Little Giant Blueberries

In the continuing theme of “as seen on TV” products, I admit to purchasing the Little Giant Blueberries. Why? Because I like blueberries and store bought ones ARE expensive, even in season and usually from somewhere far away.

My wife and her friend take annual trips in the summer to a local farm to pick blueberries, but how nice would it be to have a couple of shrubs right in our yard? I mean, we love blueberries, how hard could this be? (wink, wink)

Did I research how much blueberry plants would cost if bought from Amazon, a local nursery or another catalog/online source? No. I mean this wasn’t that expensive and it was so easy.

So I found the advertised company online and ordered the requisite 2 plants and added a third for “free”, for which I was only to pay postage and handling. The total bill was $21.90. This breaks down as $10 for the actual plants and $6.95 for the initial order and $4.95 for the “free” third plant. Yes, you are paying more in postage and handling than you do for the plants.

The plants arrived in a small box wrapped in plastic bags, with a bit of soil around the root of each stemmed plant. You are then required to pot the plants, keep them watered and when they sprout to life, transplant them in the garden.

I did the proper thing and treated the plants with the utmost care. I then waited patiently for signs of life. I waited. I waited. I waited and waited more.

All I got were lifeless stems. When I saw new growth, I was excited because in my hope, I thought the plant might be starting anew from the root and not off the original stem.

My hope was not rewarded as the growth turned out to be weeds. And lest you think I have some sort of black thumb, know that I have successfully started all manner of herbs, vegetables and flowers from seed and raised them to mature plants. So while I am no expert, I have done well in this area over the years.

I received the plants in early June. I officially gave up on the plants 5 – 6 weeks later. I took the above photos and called the company. I was directed to someone who would help me understand my plants. I left this gentleman a voice mail and waited for his call. I never received a call back.

I then sent an email to the company with the photos as attachments. Again, no reply whatsoever.

Frustrated, I called the company again, reached someone in service and explained the saga to them in detail. I was happy to send my photos to anyone if that would help. It wasn’t necessary, I was told. After a short conversation, I was informed that it was now too late to receive replacement plants, which I understood since it is now the middle of July. So, I asked for my money back. “No problem”, she said to me and we ended the conversation amiably.

However, when the credit was processed it was for $10, the cost of the plants. I read the website and of course it states that only the plant cost will be refunded, but I work in retail and know how this game is played.

If you buy something online and subsequently return or exchange that item in a bricks and mortar store because you change your mind, then you aren’t getting the cost of shipping refunded. A refund of shipping is sometimes given but is left to the discretion of the manager. Also, given that this is an online only business, they are making lots of money from shipping costs, I know this because every company who ships products charges roughly the same amount. It is a price structure based on the amount spent, not the actual weight of an item. This translates to positive income for the company the majority of the time. The only exception is if the product in question is very heavy.

So I once again called the company, this time to ask for the shipping refund. My feeling was that since none of the plants were viable, they should refund the full amount back, particularly since they couldn’t replace the plants. A company should be willing to eat the cost of a minimum shipping amount for defective products to keep a customer happy. Also, given that this box did not come from UPS or Fedex, but via USPS, the cost to the company was lower than it would have been with the big shipping companies. If there had been one or two viable plants, I would not have expected a refund for postage, but remember, the cost of postage was more than the plants.

After this fine argument, I got half the shipping back. I sensed the service rep wasn’t going to budge further and was becoming irritated. In the end, I gave this company $5.50 as a contribution with nothing to show for it.

I am sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of customers who have great success stories and positive experiences with the Little Giant Blueberry company. I was just not one of them.

I, like many of you, find it frustrating when companies don’t behave as honorably as is possible. It makes us feel taken advantage of and more cynical about small business. I still believe in the ability of a company to create, advertise and sell quality products [through TV Infomercials and the Internet]. And from time to time, I will buy these products ever hopeful that good companies will do the right thing.

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