Harris seed back-order practices ....
 

I can't believe I made this mistake again. It was a busy Thanksgiving weekend and I
ordered form HarrisSeed mistaking for 'Heritage'.

(I just received my Johnny's order last night...3 days...free shipping)

Harris finally responded to my third e-mail that as soon as they receive from their supplier,
then germination testing, they will send. About 3+ months later. The seed has been listed in
their catalog this entire time. They banked my money November 23rd.

Just a cautionary tale. 2-3 weeks is acceptable or a slight miss-step in availability...but to keep
accepting orders knowing it is out of stock is suspect. grrr

They got me, too. The rudbeckia I ordered in July arrived in December. I think it is only on the last checkout screen that they mention something is on back order. It will not say so on the main product page. It's like Amazon with shipping, you have to read the last page carefully before you click send.

Harris has great products, but gouge-tastic pricing. As one example, the short stuff zinnia I like can be bought elsewhere in rooted cutting form by the tray for less per cutting than what Harris charges for one seed.

It happened to me last year with pelleted lettuce seed variety pack; by the time I got the seeds it was summer. The seeds would at least be fresh for the winter sowing.

But they are so good in other aspects, that I can overlook it.

----
More importantly, I think I should take advantage of Johnny's free shipping. Need ideas - what did you get?

I'm still waiting on Harris back order. November 23rd 2018.
Now March 4th.
They did finally reply...

[B][I]Currently, there is no estimated date from the supplier as to when we will be receiving the seed at our facility. Once we do receive it, we will need to process, germination test, and package it for shipping.
Please let us know if the delay will still be acceptable and if you have any questions.
Thank you![/I][/B]

Barb, I just posted on the recent Johnny's free shipping post. Good for micro bulk orders.

Okay so you go to the grocery store give them the money first.
Find everything you want is out of stock but they keep your money till it is back in stock.
Which by the way will be a month after the Christmas dinner you planned.

Just for the record, what seeds did you order from Harris??? Surely there's someone else out there who has that variety of whatever it is.

I order from seed sellers infrequently and make sure to call and ask if they have plenty of stock before I lay out the bucks. If they don't list a phone, then someone else will end up with my money.

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;728631]Just for the record, what seeds did you order from Harris??? Surely there's someone else out there who has that variety of whatever it is.

I order from seed sellers infrequently and make sure to call and ask if they have plenty of stock before I lay out the bucks. If they don't list a phone, then someone else will end up with my money.[/QUOTE]

I mentioned above I made a mistake...I order from so few suppliers like Heritage, TGS, Johnny's, Remy
sample seeds...Artisan...

I mistook Harris for Heritage. All my stellar suppliers show back orders on their pages. Old school is
those that used to back-order and substitute.(years ago) That is back-woods practices these days so I forgot to do as you mention.

I ordered their basic salad mix. One pound.

[QUOTE=oakley;728636]I

I ordered their basic salad mix. One pound.[/QUOTE]

The Microgreen Mix? - I ordered 1/4 lb last year and just grew it out to make sure the seeds were still good - they were.

Way different than TrueLeaf Basic for sure.

It was good; It says 20-24 days which is much longer than usual. Some bigger seeds mixed in.

Can you get a refund? My one thing that was no longer in stock, they gave me a CC refund, no problems.

[QUOTE=Barb_FL;728641]The Microgreen Mix? - I ordered 1/4 lb last year and just grew it out to make sure the seeds were still good - they were.

Way different than TrueLeaf Basic for sure.

It was good; It says 20-24 days which is much longer than usual. Some bigger seeds mixed in.

Can you get a refund? My one thing that was no longer in stock, they gave me a CC refund, no problems.[/QUOTE]

Oh sure. I'm guessing they would welcome a refund. I'm just a bit irritated they ignore my inquiries.
Possibly they don't want to fill my 'on sale' order. (Nov 23rd was probably 'cyber' Monday?)
Just wondering how many people with a few missing seed packets in their order even notice or give up and
just say what the heck...just a few bucks. I actually forgot about it for a while, then did a search in my
e-mail and discovered it. (a few bucks for 2-5 thousand orders is a bit of change in their pocket).

I actually prefer to make my own mixes with 'like' size seed that grow at the same pace. I have a dozen nice
dark leaf similar seed I wanted to mix in for more variety.

My main issue is the mix has been in their on-line catalog this entire 3 month time. This is the only order
i've had any issue with so it sticks out 'sore thumb' style.

I ordered some Actinovate (organic fungicide with a good reputation for effectiveness) from Amazon last week. It arrived in my mail today. It was shipped by Harris Seed. In my mind, they did a good job of receiving the order and shipping instructions from Amazon and fulfilling the order in a timely manner.


Amazon has a significant reputation of supplying Actinovate which is older than it's expiration date (one year after packaging). I was concerned that the product I received would be older than it's expiration date. The product I received doesn't expire until August of 2019, so I am happy.


I had avoided Harris seed due to comments on this forum. I still haven't ordered anything from them, but I'm not as reluctant as I was.

My back order from last November has been ignored. Going on 4 months now.