Krull-Smith Orchids

[lienluu]

I placed two orders from Krull-Smith. Both times, I requested unbloomed plants and they assured me they would send unbloomed plants. Both times, I got previously bloomed plants.

This latest order was for 2 Phal. violacea coerulea for $75.00 each. One plant came in fine, but the other came in quite damaged. I immediately e-mailed them photos of the plant to show them (photos below). I waited 2 days and got no reply so I sent another e-mail. No reply so the next day I wrote again. I finally got a response saying: "We don't see anything wrong with the plant". I wrote back asking the lady to please have someone knowledgeable take a look at the photo. No reply.

Here is the plant. The damage is actually more noticable in the person, both two leaves are burnt. Do y'all see the damage? Or am I just crazy?

 

[gore42]

I certainly see some big reddish brown patches. I can't exactly tell what they are from here, but whatever caused it, I don't think that it's normal coloration for the species That's really too bad, especially for expensive plants like those!

I've tried to order from Krull-Smith before, but in most cases, they simply didn't reply to my emails. Keep after them... maybe try giving them a phone call, hopefully they'll make things right. That's really surprising treatment from such a large, reputable vendor.

- Matt Gore

 

[kentuckiense]

It's one thing to simply say that the damage doesn't necessitate a refund, but it's quite, quite unacceptable to simply no even acknowledge that there is damage.

The whole 'no previously blooms plants' makes me mad, too.

I won't be ordering from Krull-Smith.

 

[bwester]

I know someone that had a very similar experience with them.... I wont order from them.

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

I was sorry to hear about this as well. Is there any guarantee of them being coerulea? To me, $75 is ridiculous when H.P. Norton has them for almost half that with the same odds of them being blue.

I hope someone who knows the plants e-mails you back. If I were a business, I would definitely NOT want to lose you as a customer.

Jon
________
BONG REVIEWS

 

[lienluu]

Well, about an hour after I posted this, I got a reply from Krull-Smith saying they would replace the plant! Glad it worked out in the end.

 

[lienluu]

Is there any guarantee of them being coerulea?

no, from photos I have seen so far, some have bloomed out coerulea and some have bloomed out magenta.

 

[Heather]

If I were a business, I would definitely NOT want to lose you as a customer.

Jon

No kidding!

Glad you had some good results, Lien. I haven't had any real problems (except they were slow to ship something to me) with K-S but I also haven't ordered too much from them.

 

[PHRAG]

Now why can't Norman's orchids pull their head out of their ass and do the same thing. That Smile Eri I purchased from them bloomed poorly shaped flowers and didn't turn purple. What a crock. The lost my business for good.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Glad they finally acknowledged the damage....to me, it clearly looks like heat damage- the plant was probably fine when shipped, but got cooked in transit...geez...I'm waiting for a mastersianum that's being shipped this week...and its supposed to be 105 in NYC tomorrow! At least I'm out in LI now...where the temperature is only 95....and only my kids room has AC...and its so hot the bluefish quit biting....Take care, Eric

 

[likespaphs]

have you thought of orchidview? i think they stress blue breeding...but then again, i know almost nothing about them, their service or plants.

 

[lienluu]

I just got the replacement plant from Krull-Smith and Frank also included an extra one that he had selected for me. It was very nice of him and in the end everything worked out really wonderfully and they did a great job of making sure things worked out.

Lien

 

[Marco]

Glad to hear Lien. What was the extra plant??

 

[lienluu]

Glad to hear Lien. What was the extra plant??

This. Very hard to photograph though.

This is more true to colour but all blurry.

 

[Heather]

Well, that's quite nice of them! Pretty Phal! I think I can smell it from here....
Glad it ended up working out.

 

[Mycorrhizae]

They GAVE it to you? Wow! Congrats!! I know for a fact that someone just paid a not-so-small fortune for an in-bloom true blue first bloom Phal. violacea seedling from Krull-Smith. Apparently the yield of truly blue flowers from this cross has been somewhat low.

I've bloomed several of these (none as nice as yours!) and it looks like your flower may have begun to collapse from age and shipping stress. It was probably shipped bare-root to prevent any damage in case it came loose from the clay pot. They're really nicest when the flowers are young, so I will bet the next one that opens blows you away with the color - and will be easier to photograph.

Congrats - that's an amazing orchid!

P.S. - I've been shopping with Krull-Smith for over 20 years now - and I wouldn't have expected anything less. Frank ALWAYS makes it right when something unfortunate happens. If you do business with him long enough, he might even name a great paph after you! :rollhappy:

 

[Mahon]

...I have wondered for the longest time why Paph. violacea f. coerulea was named this way by Eric A. Christenson... I have never seen a "true" blue from of this species... at least not a blue similar to Vanda coerulea... Any pics of a blue-r one that I am unaware of, or maybe the paranoid-schitzophrenic taxonomist has pics of this form as well...?

Don't forget that the "blue" Phal. violacea is a forma level, so it's Phal. violacea f. coerulea...

Thanks for any help, and those new Phalaenopsis look good! I couldn't hold in my laughter when you got the first reply about the plant... "I don't see anything wrong..." =) glad things got straighten out!

-Pat

 

[Paphman910]

LienLuu:
This is one of my favorite species. Absolutely nice flowers and I bet the scent is nice.

Paphman910

 

[Gideon]

That is a beaut, glad it worked out OK for you

 

[joan]

Thought you had to watch your language in this forum!!:evil: