Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Reviews of starkbros.com

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 17, 2025

Thank you for your feedback, and I’m truly sorry for the frustration this situation has caused. We completely understand how disappointing it is to plan for your plants and have the delivery dates continually shift—especially without consistent updates. That’s not the experience we want for our customers, and we apologize for the lack of communication and clarity along the way. This season has been especially difficult due to prolonged frigid weather in our area, which affected both our harvesting schedule and our growers. Unfortunately, that caused some orders, especially those with multiple plants or backordered varieties, to experience unexpected delays. When one plant holds up the entire order, it can cause frustrating ripple effects, and we’re very sorry that happened here. I also apologize that you didn’t receive timely updates as things changed—we are actively working to improve our communication systems to avoid these kinds of issues going forward. While we’re sorry to have lost your trust (and your business), we hope you’ll give us a chance in the future to provide the experience we aim for every time. If there’s anything else we can do to make this right, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly.

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 17, 2025

I want to sincerely apologize for the confusion and frustration you’ve experienced. I was able to locate your order right away using the order number you provided. I'm truly not sure where the mix-up occurred regarding the name on the order, but please know that your order is indeed in our system under your name and address. I appreciate your patience as we worked through the details. After reviewing your order, I can confirm that the delay was due to one tree—specifically, the Jon-A-Red apple—being held up in our grading and quality assurance process. We take great care to ensure every tree we ship meets our quality standards, and in this case, that caused an unfortunate hold-up. As a token of our apology for the inconvenience, I’ve gone ahead and upgraded the Jon-A-Red to one of our Supreme grade specimens at no additional cost to you. I’ve also processed a refund for the original tree as well as your shipping fee. You should see those funds reflected on your original method of payment within 3–5 business days. Additionally, I’ve contacted our shipping department directly to ensure the rest of your order goes out without further delay. Again, we’re very sorry this experience didn’t meet your expectations. We value your business and are doing all we can to make things right.

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 19, 2025

Thank you for your review. We sincerely apologize for the delays with your order. The shipping issues were due to the severe weather conditions that affected much of the Northeast during February and March, and we truly regret the inconvenience this caused. According to the FedEx tracking information, your package was delivered on April 16th at approximately 4:15 PM. We hope it arrived safely and in the quality you expect and deserve. If there’s anything at all that didn’t meet your expectations, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help.

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 17, 2025

Thank you for your feedback, and we’re very sorry for the frustration this experience has caused. We understand how important it is to receive timely and clear updates when placing an order, especially when it comes to live plants. I’ve reviewed your order and can confirm it was delivered on 4/9. However, I completely understand your concern given the delays and uncertainty you experienced leading up to that point. This season brought unusually frigid temperatures and weather challenges throughout February and March, which impacted our ability to harvest and prepare orders as quickly as we would have liked. While we always aim to meet the estimated delivery windows provided at the time of ordering, environmental factors can sometimes cause delays beyond our control. We truly regret the confusion and concern this caused and appreciate your patience during this busy and unpredictable shipping season. If there’s anything more we can do for you or if you have concerns about the plants you received, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help and want to ensure you're satisfied.

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 17, 2025

We're truly sorry to hear about the disappointment you've experienced with your persimmon trees and the trouble you've had with your claim. We understand how frustrating it is to invest time, effort, and hope into planting, only to have things not go as expected. We deeply value the trust our customers place in us—especially our fellow veterans—and we would never intentionally overlook or dismiss a claim. If your photos or correspondence were somehow misplaced or not properly linked to your order, we sincerely apologize. That’s not the standard of care we strive to uphold. Please know that we are committed to standing behind our plants and doing right by our customers. If you're willing, we’d appreciate the opportunity to review this again and make things right. Kindly reach out to us at [email protected] or call 800-325-4180, and mention this review so we can prioritize your case and locate your original claim details. If needed, we're happy to reassess your photos or assist you with our warranty process. We truly appreciate your service and your business, and we’re very sorry this experience left you feeling let down.

Response from Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co.Apr 17, 2025

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. I truly apologize for the confusion and frustration this experience has caused—especially after you’ve already placed your trust in us more than once. I completely understand your concern about timing and how important it is for trees to arrive dormant and ready to thrive in your planting zone. You're absolutely right that in the South, things wake up much earlier than in the North, and delays can impact how a plant performs. While we strive to ship our trees at the optimal time for your zone, unexpected challenges—like frigid and inconsistent weather in February and March—set our harvesting and processing back this season, impacting our ability to meet our originally estimated ship dates. Regarding the conflicting emails, I sincerely apologize for the confusion. After looking into this, it seems a system-generated update went out prematurely indicating your order had shipped, when in fact it had not. Thank you for providing the screenshot to help us track this issue down. We take this seriously and have already brought this to our technical team to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I realize this has left a negative impression, and I am truly sorry this has been your experience. It’s never our intent to disappoint or cause uncertainty, and I’d love the opportunity to make this right if you’ll allow us. Please feel free to reach out directly to me directly and I’ll personally make sure your concerns are addressed quickly. Thank you again for your honest feedback, and we’re very sorry to have let you down.