I received my tree on Thursday 3/22 and sent a message through their website that day with pictures attached.
I didn't get a response within the business days stated so I called.
I was told I would get an email within 24hours, when that didn't happend I called again. I had to leave a voicemail with the person I had talked to.
Then I received an email a day later, that basically ignored everything I had concerns with:
"this is perfectly normal for the mimosa. It will be perfectly fine to plant.
If you have any questions, please let us know" I emailed back that day, and got no response.
I waited a week and sent a last email saying please respond, and waited another week and here we are.
Basically for $100 I received a long stick with some clear dead parts on top, and very little roots.
Not a single branch coming off the main shoot.
It was thrown in a pot with some new potting media. It looked as if it was hacked off. To summarize,
bad product, and even worse customer service. I have ordered from other companies before and know what
to expect from a tree. DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY. I gave them every chance to make it right...

apparently you arent the only one to be treated as such..

ken

ps: it might be considered an invasive in PA ... check the link

I wouldn't plant that even if it was free.

But obviously you still didn't get what was advertised.

Nick, there is a website called garden watch dog where folks place reviews of nurseries. Kinda the BBB of the industry I suppose. No nursery has a 100% satisfaction but you get the idea what you are dealing with.

But your picture of the roots does not lie. I would be very unhappy of a tree that size arrived with so few roots.

That is the truth!

I recenlty received a conifer that wasn't packed perfectly so when the shipping company tipped it upside down it damage all the leader buds.

Just like the owner of Conifer Kingdom responded within hours and said keep the plant, I'll send you a new one right away. That is how you retain and get new customers.

Those that don't make it right after inquiring are the ones that need to be put to shame and out of business.

I was going to purchase some Thuja Green Giants last year from a company. I ordered a few months in advance and the company said just let me know when to ship. Well I asked them 3-4 weeks before hand and they said that particular week would be good. I sent several e-mails stating that I would like them shipped. Each time they would say It's raining and the trees are outside, we are short staffed, etc. Then I didn't receive any response for a couple weeks. So I called my credit card and they said they will stop payment. But if the company shipped me the trees, I must refuse the package or return them.

The company never shipped the trees and I haven't heard from them since. If you call your credit card company and tell them, they will probably just ask you to ship the trees back and the credit will show up in 3-4 days. That's a lot of money to spend on a bad tree... if it were a $10 tree I wouldn't bother. Heck a couple years ago I purchased an 8' B&B crab apple for $80 lol.

The worst part is the time. There were a lot of years wasted before I saw their (intentional?) mistake. By that time I had already invested the time and in some cases that's more precious than the money. I would have gladly torn them out and replaced them with appropriate material, and called it a lesson learnt when they were young. Doing that after they'd already become established is more difficult. Reputable is positively imperative when mail ordering and worth your time to check out.

The other time when I was burnt was a large order of pelargonium cuttings for my business from what was once a leader in the business. They took my money and ran. The business had been sold out to another owner who couldn't live up to the reputation. I contacted their state deparment of agriculture. Mail order plants are supposed to be inspected and they must meet the criteria their state sets down. It's regulated material.

"Hello,

I have received all of your information and noted the order. The 5-7 ft Mimosa is no longer available, so I have sent a request over for a credit on the item. I have asked the credit be submitted to the card used for your previous order.

Once the request has been approved, you should be receiving an email with all pertinent information.

Thank you very much for your time and patience with this matter. If there is anything further you need, please feel free to contact myself or our customer service department.

Sincerely,
Heather"

Looks like a lot of emails, and almost a month later I'll finally get my money back :o)

You'd never know that mimosas are disease prone, or that Paulownias don't flower reliably below about zone 7, or that either tree has invasive characteristics.

I'm on the northern end of hardiness for mimosas, but for the heck of it I started seed of the variety "E.H. Wilson" a few months ago, and the seedlings are already branching nicely at about 6 inches in height. So whatever these people are doing to produce a nonbranching stick, I suspect it's not due to the tree's normal growing habit.