seed vendor communication

[JRinPA]

Has anyone used Urban Farmer for seeds and starts? What was your experience?

I thought I had bought tomato seeds from them before, maybe 5 years back, as I distinctly remember the logo and such, so I didn't do detective work. Now I am week into an order and have heard nothing from them after being immediately charged. Calling their phone number gets a recording directing to their website or email them for a response within 24 hours. Now I am well past that 24 hours without hearing from them. I started looking around, and am seeing an F grade for them on the BBB website.

[Toomanymatoes]

I ordered seeds from them last year. Mostly tobacco, but some flowers and basil as well. I have not grown any of them yet I don't think. I don't recall having any issues with them. My notes indicated I ordered on March 26 and I received the seeds April 14. I live in Canada and that is pretty average for my getting my orders from the USA. I don't see any e-mails from them besides my Paypal receipt.

[MissS]

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having troubles with this company. I do hope that you get things resolved soon.

We do have lists of recommended vendors from across the world that our members have used and endorse. They are pinned at the top of various forums such as The Pepper Patch and Tomato Talk, etc. These lists are a very nice resource for us to use.

[JRinPA]

Yeah... I couldn't find any email from them when I searched my client, and their website says that all client data was lost when they changed servers in 2021, so I couldn't be certain that I had ordered from them before. But I did order because I just found their seed packet for sunsugar F1, with six seeds left. No date code that I can decipher. It has a nice seed chart on the back.

I guess I will give them a week to see if the tomato seeds show up. I ordered a packet of seeds and "pre-orders" for plants that are slated for mid-April. It just feels uncertain, not getting a confirmation and seeing all those complaints.

[JRinPA]

I got the seed packet today. So I expect the plants will probably come in about 4-5 weeks with no email notification sent when they ship or when they are delivered. I just think that seller should have better communication than that.

[MissS]

I'm glad to hear that things are working out for you. Perhaps the lack of communication was just an oversight because they are so busy.

[JRinPA]

Well, it turns out I was getting emails from Urban Farmer after all. I had put a filter on their emails years ago because they kept sending offers/spam after my first and only order. At some point I added the address to send to my "store spam" folder in my email client. They did send both an order confirmation and a shipping alert when the first seed pack shipped.

I discovered their emails when I tried to find an old johnnys order invoice that wasn't in my inbox, so I searched all mailboxes for "seeds" and started seeing urban farmer hits. Many, many hits. Last month, I had only searched my inbox and trash folder.

The last of the spam emails is funny, actually - after 5 years and 174 spam emails without me buying anything, they sent one titled

"We Hate Goodbyes But..."
Hi Friend,
We know life gets busy and your inbox even busier. So, we decided to give you a break.

Click below if you want to stay!

Okay, my fault, but it all would have been cleared up a few days after ordering if they would ever answer their listed phone number or allow a message to be left.