Fast Growing Trees review: Items sold not as described / Merchant refuses to accept return and refuses to refund charges 58

I wish I had read this comment before placing my order with Fast-growing-trees nursery. Their website states that trees will ship in 7-10 days. After 10 days, I started e-mailing and calling to find out when my order would be shipped. I wasn't in a rush, but I did want an estimated shipping date. I couldn't even get through over the phone and they refused to answer my question about when the trees would be shipped. Every e-mail reply was completely irrelevant to what I was asking and they refused to give me an estimated shipping date. This company has horrible customer service and I wouldn't reccommend them to anyone. I still haven't heard a thing about when my trees will ship and it's been over 2 weeks now. They also will not let you cancel your order without a "restocking" fee...which is completely outrageous.

This isn't the half of it. They sent me the wrong tree (in terrible condition by the way). When I told them about it after hours of trying to reach someone, they told me they didn't carry the tree they actually sent me and I must be mistaken, even after I provided pictures to them and pointed them to their website where they sell it. Fairly certain there will be no reconciliation as they are by far the rudest people I've ever talked to. Any email you get back is complete nonsense that is almost impossible to respond to. Seriously, it's like tying to reason with a two year old. Do not do business with this company. I never will again.

FAST GROWING TREES.COM
Maybe they would grow fast IF THEY LIVED! These people are criminals. I am in total agreement. They promise a better product thus the extra cost and do not deliver at all. You will receive a "twig" and then it will DIE! You will ask for your money back and they will not give it to you. CRIMINALS! that is what they are.

Oh say Hi to JESS she's the one who will be sending you the obnoxious emails telling you "you agreed to our terms"
What terms? the terms of death
Well I'm sorry I misread the part where they said - give us your money in return for a twig and when the twig dies thats tough sh**! Too bad for you.

DO NOT BUY FROM THESE "PEOPLE" They are total jerks

We are very sorry to hear you guys are unhappy with our products and customer service.

We do strive to provide better products and service.

I sincerely wish consumers would read the terms of service before placing an order on any website. Our policies are not that different from other in our industry. If you read the terms of service and are aware of certain polices it makes the whole experience much more manageable.

I hope when people read these complaints they take into consideration the volume of business we do vs. a handful of complaints.

I must say that I have not had the problems as listed previously. I have not tried to return a tree so I am unaware of those difficulties. I received my tree as promised in a short amount of time. It was in the 4 ft. range as expected.
What surprises me w/ these comments is that I called them today to discuss another tree. I got through w/in seconds. I am in a somewhat difficult climate and the rep recommended I wait until spring to order. She did not try to get the quick sale.

"I sincerely wish consumers would read the terms of service before placing an order on any website"

- This comment is ludicrous. If you were sincere, perhaps you would modify the web site to bring more attention to your outrageous terms of service. 99% of e-tailers offer the option of a refund - or at the very least don't expect the consumer to pay for shipping for a shoddy product.

I have also ordered two trees which were each a total of 5 inches tall each and did not appear to be healthy. Within 10 days (after following all instructions to ease the plant into it's new environment) one tree had died. Unsatisfied with this 'high performing tree'; I attempted to return the tree for a refund only to find out that refunds are not an option. They will, however, let you pay a $10 shipping fee (for a package that weighs under 2 pounds) for a one-time replacement.

Don't waste your money, just go local.

Do Not Order through fast-growing-trees! I've had a Terrible experience with them.

I have similar experience with fast-growing-tree nursery.

I've ordered a Royal Empress tree and a Eucaryptus tree.
First of all, they took like one week to send the trees after ordering online.
When I received the trees, Royal empress tree was so small. They advertise the tree size will be between 6 inch to 2 feet but it was cleary not even 6 inch. It was 4-5 inch with two little leaves. I couldn't believe how small the tree was and didn't even look like a tree.
But I figured since it's a fast growing tree, it should grow quickly. Therefore, I planted according to instruction.

Within a few days after being planted, the tree was cleary dying so I sent email to the nursery asking what I should do. I sent email to customerservice@fast-growing-trees.com. All I got was an auto-reply to notify me that they have received my email. Four days later, no response.

By that time, the tree was totally dead. It was actually a fast dying tree instead of a fast growing tree. So I took a pic of the tree and sent to the same email address again. Another four days, no response. Then I realized, they note that they don't respond to email that was send to wrong email address. They have four different email addresses, very confusing.

So I decided to send another email to all of their email address they provide. replacements@fast-growing-trees.com;customerservice@fast-growing-trees.com; billing@fast-growing-trees.com;status@fast-growing-trees.com This time asking for refund or replacement.
Customer service should take care of all issues or at least forward my email to the right department.

Then I got reply from billing@fast-growing-trees.com (how do I know if I need to send my email to billing department while they have customer service and replacement email address?) saying they only have received one of two previous emails that I sent (I've got auto-reply mail from each email that I sent, so I know it reached them.) Lie!

I found out that they replace the tree for $10 fee and no refund. Why do I have to pay another $10 for replacement while other local nursery have 1-year guarantee for free?
But I asked if they can send bigger size tree (not like 5 inches), so that it won't die again.
They replied with me that they can replace the tree but no guarantee on sizes. It will be 6inch to 2 feet.
AND there is no future replacement. Basically, I don't have any choice. I can't ask them to send bigger size tree nor have option for future replacement nor refund. Very poor customer service.

So, they charged $10 for replacement and it's been a week since they placed for replacement.
The tree still hasn't been shipped yet.

It's been for three weeks since I initially requested for replacement.
I sent another email asking when the tree will be shipped and I'm not happy with their service.
The reply I got was, "Sorry you feel that way. Your replacement will ship on Monday. "
Just plain one line sentence. That was their reply.

I will have to wait another 5 days plus shipping time to get this little tree?
It doesn't even state why it is delaying or I'm not even sure which Monday.
At this point, I don't even know if they are going to send me replacement.

Fast-growing-tree nursery totally runs poor business and has poor customer service.
I'll never place order with them and don't order through Fast-growing-tree nursery.

We were about to place a large order for some fruit trees. I'm so glad we saw this first.

Thanks for the heads up. I think we will stay local!

I, too, have ordered trees from Fast Growing Trees Nursery. This fall I ordered 1 Royal Empress, 1 Eucalytpus, and 6 Thuja Giants. The first tree to arrive was the Royal Empress (about 6 inches). I was a bit concerned, but decided to follow the instructions sent with the tree. Although it hasn't grown much, it appears to be healthy. The other trees (two additional shipments) look very healthy. All were packed extemely well and there was no damage during shipping. I was sorry to read the previous comments concerning this nursery. Of course, one might expect an occasional tree to be unhealthy regardless of the source of purchase. And, one might also expect some employees of companies to be uncooperative. My suggestion would be to call back to get someone else and to report the uncooperative employee to management. In terms of shipping fee on replacement trees, I agree the customer should not have to pay. However, this is not an uncommon practice of businesses. All in all, I was very pleased with my shipments of trees.

We will gladly send customers replacments as long as we are notified the tree is dead with-in 90 days and the customer pays the reshipping fee.

As with any online order if there is a problem upon recieving the order please contact the vendor withing 24-48 hours.

Wendy Sea
Customer Service Manager
[protected]
[protected]

Fast Growing Tree Guarantee

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Replacement Guarantee

Fast Growing Trees Nursery carries advanced tree varieties. We generally look for improved stock that not only grows quickly, but is hardier, better formed, more colorful or has longer lasting blooms. Our goal is to provide you with a low maintenance tree that will give you greater enjoyment.

Shipping Guarantee : Your order is carefully handled and shipped to ensure that you receive a healthy product. In the rare event that you receive a package from our carriers that is obviously damaged, please report this to us within 48 hours so we can resolve the issue for you.

90 Replacement Guarantee : If your tree dies within 90 days of receipt, we can offer you a one time replacement your tree. Any destruction of plants pursuant to weather, livestock, drought, insecticides or herbicides, fires, floods, etc., is not covered by this guarantee. Planting a tree outside of the recommended zones for that tree also voids this guarantee. Growth rates published on this site are estimates taken from reputable horticultural sources. We cannot guarantee your growth rate since it will depend entirely on care and conditions beyond our control. You’ve probably seen in your own yard or neighborhood, how plants of the same variety and age, can grow at dramatically different rates. An infinite number of variables can affect their health… water, soil, competing vegetation, animals, weather extremes, etc. However, we do provide easy to follow planting directions, including tips for faster growth. If you do qualify for a replacement tree, all you will be responsible for paying is a 25% shipping and packaging fee (minimum $10.00 dollars if the tree is under 0-4 ft. and minimum $40.00 if the tree is 5 ft. or taller). As a reminder, replacements are usually shipped out bare-root in the spring or fall. The process for receiving your tree is as follows:

Please do a scratch test on the tree. To perform a scratch test using either a small knife or your thumbnail scrape back the bark on the trunk of your plant about one or two inches above the soil. If the tissue appears green or white, the tree is alive and just needs more of the great care we are sure you are already giving it. If the tissue is brown or black, the plant has unfortunately died.
If the tree is in fact dead, please take some photographs of the tree and of the scratch test. We will need the photographs for our records.
Please send us an email with the photos attached. In the email we will also need your name, order number, the date you received your tree, and permission to charge the card we have on file for the shipping fee or another method of payment for the shipping charges. The email address is replacements@fast-growing-trees.com.

If by chance you do not have the ability to email photos you can send them via US Mail to:

Fast Growing Trees
Attn: Replacements
4475 Morris Park Drive
Suite J
Charlotte, NC 28227

Once we have all the information listed above, please be patient as we review your photos. Once we have reviewed your photos and determined that you do qualify for a replacement tree, we will set up a replacement order for you and ship the new tree out to you. We thank you very much for your cooperation and your business.

Glad I read this! I was about to order 30 trees!

FastGrowingTrees.com
GREAT website BUT very slow delivery and be prepared for a tiny tree!
I bought the red maple (5-7ft) and paid well over $150. When it arrived it was MAYBE 4ft. After doing some research at some local nursuries- it looks like you will pay abouyt 75% more at FastGrowingTrees.com for the SAME tree. Of course the convienience of shipping to your door is great, but NOT worth the high prices they charge.
Save your money and get in the car.

My overall impression of this company is they maybe shouldn't be trying to do business at a national level with the (apparent) inadequate staff size. I recently ordered 5 Crape Myrtle trees online. I had to call after no order confirmation for several days to verify the order had entered processing. Next communication was email confirmation of FedEx shipment. I'm in CA but didn't have any problem with shipping time. I did have a problem with only receiving 4 trees, though packing slips had all been initialed as including 5. I tried calling a couple of different times only to be advised by the recording that emailing their support site is the best way to address all concerns. I reluctantly did so, and was told there should be a response within 2 business days. A week later, I tried the phone number again and got right through to a very pleasant representative named Allison. She apologized for the error and said she would add another tree to my order at no charge, but there were no trees ready to ship immediately. Depending on how long this stage of limbo lasts, my next step may be to obtain a partial refund for the tree I never received.

A note about the trees themselves: the less-than-4-foot size means what I received definitely appears more shrub-like than tree-like, at least at the moment. Given that, plus the less-than-stellar experience with the company so far, I think we'll probably go with a local grower next time in order to know what we're getting from start to finish.

I ordered 3 trees from Fast-Growing-Trees.com in Fall of 2008. They waited until the trees were dormant before shipping them to me (which was fine), so I received what looked like dead sticks. I planted them, waited all through the Winter, and when Spring came, only 2 of the trees were alive - one had died.

After numerous attempts at contacting them to get a replacement, I've given up. They never responded to one of my emails. So the only satisfaction that I'm going to get is writing this note.

Do not buy from Fast-Growing-Trees.com

Jim
Rochester, NY

P.S. And they sure have a weird way of measuring trees. I ordered a 5 to 7 foot Autumn Blaze Maple tree. The only way that tree was 5 to 7 feet tall is if you measured from the top of the tree all the way down to an out stretched root.

Buyer Beware! I recently ordered plants from Fast Growing Trees.com. What a waste of money. The plants took two weeks to arrive and then they were pitiful. There are a lot of dead branches and the leaves are brown spotted. These were not things that resulted from being packaged and shipped. I contacted the company, but they failed to make any comment let alone any compensation. I entered a review on their website, but I'm sure that they won't post it. I too wish I had known before I ordered.

We have added a new feature “Live Chat” to the site to help customers get immediate help with things like replacements. We try to answer emails in the order they are received and should be replying to Jim’s request shortly. I have emailed Jim personally through this board and given my phone #, so I can quickly assist him with replacements.

In the terms of service it states:
Tree Sizes:
Most trees are measured from the base of the tree (ground level) to the top. Heights of deciduous trees taller than 5 ft., and evergreens taller than 4 ft., include pot size (if potted). All bare root measurements include the roots of your tree.

I will also be emailing Wild2001 to see what assistance I can offer.

Shipping time two weeks ago was noted on the order confirmation at 1-3 weeks. It varies through the season. We are very close to being able to ship within a week’s time since the spring planting season is coming to an end.

Most much to say here except buyer beware. I received the same as everyone else is describing a few days.
You should not get a 5 foot tree with almost no roots. Unfortunately I was so upset I forgot to take a photo of what little roots it had outside the wet construction paper.

Just remembered I had this on me.
Here's the sad clone you can expect to get.
Keep in mind clones are sterile, and no where are you told your getting a clone and not an actual tree.
There is a difference.

Last spring, I ordered several trees from Fast-growing-trees.com. The trees survived the summer and had beautiful blooms, but didn't grow any taller--just bushier. After the winter (we live in zone 6), one of the trees completely died, and the others still looked dead in June with the exception of some new shoots around the bases of the dead-looking trees. I did a live chat with the nursery, and they said that I live in the coldest zone that the trees will survive in. I asked if that meant the tree's new growth would die every year, and if I would be stuck with 2 foot "bushes "every summer, and their live chat person told me "yes." I purchased these trees because they were in my zone, and I was expecting them to grow taller each year. I was told by live chat that "the zones can change." The trees have been listed as zone 6-9 for at least the past two years, but within about an hour after my complaint today, the website suddenly changed and listed the trees as zones 7-9. I made a copy of the web page before they had a chance to change it, so I will include that with my complaint to the Better Business Bureau. I am very upset that I was led to believe these trees would grow in my state. I realize that my 90 day guarantee period is over, but how was I supposed to know that these trees won't survive my winters here? Very misleading. No wonder they have a C- rating with the BBB. Buy local.

Do not buy from them go to your local Nursery they are much cheaper. They also do not tell you if the trees are not ready to be shipped and have a delayed shipping. So when you call and cancel they want to still charge you the 10% cancelation fee even if they did not have them ready to ship. No where on there site do they mention that there could be a delay in the shipping of the tree. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. I am one more customer that will never do business with them again and will let everyone I know to not do business with them either. I do not know of any online business that charges you 10% to cancel your order they are stubborn and do not work with you at all even if you decide to keep the one tree that is on the order that they had ready to ship. They should keep better control of their inventory.

I am glad I read these comments. My wife had selected about 4 trees from their site and wanted me to place the order this afternoon. I dont feel like placing the order with this company now.

Wow, I can't thank you all enough for posting your stories. I was going to buy 6 or so apple trees, a couple of cherries, and some peach. But, now after hearing what you have said I will go local. This is one benefit of the internet is that you do have a voice. I was alittle suspicious of their claims of perfection in their trees when there was nothing to be said on their review board. That is why I began to search the internet for complaints. So, you may not get your money back, but your suffering is not in total vain, I will not give them my business, and eventually maybe they will go out of business for such shady practices.

Thanks so much.

I ordered a Summers red maple from them also, me and my wife planted it when we got married so we could see it grow and it died also... I babied it from a twig in a box and it did not make through the winter, and yes it is in the correct zone ...I wish I would have come across this 1st? I have one that I bought from Lowe's and it is doing great...Nice websight with great pictures and a total rip off !

DO NOT BUY FROM FAST GROWING TREES! I ordered three aspen trees less than 60 days ago. When they arrived they were nearly dead; not a single healthy leaf, almost completely brown. I could not reach anyone by phone and was only able to chat live. The chat operator told me that it was because of the rain they had been having. Rain killing trees?! Are they kidding? Do they know anything about trees? The trees have all since died, and now they expect me to pay 25% to get new trees. Are they kidding? Why would I want to pay 25% to get three new almost dead trees? I just purchased a new home on 10 acres and was planning on sending them a lot of business. I certainly will not be doing that. I will also be registering complaints everywhere I possibly can and will be contacting Martha Stewart to remove her association with this company.

OH PLEASE! YOUR TERMS OF SERVICE IS NOT THE ISSUE. YOU send crappy tiny twigs of trees and yet show beautiful blooming trees and even state on your website that the trees you sell are "well started" what is well started about a pencil thin two leaf half dead tree? You people are crooks who go running behind a company policy anytime someone corners you and calls you out as the frauds you are! CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ANYONE?

I also am sorry I did not see this site yesterday. That when I order 3 trees from Fast -Growing-Trees.com. They told me only yesterday that it would take 2-3 weeks to process. After reading the negative comments here I try to cancel the order. I try calling the company, which proved impossible. I did get on a live chat with "Ben" who informed me that my trees were already processed (surprise) and the order thus could not be cancelled. He advised me to return the trees when I receive them, which I understand they make it impossible to do. I will contest the charge with my credit card but have to wait for those trees to arrive first.

I ordered a cryptomeria japonica radicans from Fast growing Tree's, and I got it in good time with no damage. I'm very happy with them. The problem with people is we like to complain when something goes wrong, but when something goes right we don't bother with compliments. I am changing that.

I give Fast Growing Trees an A+ Read everything on a website before ordering, know what you are getting. If you get the smallest tree available make sure you know that seedling probably isn't going to look all that impressive.

This company has NO INTEGRITY. Do not order from them!

I ordered a weeping cherry tree from them and I was very dissatisfied with its condition. I have a feeling that it is a rare occasion that the product arrives healthy. The tree arrived in a timely manner but past that, there is not much more that I can say positive about it. The tree was dry, limp and dead upon arrival. Nearly all the leaves have been eaten by a parasite of some sort (you could see the holes where they ate through the leaf). I took it out of the box and promptly watered it and placed it outside, but instead of "perking up" as FastGrowingTrees promises it will, it had instead dropped 90% of its leaves. It looked more pathetic than the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. I thank my lucky stars that I had this sent to my house rather than to my friend as the gift I was going to give her as a memorial for her father's passing. How awful would that be to receive a dead tree for your father's passing?

On August 29th, I both called and emailed within ONE HOUR of receiving the tree - definitely within the 24-48 hrs policy that this website so much likes to tout. The memorial service for my friend's father was the following weekend (I receive the tree on a Saturday) and in my estimation if FastGrowingTrees had even BOTHERED to return either my call or email, they could have easily sent me another tree (hopefully alive). But no, they did not even contact me. On September 9th, the Tuesday following the memorial (where I had to present a different gift to my friend since FGT does not honor even their return policy), I filed a dispute with my credit card company. On that same day, I submitted a negative comment on their website reviews page. Guess what? I all the sudden received an email from FGTs asking about the tree.

By that time it was too little too late, dont you think? When I wrote another comment on their review website asking why my prior comments were not published (I would never have purchased from this company if I had known that they screened negative comments... shame on me to be so naive as to think that they allowed true customer comments), I received another email saying that they didnt think they needed to publish comments from a customer who chooses not to work with them. HUH? How did my contacting you via email AND phone within ONE HOUR of receipt not met the policy of your company? When I asked them this same question noting the dates that I called and emailed them and then the date of their response, their customer service representative, Alyson, had the unmitigated gall to lie and say that she did talk with me. This is a bald faced lie. When I responded as such she hid behind the website policy.

My credit card company may or may not be able to help me fight this horrible company with terrible customer service that is obviously lacking in integrity, but I want to let anyone and everyone know that if given the opportunity you should run, not walk, away from doing business with them.

I have just got off the phone after two days of frustrating conversations with Debbie the Office Manager.
We ordered some crepe myrtles for my brotherin law and sister from this company because we had had very good luck with five crepe myrtles the same height ordered two years ago. The new shrubs were a quarter the size of the ones I received two years ago and $10 more. I was horrified since I had recommended the company.
They insisted that I go all the way back to the house with another person and take a picture of the trees with a yard stick, or they would not give me the discount. When I sent the pictures, Debbie said it was hard to see the plants. OF COURSE IT WAS. THEY WERE BARELY WISPS! so she would only give me the $5 discount per tree anyway.
I am really disgusted and horrified by the unsympathetic way I was treated. I don't know how I am going to explain all this to my sister and brother in law who thought they would get nice big shrubs like mine.
They have certainly lost my business and that of all my family and they deserve to lose more business from the people who check this site.

This company's site should really be called fast-growing-twigs.com

Buyer beware! Check out their rating at BBB online. It's terrible with an abundance of complaints. I suggest you spend the money at your local nursery ang get the trees you really need. There are no deals here and I doubt I'll live long enough to ever see this thing bloom! $60 down the drain...

A picture speaks a thousand words. Here's mine...

You all just saved me $1, ooo... Too bad the company is allowed to continue ripping the consumer like they do... Maybe congress ought to loom into it, they have their nose in everyone else's business...

I recently purchased a few Royal Empresses, Crepe Myrtles, and Purple Ash Trees from Fast Growing Trees and I was extremly pleased with my trees when I recieved them. Of course, some were small but I was not under the impression that they sold mature trees from the get go, so I was not disappointed when my so-called twigs arrived. This is because they sell young trees, with a few exceptions. And if most of the people on here would have actually read their entire website, which is slam full of information, they would not have expected to recieve some huge, overflowing with leaves tree, that was ready to be planted with no waiting for the end results. I for one, like to watch my trees grow with me throughout the years, so this was not a big deal to me. As well, their terms of service, replacement and refund policy were as reasonable as anyone elses. If you get the tree and just dont like it, you are gonna pay to send it back to them, and also pay a restocking fee of 10 bucks. This is fair. They took the time to take your order, process your order, pick your tree, package your tree, and ship your tree to you, and be there for any questions or concerns you may have. They cannot help you just did not like the tree. And if you recieve the tree damaged, then all they ask is that you take a pic, fill out their replacement form online, and submit. I think they want to see thatt he trees damaged because anyone could call in claiming they got a damaged tree so that they could get a free one. Dang, they would go out of business if they allowed that because everyone would take advantage of it. They also have one year guarantee if your tree does not grow as expected. Up to 90 days and you get 75% store credit, which is only fair. If I have had the tree for 90 days and it does not grow, I could be doing something wrong, so it is not fair they issue me every dime of my purchase back. After all, they sold me the tree; a tree they will never get back; and exspecially not after it has died. And who can guarentee that ever tree is absolutely going to grow and not die. It depends where the person is planting it and how they are taking care of it; what region they are in, the kind of tree it is, etc. And anywhere from the 90 days up to a year, you get a 50% store credit if it dies or just will not grow. Duh! This is all on their website. I seen some people comment on how others give lifetime guareentees. What, so ten years later because you got lazy and did not take care of the tree, you can call in and get a free tree. Or a bad storm comes and rips it down, you can scream free tree. Whatever people. I called in and got nothing but the nicest and most helpful people on the phone, and they even sent me out more info on my tree so that I could understand how to fully care for it. Get A Grip. You shop online and all you want to do is complain complain when what you should really do is read the info that is provided and quit talking about companies being deceptive just because you interpretted what you read in the way you wanted it to read. Personally I will be shopping with them again

DO NOT BUY FROM FAST GROWING TREES. i called to cancel my order of 1 tree jsut 1 day after placing the order which of course was no where near ready to ship...and they charged me a $10 cancellation fee. WTF! they have yet to refund my debit card. i wish i had read these posts first before placing the order.

I glad it was jsut one $39.99 tress and not 20 of them like I was planning. i'm not edpecting a refund. i may have to callmy bank to tell them that i have no idea what the charge is and let them send it back to fast growing trees.

I ordered tow shrubs from their site called "Brighter Blooms" nursery. I only figured out the two were connected when FGT was the one that actually sent the trees. One was absolutely great (until winter hit), but one was a different plant than I ordered. I called within an hour, only to find that thier "message mailbox was full". I sent several emails with pics and continued to call MULTIPLE times (thanksfully, I noted each time I contacted, so they could not use the 48 hour rule; which they tried anyway). They kept saying that they didn't get my emails, or that their customer service girl I spoke with was "no longer with the company", etc., etc. I was more than happy to return the wrong shrub to them, but THEY refused, and tried to make it sound like my fault. Hello?! I have my order form and the shrub they sent was incorrect. How can that possibly be my fault? I understand they have the right to make ridiculous customer service requirements, and they do, but not fulfilling an order properly IS NOT THE FAULT OF THE CUSTOMER! After I disputed it with my credit card company, to which they never responded, my credit card company credited me back the amount. After that, the manager called an insisted that she was sending my correct shrub and would be charging my account. She claimed she had a "right" to do that, but I explained that she had chosen not to respond to my complaints, had not answered the credit card company within the 90 days, any attempt to resubmit my order would be frauldulent. She said she was still going to. I told her to go ahead and try and that I would have her prosecuted to the full extent of the law if she did. She ended the call insisting she had "rights". I guess she thought better of it, because i never received a shipment and she never attempted to charge my card.

If you have complaints about this company, contact the NC atty general's office. That was going to be my next step, but she gave up. As for the wrong tree that I still kept trying to send back to them...it died during the "negotiations". No surprise.

Bought raspberries, grapes and peach and cherry trees. One peach arrived in decent shape, the other arrived half dead with no leaves or buds anywhere to be found. Cherry trees were terribly droopy and arrived in cracked pots...as did all of the raspberry plants. Customer service replied that I should give them a couple of weeks but now the cherry trees are yellowing and browning and the leaves are falling off and still wilted and the peach still has no leaves or buds. I again contacted customer service who tells me they will replace them but I have to pay 25% of the tree cost plus shipping. I understand the shipping but when reading the FAQ is states that replacement includes the cost of shipping and handling and not shipping and handling plus 25% of the tree cost.
This is simply not right as the trees did not bounce back in a couple of days as promised and one arrived nearly dead and now I have to pay to replace it when it should have never been packed and sent in the condition it was in.
Called a friend who was getting ready to order 100 trees for her acreage and stopped her before she made a huge mistake. Should have listened to friends and bought locally.
Grapes and raspberries however are doing well...so far.
I am a very experienced gardener and even called our city arborist to come take a look. he told me the peach tree the cherry trees were incorrectly potted for shipping and the peach was partially dead when it was sent to me.
Don't make the same mistake I did. Buy local...unless you are purchasing grapes and raspberries.

Received Cleveland Pear tree on 4/15/10. Lime green worm inside box and had eaten leaves. Notified company. Sent pictures 4/23/10 and have not received any response.
On 5/20/10 sent in another note. As of 6/17/10 have received n0 notice. Very dissapointed as the tree has further detiereated and now is a stick. This is after I have watered the tree every day since it was placed in the ground. This is not a way to do business. I would NOT RECCOMEND BUYING anything from this company.
CDT in Highland Village, Texas.

DO NOT BUY FROM FAST GROWING TREES!

I purchased 2 cherry trees, 1 heritage raspberry, and 4 thornless blackberry bushes. The first shipment came with acceptable results except the thornless blackberry bushes. First thing I did was email this company pictures of the unacceptable blackberry bushes, i waited over an hour for a response. Tired of waiting for a response i called [protected] and the guy on their end tries to weasel his way out of a bad product costing me $160, i wouldn't budge and he finally agreed to send 4 replacements for the blackberry bushes. I figured they got it right this time... Today the "replacements" came in. These people are ridiculous all 4 are dead plants. So i email the "replacements" pics to them and state at the end of the message that I will call in 15 minutes. I called and was told they would send 4 more blackberry bushes, I said hell no i'm not doing this again either refund or let me pick something you guys cant screw up. Shortly after this conversation I received an email with a code for $159.80 so again i figured this company might be okay... I was wrong the website wont let me order anything. It will accept the code and then will promptly state that there is no shipping options available for this address (mine) and to either input a different address or click here to contact them, once you click on the link provided it transfer you to a product review page. I called this company back and was told i had to input my credit card for shipping (someone named Brian([protected]) heres the catch the only place to enter the code is on the page previous to the credit card info, and once you use the code it skips the credit card page. To use the credit card page you must skip the code page. So these D-bags are trying to get me to pay another $160 which would not be refunded once i was "tricked" into paying with my card. As stated previous DO NOT ORDER FROM FAST GROWING TREES!

heres the pics

I ordered a 7ft Tulip Poplar tree. What I received was a 7Ft Tulip Poplar BRANCH with some leaves. My index finger is thicker then the so called trunk. I emailed customer service to complain and they said the tree is fine. If you want to return it pay the freight and a 25% restocking charge plus more costs if the tree is not received in good condition. No where on their site do they indicate they will be shipping a branch. Any slight wind will knock it down; and won't hold the weight of a bird. What a rip-off, stay away. I disputed the charge with amex and have no intention of paying it.

To anybody in this situation - my credit card company advised me that I could simply return the items whether they liked it or not and, then, if they did not issue a refund, a dispute could be started over the charge on the card.

Don't let them try and tell you that you can't return things. They can't stop you from resealing the box and shipping it back if (when?) they ship you complete garbage that barely qualifies as a tall weed. They can try and refuse the package or not process a

Best bet if you're reading this though? Just don't buy from them. They have a C- rating with the BBB, dozens of complaints lodged against them with the BBB (including mine) and the complaints in reviews about them all come back to the same thing: particularly poor quality product and high prices.

The most telling part of all this about their real status, though? Read their bizarre responses to these complaints. They never really try to address the complaints or reach out to come to an equitable resolution, they just keep saying "but our website has this policy or that policy and it's your fault you didn't read it!"

That's not customer service, that's a sign of a company that knows bloody well it's ripping people off and just doesn't care. They appear to be trying to play the numbers game: buys lots of domains, hide behind different names and just hope that the volume of purchases generated from this practice outweighs the volume of complaints, returns, and chargebacks.

Just go to a local nursery and pay for delivery or rent a truck. It'll be cheaper, you'll get a better product you can review before you buy, and if you have a problem you don't have to deal with their attitude through email (although, to be fair, I was so infuriated at the awful quality trees they sent that I couldn't restrain myself from tearing into them right from the start when I contacted them).