An axe to grind
This summer we have had a number of plants and in some cases bags of compost, returned for various reasons. In the twenty plus years as a retail nursery we haven’t seen this kind of volume regarding returns. I think our plant material this year has looked better than any year, which pleases me. So why this uptick of returns? As many of you know we don’t guarantee plants sold because we can’t control its environment once it leaves the nursery. We advise on proper planting technique, give a very detailed handout if asked for. Once the plant leaves the nursery the responsibility for keeping the plant alive is with the purchaser. Of course there are exceptions to our ‘no guarantee’ policy. We assess each situation and sometimes a refund or plant exchange is the responsible thing for us to do.
My axe to grind is those that bring back a plant for reasons having nothing to do with plant health, or a customer not understanding what a plant needs to stay alive and healthy. Are other nurseries dealing with the same thing? This year we had an instance when a customer called, asked for specific plants, we pull or tag those plants only to have them returned a few days later because they don’t fit in their garden. Or a vine plant purchased with a card in the pot giving all the plants information. Two days later the plant is returned because it gets too big; it’s a vine, prune it to keep it where you want it. These are just two examples, there are more and the frequency is more this year. We have had customers bring back a bag of compost that they didn’t need. Really, you can’t find a place in the garden to spread a bag of compost.
But, let’s stick with plants. When a customer purchases a plant I’m sure they picked the best looking one in the group, I would too. Two weeks or a month later they’ll bring back a dead plant and want a refund. We look at the plants in the nursery from the same batch they picked from and ours are looking good. So, what happened from our nursery to their garden? I can give you a number of possible reasons and all come back to the customers handling of the plant. Plants are living, breathing entities. Without proper care they will die. We work very hard to sell you a cared for plant, but we have no control over that plant once it leaves the nursery.
So, are we being insensitive to our customer’s needs by not offering a refund? Do we just need to ‘suck it up’, give customers their money back and forget about it? It’s infrequent in the scope of the entire years sales. For me, it isn’t the money, it’s the responsibility that we all take when we make a purchase. Let’s say I stop at the grocery store to purchase bread and milk not knowing Renee had already been to the grocery store and purchased the same. Do I take those items back? No, I don’t. We find a use for them. I use this example because it’s happened and these items can spoil if not used. They are kind of like plants; you mistreat and they don’t respond well, meaning they can spoil.
Are our prices too high and the customer returns because they found the plant for less money someplace else? Honestly, I don’t know because I haven’t had time to visit other nurseries to compare. We buy from many of the same wholesale nurseries our local nursery competitor’s do. So, prices should be pretty competitive. We are all trying to make a living selling plants, mostly plants. We can’t afford to loss money. We nursery owners aren’t selling groceries, clothing or hardware who may be able can absorb the losses because their mark up is high enough or their volume is high enough.
I’m done grinding my axe. Renee and I will be gone this coming week; she thinks I need to relax my mind and body. Not sure how that will go but I’m willing to give it a try. I’ve really enjoyed engaging all that have responded to the weekly post. Knowing that someone is reading is such a reward for someone who barely made it out of high school and flunked writing.