the seeds correctly.
Click to expand...
I get that reasoning, but I mentioned in the review that using the same growing media, light, watering, humidity dome, and heat mats, no other seeds had the same issue (or even less than 90% germ rate).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sorry to hear about that. I can't blame them, though. Filtering out reviews is a little shady, but I can see why. You wouldn't want your product rated low because of possibilities beyond the seller's control, such as weak genetics, improper seed storage, improper germination technique, etc. Their only responsibility, really, is to sell you the seeds and make sure they arrive safely. 
 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
peppamang said:
Sorry to hear about that. I can't blame them, though. Filtering out reviews is a little shady, but I can see why. You wouldn't want your product rated low because of possibilities beyond the seller's control, such as weak genetics, improper seed storage, improper germination technique, etc. Their only responsibility, really, is to sell you the seeds and make sure they arrive safely. 
 
Click to expand...
Wouldn't weak genetics be completely in their control. I assume they test and grow the seeds before they sell them. So why would they sell something with weak genetics?

And if he told them he had good germ rates on everything except this one pepper, maybe they should try to respect that, and offer to help him germinate these seeds, or replace them. Or offer different seeds if there is a problem with this particular variety.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
newbiepepperguy said:
I ordered most of pepper and tomato seeds from Baker Creek, and I've been very happy with all but one. I posted a review indicating the poor germination rate (3 out of 25, with only 1 of those making it 2 weeks after germination) on their website, and they didn't post it. I asked why, and they said they don't post reviews mentioning bad germ rates.

Is it just me, or does that feel a little... Not... Cool?
Click to expand...
Did you call customer service and ask for a replacement ? 
 
I'm sure if you do they will be accommodating. I've ordered pepper, tomato and other seeds from them for years with no issues. 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jubnat said:
Wouldn't weak genetics be completely in their control. I assume they test and grow the seeds before they sell them. So why would they sell something with weak genetics?

And if he told them he had good germ rates on everything except this one pepper, maybe they should try to respect that, and offer to help him germinate these seeds, or replace them. Or offer different seeds if there is a problem with this particular variety.
Click to expand...
 
My secondary dilemma is that after contacting them again about this, they've offered to replace the seed, but it's a little late in the season to be starting seed, for me. I'd need to give it a minimum of a week for germination (that's probably pushing my luck, as the Thai's and Red Habs were the slowest germinating last time) plus another couple months to grow to transplant size (again, might be pushing my luck). Then it's 90 days after transplant before I get fruit from it. That would mean I'd have to get pretty lucky to have any fruit before the beginning of September or so, which gives me about a month of production (Average first frost for me is October 15) IF I don't have slow germination, dropped flowers due to weather conditions, or any other snags along the way.
 
I really appreciate their offer to try to make it right, but replacing the seed at this point in this year just doesn't really add any benefit for me. I see more value in trying to work with them to find out why only those seeds had bad germ rates, so it doesn't happen to me or anybody else next year. But they're being weird about even that, trying to imply that it must have been an issue in transit, even though all of the seeds experienced the same transit at the same time in the same envelope, and, again, none of them had bad germ rates.
 
I'm really fine with just chalking this up as a loss this year as far as growing Thais is concerned, as long as they're willing to admit there's an issue and fix it. If they do that, I'm more than willing to buy from them next year, because I really did like the other seeds they sent. The Red Habs in particular have been growing like crazy. It's just weird to me that they're so unwilling to admit to an obvious issue.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SavinaRed said:
Did you call customer service and ask for a replacement ? 
 
I'm sure if you do they will be accommodating. I've ordered pepper, tomato and other seeds from them for years with no issues. 
Click to expand...
 
I contacted them - see my last comment for the details.
 
Beyond just the concerns I mention there, I still feel pretty strongly that displaying a section called "reviews" but then only allowing glowing recommendations is misleading. It makes it look like people have the chance to say something bad about their purchase, but nobody has, so the seed must be amazing every single year.
 
It would be way more honest to just have a "testimonials" section, or something like that. Calling it "reviews" if all you allow is recommendations seems substantially less than forthcoming.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Might be too late to start Thai from seed but you can buy a plant and have it shipped to you in plenty of time before your plant out date. I know it isn't the same as starting from seeds but it is a good fallback option.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chewi said:
Might be too late to start Thai from seed but you can buy a plant and have it shipped to you in plenty of time before your plant out date. I know it isn't the same as starting from seeds but it is a good fallback option.
Click to expand...
 
I considered this, but unlike Burpee, Baker Creek doesn't offer plants, right? If they did, I'd love to do that. But otherwise I'd have to pay Burpee to send plants that should have grown from seed from Baker Creek. Are you saying I should just count the loss and pay to do that, or that Baker Creek may have some way to send me a couple plants?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
newbiepepperguy said:
 
I considered this, but unlike Burpee, Baker Creek doesn't offer plants, right? If they did, I'd love to do that. But otherwise I'd have to pay Burpee to send plants that should have grown from seed from Baker Creek. Are you saying I should just count the loss and pay to do that, or that Baker Creek may have some way to send me a couple plants?
Click to expand...
 

Man I'm sorry I wasn't too clear in that post. I just now am finishing coffee. What I meant was someone on here is bound to have a few extra Thai seedlings that can be shipped in a SFRB to you for next to nothing. So yeah, basically I was saying since it is almost April to find a seedling as opposed to seeds at this point. (for this year)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chewi said:
 
Man I'm sorry I wasn't too clear in that post. I just now am finishing coffee. What I meant was someone on here is bound to have a few extra Thai seedlings that can be shipped in a SFRB to you for next to nothing. So yeah, basically I was saying since it is almost April to find a seedling as opposed to seeds at this point. (for this year)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the info!  I really appreciate the help.
 
And I hope I don't sound really whiny about the whole thing. The bad germ rate wasn't that big of deal, as far as I was concerned. It was their reaction to it that rubbed me the wrong way.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Nah its all good! You had a plan and now you are short a variety. Keep an eye (or even follow) the forum ad section. Better yet, post a want ad over there. Someone will send you a seedling!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
juanitos said:
lol they filter out reviews? that is shady.
 
i'm guessing they do it because they probably have a standard and test the germ rates themselves and if it passes their quality control then it is good to sell. rareseeds can't just trust every hillbilly joe who might buy seeds and give them 0 star reviews because they didn't germ the seeds correctly.
Click to expand...
 

Hey Paul, as a matter of fact ^this guy right here^ is a trusted member who sells starter plants and he's right here in your thread.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top